Giambattista Valli to design couture!

A few days back I was so thrilled to hear that one of my favourite designers, Giambattista Valli, will be showing his first ever Couture line in either July 2011 or January 2012. The Chambre Syndicale has invited him, along with 9 other guest Couture members to show as part of their Couture line up. These guests are chosen by the 15 houses that are established haute couturists (if there is such a thing) including Giorgio Armani, Chanel, Dior and Maison Martin Margiela. Did you know a designer has to be a guest couturier for a minimum of 5 years before they can officially be called a Couturier?? I can't wait to see what stunning creations Valli comes up with for his first show!
He had his first ever ready to wear show in Paris only in 2005, and in this short period has established himself as a force to be reckoned with! Although he hasn't up till now had a separate Couture show, he's designed often for the red carpet and bridal collections, often with STUNNING results. I remember seeing a picture of the very fashionable Charlotte Dellal in Vogue a couple of months back, and being amazed with her gown- a Valli cream coloured creation that took my breath away!

There is something about this dress that's stuck in my memory and is, I think, one of the most beautiful wedding gowns I've seen. Not only is the gown perfect, but I LOVED the look of it for the wedding reception. Since I couldn't find another picture of the transformed reception gown, I had to make do with a scanned picture of the Vogue article that I was talking about, which had that one on there too... You've got to love the internet!!! If you look at the bottom (and click on the picture to zoom in enough to read the accompanying article) you'll see that she just took of the layers of tulle skirt to show an elegant figure skimming dress inside that was perfect for the evening. Did I say LOVE before??!! J'ADORE!!!!

Ok so the chances of me having a white wedding are slim to none but this dress has haunted me for AGES (I just googled and saw that she was married in June 2010!) and you can understand now why I think Giambattista Valli is SO talented and why I can't wait to see his couture line! I don't know if you guys remember me posting pics of the Valli for Moncler collection here? Check it out to see what he's done with ordinary jackets. Yes I'm a HUGE fan.. can you tell?
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