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Valentino's Quiet Confidence
By Godfrey Deeny
Photos by Gruber-FWD
MILAN, Jan 15, 2003 /FWD/ --- These were not clothes for kids, hirsute male models, or
thirtysomethings on six figures a year.
The men's fall/winter 2003 collection Valentino showed here Monday, subtitled "A Tender Man,"
were clothes for self-assured members of the establishment, who want to reek rich, yet not
rock any boat.
The show marked a new era in the history of Valentino.
It was the first since the Marzotto group took over the house last year, and family chieftain,
Italian billionaire Pietro Marzotto, sat front row alongside Michele Norsa, Valentino's new
president.
"Our customer is not a young man. He's older and richer and, let's be honest, pretty
conservative, so we've been concentrating on a softer silhouette and the finest of fabrics,"
Norsa explained.
Materials fit for a monarch or leverage buy-out merchant came one after the other in
this show - sabled cashmere, camel hair, crocodile, lizard and enough fur to pull several
sledges.
And some, even if not all, of the resulting clothes were spectacular - a lavish vicuna coat
bordered with sable, a black cashmere top coat with crocodile inserts and a snug maroon
crocodile jacket that shouted "I'm enormously rich."
Valentino's suits were also impressive and kept with the current Italian silhouette -
snug jackets with high armpits, fairly wide lapels and baggy pants with large turn-ups.
A lot of looks, however, called out for editing, since it was hard to work out who exactly
was going to wear some of the other clothes - how many men really wear merino wool and nylon
jogging pants with ankle straps even around the mansion on the weekend?
In a sense, today's show was a first test for the new boy in a major old group - on top of
being one of Italy's greatest fabric producer, Marzotto also owns Hugo Boss.
Judged in this mercenary manner, Sir Val certainly got a high mark.
Even though finding a buyer for the debt-laden fashion house proved tricky, Marzotto may
well have got themselves a bargain.
For less than one third of the price LVMH paid for Fendi, Marzotto acquired an established
house with a huge and fawning Hollywood clientele and a distinguished designer who is very
much alive.
Maybe we should all prepare for a major new Valentino moment.
Stranger things have happened.
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