For the Giambattista Valli Spring 2021 Haute Couture collection, the designer employed the tools at hand—the bias cut, dégradé, miles of taffeta—he worked every one of them to achieve the formidable dimensions that embodied this collection.

It created layered candy-floss creations that fuel his haute couture season. Some were shaped like swans, some looked like blown-up pleated ribbon; others were Grecian, harking back to the classic shapes of haute couture. He topped them off with hair volumes inspired by 1960s pictures of Benedetta Barzini and Marisa Berenson.

Although the models are seen in a white room in their big gowns, the buildings from Seville were an inspiration to Valli, creating conversations between spaces and clothes. “The moment we live in right now is about coming together between cultures. Seville is a place where the Spanish and Islamic cultures melt together and create a new third culture.”

Through that lens, you could easily see the codes of Sevillana and flamenco flouncing their way through Valli’s ruffled skirts—or the drama of the mantilla reflected in his high, translucent veils—but he was adamant that wasn’t the point. “If I added another piece to the collection, it would probably be a stripy djellaba in the middle,” he noted. “Marco Polo went to China and brought the noodle back to Italy. It’s about exchange. We all look up at the same moon and sun.”