Pierpaolo Piccioli named the Valentino Resort 2023 collection Surfaces, emphasizing the visuals of an all-over, head-to-toe silhouette where textures and shapes were turned into a sort of minimal continuum.

“Fashion shows are there to solidify the narration around your values and your identity,” Piccioli contended during a Zoom call from his studio in Rome. “Resort is the moment when fashion speaks its own language. There’s no storytelling here, just work on construction, cut, silhouettes, color. It’s just moda, fashion, in its purest self. Of course, for me, clothes are always about how real people inhabit them.”

Resort was in conversation with those style fundamentals. At the spring show Piccioli indulged in fluidity and movement enhanced by an abundance of sequined shine, but here he kept the silhouette neat, slim, and very short. Trim contours and head-to-toe maximalist surfaces were in evidence, for example, in a black macramé lace slip dress paired with matching thigh-high legging/boots, or in a mini shift dress encrusted with white lace, which somehow stretched into matching stocking/boots edged with leather.

The minimal/maximal dynamic reached its apogee in the extensive all-over display of the Toile Iconographe, the new logo-ed pattern. Here it was printed on firm cotton canvas, and rendered in the clean silhouettes he favors: a bell-shaped short cape, a fitted mini coat reprised from the archives, a mini skirt suit with a boxy jacket, a double-breasted velvet peacoat. The pattern was extended to stockings, bags, hats, boots—not an inch remained exempt from the extensive logo-ed treatment.

On a similar note, a day/evening ensemble, comprised of a dramatic long drawstring circle gown in amethyst faille, cinched with a marigold sash and worn with an oversize double-breasted blazer in cinnamon taffeta, was contrasted by a pristine white cotton shirt with macramé details. It highlighted not only the designer’s eye for color, but also the cool spirit of versatility, the mixing of codes, and the couture flair.