We take a peek backstage at the Valentino show, featuring a very Valentino take on British tailoring.

Having shown at Pitti Uomo in Florence the past two seasons, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli took on Paris this season. Their strategy? Put a Valentino spin on Carnaby Street circa the sixties. At the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild, we were treated to an array of suits and coats there were cut to perfection, oozing a very British form of sophistication – all houndstooth prints, Prince of Wales checks and Black Watch tartan.

But while the spectre of young Mick Jagger may have loomed large in the pair’s influences, the collection never felt like a forced nostalgia trip to the swinging sixties. Chiuri and Piccioli have both said that they deliberately tried to pair modernity with couture craftsmanship, so think luxe piled onto luxe materials: fur with mackintosh, for example, or cashmere lined with leather. And the finishing touch? Fold-over leather clutches. Not something you’d likely see in the sixies, but perfect for the 21st century.

MORE PARIS MENSWEAR FASHION WEEK COVERAGE:
Backstage at Maison Martin Margiela AW13

Words: Zing Tsjeng
Images: Amina Nolan