It’s in a perfectly set African backdrop that award-winning photo reporter Steve McCurry shot Valentino’s 2016 advertising campaign. Mirroring the luxury brand’s SS’16 collection, the famed photographer captures the true African spirit, brought to life by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli, in Valentino’s Spring-Summer collection.

A simple glance at the footage of the campaign reveals the brand’s creative quest to insert a dash of eclecticism to its collection. As such, the beauty of the collection lies in the imagination of the beholder. Following this theory, the campaign celebrates the coming-together of diverse cultures through the unique link of fashion. Tribal african designs meet a more conventional model, opening up new aesthetic horizons. McCurry transports the cultural aspects and sceneries of the location to the viewer, and he throws the classic outlook out the window, giving the viewer the tools to get lost in an African wonderland. The campaign is, just like Valentino, the definition of diversity.

Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli stated, “We strongly believe that garments have the ability to be a vehicle in affirming concepts and that fashion has the task of expressing new demands. That is why we wanted to carry the essence of this collection in the place where the idea was born. We chose to work with Steve McCurry because his photography is synonym of travel, life moments, places, people and circumstances with which he creates a story through expressions, gestures and details. The story told by McCurry through his photography makes one imagine what lies before and after the photographic shot, which reflects the meaning of a dream. This is the same concept that coincides with our sense of fashion.”

Valentino’s Spring-Summer 2016 collection is bringing people together through the beautiful diversity of its campaign and the unique allure of its designs.

Cindy Menassa