The entire interview on Book Moda Woman latest issue (N.13)
28th January, 2009, the Aula Magna of the Sorbonne in Paris. Suddenly applause breaks out, like thunder shaking what, till that moment had been the stillest air, breaking a spell which seemed to have bewitched the previously completely silent audience. Among the first to jump to their feet and applaud were Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, the tension in their face muscles visibly relaxing, their expressions changing to barely held back tears. On the other hand tears streamed down the faces of Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli who were backstage and where the Italian press (including myself, ed) had struggled to join them in a series of one-to-one fights with bodyguards who were trying, without much luck, to hold back the assault. Here these two designers tell us precisely how a new story began that day, a kind of official investiture in the roles of creative directors, like the cavaliers and the round table, except that the table was square in the atelier and Valentino was in the place of King Arthur.
What helped you most to achieve that highly prized position; luck, talent, or also a little recklessness?
MGC: Work. Hard work and some innocence in accepting the job. But good luck too, being in the right place at the right time.
PPP: Yes, a little of everything, but above all lots of hard work. Our greatest emotion was in achieving an aim but which was in fact only a starting point… it is much harder to maintain this kind of position than achieve it in the first place.
PPP: At the start it really was very challenging…there were those who said “who knows how long these two will last?” and then, you can imagine, we were like two aliens, like two bulls in a china shop, anti-establishment…I wore flip flops and all the others were in jackets and ties, Maria Grazia had platinum blond hair (she looked like a German). I remember one of the warehouse men said: “If these two last it means the company really has changed”…fantastic!
How did you relate to Valentino at first?
MGC: Very well! We were able to put ourselves at the service of the name and bring innovation to the brand without betraying its DNA.
PPP: We came from Fendi and thought we might have started at Valentino after 6 months but in fact he asked us to design a collection of accessories for the Paris show and in only two months… so we had to try, it really wasn’t very long…in record time we made all the accessories and brought them to the show at the very last minute and it all went very well…
MGC: I remember one funny thing…Valentino told us, before leaving for Paris: “Don’t forget, no boots, I won’t use them!” In fact he ended up doing the whole show with black patent boots and the few that weren’t black we had to dye by hand!
PPP: …so we got into the habit of taking everything to Paris at the very last minute, Valentino didn’t like that much though!
What do you share with Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti?
MGC: Perfection. We never tire of trying to achieve it, every single one of us.
PPP: I would also add that we never stop working. Our work is our great passion, as our very patient other halves know all too well!
