Valentino Couture Show

Following the not entirely elegant dismissal of Alessandra Facchinetti after two short seasons and the promotion of the accessory team as her replacements, the house of Valentino needs to regain its sense of equilibrium. Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli had backup on their first outing as haute couturiers. The retired Valentino Garavani and his entourage descended into the arena (a grand domed lecture theater in the Sorbonne) to endorse the debut, taking their ringside seats amid the kind of applause that might have once been accorded to a Roman emperor.