It's Official: Valli Gains Couture Status

Couture governing body Fédération Française de la Couture granted the Italian designer full couture appellation after just one season as a guest member. Typically, designers have to wait five years before achieving full couture status.

Valli’s couture debut in July captivated fashion-watchers with its romantic excesses. His leopard-print ballgowns with full-length cloaks, light-as-air ruffled chiffon cocktail dresses and embellished day coats handily populated the wish lists of style stars such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Caroline Sieber and Olivia Palermo.

Indeed, Valli’s ability to attract a new generation of couture clients proved a mark in his favour when it came to membership.

Didier Grumbach, the president of France’s Chambre Syndicale, told WWD: ‘It was clear from his show [in July] that he has caught the attention of a new generation of customers, and he immediately took important orders for his couture... it’s true that the haute couture appellation gives him legitimacy, but objectively speaking, he is already part of the system.’

See Valli's first couture collection