It might seem a little theatrical to cry at a fashion show, but Celine Dion was among the many brought to tears by the Valentino couture show yesterday, 23 January.
Dion loves fashion, and has been known to cheer and clap at catwalk shows (at Giambattista Valli in 2017, she jumped up and down in delight), often leading standing ovations. She is truly interested in clothes - in fact, she arrived in Paris for the couture shows in a bold leopard print tracksuit by Baja East.
She was the first celebrity to wear Demna Gvasalia's Balenciaga when, in 2016, she stepped out in an acid green dress which she teamed with thigh-high boots and a biker jacket. This is a woman who could identify between Guo Pei and Alexandre Vaulthier with the ease of a seasoned fashion editor. Celine Dion takes fashion seriously.
So, it comes as no surprise that she was seen crying at Pierpaolo Piccioli's Valentino couture show. The superstar was pictured wiping her eyes with a tissue at the sight of the brand's jaw-droppingly beautiful, sweeping taffeta gowns, which were modelled by a diverse line-up, with Naomi Campbell hired to close the show.
Dion wasn't the only person to feel moved by the show. Surprisingly for an ordinarily po-faced fashion industry, many editors and fashion directors took to social media to admit that they had felt overcome by the beauty of the clothes.
'A wonderfully life-enhancing couture show,' wrote Harper's Bazaar UK editor-in-chief Justine Picardie on Instagram. 'It’s very rare to see a collection that evokes such collective emotion in an audience - but this was one of those occasions that brought everyone together, in the knowledge that we are very lucky indeed to witness such creativity, combined with a real warmth and authenticity... bravo Pierpaolo Piccioli.'
Bazaar's fashion director Avril Mair added: 'I’ve seldom heard such a collective intake of breath as when each look at tonight’s @maisonvalentino show appeared - or seen so many tears by the end. Sometimes I feel very lucky to work in such an industry.'
Everything you need to see from the SS24 couture shows
