Pierre-François Valette nodded to the Left Bank intellectual for fall, his signature genderless tailoring inspired by author Françoise Sagan. “She’s the perfect image of a French bourgeoise, but with a rock touch,” summed up the designer, offering up his sixth collection with a runway presentation at the Palais de Tokyo, where he is part of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode’s Sphere showroom.
His nonchalant, elongated silhouettes included tailored coats in lightweight wool and a polka-dot crêpe silk pajama suit that was worn with a tone-on-tone collar and tie-cum belt that subtly highlighted the waist. Pearl buttons became jewelry-like embroideries, punctuating necklines and shoulders and giving the look an edgy touch.
Clever — and appealing — fabric innovation included a lacquered cotton imitating the sheen of leather without its stiffness, on overalls or a wrap-skirt-over-pant combo. Long tail tabs extended the front of a crisp white shirt or a wool jacket, performing the dual functionality of turning the latter into a wrap top when knotted around the waist.
More streetwise, a chunky zip-neck tweed sweatshirt was paired with matching slouchy pants, while Valette’s vision of an evening dress was an ankle-length T-shirt in transparent mesh.
If proof were needed that Valette is at ease — and rightly so — in his shoes, it was apparent in his footwear of choice: super-soft Repetto pumps, the quintessential shoe for arty Parisians, were styled with most of the looks.