Sala Bianc 945 from Valentino

As you may have heard, the house of Valentino celebrated the opening of its Fifth Avenue flagship store Wednesday.

The evening, named Sala Bianca 945, featured a walk through an installation by Italian designer Fornasetti, followed by an Haute Couture fashion show designed by Valentino’s Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli.

To celebrate the opening of the Fifth Avenue store in New York City, Valentino unveiled a special capsule collection of women’s and men’s ready-to-wear items, accessories and a Christmas ornament decorated with a red heart, all designed by Creative Directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli exclusively for this occasion.

This almost invisible approach to the creative gesture leads to the use of the five senses as symbols that both Valentino and Fornasetti use to navigate the path of their utterly different vocabulary. In this experiential exchange among two of the most iconic Italian brands of fashion and design we will encounter what we could call a “parallel vision” making a lose reference to parallel processing which is the ability of the brain to simultaneously process incoming stimuli of differing quality.

The New York project is finally about participation, involving the viewer to become an essential element of the experiment and a witness of quality. Using as the “container” or the “packaging” for this collaboration is the amazing and iconic building by Marcel Breuer on Madison Avenue create a new dimension within the very nature of Valentino’s and Fornasetti’s production. The Breuer architecture with its changing scale and upside down window also challenges and enhances our sense and special experience as much Valentino and Fornasetti do. With New York as the universe we can see the Breuer building transform itself into a temporary time capsule, a spaceship where Valentino’s and Fornasetti’s journey take place looking both backwards and forwards at the same time and with a diminished intensity both ways. 

Valentino’s Fifth Avenue store opened its doors in August 2014. Situated at 693 Fifth Avenue, the 20.000 square feet flagship marks an important step in the development of Valentino’s worldwide retail network expansion, and it continues the innovative store concept developed by Creative Directors, together with David Chipperfield Architects.


The Fifth Avenue Flagship will carry all product categories: women’s ready-to-wear, accessories, along with a complete men’s collection. Valentino currently has 160 free-standing boutiques worldwide, including 14 U.S. boutiques.

Learn more at http://www.valentino.com/