VALENTINO SPRING SUMMER 2016 BY STEVE McCURRY

4:15 PM

Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli latest spring collection for Valentino has showcased what we can call an alluring fusions between Roman and African aesthetics.
Their goal? To express a message of hope with their art:

“Our emotions about African culture, the idea of beauty [achieved by] the interaction different cultures, the idea of tolerance, this is the message we wanted to deliver”

[Pierpaolo Piccioli]

Therefore it should not be surprising to find out where the desining duo staged their new campaign: Africa, and more specifically the Amboseli National Park in Kenya.

No fashion it-photographer was hired for the campaign, just one of the most important names in the history of photography: Steve McCurry, the man who gifted National Geographic with his most iconic picture, 'Afghan Girl', which appeared on the magazine’s June 1985 cover.
Clearly the Italian label wanted to deliver a cultural vision of Africa, not a fashionable one.

Here is what McCurry told WWD about shooting the campaign for Valentino:

“The idea of these pictures is to take the viewer on a journey. The clothes were inspired by African motifs, [so] to take the shoot to Africa and show how these things interact and, this connection of the clothes, the models, the environment, the local people; I thought it was a great endeavor.”

The full cast of model features Alice Metza, Cameron Traiber, Greta Varlese, Kirin Dejonckheere and Tami Williams.

Along with the models, the advertisements features also some Maasai people, who are beautifully portrayed in their native attire.