Was there a Giam?

Since I was relegated to the house the past few weeks, I missed the launch of the Giambattista Valli x H&M collaboration this November. So now, I don't know if it was met by the usual mad rush of shoppers, or if they flew off the shelves in record time.

I'll find out for myself when I finally go to an H&M store next week.

I'm not expecting much. But if I see this dress is still there, I just might get it.

Let's see.

Valli of the dolls

Looking through the Giambattista Valli x H&M collection, it looks like he was inspired by his most recent collections.

A lot of the dresses were made of voluminous tulle, similar to the iconic dress he made for Rihanna. The color palette is pastel, with pinks and peaches taking center stage.

Among the lot, I’m drawn to this dress.

What I’m not drawn to is the price. I’m computing their US dollar prices up pesos, and the gown will ring up to more than P30,000!

That Valli is steep!

That's my Giam!

We interrupt this barrage of posts about Seoul for a very important announcement:

Giambattista Valli is the next designer to collaborate with H&M!

Judging by the initial looks that were released, he's leveraging on his tulle phase for this capsule collection. And I'm not surprised. It's been his most-talked-about phase, especially after Rihanna wore that poufy, pink gown.

They've released part of the look book, and I noticed there were a lot of tulle confections. I also noticed that some of the dresses, when converted into pesos, would be worth around P30,000! These H&M collaborations are getting expensive every year.

But knowing how he's one of the hottest names in couture today, people will jam the stores to get a piece.

Once, there was a Valli

It's always a thrill to find items from fast fashion collaborations like Uniqlo x 3.1 Philip Lim, H&M x Lanvin, and H&M x Versace. While these items are a bit tricky to find, the fact that there are Uniqlo and H&M stores in Asia makes the task easy to do.

So, when I find items from collaborations that aren't found in Asia, then that becomes a bigger thrill. The perfect example would be these items from the Giambattista Valli collection from Macy's that my brother Biboy scored from the U.S. The items arrived before Christmas, and they're much cooler than I imagined them to be.

First is this raspberry dress with layers of ruffles.



It looked nice in the photo, and it's even nicer in real life. the ruffles are soft and flouncy, but still gives the dress a bit of structure.



Yup, my sister is going to be a "Valli girl" in this number.



The other items is the dress I wrote about more than a month ago.

What makes this dress so eye catching is that the jacquard material is actually shiny and sparkly. Which makes it stand out amidst the strong color block provided by the black ponte and fuchsia grossgrain material.



Yes, another product of the Valli, now here in the city.



That's the second designer collaboration that I've scored this year. Up next: Marni x H&M and Jason Wu for Target!

Captured!

Thanks to the efforts of my brother Biboy, that wild, leopard print dress by Giambattista Valli has been captured! It's the one on the right side of the photo.



Come December, it's time for my sister to domesticate that wild cat of a dress.

Sweet Valli High

When news of Giambattista Valli's capsule collection for Macy's came out, I didn't think there would be that much excitement since he's not that big a household name in the U.S.

But I've always liked his designs. He likes to play with color, texture and prints - all at the same time. One might think this cacophony is confusing, but he has a way of putting them together in a chic way. Like this dress that plays with black and white, print and texture:



His Macy's collection has one dress that has the same spirit as the one above. This one plays with black and red, plus two animal prints. Again, that might be confusing for some, but for Valli, it all comes together perfectly.



Maybe I should ask Biboy to hunt down this animal for me.