Spotlight: Valentino San Francisco
Photo Credit: Nick Coletsos
Photo Credit: Nick Coletsos
Photo Credit: Nick Coletsos
Photo Credit: Nick Coletsos
Photo Credit: Nick Coletsos
Photo Credit: Nick Coletsos
Photo Credit: Nick Coletsos
Photo Credit: Nick Coletsos
Photo Credit: Nick Coletsos
Photo Credit: Nick Coletsos
Photo Credit: Nick Coletsos
As the lunar New Year breaks in San Francisco, fashion is in full bloom. Union Square now boasts a new Valentino boutique in addition to a reworked Salvatore Ferragamo, a recently opened Alexander McQueen concept store and a Ghurka outpost. The elegant and spare Valentino shop at 105 Grant Avenue (in a four-floor space formerly occupied by Juicy Couture) adds a romantic yet opulent—and quintessentially Valentino—sophistication to the windy street corner.
British born architect David Chipperfield collaborated with Valentino Creative Directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli (who took the reigns from Valentino Garavani in 2008) to create an intimate palazzo-like backdrop for ready-to-wear collections for men and women, shoes, and accessories. From the custom gray Venetian terrazzo that lines the interiors and the molded gypsum curtains covering the walls to the leather and American walnut furniture, the store is crafted as meticulously as each of the legendary label’s studded handbags and shoes.
The San Francisco location is the first American Valentino boutique to carry the men’s collection, and the new space is stocked with sharp spring ’14 looks including slim-fitting pants, edgy jackets, form-fitting suit separates and tuxedo shirts. Chandeliers and LED-lit racks and shelving give a special glow to the women’s spring ’14 collection, comprised of vibrant embroidered jackets, dresses, skirts and separates ready to be paired with the line’s coveted studded shoes, bags, and accessories. Season after season, Chiuri and Piccioli have expertly mixed pretty dresses with tough accoutrements in combinations that have come to define 21st-century Valentino and their new San Francisco boutique also adroitly navigates that line.
By Megan Meyer
Pictured: The new Valentino boutique in San Francisco.
Photo by Nick Coletsos
