Paris Fashion Week: A fluttery mesh at Valentino

In a season when everyone is showing the kind of feminine frills and bows that Valentino made his signatures, it is too bad that the house's new designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli could not have produced a more compelling collection.

The focal point was the short dress done in boudoir pale shades of sheer organza folded and draped into overly frilly meringues, creating the effect of the dress wearing the woman, rather than the other way around. Gowns were also overwrought with too much sheer mesh, and too many bows and sequins.

Sparkly sheer lace pants and T-shirts, and a leather jacket covered in sculpted roses seemed to be on the right track, as far as making the brand relevant to a new generation. But even the limited edition shoes, customized by milliner Philip Treacy with stiff lace frills jutting out the back, couldn't disguise that this was a collection thin on ideas.

-- Booth Moore

Photos: Valentino's Spring-Summer 2010 runway

All the Rage: More from Paris Fashion Week

Follow the Image section on Twitter.

Follow fashion critic Booth Moore on Twitter.

Photo: Valentino's Spring-Summer 2010 show. Photo credit: Peter Stigter & Jonas Gustavsson / For The Times