Inside Paris Fashion—Giambattista Valli - artistic director Emanuel Ungaro - Brief Article - Interview

Interview, Oct, 2001

INGRID SISCHY: Giambattista, you're an Italian, now dedicated to a French house, the House of Ungaro. What did Paris symbolize for you before you got there?

GIAMBATTISTA VALLI: I always thought that Paris was the town of freedom--freedom for creativity, for fashion. All of my memories of Paris concern fashion--Ungaro, Yves Saint Laurent and others.

IS: And when you were young, what was your image of Paris?

GV: It was an image of a woman with very pale skin and red glossy lipstick smoking cigarettes. You can find women with that kind of style only in Paris.

IS: What period feels for you like the most glamorous in Paris fashion?

GV: Probably the '70s. Because I had this image of women at Studio 54 or in the Club Sept wearing dresses from couture houses.

IS: So tell me about Paris now.

GV: Paris is fantastic at the moment. There is a new energy, a new attitude from the younger generation. What I used to dream about Paris were the moments of Coco Chanel being friends with Cocteau, being friends with Picasso, Man Ray being friends with so and so. I always dreamt about that mix of energy and creativity reoccurring. And I feel so lucky to be in Paris in this moment. There's a new attitude. Everything is becoming less conventional; more instinctive, more human.

IS: What makes Paris the place for fashion?

GV: For me, it's the only place where you have moments that allow you to stay really with your soul inside--with yourself. During the winter in Paris, life is really lived inside. It's all about reading, thinking, listening to yourself, researching inside yourself.

IS: And how about what you get, for example, working at a house like Ungaro?

GV: It's fantastic. It's very important because it's like a laboratory where you can, with their help, turn dreams into reality.

Giambattista Valli is the Artistic Director of Emanuel Ungaro.