Giambattista Valli’s FW24 Collection Is Inspired By One Of New York’s Most Glamorous Style Icons
The Italian designer celebrates his friendship with Lee Radziwill in his latest collection: “She was my swan, my forever muse,” says Giambattista Valli
New York socialites have always dominated the silver screen, and this year’s TV series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans has turned the public gaze to one particular circle of Manhattan elite in the 1960s. American author Truman Capote had a circle of glamorous, couture-clad female friends, whom he called his ‘swans’. He enjoyed all the trappings of success with them, from yachting holidays in the Mediterranean to uptown parties. One of these swans was Lee Radziwill, a regular in the pages of Vogue at the time, known for her impeccable taste. It was widely believed that she helped advise her sister, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, on wardrobe choices, and she worked for Diana Vreeland at Harper’s Bazaar.
Radziwill moved in fashionable circles and was a close friend of designer Giambattista Valli, whose fall/winter 2024 collection celebrates their friendship. “She definitely opened the portal to my understanding of timeless beauty; I revered her mental and cultural posture, her impeccable eye for editing,” Giambattista Valli said to Vogue backstage. “She was my swan, my forever muse.” Her sister Jackie might have been one of the most photographed women in the world; however, there is no shortage of Slim Aarons and Cecil Beaton pictures documenting Radziwill’s own style choices. Giambattista Valli’s FW24 moodboard was filled with archival imagery of the debutante, including snapshots of her in an extravagant embroidered column gown by Mila Schön, which she wore to Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball in 1966.
Radziwill was also known for her equally grand taste in interiors and had her own interior design career, which was announced in Vogue with an article titled “Find a New Job: Lee Radziwill.” Giambattista Valli’s moodboard wasn’t just about fashion; it also included images of her gilded, delicate interiors designed by Renzo Mongiardino and Christian Liaigre (the former’s vision is specifically mentioned in the collection notes). Her second marriage to Polish Prince Stanislaw Radziwill saw her become European royalty. They moved into a flat on Buckingham Place, right behind the Palace, and worked with Mongiardino on the rich, regal aesthetic.
“She definitely opened the portal to my understanding of timeless beauty; I revered her mental and cultural posture, her impeccable eye for editing
”Giambattista Valli
Giambattista Valli explains in the collection notes that these clothes convey a “message of beauty,” and Lee Radziwill certainly had an eye for the finer things. “She edits herself. She edits her wardrobe. She edits her life,” former American Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley famously said. The runway show opened with a parade of polished, uptown silhouettes, featuring tailored duchesse coats, short A-line shift dresses you’d expect to see in Manhattan in the 1960s, and modern ankle-grazing pants – all realized in a minimal black, white, and cream color palette. It increasingly becomes a story about texture, as Valli steadily introduces thread ramage embroideries on tulle, velvets, rich tweeds, sequin macramés, and herbarium prints that embody the rich beauty and special fabrications you’d find in Radziwill’s personal wardrobe.
Radziwill also had a soft spot for blushing hues. She had a pink sofa in her Parisian apartment and often wore shift dresses in this sugary shade. The Giambattista Valli collection transitions from a muted, monochrome palette to focus on the color of rose petals, from dark reds to soft petal pinks. It also includes several dresses that could be worn to a masquerade ball in the 1960s or the present day, featuring whimsical floral gowns and sequin jumpsuits. It’s a level of glamour that Lee Radziwill would certainly approve of.