The Softer Turn Has a 1997 Valentino Reference

Fashion is leaning romantic again, and WWD's archive desk points to a precise source: Valentino, spring 1997. It's a well-chosen reference, a house collection pinned to one season and one year, so the comparison has an exact address instead of a vague nod to "the nineties." For readers in New York, Palm Beach or Beverly Hills who hold onto the good pieces, it's a reminder that the current mood has a pedigree. The present has turned gentle and graceful, and it found its precedent nearly three decades back on a Valentino runway.

With reporting from WWD Fashion.