The Valentino look? Three words: delicate, elegant, and fluid. It’s in this vein that the duo Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli took over the artistic reins of the Valentino brand in 2008, under the direction of CEO Stefani Sassi. The history and success of Valentino is inextricably tied to Italy, la dolce vita, and a Fellini-esque atmosphere, but the Chiuri-Piccioli duo went in a more elegant and feminine direction. In 2010, Valentino showed off a brand new attitude of showy elegance. It was indeed for Fall/Winter 2010 that the designers presented the Rockstuds collection, a sleek manifesto to indiscipline. The crowds went wild in Paris, surprised to see highly elegant silhouettes punctuated by studded shoes on a 6 cm-tall heel. In reality, the Rockstuds’ success resides in this irreverence as stylistic tradition dictates that shoes with such a high heel should have a classic and more conservative curve to them. The Rockstuds thus present an insolently sexy new design. The fashion world was deeply moved: they’d been waiting for something like this for a while, a creation uniting femininity, punk, and insolence within a luxurious and elegant complexion. Who else but Valentino could have struck such a perfect balance?
That’s why these shoes have been enthroned in the ranks of “it shoes” ever since winter 2010. Iconic and timeless, the Rockstuds’ success also resides in their infinite style combos. Black, white, beige, red, navy blue, pink, green, yellow, zebra, striped, dove grey, with or without external adornments, black or gold studs… Their on-point design, indecently flirting with the ankles, perfectly espouses the curve of the foot. The Rockstuds are available in several different versions as well, 10 cm, 6.5 cm with a double strap at the ankle, or even a ballerina flat version… With no concessions, their camber is insolent and elongating. Ladylike with a wild side, the Rockstuds perfectly incarnate a shoe for the women of today: definitely insolent, fascinating for some, they are nonetheless sleek and highly distinguished.
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