Valentino Pink PP X Douglas Coupland: A Love Letter For Our Times
Valentino celebrates the written word yet again in its latest capsule collection that spurs some self reflection, in style.
Valentino’s Pink PP collection has lit the fashion world aflame for some time. Ever since the Fall/Winter 2023 collection was first shown at Paris Fashion Week in March this year, the bespoke fuchsia shade, designed by Pierpaolo Piccioli with the Pantone Colour Institute, has received plenty of airtime on the red carpet. Designs from the outing have been spotted on the backs of stars like Zendaya, Conan Gray and drag superstar Symone – and all this before the collection drops in stores officially this month.
The Valentino Pink PP collection has been making its rounds long before it hits shelves – seen on stars from (clockwise from top left) Vanessa Hudgens, Tommy Dorfman, Lay Zhang and Susie Bubble.
Now that the collection has finally hit shelves here, the Pink PP is finding more ways to seep into our wardrobes. Valentino has released an exclusive online capsule in collaboration with Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland, best known for his debut novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (1991), which popularised the term ‘Generation X’ a.k.a. boomers. You might’ve guessed that this collection is also the latest in Valentino’s Words Only campaign, in which the brand teams up with literary powerhouses to marry the best of thought and fashion.
Conan Gray rocks a look from the Pink PP collection for a show in Milan in May.
Decked out in the Pink PP x Douglas Coupland sweatshirts and tees, you’ll literally make a statement as Coupland’s quirky quotes are emblazoned across your chest, entirely in upper case letters. These are Coupland’s genuine, off-the-cuff meditations conceived just for Valentino, that offer a small taste of the quick wit he displays in his writing.
Author and visual artist Douglas Coupland penned this off-the-cuff slogans for his capsule collection for Valentino Pink PP.
These quotes don’t just look good, they’re succinct and apt descriptions of the times we’re living in, too. Seeing a sweatshirt scream “MY BRAIN FEELS LIKE FRIDGE MAGNET POETRY” really gets us thinking about how humans have come to have increasingly short attention spans and…wait, what were we saying again? Right, fashionably bite-sized quotes that pack a punch in philosophical reflections. (Scroll below for a peek.)
An artist impression of the upcoming Pink PP installation in the Chinese coastal city of Qinhuangdao.
The Pink PP will continue its adventures in art and culture beyond this capsule. It will be landing in Aranya, in the northern Chinese port city of Qinhuangdao, with a series of installations in the neighbourhood, drenched in the shocking pink hue, followed by a pop-up from Sep 21 till end of Oct. And for two days from Sep 21, it will travel to Seoul Wave Art Centre – a landmark located in the middle of Seoul’s Han river, which will be shining in glamorous Pink PP lights.