WTI Magazine #37    2014 July, 2
Author : Maria Teresa Squillaci      Translation by:

Today's big fashion news is that Giambattista Valli is introducing a new ready-to-wear line called Giamba, less than 10 years after he launched his own label.
So what can we expect from this new line? Giambattista himself described it as powerful, active, on fire, free-soul, courageous, aristocratic, effortless and unique, fearless, tomboy, own-minded, nomad, fresh and fab.

"All my friends call me Giamba, and the moniker reflects the spirit of this new project. It's another side of the same coin, another collection that runs in parallel with the designer brand, one completing the other," Valli told Women Wears Daily.

"There is also a playful, underground and sexy side in me and in my designs that you will see in the Giamba line. I've been thinking about it for a while and waited for the right time, and now it's matured. I am really very happy".

Giambattista hopes his upcoming offering will target the same customers, who he describes as "Valli Girls", at a different stage in their lives, when they "have evolved, sometimes married and had children". His designs have been worn by the likes of actress Diane Kruger and fashion journalist Lauren Santo Domingo.

This new line will debut at Milan Fashion Week in September, as he said: "France has given me a lot, but so has Italy and a part of me is returning to the country." The Italian designer was born in Rome and started his career in Italy after studying at Central Saint Martins. Before launching his own label in 2005, he worked at Roberto Capucci, Fendi and Krizia.

In 1997, he then moved to Paris and became Emanuel Ungaro's successor. The Italian-born French designer launched his eponymous label in 2005 and held his first solo show in Paris. Valli has made a name for himself in the fashion industry for his sophisticated, refined aesthetic, dressing women including Diane Kruger, Alice Dellal and Charlotte Casiraghi.