⁍ Fashion group Valentino ditched the glitzy setting of central Paris for a foundry on the outskirts of Milan to present its latest collection.

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⁍ The show brought down the curtain on Milan fashion week, which has hosted a mix of physical and virtual catwalks for its first edition since coronavirus restrictions.

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⁍ Valentino had never presented a women’s collection in Milan, and its last menswear show in Italy’s fashion capital was in 2007.

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– For the first time in nearly a decade, Valentino presented a women’s collection on a live catwalk, Reuters reports. But this time, the guests were all wearing face masks. “In normal times we’d be in Place Vendome in Paris, but now here we are all wearing face masks,” designer Pierpaolo Piccioli says. “When, in late August, we decided to go ahead with the catwalk, it seemed appropriate to support Italy at such a difficult time and give our backing to the Italian fashion system.”