At Valentino, on the penultimate day of Paris Fashion Week, the fashion Insiders stopped  filming and snapping photos with their phones  and they  and gave Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli  not just a well-deserved round of applause, but a cheering standing ovation..

Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli made a research which resulted in the gorgeous fusions between Italian and African traditions. They met in the textiles and tailoring and the way the roman influences Chiuri and Piccioli had used in their couture show segued into tribal treatments—the strips of leather that began as a Gladiator reference became studded; the roman sandals gained carved ebony heels; the pagan necklaces of their former show now appeared in white ceramic, suggesting abstracted teeth or shells; and the house expertise in embroidery produced tiny beaded Masai-derived patterns and bold peacock feather trims.There were also the  african prints depicting tribal scenes of leopards, rhinos, giraffes and elephants, kinetic geometric tribal markings, while cuffs and necklines exploded in quills and peacock feathers. Fringing is a mainstay here and it swished in tiered raffia to make up a coat, and from suede miniskirts and capes. A series of tie-dye pieces – a jacquard coat, cargo jacket and pair of flares were also standout. And then came the fragile lace maxi dresses, so delicate they could almost evaporate right there and then.  More prêt-a-couture than ready-to-wear, this collection never pandered or dumbed down its chosen theme.