Giambattista Valli Opens Glamorous Summer Season Boutique in Cannes

Just as the world’s attention turns to the Cannes red carpet for the next two weeks, Giambattista Valli has opened a summer season pop-up shop.

“I thought it was a very nice location and very coherent,” he said of selecting the South of France city for the outpost. “There are a lot of people from all over the world passing by Cannes and it is something very French, but the same time is extremely International. There is that kind of glamour of the red carpet of the film festival, but then throughout the season it is very nice.”

Valli noted that Forbes France recently named him “the most French of Italian couturiers,” and he takes pride in the title.

“I can say half my culture is French,” the Roman designer said. “I can say it’s the best part of France because it is a mix between French and Italians. Italy is just across the border.”

There’s more to Cannes than its two weeks in the spotlight, he added. “I like the city, with and without the festival. It’s really like two faces of the same coin. What I like is that there’s a kind of ‘everything can happen’ even at the last second. That, I really love.”

The shop is nestled between the Martinez and the Carlton hotels on the Croisette. The space was designed by Lebanese architect Rudy Faisal, and is Valli’s first boutique in the South of France and fourth in the world.

The 2,800-square-foot interior echoes his Paris boutique, bathed in Valli’s signature soft pink, perfectly coordinated with blooms of hydrangeas in the same shade. Long white settees sit center stage, with ‘Positano’ scented candles from his collaboration with Cire Trudon scenting the room.

He set out to create a universe. “It’s a place to tell a story, not to have a duty-free kind of stand on the street,” he said. He noted the fresh bouquet echoed the summery prints.

“The flowers have exactly the same feeling as the ones on the dress,” he said. “You come in, you have an experience, you feel at home.”

The selection spans lightweight, colorful gowns, day dresses, coordinates from the resort and spring collections, as well as swimwear and accessories. One key piece is Valli’s new “Esopo” — nicknamed the “turtle bag” — first unveiled on the runway during the spring 2024 collection. The bag is shaped like a turtle shell and translated into pastel shades and various finishes. The idea was inspired by Aesop’s fable “The Hare and the Tortoise,” and symbolizes Valli’s philosophy of taking things one steady step at a time.

The boutique opened May 1, and gowns have been popular. “Gowns are really having their strongest moment in the town right now,” he said.

As if on cue, a customer entered the store looking for a last-minute red-carpet gown.

Valli, who scored a coup dressing Hayley Atwell for the festival’s biggest premiere, “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” Wednesday night, does not sign ambassadors to his house.

“It’s so beautiful when there’s no obligation — it’s spontaneous, like falling in love,” he said. Fashion fans include a variety of personalities, from Megan Thee Stallion to Ariana Grande to Atwell.

“What I like is the mental position of a woman,” he said. “It’s not about the body, the skin, whatever. I just love the soul. The attitude. And I always like independent girls. You’re the leader of yourself.”

It’s an ethos that informs his designs, which are meant to be lived in. “The dresses are like dead bodies if there is not the personality. It’s like empty rooms. The biggest power is the final person and how they interpret everything.”

As for the red carpet, Atwell’s look would be the only thing of Valli’s on the red carpet since the designer was planning to head to his hotel. He prefers to keep a low profile.

“I love my creations to be under the spotlight on the red carpet and everything,” he said. “But my face and myself — I love always to be a little bit more to the side.”

This desire for discretion extends to his view on the luxury business. “Even cheap becomes almost luxury now, and luxury becomes cheap. There’s no meaning,” he said. “But I think that the real meaning of luxury today is privacy.”

Still, the festival’s new dress code encouraging people to cover up, as well as turn down the volume on big dresses and long trains, are not in tune with his creative positioning.

Valli remains adamant about the importance of fashion as escapism. “You cannot be elitist. People need to dream. We’ve had amazing moments, Diane Kruger, Kendall Jenner, Priyanka Chopra,” he said of some of his fashion greatest hits. Jenner has told him that her appearance at the amfAR gala in a bright pink gown is one of her most popular looks of all time. He also cited historical looks that were racy at the time, such as Brigitte Bardot. “These are moments that people remember.”

“I very much liked the idea of Cannes, because it was something that followed the story of the label,” he said. The boutique will be open until November, and then he will analyze if it will remain permanent or if he will try other locations.

Valli hints that he has other openings in the works, with new projects coming soon.

“I work in my own way. I don’t look to others. I keep the customer first and I always want to evolve,” he said. “I write chapters of the same book, but new chapters. There’s always an interpretation. You don’t know what you can find, but there is always a new story.”