While the ebb and flow of the coronavirus pandemic has left fashion’s underbelly exposed and forced most live events off the calendar for the time being, The Show, the ne plus ultra for media pundits and arbiters of taste alike, has been taken to task by one Pierpaolo Piccioli.

Unveiling his Valentino collection on July 21 at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios, the designer teamed with Nick Knight to tease a detail-scant taste of his latest. Running one minute and two seconds at length, set to the sounds of FKA Twigs, and heralded “Of Grace and Light” – the trailer serves as an ad-hoc, gray-scale, delphic interpretation of couture, breaking from the disenchantment of digital shows, softening their edges as drama chez Knight.

“A couture creation comes to life only through movement, light, colors, and music, but mostly through the human being beneath it, wrapped in it, welcomed by its fabric,” said Piccioloi. “The one who dances and the one who dreams. Couture is alive, and so is the dream.”

In fact, that ineffable quality of the show (hard to capture but none the less pursued) was wholly inspired by the pioneering dance of Loie Fuller, the enduring template of the Art Nouveau movement. Fuller’s embodiment of modern dance “is reflected in the freedom, elegance and the grace in this collection for Valentino by Pierpaolo,” Knight said in a statement. “Pierpaolo and I wanted to create a fashion Renaissance, totally free to speak a language based on beauty and fantasy.”

Explore the magic of Valentino couture in real time on their website, July 21, 10:00 am EST.