Giambattista Valli special guest at Pitti

Giambattista Valli, the Paris-based red carpet designer, will be the special guest at next season's Pitti W Woman Pre-collection fair, showing his autumn winter 2009/10 range to selected press and buyers. Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti Immagine said: "We are happy that Giambattista has chosen Florence fashion week and Pitti W for his first Italian showing. He is one of the great Italian talents in contemporary fashion."

Pitti also announced a string of new additions to each of its fairs, combating crunch-wary buyers and, according to Pitti, "increased competition from China, especially for Pitti Filati."

At Pitti Uomo, New York designer Thom Browne will show his autumn/winter 2009/10 collection at a special catwalk event. Running alongside will be an exhibition of work from Comme des Garçons, curated by designer Rei Kawakubo.

Born in 1966 in Rome, Giambattista Valli has been signing his collections since 2005, and usually shows them in Paris where he lives and works. He studied at the European Design Institute and then took an illustration course at Central Saint Martins in London. From 1988 to 1990 he worked in Roberto Capucci’s atelier. In 1990 he went to Fendi and then to Krizia in 1995 and finally, to Emanuel Ungaro in Paris in 1997. Today, the press and buyers from all over the world acclaim his collections on the Paris runways and his clothes are always on the red carpets on Hollywood, Cannes and Venice.

His look is a continuous reference to the classics, with citations from the great nonconformists, Elsa Schiaparelli and Walter Albini, and Capucci, for colors and sensational shapes. He explores shape and structure with a body-artist’s approach to make sculpted, structured yet lightweight couture creations, and explores futuristic silhouettes with shocking colors mixing precious materials and tech fabrics.

Image: Giambattista catwalk