I recently went on a trip to London, admittedly mostly for the shopping, but I always come back feeling a little more of a boost to get into designing because of the breadth of visual material available down there. I managed to visit Somerset House for their Valentino: Master of Couture show whilst there, which was beautiful/inspiring/a whole bag of positive adjectives. Being able to see all of the gowns up close was really special, but also intimidating because of the level of craft and graft that goes into making them.
Some of his most famous designs were on display, including the lovely Oscar gown Julia Roberts wore, and there were also, I have to say, some not so lovely dresses to see...the jungle/safari sub collection was not one I took time to stand and stare at. The whole show was really well put together, despite being quite a small space to show in. I wasn't allowed to take images in the exhibition so these have been sourced from online.
What I really liked about the exhibition was seeing some of the invitations that had been created as promotional material for his past shows, a small selection of which were displayed as part of the show.
Valentino's invitations fit perfectly with the brand's ethos as a creator of beautiful, classic and high quality clothing for women. There is a simplicity to the designs which leaves the focus on the attention to detail, such as the stocks used, the formats chosen and the adornments such as the ribbon. This is one area of graphic design that I have not yet explored but would really love to, and in the next year I would really like to have collaborated with a fashion design student to create branding and marketing for their work. 
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