Valentino Rethink House Codes with Craig Green Collaboration

Craig Green x Rockstud X Valentino Garavani, the project teased earlier this year, was finally unveiled today as the Italian brand's artistic director Pierpaolo Piccioli called upon the London menswear designer to reinvent one of Valentino's most iconic house codes. Taking the 'Rockstud' and applying it to a trainer design for Valentino Garavani, Green has married his own design aesthetic seamlessly into a new world, which fans of both brands are sure to love.

The 'Rockstud', first introduced by Piccioli and then co-creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, is inspired by the cruciform shapes found on Roman doors. The Valentino Garavani 'Rockstud' heel has since become a key accessory for the label, with the triangular detail also making its way onto clothes and accessories. This new project celebrates its 10th anniversary.

In modernising the Italian powerhouse, Piccioli has endeavoured to expand the Valentino community, inviting different viewpoints to reinterpret the brand's DNA. Previously, he's invited magazines to recontextualise the VLogo, and teamed up with Undercover's Jun Takahashi for A/W 19. Inviting Craig Green into the realm was perhaps the most surprising move yet.

In contrast to the Italian high fashion world of Valentino, Green's menswear might seem at odds. Green's work is more subdued and more still - it's contemplative in a way the Valentino man or woman doesn't have time to be. And yet, the Craig Green x Rockstud X Valentino Garavani trainer design may just be Piccioli's most successful act of resignification yet.

Placing an emphasis on the sole of the shoe, the 'Rockstud' has been enlarged and holds the wearer in a protective manner - it's both functional and aesthetically bold - protection being a key theme at Craig Green. The graphic silhouette Green has created fits well into Piccioli's Valentino, to which he has brought an injection of youth and edge.

Available in four colourways of ivory, khaki, black and dove grey, the shoes launch exclusively in Dover Street Marker London and Ginza today, 12 June 2021, alongside an exclusive installation which nods to the wearable sculptures Green sends down the runway each season, and also to the theme of protection. The structure is made of wood and paper components and entirely low environmental impact elements. The men's trainer will later be released in selected Valentino boutiques and online.