For Valentino’s fall 2024 show, creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli eschewed the bold and bright colors he’s been fascinated by the past few seasons in favor of a single hue: black. Black gowns, black suits, black everything: even down to the ultra-glossy lipstick that defined each model’s face. Dubbed Valentino Le Noir, the collection was a celebration and exploration of Piccioli’s craft, distilled and rendered into a digestible idea of wearable beauty.

Piccioli explored almost every angle and texture on the spectrum. There were gossamer sheer flowing gowns, structured zip-up hoodies, tailored tops and trousers with matching opera gloves, and bomber jackets in matching glossy slick textures. Both sides of formality and casual dressing were represented, from bouncy tulle tiered skirts with simple turtlenecks to crochet mini dresses with blazers thrown on top.

Was the collection an exercise in restraint? It depends on who you ask, but many of the silhouettes presented were classic and inherently true to the Valentino DNA. Atop a shiny black runway—which stood beneath a series of decadent chandeliers—it was easy to see why black is fashion’s favorite neutral. “Black is a color not of sobriety but of exuberance, a shade that offers rebellion to romance,” stated the show notes.

Staging a fashion show all in one color might have been a deliberately strong statement, but going all black is also commercially safe for the luxury retail market, especially right now. Black suits every one, for every season. It’s inoffensive, flattering, and chic—with a serious history and charm to go along with it.

But the all-black looks also offered a rare sort of clarity we don’t see too often on the runways. By removing all the wild fantasias of colors, the focus was on the shape, silhouette, and texture. The pieces that really wowed were those Piccioli wonderlands of play: spirited tops full of long swaying sequins, sheer lace gowns with intricate collars, and outerwear with laser-cut flowers or puffs of mohair. Textured bags were styled to match, and carried as clutches or top-handle wonders. Going back to black doesn’t have to be basic.