Well, it looks like Pierpaolo Piccioli caught up on his summer reading. It’s been a couple of years since A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara’s 2015 acclaimed novel – fever swept the world but we can’t blame him for taking his time, when you’re busy running Valentino there can’t be that much free time to read a 700-page novel about trauma and abuse.

Blending the worlds of fashion and literature, Piccioli presented us with Valentino the Narratives, a show that aimed to “re-examine a meaning of masculinity, to discover a new, modern perspective.” Using Hanya Yanagihara’s 2015 novel as the lens through which to explore this new take on masculinity in contemporary society, Piccioli aimed to up-end all that we see as menswear.

It makes sense for our moment. In many ways, traditional masculinity is out. What’s in is subversions of masculinity. It has become rarer for male celebrities to turn up to events or red carpets wearing something as traditional as a suit. Piccioli is well aware of this and has, effectively, queered the suit. No longer an item of clothing used to fit in, Piccioli’s suits from this season screamed to be noticed. From looks in Valentino’s trademark pink to tailored shorts and oversized blazers, there was a sense that Piccioli blew up the concept of the suit and then pieced it back together, all mismatched and clashing, yet tasteful.

Of course, there is no more obvious way of portraying subverted masculinity than through floral imagery, and we had that in abundance here. Long stalks sneaked up shirt fronts while elsewhere their heads appeared as all-over prints, like a couture take on the Hawaiian shirt. Continuing Valentino’s ethos of giving back, the house will sponsor student scholarships, commit to a reuse programme for the show props and invest in a green area in the centre of Milan. Fingers crossed this inspires the next generation’s Pierpaolo Piccioli!