Counter Culture

In his first year on his own at Valentino, Pierpaolo Piccioli has taken the 57-year-old house in a timely direction, fusing high-fashion with sporty influences in a remix worthy of the MCs he idolises.

- Alison S Cohn

Two royals—Pierpaolo Piccioli, heir to king of couture Valentino Garavani; and model/music scion Selah Marley, granddaughter of Bob and daughter of Lauryn Hill—are holding court in Katz’s Delicatessen in New York City. Standing at the Lower East Side establishment’s counter, which runs the length of the chaotic dining area and is punctuated by steaming mounds of brisket and corned beef, the two are discussing their mutual admiration for, of all people, Justin Bieber. When Marley, who’s sporting a patchwork fur coat over a shocking-pink dress and shower slides from Piccioli’s Pink Is Punk resort collection (shown in May, here in NYC), climbs on top of the counter, the tour bus–disgorged diners are too fixated on their mile-high pastrami on ryes to care. As for the staff, they’ve been watching patrons gasp and moan here for nearly 30 years, ever since Meg Ryan faked cinema’s most famous orgasm in 1989, in When Harry Met Sally.... They’ve seen stranger tableaux.