Valentino's Creative Director, Pierpaolo Piccioli, understands the emotions that dresses emit. Indeed, Valentino's collections are known for their grandeur, romance, and ability to connect with their audience on a much deeper level than the superficial. And he has extended this set of values to the brand's Fall 2020 campaign, titled "ValentinoEmpathy," which consists of portraits taken remotely in different environments by a group of amateur photographers.

Giving up some creative control is now the standard not only in the fashion industry, but in other industries as well. With guidelines for self-isolation in the midst of a coronavirus epidemic, companies are finding innovative ways to produce content and are using talent they implicitly trust to communicate their vision. For Piccioli, it was not difficult to assemble a group that understood his philosophy. Women from a variety of backgrounds and professions reflect themselves in his designs. [actresses Laura Dern, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rossy de Palma, and Tiffany Tany Yang; supermodels Kristen McMenamy, Letitia Casta, Liu Wen, Maria Carla Boscono, and Naomi Campbell; activists Janet Mock and Lula Jebreal, and up-and-comers Ellery Harper and Tali Lennox. Each of these personalities, who live in a different location, will have their portraits taken by friends and family members wearing pieces from the men's and women's Fall 2020 collections.

Additionally, these personalities will not receive compensation for participating in the #ValentinoEmpathy campaign. Instead, all of their compensation, along with a donation of one million euros (more than $1 million), will be provided to the Lazzaro Spallanzani Hospital in Rome, Italy, the base for the COVID-19 measure. This is in addition to the €2 million donated by Valentino's parent company, Mayhoola, to the Sacco Hospital and Protezione Civile in Italy (open in new tab), €1 million to La Fondation Hôpitaux de Paris-Hôpitaux de France This follows a donation of €1 million to the field hospital set up in Feria de Madrid, Spain.

"We were thinking about how to promote our latest collections for women and men for fall/winter 20-21. It highlights my desire to portray society as it is or should be, without categories or boundaries," Piccioli said in a statement." The "#valentinoempathy" campaign is a fundraising project to sustain the Roma Hospital Lazzaro Spallanzani for Covid-19 emergencies, as well as a medium- to long-term project related to pandemic diseases. We want to produce a gesture of love for the city of Maison Valentino. We want to tell our friends at Valentino, not only about the brand, but also that Rome is here!" [9