Valentino is a Roman house. It's a fact that Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli have been keen to celebrate of late. A year ago, remember, they were exploring the paintings of Dutch masters and Delft pottery. But here, on the heels of a lush Couture show inspired by Italian opera, they were looking at Italian Pop art from the sixties and seventies. The work of female artists Giosetta Fioroni, Carol Rama, and Carla Accardi decorated their mood boards. "They were rule breakers," the designers said beforehand. "Nobody believed that women could be artists.