PARIS, October 3, 2007 – Last-chance alert: If you've ever harbored any vague ndoto about owning a Valentino, act now, au kick yourself forever. The designer's final ready-to-wear onyesha before handing over the keys to his house was always going to be a souvenir-hunter's prime opportunity, but far better than that, it turned out to be one of his most appealingly modern collections in quite a while.

If there's a problem, it's only being spoiled for choice. What to pick from the head-spinning plethora of dresses on offer? It could be something from the brief, sugar-pink group that opened the...