Sunday, 26 February 2012

Milan Fashion Week | The Black Dress by Emilio Pucci





Emilio Pucci Fall/Winter 2012/13 by Peter Dundas


At Peter Dundas' Pucci, Brigitte Bardot in her gypsy phase was out, Emilio Pucci and Vibeke Knudsen were in. Vibeke who? Knudsens's name may be less well known than Bardot's, but Helmut Newton's groundbreaking 1975 shot of the model in YSL's Le Smoking is permanently seared into the fashion consciouscness. It's what Dundas tapped into for a fab collection that put the focus not only on men's tailoring but also on a newly covered-up silhouette. Don't get us wrong. Dundas  hasn't gone demure. A trio of little black dresses with chiffon-covered slashes set the tone. If there was less bare flesh on display, the collection was still plenty sexy, as a formfitting little number in crocodile with a slit up to there, and a T-shirt gown with a sheer back embroidered in crocodile velvet appliqués both suggest.

Enjoy Emilio Pucci Fall 2012/13 Fashion Show at the end of this post! LoL, Andrea 








Tailoring, meanwhile, has always been part of the picture with Dundas, but here it was the star. Joan Smalls' white dinner jacket and beaded-neck black halter gown made for a modern way to do black tie - that look will be making the rounds on the fashion-party circuit. Ditto a sky blue version of the same tux worn with a sheer T-shirt; smartly cut high-waisted, cropped trousers; and a suede cummerbund. A nude patent peacoat and a beaver fur coat also get shout-outs for their sharp looks. He recruited the tailors who make his Pucci menswear to create this show's substantial coats. This was Dundas in peak form, and good timing, too. Too-obvious flashiness is on the wane elsewhere in Milan. Plus, a new Pucci store on Madison Avenue will be up and running by September, right about when these clothes start shipping.















One edge of fashion is tilting toward the darker, more sophisticated side of sexuality, but who would ever expect an Emilio Pucci collection to get there? It's a sign of Peter Dundas's growing confidence as a pied piper to the pack of the hot and fashion-conscious that he devoted the opening of his fall collection to the exploration of black. Proving his skills as a designer who can cut, he sliced the little black dress and patent leather skirts into shapely forms, filling shardlike cutouts with the tulle and slashing hems to show plenty of lissom leg. "Reserved", let it be said, is hardly the word for it. "I was thinking in the beginning about Belle de Jour and about menswear," he said. Between those two starting points, he worked up a collection which was a strong on mannish tailoring and outerwear as it was on taking care of the woman who likes to display her curves.

In sync with the feeling that is breaking out everywhere, there was something distinctly more grown-up in the luxe effects he mastered. Somewhat on the same page as Tom Ford or Riccardo Tisci, he took the idea of alligator skin, first sculpting it into a body-molded sheath dress and blazer, and then using the pattern of scales as placement decoration on a velvet devore top and fit-and-flare chiffom dress. And yes: A nod to the Emilio Pucci house print was in there, eventually in a silk pajama suit, a couple of dresses, and a pleated lamé flyaway peasant dress.








Still, this collection served better to spotlight the depth and range Dundas is bringing to a house he has broadened beyond the limits of jazzy surface pattern. The remit of the Emilio Pucci brand he's quietly been building up in Florence now extends to fantastically tailored coats in menswear checks, patent leather, and fur, as well as tuxedo jackets. He's a man with a skill, and a knack for glamour. But now, there's a grounding in daywear going on here, too, just look at his rendering of a navy peacoat in curly Alpina lamb, with sweeping colar in black goat hair. It has the mark of a fashion trophy of fall 2012, if ever we saw one.






















Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories

Photo Credit/Source: © VOGUE
Photography by © Marcio Madeira/firstView


SEE ALSO ...


Spring/Summer 2012 Collection, Fashion Show and Reviw






1 comment:

Shagun said...

Sheer sensuality by design. A glamorous, softly seductive look to every style.I like the knee length, flesh toned, printed dress with slight flare. Also nude tone, blue print patchwork long dress is alluring, with flare at hem. I enjoy your fabulous Editorial, dear Andrea!!!..Cheers, Shagun

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