The days of the glamazon are gone, and the clingy, slit-to-there dresses that Luca Orlandi once served up with relish are now relegated to the back of the closet. Last spring, the designer made a sensitive—and sensible—shift in mood, trading sexy for sweet, and he continued in that vein for fall. Raunch was confined to the soundtrack (and to the front-row presence of Paris and Nicky Hilton), while on the runway, the designer explored variations of skirt-and-sweater dressing.
Orlandi sent out well-tailored coats, in beautiful cashmeres and wools, some printed, some colored red or army green. Paired with flat shoes and boots, these showed the designer hitting his stride. Elsewhere, however, his proportions seemed skewed: Wool gauchos were too generously flared, while dresses that were trim on top, ballooned enormously below, for an overall effect that was off-kilter. Orlandi is certainly moving in the right direction, but he's not quite there yet.
