High bohemia and opium-smoking dens. Peter Dundas has taken Pucci to a darker, more dangerous place in his third season at the label, and it looks fabulous. "I wanted to do something that felt lush," he said. Indeed. From start to finish, the collection played like a sexy antidote to fashion's resurgent minimalism. You could almost hear the sigh of relief from the fearless red-carpet types and party girls for whom the less-is-less trend holds zero allure.
To open, Dundas showed a long jersey dress in an archival house print called Capri, only he had dip-dyed it deep purple and made the back scandalously low. Fringed scarf dresses, along with a feather chubby in acid green, added to the glam-hippie seventies vibe. Just plain glam, meanwhile, were the leggy minidresses—in black, say, with a peekaboo gold lace panel on the front—or the gowns with plunging necklines and high-drama slits and trailing hems.
None of that is exactly uncharted territory for Dundas, who's recently been discovered by the Kate Hudsons and Fergies of the world. What felt new was his tailoring. He cut jackets with strong, clean lines: They came elongated and double-breasted or cropped bolero-short, and were worn with scarves wrapped around the neck and knockout high-waisted suede flares. The woman who dons the bloodred matte crocodile aviator jacket and matching suede pants won't soon be forgotten. The celebrity stylists will be clamoring already.
