Francesco Scognamiglio has hired a new international press officer, and more out-of-town editors than ever came to his show, but that didn't mean he was going to ratchet down the kink factor. Not a chance. In his otherwise strong show's most perverse moment, a model strolled the runway in a face-obscuring muzzlelike mask made of three-dimensional gold stars by Philip Treacy. The famous milliner's breast-exposing metal corset was a close second. Citing Madonna, Jennifer Connelly, and Diane Kruger, who've all worn his designs in magazine editorials, Scognamiglio claimed stars as the collection's organizing motif. They appeared as hardware accentuating the already strong shoulders of his jackets, as clusters of glinting crystals encrusting a little top worn with a tulip skirt, and as delicate points of light on a silvery satin skirtsuit.
As concepts go, it was a little obvious, too easy. In any case, Scognamiglio's talents lie less in embellishment than they do in cutting and draping. He delivered a few beauties that involved the latter. The black double-satin jersey gowns are just the sort of body-loving but still elegant things that celebrities want to wear on the red carpet.
