Maurizio Pecoraro staged a presentation rather than a runway show today. Those tempted to take a fresh look at the designer, either by the venue—the gorgeous eighteenth-century Palazzo Gallarati Scotti has never been used during Milan fashion week before—or simply by the easy-in, easy-out nature of the event, picked a good season to come back. The intimate, old-world setting suited the decorated aspect of these clothes. Pecoraro isn't a designer who sets the agenda, but he does have a lovely way with embellishment, as demonstrated by a cropped purple mohair jacket embedded with strands of tiny silver beads, or by a coat with a double lapel, the inner one printed with a subtle basket-weave pattern. A color-blocked jersey dress and the fur jackets with their on-trend combinations of fox, mink, and astrakhan indicate that he also has a good sense for where fashion is at.
Maybe a shade too much so, though, when it came to the evening section of the collection. Pecoraro said he was influenced by Ang Lee's movie Lust, Caution. But charming as they were, the flapper frocks with their bands of blue or bordeaux paillettes and in particular a V-neck tank dress with a frill below the bust were too strong a callback to Louis Vuitton's pre-fall collection.
