Francesco Scognamiglio shows skin on the runway and shyness in the showroom. That's business for you. It can be hard to sell as sheer a message as he delivers from the catwalk, and in any case, the (slightly) more demure collections he makes for the more commercial Resort and pre-fall seasons have their own real-world appeal. There's no stinting on glamour—Scognamiglio's favored ruffles and gold embroidery take care of that—but his new range had the added bonus of being approachable, too. He'd been thinking, the designer said, of bon-ton aristos: high-living gals with class to burn. You could certainly see them making the ski-resort rounds in fox-trimmed camel coats, or stepping out for evening in floor-length, slinky gowns in earthy bordeaux. But even atypical restraint—that gown came with a cardigan thrown over its shoulder's, for God's sake!—couldn't completely quell the kinky note Scognamiglio injects into even the sweetest looks. Here, it came via black leather gloves, spiky cutout heels, and the practiced eye of his new collaborator, the Milanese photographer Simone Falcetta, who shot Scognamiglio's lookbook, as well as his new campaign.
