A certain grandeur comes to mind when one thinks of Ungaro: Monsieur Emanuel and his posse of fabulous glamour-pusses draped to the hilt, moving like felines through gilded Parisian settings. "This is the temple of flamboyancy," said the house's current creative director, Fausto Puglisi, before yesterday's show. The distance between Emanuel Ungaro's Ungaro and Puglisi's interpretation is great. What was a maison de couture has become a full brand. In the meantime, the culture of fashion has radically morphed, going from dream-making machine to finance-driven cash cow. (Being nostalgic, however, is pointless.) Trying to replicate a label's past in the present can be dangerous: More often than not, the name of the founder is just a frame. According to Puglisi, Ungaro stands for assertive femininity, prints, and color. "The archives are amazing," he enthused, adding that this season he had paid closer attention than in the past.
This was Puglisi's fourth collection since taking over at Ungaro and certainly, with the bold shapes, garish prints, and disco-tinged swagger of sophisticated excess, it was his bravest. To get the message across as loud as possible, Puglisi even enlisted stylist extraordinaire Arianne Phillips (of both Madonna and Hedwig and the Angry Inch fame) and mad hatter Stephen Jones, who created the extravagant Plexiglas hats. There was a cinematic quality to the parade, which opened and closed with a series of draped jersey numbers in bold primary hues with strong '40s shoulders. Sandwiched between them were masculine pajama tailoring, humongous tent dresses, and somewhat more mundane jumper-and-skirt or shirt-and-jupon combos. Phillips' touch was apparent in the turquoise makeup and general vaudeville air.
Overall the idea worked, but something was missing, and it didn't seem to be Puglisi's fault. Despite the apparent grandness of the fabrics and the preciousness of the embroideries, the clothes did not look as well produced as they need to be. Ungaro's own grandeur was missing. Puglisi deserves the tools to turn his Ungaro fantasy into reality.
