Peter Dundas is not a cerebral designer. “I’m not someone who intellectualizes fashion,” he said with conviction during Roberto Cavalli’s Pre-Fall presentation. “I’m more of a sensualist with an instinctive approach. I love clothes and I respond to the senses: the vibrancy of colors, the touch and feel of a soft, luscious fabric. I want a dress to provoke a reaction, to come alive through movement—if it doesn’t look good on a body in motion, it just doesn’t work!” he added. Movement is freedom—and Dundas loves freedom not only as a visual abstraction, but as a way of life. He has a long-standing affection for the ’70s—the decade’s freewheeling lifestyle and the flower power, back-to-nature mantras.
In the Dundas-sphere, nature plays an important role. After all, if childhood roots mean something, he grew up in a village in Norway surrounded by woods where he was free to roam undisturbed. This pagan experience of the world has infused his style with a confident ease and a sensual nonchalance, an unconditional ode to the body beautiful celebrated as a natural gift, to be joyfully exposed with not the faintest sense of guilt. It’s a very Nordic way of thinking, which was then honed and polished through an intensive Italian creative training. Style-wise it has morphed into an opulent hybrid, sometimes overdosing on the Baroque—a flair for dense color; a love for the feline and the wild, for lush furs and intricate embellishments; a taste for sensuous luxe framed by divine palazzo interiors. Here, the apparently incompatible dichotomy between Northern free spirit and Mediterranean bold sexiness blended seamlessly into a Pre-Fall collection ripe with Cavalli-esque flair. It was unleashed bohemia, seasoned with decadence and rock star attitude galore—a more sure-footed approach for Dundas than the street style vibe of his debut Spring collection for the label. Circus-inspired prints (“The Cavalli Circus,” as the designer put it) were mixed with florals and animalier motifs on long, languid dresses; embroideries exploded as fireworks on slim velvet blazers; exotic skins were patchworked into slinky ’70s coats fit for Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks. Chubbies in a new cashmere eco-fur could tempt even a cloistered nun. Sneakers, until now anathema for the Cavalli glamazon, were worn with everything from flared denim pants to botanical-printed caftans in liquid silk charmeuse for a younger, rebellious attitude. Yet the images of the Pre-Fall lookbook were shot at the sumptuous Palazzo Clerici in Milan, one of the finest in the city; it certainly was a far cry from roaming into the wild Norwegian woods.
