Lorenzo Serafini sells like hotcakes. That’s on the record from an Italian retailer. A former wingman at Dolce & Gabbana, Serafini has built a successful business in a short amount of time by offering special dresses at attainable prices. In a world of $5,000-and-up party frocks, his come in below $1,000 most of the time, and that has made all the difference. He loves a good reference, and he’s got a serious soft spot for Brooke Shields, but this season Serafini went in for another famous brunette, maybe the famous-est: Elizabeth Taylor.
Maggie the Cat cooed on the soundtrack before The Cure’s “Lovecats” kicked in. There was no line-for-line approximation of Taylor’s famous fitted white dress from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, but there were cat prints, there was plissé, and the emphasis was most decidedly on a tiny waist and an accentuated bustline. The bustiers here entailed a lot more internal structure than pieces from Serafini’s previous collections, but backstage he promised they’ll be a much more comfortable fit than Taylor’s corsets were. That’s one clear way today’s girls have an advantage over Taylor’s generation.
The crinolines in this collection were a little too evocative of the distant 1950s, a bit prom dress sweet. But other pieces exuded the right amount of retro, like the mod black-and-white animal spot coat Serafini opened with and all the high-waisted, tapered-to-the-ankle pants. But Serafini is a dress man. The best one here did nod ever so slightly in Taylor’s direction with its deep-V neckline and micro-pleated bodice and skirt. The connection will more than likely be lost on Serafini’s youngest fans, but that won’t stop it selling like those proverbial hotcakes.
