Exuberance is Fausto Puglisi’s middle name, and his new Fall collection has it in spades. At a visit to his studio, with its views onto Leonardo da Vinci’s centuries-old garden, Puglisi talked his way through a lineup that strategically spanned the kind of event dresses he used to put on his runways to more casual pieces, like bombers and button-downs, that retain his trademark zest but deliver it at easier prices.
The lively logo print, he said, was inspired by an Ottoman carpet he picked up at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. He worked it up into many different silhouettes, from the lookbook-opening plunge-front, high-slit dress to a reversible bomber, silk twill on one side and velvet on the other. The bows were nods to Yves Saint Laurent, and they were big enough to substitute for a bodice or play the role of skirt. The bronze jacquard from Italy’s famous Teroni mill that he used on one of his signature A-line minidresses had a similar couture-ish sensibility yet playful spirit. This is really Puglisi’s specialty. Another noteworthy detail here: the button reproductions of U.S. $1 coins, which he also used as embellishments at the waistband of a full-length dress and a cropped Moro jacket. These are party clothes, but a lot of consideration and work has gone into them.
