It’s no secret that glamorous, sexy women fascinate Fausto Puglisi; if they also come from blue-blood stock, even better. “Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis and Bianca Brandolini d’Adda, I’m crazy about them! They’ve supported me loyally from day one,” he said when asked about the inspiration behind his Pre-Fall collection. Who can blame him? Both women come not only with impeccable pedigrees but also with fabulous brains.
Puglisi’s pantheon of muses is roomy enough to accommodate another couple of greats. Photographer Helmut Newton’s powerfully elegant perversity clearly appeals to the designer, as does Azzedine Alaïa’s talent for celebrating the female body in all its glory. Given those references, the silhouette here was sculptural, strong, and sensual. It played out in modern variations of the ’80s pouf dress. Neat, short, and geometric, they came with stiff ruched and plissé-layered miniskirts in black leather or in crisp cotton poplin with black-and-white polka-dot inserts. The cut was kept sharp and sleek throughout, as in a black pencil coat, a bubble-pink tailored mini skirtsuit (yes, Puglisi is a mean tailor), and in a figure-hugging acid-green duster in thick silk jersey worn over a matching hourglass-shaped long shift dress.
Counterbalancing the sexy sharpness, Puglisi worked on a more fluid note for a series of caftans and flowing silk dresses printed in a motif inspired by a Turkish floral pattern found at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar and reworked into a Mediterranean Baroque capriccio. Romance has always had a passionate southern flavor chez Puglisi, anything bohemian or frilly is absolute anathema. “I hate coquettish wedding-cake dressing!” he said in mock horror. His version of the dress-cake in question was actually an ’80s-inspired black-and-white bustier number featuring a flouncy asymmetrical skirt with a train that showed plenty of legs. It had just the right amount of flamboyance. This was one of the designer’s best collections so far, focused and well-edited. When the message is strong, you don’t need to scream to have your voice heard.
