Fausto Puglisi was feeling nostalgic this season. The Italian designer decided it was time to bring together all the things he loves into one collection. Or as he said after his show on Wednesday night, « it’s all about disconnected connections ». Those were the only two words on the designer’s mood board backstage where images of religious robes mingled with giant gemstones, red puckered lips, palm trees, cowboys and abstract modern art. It was a daunting assortment but Puglisi has always been a designer willing to take risks.
On the catwalk, to the soundtrack of Madonna singing her hits in concert, the blending of ideas worked fairly well. It was most successful when the designer played with dimensionality on his outfits. So a swirling abstract top would appear with a skirt in the same pattern, only crafted from embroideries or jeweled embellishments. In the same vein, patchwork knitwear on cardigans used different weaves across the garment and those outerwear pieces that hinted at Letterman’s jackets looked smart.
But the problem with referencing the things that you have always loved is that you risk revisiting one too many times the same fertile grounds. This is where Puglisi felt a bit stuck. The palm tree motif, the wide short circle skirts, the studded cowboy boots and belts and the sexy sliced-out torso dresses are all tropes the designer knows like the back of his hand. And the fashion world has fully assimilated those concepts and have a hard-wired connection between them and this house.
Puglisi is nothing if not bold. Now he needs to take that leap and forge some new avenues for his label.
