For his first few collections at the house, Massimo Giorgetti has been trying to find ways to do Pucci, without doing Pucci. This season however, he just did Pucci. It takes true confidence to sail this close to the wind. It certainly wasn’t a straight forward redux. It signalled a resting place for Giorgetti – and a sign that the house is in good hands.
It was important to see the 1950s archive hats, a new component of his arty take on sportswear. He showed them first at resort and here again within the mainline collection, they provided a bridge to the eclectic style of volume, layers and textures that are an important dimension in the Pucci revamp. This season, it was more about colour and print than anything. Every guest was given an invitation with a fabric swatch of stretch jersey in a Pucci archive colour attached. SHOWstudio’s swatch was an Aegean turquoise, otherwise known as TURCHESE 0173.
On the runway, this jersey - along with a translucent crepe - wrapped the models in Grecian inspired dresses, either crossing the body or gathered and ruched across the bust. This collection offered us a neoclassical take on pop brights. Although Giorgetti tried to tackle bright colour with class, it might still prove to be too affronting for some. Madeleine Vionnet’s spirit was present in the collection, as the dresses’ structures not only referenced her iconic work but reminded us of how important her influence was in 1970s fashion.
The blown up Emilio Pucci prints worked best in separates and came in the form of midi skirts, cropped tops, fit and flare skirts, raglan sleeved tees, and shirts in shades of ultramarine, buttercup yellow, red, and mauve. The off colour combo of jaffa orange and sickly lilac was pleasantly jarring.
For the finale, sequins took colours to a technicolour place. Here, the sequins were as equally as important as the hats. For resort, Giorgetti had included wonderful sequin skirts in dressed down, midi-length shapes. But don’t be mistaken in thinking this season’s sequins are the straightforward Pucci glamour of old. Come winter, customers can wear these dresses again, layered under cardigans or over velvet racer tops. It feels like Giorgetti is building a wardrobe, one that be worn straight up, on the rocks, or jumbled up in a sporty, bohemian style.
