A “Body Plate” Bridal Look, an Iced Pink Infanta Gown—Inside Ralph Rucci’s Fall 2023 Couture Collection

Being in the business for more than 30 years, Ralph Rucci is sort of a living repository of fashion history. That’s not to suggest that the designer is stuck in the past; Rucci’s decision to include pink looks in his fall 2023 couture collection might not have been motivated by Barbiemania, but it relates to it. His super-luxe “ski parkas,” meanwhile, relate to the couture “jeans” we saw in Paris, and the idea that made-to-measure needn’t be only about glitz and glamour but can also speak to the casual/sportswear state of fashion as a whole.

Still, for this fashion history nerd, it was kind of a thrill to hear the backstory of Look 18—a black silk crepe turtleneck and pants festooned with micro-bugle beaded scarves, topped off with a black tulle stole with shredded duchesse satin fringe. “It’s something that I’ve had in my mind ever since I saw Mrs. Vreeland at Halston’s,” Rucci sais. “You remember how Mrs. Vreeland would wear a black turtleneck and a black pair of pants, and then she would tie a red wool jersey triangle scarf at her neck and her hip? That was her uniform.” He’s given the look his own up-to-date interpretation. The two scarves, the designer noted, are an easy way to “electrify a wardrobe.” (You could even try a version of this at home.)

Rucci’s signature techniques, including knotting and suspension, are all employed throughout the collection. “I always [think about] the way in which the hand can manipulate a garment [with] techniques and not look decorative but look intrinsically as part of it, organic,” he said. An example of this is the camel coat with braiding in Look 11. A racier extension of the concept is his “body plate” wedding dress. It’s a tube of double-faced wool/silk with clear bugle beads on tulle that’s lined with illusion fabric. The result is a nude-look that’s actually opaque.

Embroidered calligraphy is also back this season. Rucci said he recently applied this embellishment on a wedding veil, embroidering its edges with the text of a letter he had written to the bride and groom. Brides-to-be might want to take note of this personal and romantic idea.

Inspired by what he reports is a trend for vintage furs among young women, Rucci used FurMark-certified recycled fur in this collection, explaining that existing pelts are refurbished. These line the aforementioned parkas. A different kind of embrace is offered by the cocoon shape, as seen in Look 12.

As the designer was talking through each look he referred to them as “suggestions.” It’s a reminder that couture is geared to the customer, who often has input as to what she wants. Rucci’s decision to once again use illustrations to depict his collection seems suited to both the gentleness of that notion and its connotation of something that might be.

The drawings on the left sides of the pages are in Rucci’s hand, those on the right are by Bil Donovan, a respected artist and ambassador for Dior Beauty. How it worked is that the two men sat in different rooms and sketched. “I don’t ask him to redo [things],” Rucci noted. “Sometimes if something is a little too dark, I’ll say, ‘Can we lighten it up?’ And I would say to him, ‘Stop pretending like it’s Ralph Rucci: Make it yours. Screw it up. If a paint splotch goes on a sketch, it was supposed to, it’s beautiful like that. It’s dirty—it’s garlic and sapphires.’” That phrase comes from a poem by T. S. Eliot, and perhaps it speaks to the more down-to-earth spirit animating the fall 2023 couture season as a whole.