Since taking over at Roberto Cavalli just over a year ago, Fausto Puglisi has dressed a constellation of superstars: Lady Gaga in crystal spangles at Tony Bennett’s final concert last weekend, Miley Cyrus in an embellished leather top not much bigger than a bandana and an American flag skirt on July 4, Cardi B in R.C. animalia on a number of occasions. Puglisi was designing for the stage long before he was designing for the runway, and he derives a lot of job satisfaction from that aspect of his work.
But how do you do Cavalli everyday? Most of us don’t have the glam squads that the aforementioned celebrities enjoy, and the only cameras pointed in our direction are our own smartphones when it’s time for a selfie. At Puglisi’s runway debut in September, models stalked the catwalk in claw-heeled boots, but he made a point of highlighting the collection’s separates. That formula applies here too. For pre-fall he accessorized those dangerous heels with button-downs, kilts, and shirtdresses in the patchworked prints—leopard, python, and (surprise!) tartan—that are one of his signatures. None of them would be out of place in an office setting if the claw boots were replaced with tamer shoes.
“I don’t want to live with the ghost of someone else,” he said, referring to the house founder’s more-is-more ethos. “I want it to be fun but at the same time wearable.” A snakeskin intarsia dress with a portrait neckline nailed that combination well, and a catfan in a similar print shown with a turtleneck and combat boots was another timely adaptation of the brand’s aesthetic. The midi-length skirt suits were an outright departure but ones that more than satisfied the wearability factor.
Puglisi downplayed the trademark R.C. sizzle, but it materialized here and there, in the form of an all-over embroidered tiger-stripe slip dress with cutouts at the sides and even more revealing chain tops, modeled in the look book by both women and men. We’ll be watching the red carpets for those celebrity sightings.
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