Fausto Puglisi Fall 2017 Ready-To-Wear...Fashionweekly...On Fow24news.com

Fausto Puglisi opened his show with a short video starring Cristina Donadio of Italy’s hit TV series Gomorrah. In it she marches amidst classical sculpture in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples before being dressed by her boxers and lady-in-waiting in a Puglisi robe coat of velvet brocade....
If you’ve seen Jude Law’s investiture in The Young Pope, the scene might ring a bell. “We are not at all like you,” flashed across the screens above the runway before they faded to black.

True to that introduction, there was something defiant about this collection—its insistence on embellishment, its reliance on often heavy-handed styling, its droning soundtrack and eye-searing spotlit runway. Puglisi has always had a take-no-prisoners approach to his crystal and gilt embroideries, but here he amped it up. Way up: stitching his familiar sunbursts to quilted velvets in off colors, and adding feathers and lacing to the already heady mix. She’s a sexpot in a cutout minidress; she’s a member of the clergy in priestly ceremonial garb. Young Pope hats and garter belts served to muddle things further. There were some lower-key pieces in the lineup—a double-face cashmere duster coat in violet and peach, elegantly bare long wool dresses in black or ivory that showcased Puglisi’s cutting smarts—but their understated beauty was lost amidst the commotion surrounding them.

Puglisi’s Emanuel Ungaro is on hold, whether permanently or not is TBD pending that company’s reorganization—there’s no Ungaro show in Paris this season. He’s also widely rumored to be up for the open creative director gig at Roberto Cavalli. He could’ve used a knockout tonight, but this collection missed its mark. Puglisi’s got a lot of people in his corner, though, so let’s just call this a temporary setback.