Fausto Puglisi: Kaleidoscopic But One-Noted

MILAN, Italy — In his sophomore runway show, Fausto Puglisi continued to reinforce the high octane style that has Italians giddy with the hope that he will finally be the harbinger of a new golden era of Italian designers. Just looking at the size of the venue of Wednesday night's show, which was more than double that of last season, proves Puglisi is one of Milan Fashion Week's hottest tickets.

In his show notes the designer talked about being inspired by “the supremacist artwork compositions of Kazimir Malevich” and “the Orphic Cubism of Sonia Delaunay.” Two artists who made a name for themselves via pieces that focused on employing geometric shapes in strong colors. The goal: to use forms instead of images to try and elicit an emotion from an audience. And as far as that goes, Puglisi was successful.

His primary colored kaleidoscope clothing — from long sleeve tops and fitted pants to bathing suits and pleated skirts — were certainly designed to be noticed. Particularly when embellished with shimmering three-dimensional beading or cut into short stiff skirts that stood away from the body — a silhouette that is becoming a bit of a Puglisi hallmark.

The concept worked when the forms were cut in larger shapes which created sharp and curving color blocks but ran the risk of looking like cast off costumes of a harlequin clown when used in smaller proportions. There was also something of a disconnect in Puglisi’s choice to send down the catwalk mumsy, below the knee pleated skirts along side fun and young mini alternatives. It was almost as if he was trying too hard to entice a wider demographic to his brand.

But the big draw of this collection was the designer’s Statue of Liberty print. It appeared quite a few times on tops during the show. Its image — that brought to mind that famous last scene in the original Planet of the Apes film — had a rebellious reverence about it. The motif had just the right dynamism that it could be the next big thing along the lines of the popular Kenzo Jungle sweatshirts.

As much at Puglisi mixed it up in this collection, in terms of colors and pattern, there wasn’t enough of a variety of elements — the Statue of Liberty print notwithstanding — to keep the show from feeling a bit one-noted.