Pucci’s swirly and sporty clothes were particularly impactful on May 07th at Società Canottieri Firenze – an historic Italian rowing club on Florence’s River Arno.
The show was a reminder – after Coronation weekend in the UK – that fashion can speak to the future; that less formal clothing can be a vivacious spectacle and still complement beautiful bodies.
Of course, as with events at Westminster and Buckingham Palace, history and politics play their part. Pucci under Camille Miceli, guided by LVMH’s mandate, does not stray far from its Lycra origins. And those swirls have been ubiquitous since Emilio’s skiwear beginnings.
The canal-side crowd hardly looked like they were there for radicalization. Likewise, the models satisfied a desire for grande corpis, paraded to rustic, romantic guitar.
But with fashion now, a hit must both meet and subvert expectations. Enter a model wearing hat that covered the eyes, but that featured a mock-sunglass design overlay.
They then got progressively taller – until it looked like postproduction was messing with the optics – and then were wrapped in a kind of reflective, rainbow-colored cellophane.
One of the great ironies in fashion is that feminism seeks the end the objectification of female bodies. Here was objectification in the extreme, but one that arguably empowers women, at least those who have the equipment.
Does it turn women into something other than themselves: ideals and archetypes? It’s certainly in keeping with the Pucci sports angle. And who decides what is realistic?
The crowd along the Arno didn’t seem to mind. Lots of Bellissima’s all over the internet? Another win for the house of LVMH, but what do people see?