Maurizio Pecoraro staged a presentation rather than a runway show today. Those tempted to take a fresh look at the designer, either by the venue—the gorgeous eighteenth-century Palazzo Gallarati Scotti has never been used during Milan fashion week before—or simply by the easy-in, easy-out nature of the event, picked a good season to come back. The intimate, old-world setting suited the decorated aspect of these clothes. Pecoraro isn t a designer who sets the agenda, but he does have a lovely way with embellishment, as demonstrated by a cropped purple mohair jacket embedded with strands of tiny silver beads, or by a coat with a double lapel, the inner one printed with a subtle basket-weave pattern. A color-blocked jersey dress and the fur jackets with their on-trend combinations of fox, mink, and astrakhan indicate that he also has a good sense for where fashion is at.
Maybe a shade too much so, though, when it came to the evening section of the collection. Pecoraro said he was influenced by Ang Lee s movie Lust, Caution. But charming as they were, the flapper frocks with their bands of blue or bordeaux paillettes and in particular a V-neck tank dress with a frill below the bust were too strong a callback to Louis Vuitton s pre-fall collection.
