It s no effort at all to imagine Emilio Pucci gadding about the Mediterranean in the sixties. Surely he d have run into Brigitte Bardot at some point, and how inspiring was that thought for the designer charged with juicing Pucci s legacy for the 21st century? Peter Dundas whipped up a summery confection of nautical stripes, ice cream colors, and grommeted minidresses that spoke to his ideal vision of Pucci s jet-set princess.
There was a fresh, casual edge to this collection that felt new for Dundas at Pucci. It was most obvious in evening dresses that weren t much more than elongated T-shirts, ombré-dyed for effect. But the key leggy-tunic-with-knee-boots look had a zap as commercial as anything Dundas has ever done for the label. Same with his way with a classic Pucci print. The one he liked most from the archives was a bluish pattern named "Zadig," and it made an appealing accent. Still, the most arresting visual in the collection was actually the knitwear pattern lifted from a tapestry in the house of the Sardinian grandparents of one of Dundas assistants.
