Carmen Dell Orefice kept the cameramen occupied before Ralph Rucci s show got underway tonight. No one could take their eyes off of the still beautiful octogenarian model as she vamped it up in a long red coat by the designer and white kid gloves. Dell Orefice s outfit choice was a fitting one. Rucci embraced color with gusto for Spring: shocking pink, chrome yellow, coral. All of them came together on what must ve been one of the show s most difficult pieces to complete: a black double-face wool crepe suit, one arm of which was braided entirely from tubes in those colors. Rucci has long made a virtue of the technical feats performed by his New York atelier—he s been in business for 31 years—and this collection wasn t short on them. There was a twinset made from densely woven and braided strands of leather not much wider than al dente angel hair, a black smoking with patent insets on the back, and a taffeta gown with no fewer than four layers of skirts, to rattle off just a few examples. Counterbalancing such lavish offerings was simpler fare like a citrus yellow T-shirt dress in Ultrasuede, a pink plissé frock with a trapunto bodice, and a ravishing, if understated, caftan in double-face silk crepe.
But it s the couture-grade workmanship that has put Rucci where he is. Not all of his indulgences were as well judged as that caftan. A caviar-beaded blouse in coral and its matching duchess satin stole were a bit de trop. It may not look like much in the picture, but to this reviewer s eyes at least, the show s most winning piece was a white silk cloque dress with a pink plastic detail at the waist. It captured two things: Rucci s refined sense of proportion and cut, and his exquisite taste in fabrics.
