PORTOFINO, Italy — Shares globally could also be tanking and the style trade could also be coming to phrases with the brand new wave of Trump tariffs, however go away it to Pucci and creative director Camille Miceli to carry a whiff of much-needed respite together with her joyful and colourful designs.
Miceli selected the beautiful La Cervara, a former abbey on the coastal street to Portofino, for her spring 2025 present. First erected within the twelfth century, the abbey advanced is a chosen Nationwide Monument of Italy, with a panoramic view of the Tigullio Gulf, an Italian Renaissance-style backyard that immediately faces the ocean and a wisteria pergola. Miceli timed the present for round 230 visitors shortly earlier than sundown, resulting in quite a few Instagrammable moments.
It was the perfect setting for her style present, centered on the Marmo, a marble-like print she revived since her first assortment in 2022, and impressed by the reflection of the solar onto the ocean.
This season, the print was revisited in comfortable sorbet and powder pink hues, winding round black waves on flowing silk pants and shirts. It was additionally reproduced by printed sequins or steel eyelets and thru black and white sea shells, hand-stitched by the Pucci artisans — nonetheless at work backstage, stitching one shell at a time on a blouson high or a fringed skirt. In truth, for this assortment Miceli raised the bar on craftsmanship, for a complicated lineup that featured extra black than in previous lineups. Pucci’s signature prints have been recurring, however at instances merely particulars on the hem of a sleeve of a bit of black gown or showing by the fringes of a gown or a cape.
The Stella print, an homage to the moon and the celebrities, and the Maddalena, or “gocciolone,” paying homage to an expanded drop, outlined by smooth and graphic curves, appeared on a caftan or a minidress.
Iride and Orchidee have been additionally signature prints that Miceli revisited. “I alter the colours however by no means the names,” mentioned the designer, who at all times pays tribute to founder Emilio Pucci.
Miceli mentioned she needed her designs to look ethereal, with fluid shapes, and she or he labored with “disproportions,” narrower skirts below bigger “balloon” blouses in poplin cotton. “I like the thought of the trompe-l’oeil; they seem like two items, however it’s really one gown,” she mentioned.
She additionally created silver bijoux that regarded like tattoos on the pores and skin, reproducing the marble print. “I bear in mind how Karl [Lagerfeld] mentioned that if you put on Pucci, it’s as when you’ve got a tattoo,” remarked Miceli. The laces of the sandals additionally wove across the fashions’ legs, trying like tattoos.
Miceli staged her first runway present for Pucci in Florence in 2023, following up with Rome final 12 months. Earlier than that, she opted for multiday life-style “experiences” in such jet-set locations as Capri and Saint Moritz — resort cities that, like Portofino, have attracted European aristocracy and the worldwide jet-set for the reason that Fifties.
Requested about this location, Miceli mentioned she had needed to stage a present in a house “for a while” — though the property, now privately owned, isn’t your common abode. “I do know this was an abbey, however for me, I see it as the home of the Pucci lady. The gardens, the view, what extra would you like? And I like the small stones of the black and white ground.” Certainly, whereas paying homage to the marble print, she mentioned she doesn’t design her collections with a location in thoughts.
Reflecting on the altering habits of shoppers, Miceli mentioned “we’re very fortunate as a result of issues are going very nicely — knock on wooden — and I feel ladies come to Pucci as a result of once they put on the model they need to really feel particular, they don’t need to be a part of a uniform crowd, and that is more and more so in contrast with the previous. And likewise as a result of Pucci is synonymous with pleasure and femininity.”
America continues to be a really sturdy marketplace for Pucci, which is able to open a retailer in Houston this month. The Portofino boutique was simply redesigned with the assistance of architect Pierre Passebon.
Maintaining costs in examine and consistent with the model can also be key for Miceli, focusing on totally different ladies — which was mirrored each within the casting that additionally included the likes of Kristen McMenamy, Karen Elson and Naomi Campbell, who closed the present — and within the pool of younger influencers dancing of their seats to the the soundtrack by Nada.
“I like how Pucci has a really clear id,” mentioned Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou, who was named deputy chief govt officer of Christian Dior Couture final month. (Pucci is managed by LVMH Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy). “The problem is to at all times carry novelty to the model respecting its id, sustaining its lightness, accessibility, pleasure, and complex femininity that I discover lovely. And Camille transmits a laid again angle and an vitality that’s contagious.”
The manager, talking forward of the present, additionally talked concerning the see now, purchase now format for Pucci, “becoming for the model, which has its personal visibility exterior the style weeks’ schedule. And the way good to have the ability to present when the times get sunnier, in a wonderful location and you may select to put on these [summery] garments immediately.”
Marisa Berenson additionally enthused concerning the present, “lovely and good. Camille is so gifted and artistic, she modernized the model however saved the Pucci DNA.” She was additionally comfortable about returning to Portofino. “It brings again so many great recollections for me; I’ve been right here many instances previously after I was younger,” she mused. Sporting a surprising necklace in mom -of-pearl and crystals, she mentioned it was a part of her personal namesake jewellery line. “I stay in Marrakech now so I make them there. I regenerate there, the place I’ve a bit of nook of paradise however then I like being out on this planet,” she mentioned.
Berenson subsequent week shall be in Milan as Michela Bruni Reichlin shall be promoting her jewellery in her showroom on Through Montenapoleone. She can also be in the midst of filming between Paris and the south of France a film she described as a “psychological investigation.”