Before his fashion show for Emilio Pucci, Peter Dundas spoke of creating a collection using colours and silhouettes he loves for women that inspire him both past and present. Poppy Delevingne, for whom Dundas recently made a luxuriously romantic wedding dress, is one such present day muse. The extravagance of that dress could be seen on Dundas' extraordinary ladder-step cotton voile dresses, whose bouncing tiers came appliquéd in leaves of coral, brown and apricot. That bucolic, sunny, joie de vivre was carried through the entire collection. Dundas described it as 'soaked in the optimism of summer' and his words were spot on. From the palette of juicy mango, peach, and turquoise, to the easy throw-on shapes borrowed from 1970s sportswear, this was a collection that slid onto the body with a casual shrug. The workmanship however was anything but informal. From dresses made entirely from webs of micro beaded crochet, to a superb leather studded cage dress trimmed in lush piles of leather fringe, Pucci is a house that sparkles with the crown jewels that remain stashed away in the coffers of Made in Italy.
Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans
