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Lucire autumn-winter 2005 collections

As difficult as it is for a magazine to nominate a favourite, Phillip D. Johnson believes it’s Chado Ralph Rucci for fall 2005, and has good reason

Photographed by Richard Spiegel

Initial capACKSTAGE before his fall 2005 fashion show, it wasn't hard to believe that Ralph Rucci was dead tired—couriers were still bringing in garment bags from the sewers back at the studio to the pressing area. Mr Rucci simultaneously looked tired and exhilarated as he guided me on a personal tour of the collection as it was laid out in the dressing area. His eyes shone with excitement and enthusiasm as he displayed piece after piece and explained the intricacies of his designs. He seemed to have caught a second wind after his long night at the studio, his animated gestures setting off sparks throughout the room. Ah, I was in the presence of a true master and I knew it.
   Ralph Rucci's seasonal pre­sentation usually closes out New York Fashion Week, but this year, an interloper took that spot although she didn't diminish the impact of Mr Rucci's superb collection. To the contrary, it pointed out the wide discrepancy between witless design wanna-be hacks—which shall go nameless here—and true artistic geniuses such as Mr Rucci, Oscar de la Renta, Anna Sui and Yeohlee Teng and John Bartlett, to name just a few.
   His collection was quite unlike any other collection shown that week, bar none. While you sometimes sit at a show and mentally tick off the ‘influences’, there is no such exercise that goes on at a Ralph Rucci show. He doesn't even knock off his own past designs, for God's sakes. He operates on a higher plane, from a place of higher intellectual curiosity. The defining theme of this collection was all about suspension, with his designs achieving miraculous feats of balance and style.
   In addition to his usually rigorous detailed and quietly understated luxury, this season, Mr Rucci's simple, clean and classic lines have a new sense of artistry and achievement. His new technical advances includes leather threads sewn in rich fabrics giving the appearance of overlaid matchsticks, insets of alligator skin adding surface interest, intricate cutouts of fabric connected by hand sewn threadwork, the addition of French knots and his signature curved seam detailing are left open creating a muted, mosaic effect on some of the pieces.
   Under the hypnotic music of Thomas Newman's soundtracks from Lemony Snicket, an Unfortunate Series of Events and The Green Mile, Mr Rucci opened the show with a simple dress—a twig-embroidered blue-grey crêpe dress—that was very reminiscent of the designs he's built his reputation. But pretty soon, all bets were off, as he dazzled his audience with feats of fancy such as his chocolate silk gros de longres rain ensemble (with a daring leopard lining), sexy shift dresses in orange, pink and plum, and beautifully cut fur pieces. The standout designs amongst the fur pieces have to be his Xena, Warrior Princess sable cape with notched or braided leather and his superb lavender jade chinchilla jacket ensemble.

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Ralph Rucci operates on a higher plane, from a place of higher intellectual curiosity

 

 

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