Illustrations by Ralph Rucci (left) and Bil Donovan (right) / Courtesy of Ralph Rucci
Ralph Rucci doesn’t need Ryan Murphy to give him an education on the swans. Having worked for Halston during the ladies’ heyday, Rucci is well-versed in the disciplined elegance they favored, as is evidenced in a matching coat and dress in a black-and-white matelassé in his new couture collection.
What Rucci has in common with his past mentor is a belief in an unencumbered silhouette, but this doesn’t make him a minimalist. This designer’s work is distinguished by surface treatments such as suspension techniques, trapunto-like details, and touches borrowed from his own paintings as well as from the East. This outing, for example, makes use of comb-distressed lace and burnt ostrich feathers “trapped” within tulle.
The collection opens with an armor-like alligator tunic with a black raffia skirt suspended from the lining—chic, if a bit formal. Easier is the textured Elsa—as in Peretti—shirt. (NB that the bridal look is accessorized with an Elsa Peretti rosary.) Lighter still is Rucci’s hybrid of the LBD / all-American shirtwaist in hand-tucked black georgette. The linear effect of tucking on that shirtdress is replicated elsewhere in the horizontally placed rows of grosgrain ribbon tied at the side of a tulle dress; lacking stretch these appear a bit stiff. More convincing is the designer’s use of fluid aprons in silk, velvet, beads, or pearls to wear slim pants.
Reviving a technique he first used in 2004, Rucci has made an ivory coat of double-face wool with mitred open-work cut-outs. He says he’s hoping someone will order a bias draped one-shoulder dress constructed from two oval pattern pieces made in the vein of one of his design icons, Madame Grès. Another influence is Cristobal Balenciaga. A wrapped dress that features a panel of feathery tattered chiffon evokes a sense of poise and asymmetry in the grand tradition of the Spanish master.