Marbled mode by Fausto Puglisi

Fausto Puglisi took the house of Roberto Cavalli to a fairly new place this season with a bold collection on Wednesday night inspired by marble and exotic stones. Call it marbled mode.

Its founder, Roberto Cavalli, was arguably the most inventive printmaker in Italian fashion, and by breaking new ground with these prints, Puglisi seemed very much in tune with the brand's DNA.

What was amazing was how she used the idea of ​​marble in so many different fabrics, but always made each look work.

“I think marble is the new animal print,” Puglisi insisted, after taking a joint bow backstage with about twenty screaming models.

Opening with a crinkled silk jumpsuit in fine grain black and white Calacatta while marble, cut at the waist by a black mini; and continues with a wrap-around padded coat in the shape of a marble-like larva.

“It all started with this obsession I have with collecting ancient marbles, including ancient marbles from Rome. And then, at Christmas in Palermo, I fell in love with the idea that marble would be the new animal print,” he added.

See catwalk

As a result, Puglisi developed the concept of marble into a whole series of fantastic styles. From embroidery to three-dimensional denim, including devoré, froissé and plissé fabrics.

It also broke the mold in some tailored garments, such as dresses with micro-coats and flap pockets. Although the key element continued to be marble. The boldest: a sexy, skimpy lingerie cocktail in a Statuarietto marble pattern of pale gray and dawn indigo. Most beautiful: several flat-front trousers and silk blouses in Rosso Levanto marble, touting the way iron oxide creates a spectacular pattern.

Fausto also included an entire black and green section at the end, from bodycon cocktail dresses in Connemara green to semi-sheer Portoro speckled rock star cocktails.

Perhaps a less intense soundtrack than that of the German heavy metal group Rammstein could have been used, but it was a minor irritation in a show performed on a gray marble catwalk. Where the cast, decked out in stiletto-heeled buccaneer boots, seemed right at home.

In short, the term Fausto used for the collection was spot on: Marbleous.