| The most ubiquitous, and worst, trend in fashion these days may not be a silhouette, or a shade, but a strategy: the acceptance of ambiguity and gossip around a creative transition.
It happened last October at Nina Ricci with Peter Copping, whose spring show was widely rumored, but not confirmed, to be his last; it happened more recently in January, at Gucci with Alessandro Michele, whose men’s wear show was widely rumored, but not confirmed, to be his first as creative director; and it happened on Saturday at Emilio Pucci with Peter Dundas, who is widely rumored, but not admitted, to be leaving the brand.
“We cannot officially confirm or deny” is the party line, according to Pierre-Yves Roussel, the chief executive of the LVMH fashion group, which includes Pucci. Yet the invitation to the show — a giant poster-size piece of paper — included the words (for the first time since Mr. Dundas’s debut show for the brand in 2009) “in gratitude to Peter Dundas.” Mr. Dundas himself thanked Marchesa Cristina Pucci di Barsento (a.k.a. Mrs. Emilio Pucci) in his show notes for being an “inspiration”; and at the end of the show, the entire creative team appeared on the runway to applaud Mr. Dundas and, in turn, be applauded by him.
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Heavier hints could not have been dropped, especially later, when while explaining the collection and its gold zodiac embroidery on black velvet sheaths and blazers, Mr. Dundas said: “It’s about the forces larger than us that determine our destiny.”
Asked if he was leaving, he said, (with his press representative hovering nearby), “I’m not supposed to talk about that.”
It’s too bad, because it makes the story about whether a change at the top is actually a story, instead of what it should be about, which is the clothes themselves: an energy-infused tour through Mr. Dundas’s Pucci oeuvre in 61 looks, from black and white Op Art sequined minidresses to sporty striped knits with leather sailor shorts, slick tuxedos and wide trousers, fringed leathers and peekaboo embroidered lace.
The finale parade of seven ankle-length sinuous dresses in swirling zodiac-meets-Pucci prints underscored the fact that not only did Mr. Dundas know what he was doing, but he also did it very well.
Whatever the reason for the current fuzziness — whether it is, as someone close to the brand said, legal, or whether it is retail (they don’t want store buyers to think it’s not worth investing in the collection because it’s about to change) or whether it’s both of the above, plus disagreement over direction — the fact is, once leaks and rumors begin, they are better put to rest instead of being allowed to fester and obscure. They are not good for a brand’s image nor for the people involved or the consumers, who may not understand what is going on with the clothes they see.
In 2004 Tom Ford took his last bow at Gucci under a rain of rose petals to a standing ovation. In 2012, Raf Simons likewise received an emotional send-off after his final Jil Sander collection. Both provided a fitting end to one era and an acknowledgement of the next. They made the shows (and the clothes within) more valuable, not less, because they were a part of history.
It is worth remembering.
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