Luca Luca

NEW YORK, February 4, 2008
By Meenal Mistry
Fall represented a major shift for Luca Orlandi. He bid adieu to Bryant Park in favor of a small West Chelsea gallery and, instead of a runway show, presented a tight collection of 20 looks. "It's very couture, so we wanted people to see it up close," explained Orlandi's newly installed creative director, Raul Melgoza.

Melgoza cited as inspiration artist Ernesto Caivano's exquisite drawings of a medieval love story in which a long-separated couple sends messages through birds. But this is clearly a new day at Luca Luca—the execution almost qualified as subtle, particularly when you consider last Fall's glitzy après-ski fest. The avian and woodland theme appeared in a winglike caped sleeve on a plain silk dress or tiny peacock-feather paillettes embroidered on a satin L.B.D.

In all, it was a thoughtfully designed, luxurious collection that hit all the necessary wardrobe points for a lady-who-10022s—i.e., an effortless jersey dress with a draped neck for lunch, a broadtail shift with a sliver of jeweled neckline for cocktails, and a strapless Chantilly lace gown delicately worked with marabou for night. It will be interesting to see how Orlandi's customers adjust to flying under the radar.