Luca Luca

NEW YORK, September 10, 2007
By Meenal Mistry
Luca Orlandi boarded the translucence train that is currently making all local stops down Seventh Avenue. Organdy and chiffon are everywhere, and Orlandi wanted to explore transparency, too. He was inspired in this endeavor, he said, by the luminous panels of stained glass.

The collection was full of body-skimming dresses in gauzy, milky sherbet colors. After an almost blindingly blingy Fall, this lineup was thankfully lower key. Instead of beading, he worked with texture: skinny ruffles snaking down the seams of a chiffon dress or the crocheted silk banding on the waist of a gown. Elsewhere he used subtle embroideries. When he did embellish more boldly, he was in experimental mode. A sea-foam chiffon dress had vertical pleats that played hide-and-seek with the beaded sparkle underneath. Another shift with pleated taffeta squares used the same peekaboo trick.

It's well established that the ladies love Luca. The social contingent in this season's front row included Ivanka Trump, Tinsley Mortimer, Bettina Zilkha, and Coralie Charriol Paul. They got what they came for: lovely dresses for lunches at Le Bilboquet and La Goulue. But even his fans might have appreciated a bit more freshness. Aside from the touch of whimsy provided by a scarf print of pearls, there was little here to shake things up when the clock strikes one on Madison Avenue.