Portugal Colonial - For Roberto Cavalli designer, dreams come in all black

The nearly all-black palette -- accentuated with romantic jolts of lilac and plum -- used by Puglisi Thursday night at Milan Fashion Week was instead a defiant statement for the label known for its bold, often aggressive colours and animal prints.

"I wanted the collection to be black because I still have my dreams," Puglisi told AFP backstage after the show, where a version of the Eurythmics' 1980s pop classic "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" accompanied the models down the catwalk.

Stiff embossed black leather on cropped jackets or skirts jutted out dramatically like mushroom caps while slouchy, low-slung trousers sewn from black vinyl shimmered like black liquid.

The dark collection nevertheless celebrated lightness and texture, with a strong dose of see-through black lace -- on tight sleeves, barely there slip dresses or paired with black velvet.

Persian lamb -- faux, of course -- had its moment, on trousers, coats, jackets and intermixed with black velvet to form the ruffles of a long skirt paired with lace-up boots.

"It's fake," enthused Puglisi proudly of the glossy, tightly curled Persian lamb.

"I love animals, I would never use real fur."

- 'Continue to dream' -

Puglisi recreated the look of fur, its wispiness and colour variations, by printing it on flowing fabric, while a long black form-fitting tunic used sheer cut-outs to reproduce the stripes of a zebra.

A mood board backstage showed Old Master floral still lifes, Roman centurion breastplates and leather strips worn as armour, as well as black-and-white photographs of goth-like images and other inspirations.

Did Puglisi find it hard to be working in fashion in the current state of the world?

"I think it's important to create beauty. Always. It's like telling a director to stop, it's the same thing," he said, calling fashion, films and music "escapism".

"I think it's very important to keep creating with the vision of a child, with naivety and freshness," he added.

"I will not allow any dictator to stop my creativity. I continue to create and I continue to dream," he said.

To that effect, the last look of the night was a showstopper.

Its high necked top mixed lace, cut-outs and ruffles while its skirt looked like it had been sewn from a million black faux feathers.

All the better for Puglisi's dreams to take flight.

V.Fontes--PC