Stefano Pilati categorically denied there was any religious symbolism in his Fall show. Nevertheless, the sober caped black forms, wimplelike head coverings, starched white cotton, hoods, and heavy chain pendants gave a nunlike impression. Granted, it wasn't literal, but there was something of the Catholic convent in the high white dog collar on a suit, the yoked white blouse with full sleeves, the prim and modest mid-calf dresses—and the way a cardinal purple cape made an appearance at one point. Even when a sheer black dress came out, there was a cross to bare beneath it: underwear formed as a cruciform bodysuit. But that wasn't the gloss Pilati put on it at all. "It's about protection," he said after the show, explaining the plastic film he put over coats and inserted in patches in jackets. "And partly, an homage to YSL and the rigorous tailleur." As for the figures dangling on the gold chains that swung and bumped on the lower body as the models walked? He said he'd taken those from silhouettes of Saint Laurent fashion photos he'd cut out of seventies magazines.
Plastic Cape~ What a nice idea!!
