Although Ms. Dockery looked chic and sexy I was mostly captivated by news that Ralph Rucci designed her dress for his Chado Ralph Rucci line. Rucci is a perfect designer for the new bespoke age of fashion, even though he has been around for a while, having trained under both Halston and Balenciaga.
The Chado Ralph Rucci line pays tribute to the Japanese tea ceremony and its attention to detail. The name reveals much about Rucci who is also a painter, read philosophy at University and recently won an André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
As with all his work, the dress donned by Dockery at the SAG awards was meticulously crafted with a deep couture sensibility that makes Rucci’s work hover somewhere between fashion and art. As he puts it, “My fascination exists in the space where clothes become weightless and hauntingly transparent…” It’s no wonder a book about his 2007 exhibition at the FIT Museum was called The Art of Weightlessness, and this is why beautiful women like Dockery love his clothes, for their ability to convey an air of ethereal sensuality.
With Dockery now one of his fans the American designer, who had couture shows in Paris between 2002 and 2005, may finally get the kind of following he deserves. Rucci has one of the most beautiful websites www.chadoralphrucci.com in the fashion business, full of notes about his process and inspirations as well as his latest collections. It’s a crying shame that his name is not currently on the list of designers stocked by Lane Crawford, Joyce or Harvey Nichols, but don’t buy another dress until you have checked out his latest collection on line.
…More stories like this are available in Quintessentially Asia
若隐若现
上个月，热播剧《唐顿庄园》的女主角米歇尔·多克里（Michelle Dockery）在屏幕演员公会奖（the Screen Actor’s Guild awards）的红毯上引起了不小的轰动。《每日电讯报》得益于其一袭清凉长裙，获得灵感，在搜罗女星们展示美好身材的新方式后，发表了一篇《全新事业线（The New Cleavage）》的文章。多克里虽然性感妩媚、吸引眼球，但我还是被文字吸引了：其礼服是由拉尔夫·鲁奇（Ralph Rucci）设计的。鲁奇在时尚圈已有时日，曾为Halston与Balenciaga两大品牌效力，在这个时装订制时代可谓生逢其时，已有自己的品牌“茶道拉尔夫·鲁奇（Chado Ralph Rucci）”。品牌的名字中显示了他对日本茶道的欣赏与其所代表的细致入微、礼数周到精神的崇尚，同时也让我们窥见了他的文化、艺术修为：鲁奇是一位画家，大学时代热爱哲学，刚刚从萨凡纳艺术与设计学院（Savannah College of Art and Design）获得了安德烈·莱昂·塔利终身成就奖（André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award）。
包括多克里在公会奖上艳压群芳的礼服在内，鲁奇所有的作品都是由时装设计师特有的感性精心雕琢而成的，因此每件服装都界于时尚品与艺术品之间。用他自己的话说，“我最喜欢把衣服变得轻巧飘逸，直至他们变得轻如鸿毛，透明如蝉翼……”他把纪录其2007年在FIT博物馆展览的书命名为《失重的艺术（The Art of Weightlessness）》，一针见血地道明了自己的创作哲学。也正因鲁奇对空灵、放浪之感的直着追求，其作品才会深得像多克里这类美女的芳心。他虽为美国设计师，但曾在2002到2005年凭借非凡的实力于巴黎举行时装秀。其品牌网站亦精美绝伦，囊括他点滴感悟与灵感，在时尚界首屈一指。可惜的是，他的作品竟然没有被Harvey Nichols、连卡佛、Joyce等大型精品百货公司收录。所以在买衣服前，还是有必要去鲁奇的网站看一下他设计的最新款式。
