THEMONITOR
The Italian designer shaping up the fashion industry and charging the change for size inclusivity
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The Italian designer from the city of Sicily has made a name for himself in the fashion industry for his exuberant one-of-a-kind pieces.
Over the years some of Hollywood’s biggest stars have rocked his designs, including pop divas Madonna, Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears. Back in July 2018, the designer unveiled his first capsule collection with plus-size Italian brand Marina Rinaldi, which is part of fashion giant Max Mara.
The capsule collection was everything we expected from the designer, with its vivid palette of popping colours that wrap around the body in bold blocks or in geometric patterns. It was clear that Puglisi wanted to highlight the female body rather than hide it.
Last month, Marina Rinaldi opened its first store in Dubai at the luxurious Fashion Avenue in The Dubai Mall. To celebrate the launch, the brand released an exclusive, modest collection with Puglisi. Moreover, the face of the brand, plussize supermodel Ashley Graham, attended the store opening.
Before the opening, Emirates Woman got the chance to sit with the Italian designer and to learn more about his collaboration with Marina Rinaldi. How did your first collaboration with Marina Rinaldi come about? How did they approach you? They approached me through Giorgio Guidotti, whom I love. He is the PR of Max Mara group. He told me that they were thinking about a collaboration, then the CEO of Marina and Enrica Carretti [product manager] met me. But I had to go to Miami and I thought I don’t know if I’m fitted for that. Then, when I was having breakfast in Miami, I was surrounded by happy people. They were skinny, curvy, sexy, fine. They were relaxed. This is what I like. Sometimes in fashion people have this idea that you have to be very, very skinny, but this is not the reality. Reality is different. From Kim Kardashian, to Beyoncé, to Rihanna, these incredible women are changing the perception of female beauty.
Thinking about that and how much I love Miami, I said let’s do it. But I said I will do it only if they give me the freedom to do whatever I want. I want them to be sexy, secure and powerful, and not to cover their curves, because they are not a problem. Did you do this collaboration because you felt that fashion does not cater to curvy women? For me it was a challenge. Whenitcomestomycollection,Idonotthinkofotherdesigners or about fashion. Now everything is about the market, so I do my own market. I have my own philosophy. I don’t care about fashion right now. I don’t watch my colleagues’ shows. I believe in my own dimension, but I hear talk of fashion becoming more inclusive, which is good. Thanks to my family, I grew up with that since I was born. I was educated to respect people. What was your inspiration for the collection? I love colours. You can find black and boring colours everywhere. Every time I design, I want to create something unique and special, something to make women dream about. I love the tight colour blushing dresses. Also the chiffon dress that Ashley [Graham] wore in Paris. It was a red and pink leopard dress. It was very beautiful. Tell us more about the exclusive Middle East modest capsule collection. I was thinking about your taste for fabrics, which is beautiful. What I like here is that there is a sense of beauty which is very low. You can see fashion here is very sophisticated and elegant. I also used 60s Italian inspiration with French chiffon fabric. I always wanted to work with feathers because it’s very classical, but also rock ‘n’ roll – it makes me think of Elton John in the 70s, but also Queen Elizabeth. Would you do another modest collection in the future? Of course, yes I love it.