First, some colour commentary – the piece on Silence brought mixed reactions – there were a couple of Brilliants! (WooHoo!). Some thought it was “edgy” and someone else was worried that it was a bit mean….he failed to realize it was a piece of fiction and any resemblance to living persons was purely coincidental. I found another huge fan of Brett Whiteley. Seems she had a summer romance with a handsome young Aussie (coincidentally also named Brett) but when he returned to the land of milk and honey he unceremoniously dumped her via a postcard. On the front of that card was an image of Whiteley’s “Woman in Bath”. She kept the card for the image not the message and it opened her up to a whole new world. Strange how things are sent to us sometimes in life!
What WAS he watching?The big lug was sitting on the sofa channel surfing….”.Whoa! Hold that image.” It must have been Fashion T.V. or something equally contrary to the baggy-panted, hoody dressed, skate shoe wearing hobbledehoy in control of the clicker. I got a full 3 seconds but it was enough and I rushed to google. Pucci and Balloons were all I needed. It was last years news, but not for me. I am a big fan of visual spectacle. I love incongruity, I love color and I love big pictures and here were all three rolled into a glorious tableau that brought a smile to my eyes.It would seem the French artist Gerard Cholot had been commissioned by Pucci to design an installation piece to help celebrate the 60thanniversary of the iconic Italian fashion house. The celebration took place at Palazzo Pucci (home of the style dynasty since the 13th century) in Florence in 2007. Here’s what he came up with – sixty massive helium filled balloons (one for each year of operation) each one covered in a signature print from the Pucci archives, tassled with a bold colored jersey dress, gently dancing around the ballroom of the Palazzo to strains from a grand piano. As the lug would say…”Sweet!”
The Pucci brand was established by the late Marchese de Barsento, also known as Emilio Pucci, a dashing Italian aristocrat who belonged to one of Florence’s oldest families .Dubbed the “Prince of Prints,” his “lifestyle of the rich and famous” provided inspiration for his early designs of resort and ski wear. His career took off when a ski suit he created was photographed on the slopes of Zermatt in Switzerland in 1947 by a Harper’s Bazaar magazine photographer. Anyone familiar with the label knows that it is the outrageous prints that make Pucci so unforgettable. They took off in the psychedelic 60′s and are currently experiencing a huge resurgence in popularity.I actually owned a Pucci suit when I was 19, a testimony to my parent’s indulgence. I wish I stilled owned that suit as Pucci “vintage” is big, big, big!All that remains of my mothers Pucci stash is an exquisite scarf which my daughter and I fight over.
