Italian fashion designers are known to make lively clothes. One of them is Emilio Pucci, Marchese di Barsento, the Naples-born aristocrat whose psychedelic-patterned garments led him to become “The Prince of Prints.” His daughter, Laudomia Pucci, who oversees Emilio Pucci Heritage, co-authored a book with the company’s archive manager, Dylan Colussi, to capture the brand’s story. Pucci: The Art of Fashion illustrates how the house became celebrated for its “swirling, geometric patterns, glamorous designs, and innovative creative collaborations,” according to the authors Pucci and Colussi.
Emilio Pucci was a well-educated designer. Dissatisfied with his classes at the University of Milan, Pucci went to study in the United States, first attending the University of Georgia, and then Reed College in Portland, Oregon, where he earned a master’s degree in social science in 1937. After that, he was awarded a doctorate in political science from the University of Florence. Having joined the Italian Air Force in 1938, while serving, Emilio began designing skiwear for his upper-class Italian contemporaries–by doing so, he garnered the attention of Harper’s Bazaar photographer Toni Frissell.
Next, Frissel’s images of Pucci’s skiwear were embraced by the titan and Harper’s Bazaar editor Diana Vreeland. With her stamp of approval, the magazine published images of Pucci’s work, and he entered the American fashion lexicon. In 1948, his first collection for the American market launched at Lord & Taylor, fully introducing his Florentinian design prowess: the collection featured skiwear and wool knits handwoven in Capri, reports the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A collaboration with silk industrialist Guido Ravasi followed.
At this time, Emilio also began working with research assistants to test out varying cotton and silk weaves in addition to blends for “luster, drape, and durability.” Emilioform was born out of these experiments: a synthetic jersey that would become a signature fabric in the Pucci collection as early as 1960, according to the Met. The aristocratic designer often drew upon his worldly childhood experiences–Pucci produced clothing, upholstery, living room accessories, purses, shoes, and clothing that reflected all this exposure, print-packed and vivacious.
Women in particular loved Pucci’s clothing. High-profile figures such as Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Sophia Lauren all became clients. Moreover, the designer earned the respect of the fashion establishment, with tastemakers such as Suzy Menkes and Mario Testino championing his work. The convivial spirit of Pucci’s clothes was part of their draw. But it was also the ease of drape, how well they accommodate women’s bodies. It seems that the clothes transported those women into a different social and emotional state of being, a freer one. Pucci: The Art of Fashion, which is slated to release on September 16, reflects these achievements well.
But the Pucci brand is also widely embraced by Black celebrities. Those loud, colorful prints align with hip-hop’s aversion to restraint, to sameness even. Perhaps it’s only natural since, according to Luxury Daily, Emilio Pucci’s “travels to Africa inspired a variety of designs and prints, as well as influenced his personal values.” In 2019, Laudomia Pucci told the outlet that one of the inspirations was the sarongs he saw in Mali, leading him to “design colorful, wide-legged palazzo pants.”
His history of dressing Black talent dates back to artists like Aretha Franklin, who wore one of his dresses on the December 1971 cover of Ebony, in addition to the model Charissa Craig, whose work is featured in the book. Styled in a long-sleeved multicolored dress and green headwrap, the cover shows how Franklin was the perfect person for Pucci’s wares. Her fiery personality, her pizazz amplified the boldness in his prints. She also showed that the Pucci woman could be any kind of woman, that she didn’t have to be white, thin, and aristocratic.
More recently, rappers have been seen wearing the brand. At a party last summer, Cardi B. hosted in celebration of her newly launched vodka brand, she wore a Pucci catsuit with oversized gold hoops and equally vibrant platform heels. The look embodied the freedom with which the artist expresses herself. She brings that lively energy and sense of humor to everything she wears. But it’s Pucci’s clothes that bring out those qualities the most. Laudomia describes the book as “an explosion of life that opens the windows wide onto a world where fashion and art embrace.” In that spirit, Cardi B. wears Pucci’s clothes “without restraint, without measure,” recalling how Emilio’s lines would capture, as Laudomia writes in Pucci, “the body’s natural rhythm.”
Gunna is another artist who wears the Milan-based label. On numerous occasions, he’s been spotted with the label’s artistic director, Camille Miceli. Of course, he’s also attended the shows. In 2022, he told The New York Times, “We need more Pucci for men.” Indeed, Gunna has sported the brand on trips to Italy, typically in a long-sleeved shirt and a matching hat, with a smile. This comes as no surprise, given the rapper’s style evolution. A brand like Emilio Pucci sits somewhere between the flair and the pragmatic in Gunna’s dress. And his easy, go-with-the-flow attitude matches that of the brand’s clothes. Hence, his feature in Pucci’s partnership with Mytheresa, which included a promotional video, stands out as one of the best looks.
Count other Southern rappers such as Flo Milli, JT, and Yung Miami as unofficial ambassadors. Take, for example, how Flo Milli references the brand in the lyrics to her song, “Never Lose Me.” In the track, she smoothly declares: “He touchin’ Emilio Pucci.” The Alabama-bred artist arrived at the BET Awards in 2023 in a Pucci dress with a matching hat–this pairing and other pieces she’s worn by the brand have been noteworthy. JT and Yung Miami have previously worn matching Pucci sets to go clubbing. The list goes on.
I imagine these clothes ignite a joy such that you can’t help but at least grin when wearing them. Not many brands still do that; the ones that once did have faded into the background for one reason or another. Emilio started the label in 1947, established its first boutique in Capri three years later, and remains relevant today because it has evolved with its customers. Ever-wearable and fun-loving, it always had staying power.
In Pucci, Miceli describes the label as “timeless” since its founding, and yet she thinks Emilio must’ve been fun and light, playful and extravagant. Her kinship with Emilio stems from a feeling that, as perhaps Emilio did, it is “essential to enjoy life to the fullest.” In its way, hip-hop is more and more about that. Sure, there’s a status element, something a bit insider-y about it, but Pucci’s clothes speak to hip-hop in ways other houses don’t.
They dress the shifts in feminist politics put forth by some Black women rappers, while delightfully showcasing the lines of their bodies. They brighten the wardrobe of a man like Gunna, broadening the scope of the genre’s dress codes. Its aesthetic is the house’s appeal, but the Pucci label does something that might even be spiritually rooted for hip-hop artists: it echoes the dynamism of Black style. The clothes alone are a cultural fit without a ton of logos. Or without a need to subvert them, although rappers do that, too.