The iconic actress and model stepped out donning one of the brand's most beloved prints that served as the beautiful backdrop for her Vogue Italia cover 34 years ago
Last week’s Pucci spring/summer ‘24 runway spectacle undoubtedly marked a defining moment for Swedish-Italian model and actress Isabella Rossellini and many fashion enthusiasts. Closing the showcase, emerging in a striking Vivara-printed terry cloth cape, Rossellini’s surprise appearance immediately catapulted us back to 1990 when she graced the cover of Vogue Italia in full Pucci against the vibrant backdrop of the brand’s iconic blue and purple-hued Vivara print, initially dreamt up by Emilio Pucci in 1965.
Rossellini, who exudes an elegance reminiscent of old Hollywood glamour (after all, her mother, Ingrid Bergman, was one of the most illustrious Swedish film stars) and has a personal penchant for Pucci, makes a perfect match with the brand. “My mother had a few Pucci dresses; they synced up with her style, she was Swedish and had lived in America, so she favoured a sense of simple, practical elegance,” she reminisced in an interview for Vogue. “Pucci was a sort of revolution in those days [the 60s] … it was so different from the uptight, bourgeois and formal style then culturally in vogue; there was an ease that felt incredibly new. It was utterly modern.”
Isabella Rossellini and Pucci's creative director Camille Miceli. Photo: Stephane Feugre
In fact, it was Rossellini’s '90s Vogue Italia cover that served as the starting point for the Pucci SS24 collection by Camille Miceli, entitled ‘Very Vivara’. Captured by Steven Meisel and styled by Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, the stunning shot caught Miceli’s imagination in all its nostalgic glory. The Vivara print – which takes its cues from a tiny island of the same name nestled in the Mediterranean just off the coast of Naples – remains one of Pucci’s most known and loved.
Held in the historic surroundings of Palazzo Altemps, a 16th-century aristocratic mansion now part of the National Roman Museum, the SS24 collection combined elements that Miceli currently cherishes the most, fused with the Pucci DNA. An array of Pucci-coded caftans and capes were juxtaposed with body-skimming numbers featuring high slits and plunging necklines, while Miceli also debuted brand-new patterns for the label. In addition to Rossellini, supers like Christy Turlington, Eva Herzigova and Mariacarla Boscono strutted down the runway. “Connecting Pucci’s flair for glamour, its most iconic print from 1965, the allure of Rome, the sensuality of Italian women à la Sophia Loren: it all sort of came full circle, almost serendipitously,” Miceli told Vogue Runway.