Since arriving at the Florentine house five years ago, Peter Dundas has become known first and foremost for sexy dresses.
Yet like other designers in Milan, Dundas decided to get sporty. Backstage, he explained that a trip to Morocco made him realize how much African silhouettes like the djellaba and sarouel pants resemble athletic clothes. And so he crossbred the two references, applying dense Masai beadwork to hooded warm-up jackets, for example.
Motorcycle racing, trekking, boxing and running were among the other active pursuits that fed the theme. “I guess it’s my version of gym queens,” Dundas shrugged.
The sight of a woman in a scuba suit, especially with the zipper slightly open, is undeniably sexy — and so Dundas shaped black Neoprene into barely-there bustier tops as well as minimal minidresses worn under intricately beaded mesh tubes.
The same cannot be said of a billowing jumpsuit in safety orange parachute material, or bulky leather motocross pants streaked with metallic swirls.
What stood out were the terrific tuxedo jackets, either low slung or cropped at the rib cage — and a few curve-hugging dresses meant for the dance floor. Dundas is better in the arena of clothes that make men’s pulses race, rather than women.
