Last season's Chado Ralph Rucci show took place in the main tent at Bryant Park; the backstage chaos leading up to the show was recently shown on Bravo's new behind-the-scenes fashion show, "Kell on Earth." This season the haute luxe label took a calmer approach: It held its Fall 2010 runway show at its showroom on Thursday evening. The room was brightly lit and set with rows of clear plastic chairs.
The monied ambiance was intimate and chummy; a lot of guests knew each other, swapping air kisses and trading compliments. The invitation had requested evening attire, and New York's doyennes did not disappoint. There were many delicate high heels in the front row, despite snow slush clinging to Soho's sidewalks just outside the door.
Whoopi Goldberg nestled next to Vogue's Andre Leon Talley to watch her first Chado Ralph Rucci show. "The details were stunning on those pieces," Ms. Goldberg said. "It made me want to lose 70, 80 pounds and get really high heels to wear." She gushed over a gown with feathered detailing: "It was just stunning."
Longtime fan Martha Stewart concurred. "His use of materials is so amazing," she said. "Some of the fabrics I hadn't seen before. So extraordinary." Patti Smith and Fran Lebowitz also sat in the front row.
The collection, which Mr. Rucci said had no theme because all his collections form an evolving body of work, featured delicately feathered dresses (which are not only placed by hand, but sorted one feather at a time), chic revealing jackets with tulle panels and sweeping dramatic opera coats. The audience broke into scattered applause over individual looks, and stood to give the designer an ovation when he took his bow.
"I finally figured out that we surpassed last season and that's always a great feeling of accomplishment for me," Ralph Rucci said in an interview two weeks before the runway show. "You're looking at a body of work that is charged with so much references, especially in the techniques that my crew and I have developed. It affects you on a visceral emotional level."
