Ralph Rucci Speaks!

Last Friday, 2008 National Design Award winner Ralph Rucci ended New York Fashion Week with a black silk tulle bang. Inspired in part by the work of Mark Rothko, Rucci’s dazzling spring 2009 collection (pictured above, in photos that don’t do the garments justice) experimented with texture and transparency, structure and weightlessness, drama and restraint—continuums that both characterize his oeuvre and propel it forward. Crafted in luxe, often double-faced fabrics ranging from silk faille and wool crepe to pailette-studded fishnet and silver mylar, the 51 looks that Rucci sent down the runway had all the hallmarks of haute couture, although Friday’s show was in fact his first exclusively ready-to-wear presentation in some time.

How