Spring/Summer 2001 ready-to-wear Collection

Woman's "Stingray Swan" Evening Dress

Ralph Rucci’s spectacular "Swan" or "Infanta" gowns acknowledge past fashions but are completely modern. This ready-to-wear example, inspired by the majestic form of a stingray, floats shaped panels of lustrous satin over matte plain-weave gazar fabric. The Philadelphia-born designer is both innovative and exacting in cut and construction; he dislikes rigid understructures, so his skirts are painstakingly backed with silk to be voluminous yet pliant and apparently weightless.