Camille Miceli Talks Taking Over Pucci and Self-Confidence
A conversation with Pucci’s artistic director, Camille Miceli, who, after roles at Dior and Louis Vuitton, has landed at the Italian fashion house to breathe new life into the brand’s joyful, psychedelic prints.
Photography by Jean-Baptste Mondino
L’OFFICIEL: What’s your first memory of Pucci?
CAMILLE MICELI: Ah, there were two things. First there was my grandma, who used to have the jersey tops. I loved the way she would mix them with prints from other classic fashion houses. And then the other memory is when I was [working in public relations] at Chanel, like at the beginning of the ‘90s. There was this comeback of Pucci—vintage Pucci. And I remember the girls, especially Linda Evangelista and Helena Christensen, wearing it. And I liked it, so I also bought some for myself.
L’O: What drew you to the house?
CM: For me it represents an Italian glamour, and a certain way of living. But the thing that I love about Pucci is that, while it’s a fashion house, it’s also quite easy and wearable; it’s a no-brainer. Of course, the lifestyle and all the joyfulness comes from those prints. There’s something so psychedelic about them—something so crazy. I would’ve loved to meet the man who first created them [Emilio Pucci]. He must have had such a frivolity and such a freedom. And I like free people; I like people that just do the things they love without questioning themselves too much. I feel very connected to Emilio. The designs come very easily. Spontaneously.
L’O: How do you incorporate Pucci’s heritage into your designs?
CM: I often go into the archive to look for prints, because I only want to work with Emilio’s prints that we redraw by hand, not with the computer. After putting together the ones I like the team and I speak about how we want the collection to feel. I’m always inspired by the 1970s and sometimes the ‘60s, which was a big decade for the brand.
It’s very important for me to be able to mold myself to fit where I’m working while still seeing it through my own lens. The things I created for Louis Vuitton were different from what I did for Dior. I think it’s very important as a designer to respect where you are. Of course you put a hint of your own personality, but the star is the house.
L’O: Who is the Pucci woman?
CM: For me, Pucci is for a woman who knows herself; she’s free. She has a passion for life for sure; she travels around the world and is cultured. She’s curious and she’s feminine. Though there is femininity, I try to mix in a bit of boyishness. There are no barriers when it comes to generations. For me, it’s really about family—that’s why the Resort 2023 collection was called La Famiglia. There’s no one person who wears Pucci, there’s something for a mother, a daughter, and a grandmother. For each collection I like to start with a story that relates to Emilio, and through that I’m trying to further develop who this woman is. I try to have a bit of his personality come out of each collection.
Sometimes just a print can be the basis of a collection. For example, Emilio created the Marmo print when he was in Capri, and the reflection of the sun onto the sea gave him the inspiration for it.
L’O: How would you define your Pucci?
CM: Joy, for sure. It’s for someone who wants to show up as themselves. You’re wearing prints, you’re wearing colors; you’re not a hidden person. You’re very self-confident.
L’O: You’ve also been developing more menswear.
CM: Why not? The men’s business is big. From the first collection, I included things that were unisex, which I think is always cool. I love the fact that a woman can take some traditionally “men’s” pieces from the man’s collection and mix it into her own wardrobe. It’s so indicative of our time. We’ll never be a suiting company, but I think there is a space there. I also have a son who is 22 years old, and he and his friends love the clothes. They also don’t buy too much; they go for quality. Sometimes a few of them will pool their money and buy something together and share it. I love that.
L’O: You recently collaborated with skiwear brand Fusalp. Do you have any others coming up?
CM: As a smaller house, I think it’s a great thing to collaborate with other brands, where we can both contribute our knowledge and resources. I really wanted to do skiwear, and I’ve always liked what Fusalp was doing, especially because they only use technical materials, so there is a lot of research behind their pieces. Hopefully we’ll do something more together.
L’O: You’ve worked for many big fashion houses, like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Dior. What did you learn from your mentors there?
CM: I’ve been super lucky to work for those big houses; I learned a lot from them. Seeing the way business was handled was really helpful, especially as Pucci is a smaller house with a small team. I began my fashion career with an internship with Mr. [Azzedine] Alaïa. He was so meticulous. I’ve become a bit like him, and adopted this philosophy of, when you agree to do something, you have to do it deeply until the end, and do it perfectly. I mean, as perfectly as you can. And then Karl [Lagerfeld] was the king of marketing. He had a mindset of how to do things, and it was something I kept in mind when doing see-now-buy-now for Pucci as well as creating mood boards.
L’O: What is your dream for Pucci?
CM: The goal would be to have a place in Tuscany, in the middle of nature. It would be sustainable and we’d grow our own food. It would be a hotel and place for wellness; you could do yoga or ceramics, and it could also be an artist residence. And maybe also to go to space.
