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Emilio Pucci died in 1992. His daughter, Laudomia Pucci, took over design in 1992 and remains as image director and vice president. She spoke fondly of her father's legacy, and what she sees as a false perception that the house seemed almost fossilized in the past. "Certainly my father's career was very strong from the early '50s to the late
'70s, and he definitely defined a moment in fashion. We are still defined by that hot pot print," she said. "Many people who are not so much in the industry sometimes say 'Pucci is only defined by color and print!' Oh but there is so much more. We've just done a collection in black and white," she said, pausing. "But at least they know who we are, and that's something we can build on." She also spoke openly about the house's close relationship with Monroe. "When (Emilio Pucci) first introduced the silk jersey, he took the thread and the American buyers said
'Mr. Pucci, an American lady will never be caught dead in this fabric.' And actually Marilyn Monroe was in Los Angeles, walked in a store and bought a dress, walked out after taking off her bra and bumped into Mr. Miller and the rest of the story is pretty obvious," she said, referring to Monroe's third husband, playwright Arthur Miller. "They say that she was buried in Pucci," she added. In recent years she has tried to get a piece of the Monroe history back, by buying back pieces from the blond bombshell's wardrobe. "I have her knickers in my archives," she said.
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