Altuzarra RTW Spring 2019
The flush of first love experienced during the summer. What does it feel like? What does it look like? This is what Joseph Altuzarra was thinking about when designing his spring collection. Films about young love, like “Call Me By Your Name,” “Stealing Beauty,” and “Cinema Paradiso” fueled his mood, as did memories of his own summers spent in Italy. Telling that story through well-drawn characters in the hands of directors like Bernardo Bertolucci and Luca Guadagnino is a different ball game than expressing it in clothes, but Altuzarra captured the relevant sentiments with a happy, vibrant hand.
“We thought about how you feel when you’re falling in love for the first time,” Altuzarra said before his show, held in the halls of the Hotel Potocki, flooded with a breeze and natural light from the open floor to ceiling windows. “It’s about exposing your true self and being vulnerable.” The palette was fresh and warm, full of garden pink, orange, yellow and cobalt blue, as well as black, white and brown. Altuzarra has established a solid language for his brand — pencil skirts, neat knits, strong but sensual tailoring — and he’s committed to working within those parameters. He illustrated the fragility and rawness of new romance by opening up his silhouettes.
Floral skirts in printed poplin, devore and knits were slit up the leg; matching tops fell open around the bust to reveal the solar plexus. A book on chakras told Altuzara it’s the center of one’s true self and power. Pieces were finished with raw edges and linings peaking out. There was a nice artisanal, crafty hand to crocheted dresses, whisper thin patchworked silk skirts and patchworked leather jackets with tie closures.
The collection was very pretty, at times a bit precious with its ginghams, cropped shirting and prim cardigans, but always exuding a sensual confidence. Altuzarra introduced newness with long, lean knit gingham tunics and tanks ruched along a botton-down placket over matching long, slinky pants. Mesh leather netted dresses strung with seashells and the finale of dresses done in long washed sequins were showpieces, but that aside, the collection was all destined for reality. Summer love may fade, but these clothes — and fabulous espadrille totes — can live happily ever after in a women’s wardrobe.
Launch Gallery: Altuzarra RTW Spring 2019
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