AZ Factory RTW Spring 2024

Miles Socha
·2 min read
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Shirts, shirt jackets and shirtdresses have been all over the European runways.

Norman René Devera and his wingman Peter Movrin, who authored the AZ Factory collection for spring 2024, are fond of shirts themselves, and opened their runway show with big tuxedo numbers long enough to be worn without pants — sometimes with an extra plastron in floral prints and trailing streamers.

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“We were also inspired by women who wear shirts and how powerful they look,” Movrin said backstage.

Devera, who is design director for ready-to-wear and accessories at AZ Factory, and Movrin, its senior designer, were the first insiders tapped as guest “amigos” for the house.

The two men characterized the collection as less of a tribute to the late, great Alber Elbaz, and more of a “continued conversation” with new generations who might not be so familiar with the Israeli designer’s flair for cocktail dresses with couture volumes, and easy pajama-like tailoring.

Their open-air show, staged in the courtyard of modern office towers, cycled through a variety of silhouettes, from babydolls to strapless gowns, mostly hitting the mark. The attitude was young and fresh.

They were certainly bang on trend with transparent fabrics as well as fringe, which lapped from the edges of lingerie-like tops and dresses and offbeat mules with golden, upside-down egg-cup heels.

More than half of the fabrics were deadstock, and skewed dressy as Elbaz preferred: heavy satin scrunched here and there and vivid floral jacquards for leggy shorts or swingy tank dresses.

Devera and Movrin were handpicked by Elbaz when he created AZ Factory in 2019 as a joint venture with Compagnie Financière Richemont, billed as a newfangled fashion house turning out “smart fashion that cares.”

Previous AZ Factory guest talents have included Molly Molloy and Lucinda Chambers, the design duo behind Colville; South African designer Thebe Magugu; size-inclusive brand Ester Manas, designed by Ester Manas and Balthazar Delepierre, and Lutz Huelle, founder of the Lutz label, who has stayed on to helm AZ’s pre-collections.

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Launch Gallery: AZ Factory RTW Spring 2024

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