Palm Angels RTW Spring 2020

Booth Moore

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Palm Angels is spreading its wings.

“This is our first real experiment with women’s,” said Francesco Ragazzi, founder of the L.A.-meets-Milan brand, which made its debut as a unisex collection in 2015. “We discovered more women were going to the brand and the idea was to create something just for them, and take it to the next level,” he said, adding that he wanted to start by showing in Paris at a showroom, and having a proper look book, but that he intends to present a coed runway show starting next season.

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Continuing where the men’s collection started, the women’s offering is inspired by a “journey into a classic American vintage store where you find a mix of Japanese, college and sport all mixed together.…All the basics of the American wardrobe are there and I wanted to reinterpret that,” he said of the casual-cool everyday pieces that went beyond the Palm Angels logo (though there was a lot of that) to include a tailored black blazer with enamel daisy-flower buttons, a collaged pink oxford shirt stripe, tie-dye and sweater knit shirtdress, Japanese print-silk pajamas, palm-tree embossed leather bags and more. (And for those who are wondering, Ragazzi’s favorite American vintage store is Melet Mercantile, which teamed with Gucci for a pop-up in Montauk over the summer, and opened an outpost in downtown L.A. in June.)

“We already have 150 stores selling women’s, but it was really just a commercial version of men’s, or buyers were selling the men’s things on the women’s floor,” he explained. “This is the next step in making women’s a bigger part of the business.”

The range had a little something for everyone, including a boxy camo-pattern scrubs loungewear set; floral PVC anorak and rain pants, and denim, alongside plenty of labeled garb — Palm Angeles dancing bear T-shirts; a Palm Angels University crest varsity jacket; Palm Angels side-stripe track pants; hotel-living inspired Palm Angels Beach Club terry-cloth hoodie; twisted Palm Angels athletic mesh, T-shirt dresses, and more.

Ragazzi is the former artistic director of Moncler; Palm Angels, which is under the umbrella of New Guards Group, grew out of a photography project he did on the Seventies L.A. skater scene.

“It really starts with the name. People love what it stands for, it’s a positive name, it reminds them of Los Angeles,” said the designer, who lives in Milan but travels often to L.A. “The first thing that inspired me about L.A. was the light, and I always try to put in my work that saturated golden hour feeling. It’s also that idea of a lighter spirit, compared to New York, compared to Europe. Even if I go there for work it doesn’t feel like work.”

Launch Gallery: Palm Angels RTW Spring 2020

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