NEW YORK — Doomed is not a word that immediately comes to mind when
considering the work of
Joseph Altuzarra for his
Altuzarra label. On the
contrary, his most celebrated designs lead a charmed existence, just
ask front row’s
Rihanna. Ambitious, then is the designer who takes the
haunting classic Rosemary’s Baby and the picturesque Barry Lyndon as his
collection’s twin points of departure.
“I became interested in the idea
of a sinister and undone prettiness and romance, ill-fated and doomed.”
The tension was present throughout and realized with poise and grace on
the runway by
Sigrid Cold, Hedvig Palm, Shu-Pei Qin, and Georgia
Hilmer.
Joseph Altuzarra is plainly on a roll a young designer reaching the top of his game, the current holder of the CFDA/
Vogue
title of Womenswear Designer of the Year, with TV ads for his
'Target'
collection (available in stores and online on
Net-A-Porter from September
14th) collaboration
(Eva Herzigová at her sexy best) airing all over America, and he’s
about to be married to his boyfriend. All that dizzying recognition and
personal bliss might act as a distraction for some creative people. Not
this one. His spring collection was focused, realistic, sensitive, and,
in its final passages, romantically beautiful in a way he’s never quite
attempted before.
Netflix might also take some of the credit. The effects of staying home at night and watching films like
Rosemary’s Baby and
Barry Lyndon
resulted in some of the makings of the collection—the sixties gingham
checks at the opening, and the eighteenth-century florals at the end.
But probably Altuzarra is reaching a stage in his career where his
background seasonal research is far less relevant than the way he
applies it. His customers have taught him that they like a narrow,
sexily slit or unbuttoned skirt with a tailored blazer; it’s his
signature.
Altuzarra also thinks about how a breezy shirtdress will look its
best flying along the street it has short sleeves, appears buttoned up
to the neck, and has a cunningly slit hemline, in pale blue viscose
check. His references to Stanley Kubrick’s
Barry Lyndon, which
is set in eighteenth-century Ireland, ended up as some extraordinary
pattern-cutting at the end of the show. Tissue-fine floral fabrics bore
the traces of pannier dress patterns of that era, which in the original
would have been worn supported by wooden frames. For Altuzarra, though,
they were deflated and beautifully flowy, worn beneath precisely-cut
black tuxedo jackets.
Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories
Photo Credit/Source: VOGUE
Candids: Kevin Tachman
Runway: Kim Weston Arnold / Indigitalimages
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“My first season was deeply rooted in the tailoring DNA of the brand,” said artistic director Jason Wu
backstage after the show. “This season I felt I could change things up a
little bit, push the boundaries. How do I do evening a Boss way?” By
constructing cocktail dresses with techniques commonly used in suiting,
he decided. “All of the corseted dresses were done with menswear
felting,” Wu explained. “It’s Tron-esque (we agree!), but made so beautifully inside and out.”
