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Rock 'n' Roll Gypsies

Joseph Altuzarra distils a wealth of inspirations into his real-est collection to date
Joseph Altuzarra Autumn/Winter 2016 | Source: InDigital.tv
By
  • Tim Blanks

NEW YORK, United States — Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive, with Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston as sibling vampires, sounded almost too perfect as the inspiration for Joseph Altuzarra's new collection, but he was quick to point out it wasn't the look of that particularly stylish movie that turned him on so much as the attitude of the characters. "I loved how diverse their taste was, how curious they were about so many things," Altuzarra said at a preview in his studio the other day. "That inspired me to be very curious too."

So the story he told for the new season drew on all sorts of sources: an image he'd found of an Inuit parka made from a floral jacquard, simultaneously utilitarian and decorative; an exhibition of Indian textiles he'd seen at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London; 18th century floral designs; Albanian folk costumes. Then, as he pointed out in his shownotes, there was his over-arching concern: "to speak to women I knew, and the reality of their lives."

It was ultimately reality that defined Altuzarra's collection above and beyond all those other exotic little threads. This felt like his real-est outing to date, with an emphasis on gorgeous knitwear, braided with white leather ribbon or fuzzy with hand-knotted fringing, and the equally seductive outerwear — especially the floral-printed shearlings — that was worn over them. "The bulk was new for me," the designer said, "but I wanted to keep it functional. I wanted women to be able to wear sweaters under their coats."

Those ethnic visual elements he'd ticked off as inspirations were sublimated into a dense, seamless whole of pattern and texture. Altuzarra made the most of it with long flowing silk dresses and skirts sewn in squares, with fluttering handkerchief hems. There is always a hint of something wild and erotic simmering away in his collections. Here, it was in the sensual movement, the rock 'n' roll gypsy flair of those skirts. Altuzarra closed with two floor-sweeping versions shimmering with silver sequins. They were magical, because Altuzarra appreciates that now, more than ever, reality needs to dream.

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