MILAN, Italy — Alessandro Dell'Acqua is one of those old-school designers — they are rarer and rarer, in this era of constant make-believe and celebrity — who know how to make a dress and how to make a woman look beautiful, for that matter. This is particularly effective when he gets punky and experimental, as he did this season. Even when hybridised and brutal, his creations are flattering, charming and eminently transversal.

The collection he presented today was an irreverent attack to the traditional codes of femininity. Pleats, feathers and demure silhouettes were shred to pieces and reassembled in askew collages of grittiness and sophistication. There was a persistent whiff of Sacai, but it worked.