Alessandro Dell’Acqua imagines a lady with a bit of subversion, through a design perspective that looks sharp into focus for AW25.
MILAN, ITALY – ONE of the most exciting developments in the creative space over the past few seasons has been the popularity of niche brands. Go to the big retailers and the designer lists are peppered with newcomers or little-known names that deliver a surprisingly brilliant aesthetic. N°21‘s Alessandro Dell’Acqua, whose label explores the parallels of the modern woman, is very much a pioneer in this regard.
He saw a hole in the niche-like commercial market for highly functional, deeply chic offerings and he plugged it, first with his uncluttered silhouettes and bow-fashioned one-pieces, later with more fashion-forward looks, like the sensuous transparencies teamed with heavier textiles.
Dell’Acqua is nicely navigating the still-growing category of designers who fashion garments through commercial-savvy measures and sartorial expression in equal measure. Next season’s case in point? The bow, which—designed in a wealth of iterations—makes the case for ample sartorial playfulness by way of lines, shapes and meanings, too.
“The bow is an intrusive construction that may appear awkward if set on clean lines. However, it is also an element able to create the allure of surprise,” noted Dell’Acqua. “I made use of bows to stress the starting point of this collection which comes from my rereading of three Sofia Coppola films: Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides and Marie Antoinette.”
From the first, the designer took the slightest part of fragmented cuts and the timelessness of the little black dress; from the second, “the sensuousness of transparencies and of mannish-yet-feminine and heavy-meets-light mixes”; and from the third, a newfound feel of ease expressed through sharp yet subtle tints. “They are not three distinct themes, but three narrations where the bow links variable expressions of what represent more moods than differences of style and personality.”
These days the longtime Milanese lives in the suburb, where she can pretty much dress in gauzy neutral daywear all year round. And she operates her own schedule, irrespective of the system’s protocol. Per usual, this Fall collection is full of pieces to make other longtime Milanese workers want to drop it all and stroll right along with Dell’Acqua: wool sweaters, flared sleeves, and matching breezy blouses in neutral hues.
The novelty was in his forays into less gloomy wardrobe pieces like the bow-fastened shouldered dresses that he paired with chiffon shirtwaists worn over organza skirts. Up next: bows in leather and in shiny sequins were done to a pleasing effect, looking retro in a modern way. To this swanky worker, who spends little time on duty and roams around with a swaying demeanour, the former category might have the most compelling resonance.
by Chidozie Obasi