Av Vattev has the moves like Mick Jagger. Filtering 70s-inflicted signatures through a prism of new-age tailoring, none other than the man, the myth, the muse (Mick Jagger), served as the point of departure for its SS24 offering. All-white looks riffed off of a white “man-dress” worn on stage by Jagger in ‘69 while a full check suit with an added AV signature jukebox closure paid homage to the rock legend’s louche London street style.
Entitled, Sweet Summer Sweat, an array of lightweight ensembles took shape, forged from deconstructed skirts, convertible ruched tees and houndstooth or ribbed union suits – booty-tooched. Tartan skirts were slung over striped leggings. King-sized cotton head scarves were perforated with silver metal eyelets. Ushering mid-century silhouettes into the modern-day with a spritz of sexual frisson, a lavender-hued classic collared shirt brandished pointed lapels and an exaggerated drawstring fastening up the front.
Looking to its past collections to build on staple motifs too, pattern-cutting ornaments and laser-cut overlays were playfully applied onto hybrid shirts, jackets and checked and striped bowling shirts. Elsewhere, a leather vest with hyperbolized fringes sprouting from the hood down to the hem was layered over a sleeveless version of the lavender, pointed-lapel shirt, and as the offering elapsed, sprinklings of sequins seeped in.
Antonio Vattev, the Bulgarian designer at the helm of the brand, presented the collection digitally. So, androgynous bombers, trench coats, cropped jackets and sharp-edge tailoring were unleashed upon a photography set; decked with a velvety ultraviolet rug, the look was tantamount to the kitschy, TV aesthetic of the 70s.
Vattev has always been enamoured with the hippie-strewn, politically askew, paisley-printed era of the 70s and the ‘peacock revolution’ that evolved with it; icons like Jagger or David Bowie have been the namesake label’s lodestone reference point since his first post-CSM collection for AW20. Four years on and looking at the elevated constructions and silhouettes he presented, Sweet Summer Sweat, could arguably be his most accomplished collection to date. Antonio Vattev was born in the wrong generation. Ask anyone.
Photography courtesy of Av Vattev.
