February 28, 2023 |
Leave it to Alessandra Marchi to give a ghost story seductive undertones. The designer’s autumn/winter 2023 collection for her brand Aniye Records entitled Gothic Ghost was more flaunt than haunt. Arriving in the form of corseted lace babydoll dresses, sequin and satin catsuits, and lashings of lace banded by studded leather straps, it was something of a baroque take on Bronte with undertones of Bowie’s beloved glamrock and a hint of the banshee.
Marchi wanted the collection to channel “the ghost that everyone has in them”, she told 10 Magazine backstage, that conceals our deepest desires and manifests them into reality. Here, the designer conjured a collection that was exquisite in its execution and super tight in its edit. Ethereal layers of feather-weight silk-chiffon and delicate sheer knits were toughened up with the addition of diamanté crucifixes, spider-web silver body chains and black batwing blazers. Elsewhere, billowing trains and layered petticoats evoked a dreamlike state, while all-black ensembles were embellished with bows and more of that celestial lace, which the show notes shared imbued “a spicy hint of a new, fascinating and tormented sensuality”.
Concealing and revealing, it summoned the push and pull of temptation which was repped by the appearance of Little Twin Stars Kiki and Lala on a shredded sweater who Marchi said represented the “creative madness we all have inside”. Later, a cinched ringmaster coat covered in the four suits of cards was a reminder of the hand we’re dealt in life “and the chance to play something good”. All aboard the Aniye Records ghost train.
Photography courtesy of Aniye Records.
