February 25, 2022 |
Alessandro Dell’Acqua summons dark academia through a sensual, post-apocalyptic lens in No.21’s AW22 collection. Voluptuous proportions were defined by either tapered contours or slouched fringing, coloured by a series of earthy shadows. Dell’Acqua elevates bias cuts with an extravagant eye via the use of macro-paillettes, which together with dripping crystal chains carve out serious glamour.
Classic corsetry techniques were extrapolated to melton cloth coats on a canvas of tweed, making the dowdy desirable with domineering shoulders and nipped-in waists. The chaos of sheer knits and trompe l’oeil dresses was reined in with ruching to suggest the silhouettes of the body beneath, breathing sex appeal into the muted tones.
In the show notes, Dell’Acqua highlighted the importance of recovering the spontaneous character of fashion through rewriting the sartorial language surrounding clothes, creating a collective wardrobe undefined by gender. Dell’Acqua crafted chiffon dresses edged with Harris tweed, and men’s trousers slung around the hips, which came slashed at the seams to present flesh-baring skirts in sensual cuts. The No.21 customer is going out-out.
Photography courtesy of No.21.
