Scene setting: New York-based designer Joseph Altuzarra grew up in Paris, and for his second season showing in the city, he held his A/W 2018 runway show at the famed art deco brasserie La Coupole. The restaurant, which opened in 1927, has been a haunt of Man Ray, Picasso, Henry Miller, Patti Smith and Serge Gainsbourg, and Altuzarra added to the history of the famed address, being the first designer to hold a fashion show there. ‘I walked in front of this restaurant everyday to go to school, because I lived two minutes away,’ the designer explained backstage after the show. ‘I thought it would be the perfect location.’
Mood board: ‘The collection was based on my friends, and watching the women I grew up with getting dressed,’ Altuzarra explained. The collection had a more relatable starting point than the warrior women which inspired his S/S 2018 offering. ‘I was raised in the 7th arrondissement which is very French bourgeois, and it was about taking the codes of the area and trying to subvert them a little and break them up.’
For A/W 2018, this translated into pinstripe skirt suits and trenchcoats with detachable panels, and Parisian staples like waistcoats and knitwear, embellished with punky hardware. There was a touch of disco flair to diaphanous dresses twinkling with paillettes and leather blouses punctured with oversized eyelets, plus an executive edge to check three-piece suits. The silhouettes recalled the women that have frequeted La Coupole over time.
Finishing touches: Altuzarra’s subversive take on bourgeois dressing was also marked by the brand’s accessories. Looks were paired with futuristic sunglasses, which resembled lab goggles. Knee-high boots came in silver and berry suede, while other ankle styles had hardware details and sexy cutouts. Pieces Altuzarra’s friends will want to wear from New York to Paris, and ones that we do too.
