Joseph Altuzarra emailed personal invitations to his show. In a normal season, you would have to click Send on about 600 individual notes. But this was his fifteenth birthday, and as he said in his invitation, he wanted to celebrate with “those who have supported me throughout my career.” He gathered a group of about 100 people at his Woolworth Building headquarters for a salon-style presentation. His daughter sat on his mother’s lap, and there was no paid celebrity or influencer in the room.
“I worked on this collection in a different way,” Altuzarra said during a studio preview before the space was cleared in preparation for the show. “It wasn’t so much about stories, but much more about pieces that I was interested in developing.” After a season that called for some second-hand ideas, Altuzarra was ready for a reset, and this collection did indeed feel renewed, with fresh ideas drawn from his own personal concerns.
Check one out: a sweeping mac with a storm flap at the back, lifted straight from its own life. Altuzarra started jumping competitively on Long Island, where he and his husband have a home; Later in the collection, a pair of silk twill pinafores featured abstract prints that looked equestrian. Jodhpurs were also in the mix.
Among the photos of horse girls on the mood board were paintings by Tamara de Lempicka that may have inspired a flapper-like slip dress in crystal and lace. Illustrations of clowns wearing Pierrot collars certainly influenced the ruffled collars and cuffs on knits and blouses, which were often topped by more masculine pieces, such as a peacoat or a hooded coat, or a neatly tailored blazer – shades of Ralph Lauren from the 80s.
With the exception of the knitted trousers that were frequently seen – full to just below the knees, then leggings – tight to the ankles, and worn with pointed ballerinas – variety was the rule here. “I wanted it to feel like I was walking into someone’s closet that they’ve collected over a long period of time, where things feel like they say something about that person’s personality,” Altuzarra said.
You could see the room full of editors making mental shopping lists: a sequined Aran sweater for this one, a tuxedo shirt with bugle beads and tails for that one, an embroidered harlequin lace blouse for another, special pieces based on the everyday.
