Altuzarra FW 2012 — Review

• The designer & the brand
• Story-telling
• Silhouettes
• Constant Features
• Inspiration & References

To watch the full show go to Altuzarra f/w 2012

 The designer & the brand  

Joseph Altuzarra, who started his com­pany only three years ago, was born in Paris, his mother is Chinese-American and his father is French-Basque. He worked both with American and French design­ers. This mul­ti­cul­tural back­ground makes for a new type of designer: one that is in synch with European savoir-faire and with American prac­ti­cal­ity. Sharp and exquis­ite tai­lor­ing is one of his trade­marks, as well as a pow­er­ful sex­i­ness. Not sur­pris­ingly, he admires Tom Ford in his Gucci years. He won the CFDA-Vogue Fashion Fund in 2011. Carine Roitfeld put him on the map in 2009 by wear­ing one of his coats.

 Story-telling  

Most design­ers cre­ate their col­lec­tion think­ing of a story they want to tell. This is a way of mak­ing more clear to the audi­ence what their mes­sage is. 

Altuzarra’s col­lec­tion is a reflec­tion of his main char­ac­ter, Corto Maltese, a sailor who trav­els to far­away and exotic land. He cre­ates this col­lec­tion mix­ing sev­eral ref­er­ences com­pletely dis­parate, achiev­ing a very cohe­sive and mod­ern whole. The strength of Altuzarra lies in that the gar­ments don’t look cos­tumy, they look lux­u­ri­ous and relaxed at the same time. The out­fits are put together cre­at­ing a col­lec­tion that is fresh, young and new.

Silhouettes   

These are the body shapes that remain through­out the collection.

Altuzarra’s trade­mark sil­hou­ette was inspired by Carine Roitfeld. Her look is a con­stant fea­ture in his collections. The designer keeps this shape sea­son after season. 

Constant Features   

Mix & Match
This is a sin­gu­lar way to develop a col­lec­tion. The designer works with the inspi­ra­tions defin­ing spe­cific gar­ments and deails. Those are then com­bined in dif­fer­ent ways throuout the col­lec­tion cre­at­ing a cohe­sive result.

Corto Maltese Military & Morocco Rugs

Morocco details & French Style Belle de Jour tai­lor­ing

Indian embroi­deries & Corto Maltese Military
 

 Inspiration & References   

1) Morocco & Berber Crafts:

2) Corto Maltese Adventures:

Corto Maltese is the main char­ac­ter of an adult french comic book from the six­ties and sev­en­ties. His mother was a gypsy and his father a british sailor, and his adven­tures took him to many exotic des­ti­na­tions. He was a styl­ized dandy wear­ing pea­coats with exag­ger­ated col­lars and elon­gated sailor pants. The designer added to this look, jodh­pur pants and boots with tas­sels, for a gen­eral mil­i­tary feel.

3) Belle de Jour — Parisian Chic:

Belle de Jour (1967, directed by Luis Buñuel) is a French film star­ring Catherine Deneuve.  She plays Séverine, a bour­geois house­wife unable to com­mit sex­u­ally to her hus­band. Instead she ful­fils her sado­masochis­tic fan­tasies by becom­ing a pros­ti­tute dur­ing the day. All the actress’s clothes were designed by Yves Saint Laurent.  The most iconic dress in the film is the black dress with a prim white col­lar and white cuffs. Her look is sexy but con­strained.

4) The Lambani Embroidery:

Lambanis, else­where known as “Banjaras”, are semi-nomadic peo­ple who reside mostly in Southern and Middle India. The Lambani women prac­tice a unique mir­ror and embroi­dery craft, which they mostly use for mak­ing their own tra­di­tional dresses or for giv­ing to their daugh­ters for their weddings.It is very unique with its com­bi­na­tion of darn­ing, cross stitch, mir­ror work, and because of the nat­ural dye­ing and print­ing. Tassels made of brightly coloured acrylic wool, square and round mir­rors, bells, metal but­tons, coins and cowrie shells embell­ish the lam­bani out­fit.