Niccolò Pasqualetti is exploring his dark side.
“Shadow work” is currently trending on TikTok, and in his desire to upend his spring collection, which was dedicated to radiance and light, Pasqualetti seems to have caught onto the zeitgeist.
For the Italian designer, it was meant to be an exploration of austerity.
And yet Pasqualetti sent out a collection rich in shapes and materials, mixing sequins with leather on a Pilgrim-collared dress, or a box-patterned suede jacket over a curved-hem brocade top. The juxtapositions were unexpected.
He pared some things down to their purest shapes, such as tunic dresses, but done in beads and sequins they shed their monastic rigidity in favor of subtle celebration. An astounding neckpiece topped a jumpsuit to showstopping effect. Call it “luxe austerity,” perhaps.
Elsewhere, his interpretation exuded warmth in faux fur stoles and wrap coats; a taupe version with layers, of draping and folds was the most cocooning of a season full of protective outerwear.
“The idea was really to, at the end, get to a sort of essence [and] really to have a certain freedom as well within it,” he said.
He looked to the works of sculptor Alberto Giacometti to explore texture and tone in a palette of grays from slate to steel. These included a pair of pleated trousers with a marbled effect, cropped at the ankles for swing and a hybrid bottom, part pant, part skirt and slashed and zipped at the knees.
Giacometti’s works are about forward motion; Pasqualetti’s pieces gave the body room to move.
He introduced sneakers this season, too, more movement on offer. The sole pop of bright color was in, well, the soles: a pair of cherry red boots in the unique wide shape that has become his signature punctuated the palette.
Despite these turbulent times the collection was infused with a sense of joy; color palette aside, none of it felt dark.
