Niccolò Pasqualetti worships at the house of the human body, and approaches each collection with an architectural edge. This season, the designer sought to close the distance between the physical and the spiritual, and described the show as an exploration of blurring the lines between garments, accessories and jewelry.
Thus wire threaded around the neck, arms or torso suggested protective body shields on several looks this season, as part of the Italian designer’s take on form.
“The body itself becomes a temple. Things get twisted and bent around it,” he said of the wearable art.
His sculptural instincts were also clear in his use of materials, such as treated canvas that balanced shape and stiffness, as well as alligator motifs in knits.
Elsewhere, technical manipulations transformed silk into a material that mimicked the look of fur, while other fabrics were treated and dyed to evoke earthy, natural surfaces. The palette moved through deep reds, mossy greens, rusty oranges and deep blues, with shocks of sequins for good measure.
Knitwear and layering reached new levels of play, including a solo-sleeved sweater that topped a crisp white shirt, with the second side fluttering forward like a scarf. It was a one sleeve in and one sleeve out game, as though engaged in a sartorial hokey-pokey.
Inverted pleats at the back of skirts, dresses and coats created a cocoon-like volume that lifted away from and gave a sense of airiness around the body. Men’s bottoms, cut high at the waist, were sliced at the knee to read as segmented pant-skirt hybrids, while long women’s skirts were slit and twisted in toward the leg, deliberately blurring the boundaries between tailoring and draping.
This play on hybridity is Pasqualetti’s core house code.
He moved between raw cuts, almost primal textures, and shine. Sequined floor-length gowns in silver and pale peach appeared sparkly and slick, yet were paired with flat boots or brogues, keeping the glamour grounded.
His esoteric approach is a take we can fully celebrate.
