No. 21 Pre-Fall 2023 Collection

Alessandro Dell’Acqua isn’t inclined to follow any fashion craze; anything that screams trendy makes him cringe. “I stick to my obsessions, they’re very dear to me,” he joked at a pre-fall appointment. His clothes are fit for the diva of a neo-noir Italian movie, with a twist of bourgeois eroticism, and a fine-tuned mix of what’s current with sensuous hints of retro.

“I always like the same things: lace, boudoir sensuality, the play of masculine versus feminine, a dash of leopard spots, the color of flesh, see-through,” he said. But he’s also partial to good tailoring, feminine bias-cut dresses with a flavor of the 1940s, the shine of sequins played against knitwear, and a touch of grunge. All of Dell’Acqua’s obsessions stayed put for pre-fall, only tweaked with just-so proportions for novelty and freshness.

The newest silhouette was slender, elongated, and small-shouldered, as in a covetable ankle-grazing double-breasted greatcoat in navy wool, whose big lapels hinted at the 1970s. On a similar small-proportions note, a short cappottino in nude stretch jersey layered in black lace was styled with a high-neck Breton striped marinière worn under a black velvet bra, and paired with high-waisted, masculine white cotton briefs.

The introduction of leaner shapes didn’t make the oversize offer look outdated. Generous volumes were less overwhelming though, conveying a sense of sensuous comfort rather than of powerful, assertive presence. Case in point was a round-shaped coat in black-and-white herringbone tweed with a fluffy collar. Elsewhere, a cloud-like enveloping fur coat made of shaggy pale lilac cashmere looked rather fabulous, as did a cinched-waist black wool overcoat, offset by an asymmetrical vortex of feathers.

There was a lot to like in the collection, but the dresses were definitely the most desirable pieces. Bias-cut in lingerie-nude or pale lilac crepe, in liquid sequins or in floral printed silk, they had a polish which contrasted with the nonchalant, grungy styling which is a Dell’Acqua’s signature.