Raquel Allegra Resort 2023 Collection

When Raquel Allegra began working on her resort collection earlier this year, she wasn’t quite sure what the concept would be. Inspiration struck while she was looking through cards of yarn with one of her suppliers. “All the beautiful colors mixed together reminded me of the way the light appears reflected in Yayoi Kusama’s infinity rooms,” she said over Zoom. And so the reclusive Japanese artist became the starting point for the season. “I truly believe that she was put on this planet as a messenger from another dimension,” Allegra added.

For many, the mention of Kusama immediately brings to mind polka dots, but Allegra’s interpretation of the artist’s work was differently—and deftly—deployed. It was most successful on a multicolor splatter-like print hand-painted over a black-on-black houndstooth jacquard used for a sleeveless cowl neck tunic and matching narrow trousers. The resulting dimensional print had both depth and an element of surprise as you turned the fabric this way or that way to catch the full effects of the light hitting it. When that same technique was used to create a watercolor-style floral on white silk jacquard, the results felt less Kusama-y and more in the realm of classic ’90s slip dress patterns. Not a problem, as Allegra also cited “the ’90s” as an inspiration, most evident on the cowl neckline that adorned those slips and “going out” tops. Elsewhere, a sweatshirt overdyed in neon pink with a trompe l’oeil effect that made it appear layered over a wool flannel plaid screamed both Kurt Cobain (the flannel) and Courtney Love (the hyperfemininity of an unapologetic pink). The matching pants seemed at first glance like a wide leg sweatpant, but were in fact pleated trousers that laid smartly at the hips.

“Being comfortable in your clothes allows you to access your core intention as a human being,” Allegra said. “It frees you from distractions. The distraction of your feet hurting from high heels, your waist being too tight… I rebel against all those things.” Further driving that point home was the same set, worn underneath a robe jacket with a strong padded shoulder, but instead of being overdyed, it was painted in thick stripes of yellow and blue.

The hand-painting was the thread that brought the collection together; it was there in the aforementioned houndstooth jacquards and the plaid wool flannels, as a tie-dye effect on a series of clingy viscose dresses and separates, and most winningly, on a chunky knit cardigan with a blanket stitch detail on the trim that already felt like the most well-loved thing in your closet whose provenance you no longer recall. The hand-painting is done in the studio, through a painstaking process. “I want to show the human touch wherever and whenever possible,” Allegra said, “to remind you that a human being made your clothes.”