Things are going swimmingly for Niccolò Pasqualetti, a 2024 LVMH Prize finalist. That was made clear by a confident spring collection based on the idea of water and light and/or light reflecting off water, and the sense of quiet confidence and purpose that emanated from it. The theme might have been aqueous, but the designer was definitely feeling “grounded in reality,” he said. “Sometimes [the collection] comes from imagination, but it’s always things that you can also wear. I can identify more with what I myself and people I know can wear. This sort of reality check is very important to me.”
Even a quick glance at the runway images reveals the designer’s more straightforward focus. The intimate, enclosed, almost dreamlike settings of the past opened up. There was more (physical) space around the clothes, between the models, as well as a sense of a broader perspective. That doesn’t mean the clothes were “safe,” but there was a greater focus on day-to-day looks, and this offering touched on a good number of seasonal trends, like skirt-pants and sheerness. For Pasqualetti, who designs jewelry and garments, the ability to wear pieces in different ways is important; in the context of this season, you could say there were high- and low-tide options. The opening look, a sort of double shirtdress in one, can be buttoned to drape in different ways, and the chunky silver chains that appeared on asymmetrically pleated pieces can be restyled or even detached and worn as jewelry. Those chains, the designer noted, were a nod to his time in London, birthplace of punk: Not that it was a theme here, but it offered a glimpse into the eddy of the imagination, where collected experiences spin.
There were surf and turf aspects to this lineup. Linen, hand-dyed with coffee, was used for roomy trousers with a wide, three-button waistband, and showed up again as sleeves on a leather bomber paired with curved khaki pants with tucked seams and snaps that adjust the fit at the hem. Upcycled suede was patchworked with leather on the front of pants with fabric backs that kept things light. A similar approach was taken with vintage denim.
Pasqualetti dipped a toe into the water theme with the second look, a sharply tailored blazer shown over pants made of a filmy, nacreous, almost weightless material that conjured the transparency of jellyfish. Wet looks were created with clear sequins that revealed the skin beneath; the same sequins were applied atop a hairy-textured cotton to different effect. Glinting like light off water was a jewelry-like vest of resin with hand-macramé knots. The use of asymmetric maillots as tops was effective. A zigzagging black satin lapel edged a zebra-like print that also referenced tiger-striped shells. The collection’s most fantastical pieces featured cascades of seaweed-like ruffles, which were actually inspired by the gills of mushrooms. These unexpected transformations were wonderful examples of Pasqualetti’s special brand of alchemy and, more broadly, his fluid world of wonder.