As many other fashion weeks, due to the pandemic emergency, also Altaroma this year moved from physical events to digital ones, in a shorter but interesting version of the usual program dedicated to the emerging talents of fashion. From 15th to 17th September Palazzo Brancaccio in Rome became the luxurious set of fashion shows in live streaming and with the presence of only fashion insiders and influencers.
In a very difficult moment for Italy and the rest of the world, the designers partecipating to the September edition of ALTAROMA could be considered really heroic for their determination of never giving up and the desire to show everybody that doing good and beautiful things is the best way to overcome this terrible situation.
The clothes seen on catwalk revealed a lot of the moment we are living and also of the designers’ hope for a better future. We haven’t seen Pindaric flights of unbridled fantasy, but a lot of concreteness, a real approach to sustainability and inclusivity, a more simple attitude and the return of femininity. With 5 solo-shows and three collective fashion shows called “Rome is my Runway”, Altaroma brought on catwalk 17 emerging designers, plus 9 new talents partecipating to the fashion contest “Who Is On Next?” (about which we’ll speak better in the next article). Here the report of the shows, with some beautiful photos made by our special “reporter-for-a-day” Christian Degenn, renowned fashion editor and influencer of our agency Star-let’s Go.
THE FASHION SHOWS
GRETEL Z. is the brand of the young designer Gretel Zanotti, probably among the designers seen during the event one of the most connected to the idea of Haute Couture. Her collection has something classic and sophisticated, but interpreted throught the eyes of youth that cleans up all the decorative tinsel of the past to find a very simple and feminine way to represent the essential woman’s beauty.
The collection of CASA PRETI was a nice surprise. The brand, founded by the Sicilian designer Mattia Piazza and the Swiss architect Steve Gallay, takes its name by a famous Renaissance painter and investigate the sartorial tradition with a visionary method that makes iconic many pieces of the collection. So the clean lines and the pure colors that play with a lot of white, give life to a very interesting Minimalism imbued with originality and volumetric constructions.
FRANCESCA COTTONE, designer graduated at Istituto Marangoni with a family tradition in tailoring, decided to give life to her namesake label in 2018. At Altaroma she presented a collection based on the concept of androgyny and inclusivity, working on the shapes of the most classic suits mixing male and female in a new type of genderless humanity.
The delicacy of the CATERINA MORO‘s collections is always incredible. The Roman designer graduated in 2015 at Accademia Costume & Moda and with a particular background in musicology, presented a simple and feminine collection in which reveals more of her strenghts. The pleats that move the fluid shapes in organza and chiffon, the perwinckle color and flower that are becoming even more iconic and the research of natural materials.
Impossible to be sad looking a collection designed by Leonardo Macina for LEOLSD. Every time the designer impressed us with the ironic vision of pop culture through his beautiful and funny prints. This time he brought us in the South Italy and in the folk tradition of “Cartomanzia”, among alchemists and playing cards that releal a future in which the enhancing of the local heritage could become even more important for the surviving of fashion industry.
ROME IS MY RUNWAY
A very important occasion of visibility for emerging designers is the collective event “Rome is my Runway”, this time divided into three moments and that seen the partecipation of 12 brands.
ANDRES ROMO is a Mexican designer we have just met in the previous edition of Altaroma in January, who impressed us for his innate sense of Couture that could remember in some way the first Valentino or YSL but with a more fresh, romantic and cheerful vision about life, that uses the past for interpreting the present and with the idea of making beautiful all the types of women.
One of our favorite fashion shows was that of SALVATORE VIGNOLA, who brought on catwalk his personal interpretation of an Italian folk legend revisited with a touch of 70s mood in the shape of clothes and the large use of printed foulards. A collection refined and rich of couture details that never indulges on nostalgic views, but is strongly connected to the contemporary needs of women.
RONI STUDIOS presented one of the most vanguard collection of this edition of Altaroma, while mainteining the close connection with the world of sartorial constructions. The avant-garde approch is not in the forced research of exaggeration at all costs, but in the more intimate and conceptual way to use asymmetries, unexpected details and volumes for buiding a soft but solid idea of a New Age for the female species.
Is there a way to renew the tailoring traditions without being boring? Yes and SARTORIA 74 manage the task with a collection rich of references to the best sartorial heritage, playing intelligently with the shapes of male jackets and the contrasts of bright and opaque fabrics, of black and pastel pink.
Stefano Dassù and Pasquale Amoroso form the design duo of the label DASSÙ Y AMOROSO that gave a boost of energy to the fashion week with the Punk-Rock inspiration typical of this brand. On catwalk we find the fluo colors and the black vinyl that play together with the iconic logo and the transparency of the net.
Lisa Tigano is the designer of ELLEMENTI, a brand that had the courage to remember ourselves the importance of the real values we discovered during the lockdown. Her collection is an hymn to simplicity and the beauty of reality, to small details that reach the perfection not because ostentatious, but just because they are reduced to essentiality. We don’t need further overstructures if we wear her dresses as habits for our bodies and soul.
FRANCESCA MARCHISIO, a designer who works as consultant for many brands since 2004 and who decided to found her namesake label in 2018, presented at Altaroma a collection focused on sustainability. The designer gives a lot of attention in the selection of raw materials and uses a no-waste approach to design, with small pieces of fabrics that become decorations of her interisting creations.
CHIARA PERROT showed her past as architect in the SS21 collection presented at “Rome is my Runway”. The architectures become lines and silhouettes depicted on the surface of her beautiful, sartorial creations, but built also the shapes and give importance to the concept of volume. All made with incredible lightness and a clever use of white and bright colors that make this collection one of the most delicious seen during the event.
Avant-garde is in the DNA of the brand FEELOMENA, founded in 2014 by the designer Filomena Saltarelli, graduated before at IED Torino and then at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerpen. Vanguard, Minimalism and practicality are at the basis of her stylistic research, as seen on catwalk during Altaroma, where she brought her love for black and comfy but elaborated shapes.
MARIA SAPIO, a designer who studied at Polimoda in Florence with a specialization in Knitwear Design. And the knit is the absolute protagonist of her delicate and glamour collection in which the designer mixes handcrafted techniques like crochet and mechanical processes to obtain sophisticated dresses, perfect for the evening events and for this reason decidedly interesting.
The elegance and refinery of MORFOSIS‘ collection are always renowned. The label founded by Alessandra Cappiello and previously finalist of “Who Is On Next?” in 2008, presented a collection in which the references to art are integral part of the beautiful prints as well as for the stylish inspiration to the 70s.
Our dear friend VALENTINA POLTRONIERI arrived finally at Altaroma, making a lot of success with her colorful and glamour collection inspired by African fabrics and atmospheres. So the orange and the colors of the land play with nonchalance and a bit of fun with the tribal-style prints of t-shirts and dresses, for a collection apparently simple, but in reality rich of handcrafted details.
