January’s cold snap has given the fall collections a new raison d’etre. Nine straight days of sub-freezing temperatures make you look differently at coats and jackets, and all the talk of seasonless-this and seasonless-that seems suddenly out of touch. Staying warm is freshly relevant. On this subject, Joseph Altuzarra had a lot to say with the week’s strongest lineup of outerwear: leather and shearling bombers and toggle coats, a statement-making brushed shearling with a leather torso, terrific cocoon-shaped peacoats with big swooping lapels.
Altuzarra had been looking at paintings and sculptures as he developed the collection; his moodboard was pinned with work by Velasquez and Chamberlain. He said he was attracted to dramatic gestures, hence the undulating hems on the grand tiered ball skirts he showed with those peacoats, the sprays of fringes decorating the neckline and hip of a simple jersey dress, the sweep of a knit shawl across the shoulder of a bomber, and other sweaters with integrated hoods. Yves Klein’s body prints inspired a pair of sleeveless sheaths which were both printed and embroidered with sequins and beads. Draped silk scarf separates were painterly in a more quotidian way.
A devoted reader, Altuzarra has made a tradition of giving his guests books. This season’s was Ali Smith’s How to Be Both, a novel told in two interconnected parts that can be read in either order: one about a contemporary teen girl grieving a parent, and the other about an Italian renaissance artist, a ghost who is observing the teenager’s life. “It’s a book I really love,” Altuzarra said, “and it informed how we approached this season.” Theatrical but also grounded is a fitting way to think of this collection.