In a season when many designers sought lightness in spirit and clothes as a reaction to the geopolitical uncertainties, barrage of disheartening news and climate change, Stefano Gallici did so with a hint of nostalgia.
He looked back at his teenage years and the lightheartedness of long summer days spent indulging in playing the guitar with his band and spinning their favorite vinyl records, which would later forge not only his musical taste but approach to fashion, too.
Cue his spring collection, which could have fit on the cover of Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 album “Rumours,” not coincidentally one of the many references he listed in a preview while readying the lineup. Yet, even more than Stevie Nicks’ style, Gallici’s focal point seemed to be channeling a feeling of delicacy, which is gradually becoming the trademark of his tenure at the brand.
The lineup mixed a sense of rawness and fragility in its interplay of textures, layering thick leather double-breasted coats and sleeveless biker jackets on printed silk shirts and broderie anglais separates; integrating crisp cotton and velvet inserts with raw-cut hems on impalpable knits; interrupting the rigor of broad-shouldered tailoring with ethereal shirts, and removable handkerchiefs in lace tied around models’ neck.
Gallici reworked the brand’s signature elongated silhouette with plenty of layering, fluid and see-through fabrications that emphasized movement, slouchy proportions that channeled a youthful sense of ease and sun-soaked and disheveled effects in jersey and denim that gave a lived-in patina and too-cool-to-care attitude to the looks.
Not everything clicked perfectly, with some looks including a pale lilac dress with asymmetric skirt that seemed to be included more to sell the narrative than find a place in a closet, but Gallici’s quietly growing confident in taking risks can only be a good sign.
Even more so considering that the Millennial designer has a set of references different from his peers, rooted in punk rock and indie music, which can bring an alternative viewpoint for customers and fashion fans that don’t feel comfortable with streetwear or pop, Instagram-sized aesthetics. The brand’s legacy and Gallici’s way of perpetuating it is attracting a niche community of like-minded youth, as proved by the “Kids” cultural project and visual diary curated by the designer or the casting of this show, featuring twins Wyatt and Fletcher Shears of rock band The Garden, among others. More than his clothes, the community building aspect he’s fostering is the real asset Gallici is bringing to the brand.
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