Is eccentric the new normal? That's the odd inversion beginning to spring to mind, as more and more shows fall in uniformly behind the E word. Of course, there's nothing deranged or random about most Milanese designers' choice of inspiration: They know a commercial direction when they see one. In Alessandro Dell'Acqua's case, he called up an out-there muse of the moment in the form of Courtney Love, as he imagines she¿d look after rummaging through a twenties wardrobe that was actually designed in the seventies.
What does that mean? Antique-looking tiered velvet dresses pulled on over sweaters and glitter-heeled ankle-strap shoes, for a start. But this wasn't wholly a dose of grunge revisited after a heavy night out. For an indigenous angle on early seventies glamour, Dell'Acqua referenced the late cult Italian design hero Walter Albini. That came through in Lurex knits, worn with matching jersey turbans and paired with high-waist flares, and in a reprise of the mixed Deco-patterned jacquard sweaters that were part of Albini's nostalgic métier.
One outfit—a loopy pink-mohair backless sweater, worn with a sparkly silver shirt collar and a pair of white pants—nailed the disco-fabulous era nicely. There was rather more Miuccia than Courtney in this collection (fabric-covered, beaded disc brooches landed on jackets and dresses), but few designers anywhere can completely escape the influence of Milan's own great homegrown eccentric—especially this season.
