Joseph Altuzarra's fall show was aggressively sexy—we're talking serious man-killer clothes. But his woman is loosening up for Resort. At his presentation he explained that the "softer, more romantic" mood of the collection was cued by the way his muses Carine Roitfeld and Vanessa Traina have been dressing lately, with clothes that have a bit more give. "There's a sense that things are moving away from the body," he said. That was certainly true of the roomy Altuzarra pantsuit that Stella Tennant wore to the CFDA Awards on Monday night as the designer's date, and the same goes for the smocked off-the-shoulder number with billowy poet sleeves that he showed today. Folkloric-print and embroidered silk dresses, likewise, had a generous fit.
It would seem, though, that Altuzarra isn't entirely prepared to give in to the slouch. There were echoes of the seventies in a sleek denim-look pantsuit, the fitted blazer printed with crocheted doilies. He did a seventies collection for Spring 2010, and to look back is to see how far he's come as a technician. Elsewhere, strategically placed hand-sewn lace insets put the accent on the body-loving cuts of other pantsuits and hourglass sheaths in black, white, and lingerie pink. The best look in the collection was a silk blouse with those lace touches tucked into a doily-print pencil skirt with a slit up the side. Once a man-killer…
