For Pre-Fall, Joseph Altuzarra was looking at traditional British dress—hunting and hiking gear, horseback-riding attire—but the English countryside has never looked this sexy. The designer's shrunken hacking jacket fit like a glove, and a houndstooth skirt featured one of the cutaway slits that have become his signature. The boxy waxed-cotton jacket that symbolizes Britishness from Cornwall all the way to California morphed into a slim, sleeveless jumpsuit. And a humble quilted jacket was rendered anything but with an extravagant white Mongolian lining. From that starting point, Altuzarra ventured into classic Americana: The leather appliqué on the shoulders of a silk chemisier dress was a direct nod to Western shirts. As for the leopard print on a cinched goatskin coat, he attributed it to British eccentricity, but it'll always look French to us. Altuzarra's Frenchness came through, as well, in the provocative lacing and grommeting up the seams of an elongated black blazer and matching skirt. If there was something unyielding in that tailored skirtsuit, he loosened up for night. In no way, shape, or form did a belted dévoré cocktail dress in deep purple resemble the T-shirt it was apparently modeled after, but it captured its appealing ease. The crowd pleasers here—a fitted sweater and pencil skirt accented with patch pockets—tapped into a similar casually sexy vibe.
