Much has been made of New York designers moving to Paris this season, but Joseph Altuzarra’s case is unique. His father is French and his mother is Chinese-American, and there was a darling photo of Joseph as a young boy hugging a Paris tree, dated June 1990, on his invitation. Having grown up here, his show at the Lycée Janson de Sailly tonight was both a coming-out party and a homecoming.
In New York, where he’s shown for almost 10 years, the Altuzarra aesthetic reads quite French—the sexy nipped jackets, the sexy slit skirts. Altuzarra opted not to amplify that in his big Paris debut, though he did return to his childhood roots. He said the densely beaded bodices of the sequined evening dresses were modeled on the table runners in his grandmother’s French countryside home. On pieces like a patchwork crochet skirt and a tablecloth lace dress, the influence was more direct.
Embracing the homemade and elevating humble traditions have become two of Spring’s most enchanting through lines. Altuzarra latched onto them after watching the Japanese anime film Princess Mononoke, the centerpiece of which is a battle between industry and nature. No surprise, Altuzarra comes down on the side of nature. A book documenting the make-do DIY style of 1970s rockers, Native Funk & Flash, also proved inspiring. Altuzarra did his most elaborate work on shearling vests and coats embellished with cowhide, mirror chips, and other found scraps. But there was craftiness to spare here, from the leather fringe on printed dresses and men’s tailoring to the pompoms tracing the hem of a striped canvas jacket and matching striped knit skirt, and many more pieces to boot.
And yet, the most compelling looks were probably the simplest, like the shirtdress that combined broderie anglaise and a laser-cut floral print, or the breezy halter style that incorporated both those materials. Paris opened its arms to Altuzarra like a native son tonight, but this collection’s American ease was its selling point.
