Archie Alled-Martinez has done a hard pivot. “This collection is completely different from what I’ve done before,” the charismatic Spaniard says over a video chat. At first glance his spring 2022 collection looks like a sensual ode to ’70s-style cruising, but there’s more at play under the surface. The names stitched into jersey tops are of cultural arbiters who died of AIDS: Roy Halston Frowick, Sterling Saint Jacques, Jacques de Bascher, Al Parker, and Antonio Lopez. The numbers on the back are their ages at death. “I didn’t want the names to be gimmicky—maybe people won’t understand what it’s about,” says Alled-Martinez. But to the young queer designer, making a point about his unsung heroes was important. “It’s impactful when you get it,” he says.
He’s making his message evident not only via graphics but also through his new, more louche than ever silhouette. Stepping back from a total knit uniform, Alled-Martinez is incorporating denim and jersey into his collection. There are skater undertones, he explains, as well as coded design elements like jockstrap-inspired belts and single pockets on jeans to reference the hanky code. The piece he’s the most proud of is a blouson black bomber jacket, a couture-like mushroom shape with a coy wink. It sets the tone for a new kind of hustler wardrobe, as fixed on structure as it is on skin.
