Aelis designer Sofia Crociani toyed with the idea of memory and time this season, adding vintage elements to her collection that layered a bit of a darker edge.
Antique lace, jewelry and crystals from her personal collection were repurposed with an intimate touch, and Crociani worked again with light-as-air mousseline and tulle for her sherbet-colored sheer gowns.
Stronger, sculptural pieces were rendered in satin, such as a deep purple minidress which wrapped up and around the body in one grand swoop. Another was a white jacket, embellished with lace and crystals, that sat atop a pair of vintage Levi’s Red Tab cutoffs. The surprising combination of duchesse and denim was meant to evoke the memory of the pre-social media ’90s, grunge and Kurt Cobain.
“It was a little homage,” Crociani told WWD. “It was a moment that something very extraordinary was going on, a freedom [that] felt special. It was in a way tragic but also free. The structure of haute couture needed some freedom.” Some models also walked barefoot in the accompanying film to add another layer of ease, around light installations from artist Gabriele Dal Dosso.
Using 30-year-old jeans is a nod to sustainability and she doesn’t shy away from her ecological ethos, sourcing from Italian and Japanese factories that can provide sustainable supply chain traceability. This sensibility appeals to her youthful client who is more environmentally aware, she said.
“We’re going very fast in this society but we like to go slow,” Crociani said of the house. How slow? An ethereal slipdress was topped with humanely sourced fallen feathers that took two years to collect by hand.
