Undoneness is a recurrent theme of the spring 2023 season. Some designers are following this thread to create an “everything is coming apart at the seams” narrative—la mode destroy. Others are harnessing the idea to explore the process of transition and becomingness. Niccolò Pasqualetti belongs to the latter camp. They describe their spring collection as “a dance about how spring comes out of winter, bringing dormant things to life.”
Their use of the word dance is nuanced, referring to how all the details and parts of a look work in concert, and also to Pina Bausch, whose influence on this collection is mostly tangential. The choreographer was noted for her use of sound, and Pasqualetti’s use of vintage bells this season gave the pieces an extra sensory aspect. As with a dance piece, the collection relies on the fluid harmony of different aspects working together. Pasqualetti isn’t necessarily looking for resolution in that meeting of hard and soft, masculine and feminine, tailoring and flou, though. I “work in a three-dimensional way to get [an] ambivalent aspect in each piece; I really work on every detail,” they said on a call.
Pasqualetti’s world is wonderfully asymmetrical, and one in which two things can be true at once: See the designer’s signature skirtrousers (which are perhaps easier to understand now that chaps-like trousers with cut-outs are making the rounds), which now have a sibling in the form of skirtshorts. Fronts and backs of garments are rarely symmetrical. In this collection a tailored jacket cut long and single-breasted has a curvilinear cutout at center back and ties at the shoulder blades. What looks like a trad vest has a T-back formed by a knitted leather harness. Pasqualetti said they wanted to “deconstruct a bit the idea of Italian sartorialism and the idea of the classic wardrobe, like what my parents or grandparents would have worn.” To that end, the white shirt is made over in many ways, as is a trench, which is given volume and the curves that are the designer’s signature and self-professed “addiction.” The added stress on sartorialism this season makes the collection feel more concrete and accessible than before.
Fluidity, in terms of line, gesture, time, and gender defines Pasqualetti’s work, and the gentleness of the designer’s touch is present no matter what the material they are working with, but for spring there is an emphasis on soft knits, including a comforting “nonna cardigan,” and knit underpinnings with a retro appeal. Crochet pieces, which look like calligraphy scrawled across the body, feel a bit harder in contrast.
Pasqualetti always finds ways to work with found objects, which is a way of giving new life to something old. Among the humble treasures in this collection are a cork and a wooden spoon, that are individually caught in a silken crochet web so they can be worn like amulets around the neck. Also vintage are the aforementioned bells that lend music to headbands and a harness in what is, overall, a highly lyrical spring collection.
