Alessandro Dell
Acqua usually manages to find an interesting inspiration, but he outdid himself this time when he claimed David de Rothschild, the elegant young English explorer/environmentalist/
eccentric, as the wellspring for a collection tagged "Eco/Glamour." Imagining De Rothschild
s dandified tendencies unleashed in, say, Alaska, Dell
Acqua produced a set of clothes that superimposed stylish form on prosaic function. A quilted ski jacket, for instance, was reconfigured in knit and layered over a nylon mac, a white shirt, and a tie. Impractical for the Arctic, Dell
Acqua acknowledged, but sexy nonetheless—and well in keeping with the designer
s aesthetic.
Reconfigured function was also the basis for chunky polar knits pared back to a pair of gauntletlike arm warmers and a hood, both then eased over a tailored jacket. Such unlikely layering shaped the show, as in one long, gray nubby cardigan under a tailored black topcoat, another cardigan over a sweater, both in the same warped gray cable, or a ski jacket topping a wool blazer. Not long ago, piling bulk on bulk this way would ve been technically unfeasible. But an evolving theme in Milan seems to be a new lightness—in everything from cardigans to ski jackets—that allows such combinations. Let s be generous and assume that is fashion s recognition of the rapidly shifting global climate. And let s be equally kind and assume that constitutes the "eco" portion of Dell Acqua s formula.
The designer s longtime fans may be more reassured to learn that his own brand of edginess prevails in cropped silk faille pants over Chelsea boots, or the body harness that reins in a nylon parka, or the chests bared under all that reconceived skiwear. If it s a flesh tone, it s a Dell Acqua.
