Yigal Azrouël is nothing if not consistent. As a designer, he is not necessarily seeking external inspiration, but is someone always looking to expand on the same push and pull of masculinity and femininity, hard and soft. It’s a brief that can grow stagnant, but this season, Azrouël hit a groove, which he will hopefully run with in future seasons. “I was very playful with my vision,” he said. On a design level, Azrouël’s drapery is where he strikes the Yin-Yang balance best. He leaned into shirting this season, the highlight of which is a draped silk blouse whose sharp, padded shoulders create tension with the organic draped necklines. While the look could easily veer into 1980s costume, it comes across as elegant and considered.
“I try to really focus on what I’m known best for: the architecture, the proportion. I play with something as hard as leather and soft as silk,” Azrouël said. His outerwear is always a particular highlight: raglan-sleeved leather jackets with oversized lapels, a brown ankle-length leather trench with white piping, and a color-blocked black and bottle green coat were exciting takes on traditional cold-weather fare.
While the collection felt imminently wearable, Azrouël also found room to experiment. A bomber jacket and button-up skirt are fashioned in trompe l’oeil leather that resembles denim. Elsewhere, a black leather dress with a removable hood seems like it would fare well on the Harkonnen planet in Dune. Modularity expanded beyond removable hoods: a denim maxi halter dress separates into a top and skirt. Functionality is key, but Azrouël found a nice way to make wardrobe staples his own.
