Alessandro Dell Acqua invented a new fashion category with his No. 21 show tonight: military rococo. A khaki shirt belted over a pencil skirt in swirling, ornately sequined macramé defined the idea. It wasn t the only look that married opposites. "Disdain for convention" is, according to the press release for today s show, a Dell Acqua signature. Equally typical of the designer were this collection s sheer lace looks worn with men s shirting, the lingerie and pajama daywear, classic tartan turned see-through organza…all of it belted tightly together in combinations as unlikely as the bourgeois Milanese matron, uptight on the surface, rotten to the core, who is Dell Acqua s enduring inspiration. Folksy macramé will never be the same after its incarnation here, in a sparkling, decadently lurid green.
Dell Acqua walks a tightrope, though. Bad girls might cock a sassy snook at propriety, but sometimes dressing bad is just that: bad. Could anyone really fancy themselves in an ill-fitting bralet that swoops just low enough to expose a corona of nipple? OK, the line is probably forming to the right as those words appear, but it s not a trend to be encouraged. The footwear compounded the awkwardness. Duchesse mules were tied in big bows slung to one side that made the models look off-balance, like they were walking with feet splayed wide. Mind you, such an ungainly effect did indeed display a disdain for convention.
