Is streetwear showing signs of fatigue? It’s too early to say, perhaps, as long as luxury megabrands are tapping streetwear stars as creative directors. Yet a few designers are quietly questioning the assumption that if you aren’t wearing a pair of stratospherically expensive sneakers—even at a La Scala premiere—you’re just not cool.
In his No. 21 men’s collection, Alessandro Dell’Acqua ditched sneakers altogether for strappy leather sandals worn with nude silk socks or for thick-soled white creepers. The collection was also remarkably free of obvious sporty references, favoring a more conspicuous take on tailored daywear. “I’m a bit over streetwear and sportswear at the moment,” the designer stated. “I felt it was time for me to express a different sensibility, a more sensual idea of masculinity and a modern idea of classic elegance.” Seen through the Dell’Acqua lens, classic can be quite un-classic; the first looks were black elongated pantsuits inspired by the stark minimalism of the ’90s, a gentle take on tailoring that set the tone for the collection.
It wasn’t an ode to nostalgia, though, or a copycat homage to Helmut Lang’s influential legacy; Dell’Acqua’s sense of humor and quirky touch smooth the edges of too-literal references. His idea of tailoring, for instance, applied also to a streamlined duster in flame-red PVC, sharply cut and fastidiously stitched as if it were made from the finest cashmere; or to impeccable masculine shirts in crisp striped poplin, whose sleeves were unceremoniously cut off and left threadbare.
Dell’Acqua’s idiosyncratic color sense gave a further jolt of energy to a city coat in emerald green bonded leather, while toile de Jouy prints had tongue-in-cheek motifs hidden among the traditional patterns—a martini glass, a vintage race car, a surfer riding the waves. What was interesting in the collection was its spirit of tailored nonchalance and its modern yet humorous proposition for formalwear.
