Altuzarra puts on a carnival of colour at New York Fashion Week with a collection to serve as a reminder that smart need not mean boring

Eight years on from its inception, Altuzarra is flying off the shelves in some of the city’s most pertinent department stores
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Karen Dacre12 September 2016

A show confirming Joseph Altuzarra as leader of a new generation of American power dressers was among the last on the bill on day four of New York Fashion Week.

Somewhere between Park Avenue Princess and a David Lynch heroine, the designer’s muse presented as a kooky customer who liked her silhouette sassy and her prints to pack a punch.

“I wanted the collection to feel happy, vibrant and erotically charged,” noted the 33-year-old ahead of last night’s show, citing Lynch’s Wild at Heart among his inspirations.

Accordingly, the collection was a carnival of colour, kitschly so, with frilly floral bralets, sequin cherries and frou-frou ruffles among the flourishes.

JP Yim/Getty

Keen to assert himself as a designer content with delivering commercial, beautifully executed ideas to New York’s cocktail-sipping classes, Altuzarra ensured that eveningwear was this show’s high point, with floor-length gowns emblazoned with pineapples and cherries serving as the closing act.

Eight years on from its inception, Altuzarra is flying off the shelves in some of the city’s most pertinent department stores as those on the hunt for beautifully crafted “event” clothes look to the French- raised Chinese-American in the same way they do giants such as Michael Kors and Calvin Klein.

Last night’s show was a reminder of precisely why his work is so appealing, with all elements of the modern woman’s wardrobe adequately catered for. Set to appeal to the grown up woman who still feels sweet sixteen in her mind, the designer unveiled python pencil skirts along with cherry print sheer tights. Cropped kick-flare trousers were lent a playful edge through candy stripe bardot knits.

Even the shoes, a series of chambray covered pumps trimmed with sequin lemons and cherries, served as a reminder that smart need not mean boring and stood as the perfect complement to a no-nonsense collection of buffed leather bags.

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