Why Joseph Altuzarra believes the luxury fashion industry is ‘completely unknowable’ – dad sneakers and yoga pants surprised us all
Meghan Markle, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore are all fans of luxury clothing brand Altuzarra – whose creative director remains blissfully boggled by contemporary trends
Joseph Altuzarra, creative director of the luxury clothing brand Altuzarra, has dressed some of Hollywood’s hottest female stars. His edgy yet elegant formal wear has been seen on celebrities like Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore. And before Meghan Markle became the Duchess of Sussex, she was counted among his patrons.
But it’s not just celebrities who want to have Altuzarra’s pieces in their wardrobes. “The customer we design for is confident and sexy,” he explains. “She likes to seduce and be feminine, but there is also a pragmatic side to her life. She wants clothes that are going to work for her but which still look relevant and modern and fashionable, and are going to make her feel powerful. That is a very real person.”
Instead of reacting to trends, Altuzarra says that putting out the best possible product is more important than putting it out quickly. “We always take our time, like with Altuzarra’s newest Play Bag. It took two-and-a-half years to design, and even though the sales team wanted us to release it, we said no because I wanted to keep working on it, designing and testing until I felt it was ready to be put out in the market,” the creative designer says.
Altuzarra admits that he has designed things he thought would never do well but which became hits, while at other times he was sure that what he had come up with would do well, only for people not to respond to the product.
“The beauty of the luxury industry is that it is completely unknowable. You can’t predict it. Who would have predicted that ‘dad sneakers’ would become the new thing? Or that yoga pants would be the hot item? I think that’s the risky thing about the luxury industry, but also the interesting part. So, for me, it’s really about staying true to what Altuzarra the brand is about.”
It is important to keep innovating with fabrics, prints and shapes, he says. “In a lot of ways it’s like being a sociologist – see how women are living, how they are dressing, how Altuzarra should change and morph through time to stay current,” says Altuzarra. “Designers should always innovate and not be followers.
“If Gucci puts out sneakers, it doesn’t mean I should put out sneakers immediately and bank on that trend. If it is not my language, and if it is not what my customers are going to wear and they are not coming to Altuzarra for that, then why am I going to feel like I need to follow that? I need to put out the best products for me and for Altuzarra.”
His latest collection, launched at Paris Fashion Week autumn/winter 2019, was inspired by the 1977 American avant-garde film 3 Women, written and directed by Robert Altman. Altuzarra, who was a teenager when the drama was released, has since been inspired by the 70s atmosphere of southern California towns, especially their backdrop of the American desert. “That was really the starting point of the collection. For me, what I am most interested in was the idea of comfort and movement.
“The casualisation of fashion and the workplace is something that I’ve observed,” Altuzarra says, stressing that this does not mean compromising on quality, since he has also observed a return to tailoring and the idea of dressing up.
“Customers are less complicated than the market makes them out to be. They want products that are well designed, praised, that are going to work for them, and with which they have an emotional connection.”
Original article published on South China Morning Post (Dec 7, 2019)
