Altuzarra Spring/Summer 2018 Ready-To-Wear Collection.....Fashionweekly...On Fow24news.com

THE MESSAGE:Half-American and half-French, Joseph Altuzarra grew up in Paris before moving to New York and becoming an important fixture on the fashion scene. For spring/summer 2018 he decamped to Paris, part of an band of American brands including Tommy Hilfiger, to show in Europe this season......
"It's a new chapter, a new leaf," he said. How would his seductive, feminine aesthetic play out on the French catwalk?

THE SCENE:The outdoor cloister of a school. Not Altuzarra's alma mater, but one that looks just like it. "My old school is in the 6th, but they said no," revealed the designer.

THE COLLECTION:"I made a conscious effort - I didn't want to do something that felt especially French," he said. Instead he turned to Hayao Miyazaki's animated film Princess Mononoke for inspiration. The film explores the conflict of nature versus industry and Altuzarra looked to do the same, lavishing his sophisticated city-born silhouettes with craft. There were hand-crocheted dresses, and pom-pom fringing peeking out beneath silver goat skin gilets. Tufted textured stripes snaked down tailored jackets, and intricate broderie-anglaise white dresses served as cocktail wear. "There's something wild inside of me and that avatar is someone who is quite raw," said Altuzarra, but these were hardly caveman clothes. The polish of the collection belied the emotion he felt, coming back. "It felt like therapy," he said of reconnecting with his childhood home.

THE BEAUTYGentle middle-parted waves and a natural make-up palette - it looked polished but not too "done".

THE SYNOPSIS:This was an incredibly sophisticated walk on the wild side. As Altuzarra said, "It didn't change everything. I still feel like me coming here."