Palomo Spain has returned to New York City, with designer Alejandro Gómez Palomo revealing his Fall collection on Manhattan’s West Side early this afternoon. There was a reason, besides his love of Gotham (he showed here circa Fall 2017), for the decision: “This season is called ‘1916,’ ” he said. “It’s about the moment that the Ballet Russes went from Russia to Spain, and Sergei Diaghilev and the Spanish avant-garde got together and created these mixed, unconventional pieces. Ballet has a lot to do with traveling around, going around in a caravan. We carry on with this attitude.”

There’s no arguing that Palomo Spain emits nomadic feedback: Palomo’s group, his tribe, is both dedicatedly fierce and fiercely dedicated. They go where he goes, whether that’s Andalucía or the Big Apple. This inherent tight-knitted-ness, plus his narratives—always strong when it comes to research and personality—are what make this brand so unique. And while the rearview abstraction of Diaghilev in the Iberian Peninsula initially felt a little dated, Palomo was able to entwine in it a modern heat.

That came with an expanded accessories roster (including sharp new slip-on shoes and doctor bags) and new textiles, like nylon. “My take on sportswear, taken into my universe,” said the designer. See: a wide-collared, short-sleeved optic white anorak, cinched at the waist, and styled over a netted dress. Another parka was done in velvet and finished with a massive bow. And yet another was made again in nylon, this time salmon-hued, curving from the shoulders to the hem in what had to have been a wink to Spain’s most famous designer, Cristóbal Balenciaga.

Palomo’s variety here was wide but calibrated; a polka-dot motif, which deteriorated into melted bubbles, shone through with a Pop Art aestheticism, while elsewhere structured and tailored trenches nodded to the original designs of the clothing type conceived by Thomas Burberry. On top of that, there were sequined bodysuits, sheer slip dresses worn over underwear made in collaboration with the Spanish lingerie brand Andres Sarda, and a raven-feathered closing dress duo. The show’s soundtrack switched from orchestral strings to a gritty techno for the finale lap; it was a smart idea, as it placed these clothes, at least spatially, in a more contemporary zone.

If Palomo Spain sometimes feels repetitive, or if it still seems, at times, like too much visual reverie and not enough of an exercise in commercial practicality, it’s a forgivable charge. Palomo should be praised for the message he sings; his casts are always diverse, and they always include openly gay male models (being an out model can still hamper one’s chances at certain jobs). And with the weather vane turning in terms of male dressing—no matter how one identifies or what one’s sexuality is—the distinction of what is the norm will eventually be redefined. But in Palomo’s world, this freedom, this openness, this love—it’s all already deeply entrenched and steeped in irresistible appeal.

SOURCE VogueRunway

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