Raquel Allegra is saying YES to the dress… and everything else. “The idea of the collection is that feeling of ‘yes’,” she shared on a recent Zoom. “Your body’s cellular response to the word ‘yes,’ and the power that I believe carries internally and externally as you live your life saying yes to your heart, to your desire, and to your truth.”
Her tightly edited spring lineup had her characteristic ease, but in a more pared back way. “We’ve made the collection smaller than ever before; it’s 20 styles and that’s it,” she explained. “When you’ve made a commitment to keep those 20 styles very meaningful, it makes it a little more challenging to take risks. So we’ve taken some risks in some calculated ways, but it is a more quiet collection.” A black linen suit was actually an all-over print that Allegra and her team had designed to make the fabric look “degraded like it had been in the sun.” Further adding to the illusion of something well worn were its raw hems, and stitched details that made it look like it had already been mended. Another trompe l’oeil-like effect was used on a pair of slim trousers gathered at the hem that appeared to be shibori-dyed. “It’s pretty impossible to actually make a garment like that in silk with proper indigo and have it look like that and stay like that over time because of the nature of the indigo,” she explained. Her cashmere sweaters came hand-embroidered with naive hearts and the word ‘yes.’ “You have your heart on your sleeve; the idea is to say yes to your heart.”
