N°21 SS25: 60s all over again

Felt like the 60s brought back alive. A period where human comes in touch with colour for the first time, like the television era. What happens when we put vibrancy into a lifestyle full of empty shapes? Roman holiday took a vibrant turn, but this time instead of #EmilyinRome, it came in Milan, as N°21 (Numero Ventuno) made most of us nostalgic for an excitement of an era we never lived (at least Gen-Zers and millennials).

For all of those who never met the trend-setters of that era, we got to actually see the know how: women who desired exploration of shapes, patterns and colour palettes, women who needed to be ahead of their time, with leftovers from the mod culture, i.e. a subculture (or a movement) that began in late 50s London. The only thing we could see in the collection though was a dim trace of rock aesthetics (no motorcycles in the show). The styling was giving off the vibe nonetheless.

Fully hand-sequinned dresses, paired with parkas, PVC/Napa leather, and little rhinestone bow mules, coexist alongside pony skin elements from under which pink lace lingerie peeks out. Slim straight pencil skirts, styled with thick hand-knit wool sweaters and colourful loose-fitting parkas, take turns with mannish bandanna collar striped shirts. The accessories complemented the aesthetics with slingbacks and ballerina flats, in chequerboard black-and-white or in solid tones with a little bow. The show was not deprived of the iconic N°21 Jeanne bag, now in couture hues of quilted satin.

Alessandro Dell'Acqua achieved to transfer us to a different era, one of exploration, when trends were being set and parthenogenesis was still a thing.

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