Alexandre Blanc Spring Summer 2022 at Paris Fashion Week

For Alexandre Blanc, the starting point for all of his collections are the prints he designs and paints, but this season and for the very first time these have a deeply personal connection, drawing their inspiration from his own Italian heritage, but also the country’s intensely rich artistic past.

Slim Aarons’ photographs of the Italian high society in their element depict a certain decadent slice of the cultural elite, where dressing up was an act of fun. For Spring/Summer 2022, Alexandre Blanc celebrates this exuberant femininity with a collection primarily made for cocktail hour, and by hinting at this long-gone air of social extravagance.

“I’ve never shown anything so Italian” Alexandre says, “it’s not only part of my family heritage, but also my personal taste for the country. The art and architecture are a huge and continuous source of inspiration for me”

That he looks at architecture is evident: the exercise in style around this season’s prints were stimulated by a visit to Villa Farnese at Caprarola. The geometric floor and wall patterns of this palace are contrasted with swirling animal motifs, all printed on textiles that deliberately retain their hand-painted aspect. Colours echo the burnt Sierra tones and faded hues of Italian classical frescoes, with bright yellow, pink and green contrasts throughout.

While further exploring the décolleté on his signature fitted dresses and portefeuille blouses, the response to their elegance is found with revelatory new volumes: an easy bustier, a sharp tunic, and printed silk pyjamas are languid in their fluidity.

With luxe fabrics ranging from crepe de chine to linen shantung, hardware is provided by a limited-edition range of jewellery in collaboration with the historic House of Goossens. Working together for the second time, the shapes have confidently been taken further this season with hand-beaten brass, glass, and pearls in an organically shaped selection of earrings, bracelets, a big necklace, and even eyeglasses.

To present his collection, Alexandre and his stylist perched hand-made raffia hats on the heads of models and muse-like friends who inspire him. “Or are they masks?” — to Alexandre, they’re a final nod to Italian culture, to grand balls in classic movies scenes with fantastically well-dressed party guests. “I make clothes with personal motifs that are joyful and made for going out and having fun”. It’s the almost other-worldly decadence of Federico Fellini, but with a genuine zest for modern life.