Palomo Spain kicks off New York Fashion Week with Ballets Russes, heritage Spain

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Feb 5, 2019

This season, creative director of Palomo Spain Alejandro Gómez Palomo returned to New York with a collection that pulled from the grandeur of the past for an idealized image of liberation in the present. It was the latest step in the global movement towards gender fluidity, but unlike the designer’s counterparts in London, Gómez Palomo propelled the trend to an almost couture-quality level.

Gómez Palomo's Autumn/Winter 2019 collection, entitled '1916', was inspired by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and their time traversing throughout Spain after seeking refuge from World War I conflict.

With a combination of traditional masculine tailoring and the designer's signature bold, feminine touches, the collection fluctuated between skin-tight ballet silhouettes and billowing sleeves, trains and pants, set to evoke "[a] collision between ballet and flamenco," Gómez Palomo told FashionNetwork.com. 

According to Gómez Palomo, the collection marks a turning point in Palomo Spain's history, with the creative director intent on "going through a process of purification." 

He added that Palomo represents "absolute freedom, the freedom of wearing whatever you feel like wearing and feeling incredible and grand and elevated and lifted," explaining the conceptual mood of the collection.

Despite the vintage name and premise, the show steered clear of too-literal references. Instead it played out as a contemporary homage thanks to a modern use of sequins, spots, and sheer black pieces, as well as backing music that mixed booming orchestral compositions with electronic refrains. Standout elements included two dramatic, feathered black looks for the finale, as well as the house's first print based on the deconstruction of the polka dot.

That said, the historic roots of the show certainly could not be missed. The influence of the famous ballet troupe's time in Spain was particularly evident in accessories made by Spanish artisans, including pointed shoes made with the Morato family of Andalusia; underwear made with Spanish lingerie brand Andres Sarda born in Barcelona; and tricornes made with Reyes Hellín of Seville.

Bold, black eye makeup and loose finger waves evoked the exotic costumes of the dancers, emphasising Palomo Spain's trajectory as a brand that has been committed to androgyny and redefining menswear since its debut.

Now, the fledgling label founded in 2015 by Gómez Palomo, a graduate of the London College of Fashion, is stocked in multibrand boutiques across Europe, America and Asia, including at Opening Ceremony in New York and Los Angeles.

The collection's use of fine fabrics - silks, moirees, taffetas, wools, velvets and cashmeres – offered an insight into the label’s evolution: "The Palomo boy has evolved into a less retrospective one than before. His clothes may contain historical references, but his attitude is modern. He likes his clothes to be luxurious, made of the best materials, but their use now is [more] innovative than their predecessors." 

​In other words, sometimes you can't beat the classics.