STORIES / COLLECTION NOTES: HOLIDAY 2021
RAQUEL ALLEGRA HOLIDAY COLLECTION 2021
“HEROES”
HOLIDAY~CELEBRATE
Holiday is a time to celebrate!
And what are we celebrating?
OUR HEROES
Favorites of yours and mine from as far back as
SPRING 2012. We all need heroes.
That feeling of security we get from the familiar
comfort they bring. A comfort that soothes both
our physical and our emotional selves.
THE HERO PRINT
The all over tie dye print on washed silk: the very first print I ever designed for the collection - Spring 2012.
It was created from a photograph taken by my dear friend Margo Ducharme of a tie dye that we developed. At that time we had not yet begun to tie dye silk garments, so the intention was to represent that look graphically on silk. Over the years people have asked me to bring it back, and it was time! For Holiday we’ve overdyed the graphic black and white print to achieve multiple colorways.
THE GRACE DRESS: A new silhouette inspired by one of the great style heroes; GRACE JONES The black and white graphic color-way brings me back to a favorite ART/FASHION collision when Keith Haring painted his iconic graphics on her naked body. SIMPLY BREATHTAKING This dress is ageless and timeless. It looks incredible worn alone or with our Sunday Pant in the same print- like a tunic.
THE DUSTER DRESS: *A new and personal favorite from this collection*. In essence, an oversized shirt dress. Worn open like a duster over the Boxy Tee and Sunday Pant or buttoned as a dress. This piece is an easy “daily driver”.
THE BOXY TEE: A star from the archive, with its split pocket detail and slightly oversized fit.
HAND-FEEL: This printed silk offering has been garment dyed resulting in a super soft sueded hand-feel. A Star is born!
PRINT PLACEMENT: So much careful consideration went into placing this print to flatter the wearer’s form. The centerline, much like the body of a butterfly, and its wings, mirrored on both sides of the body in perfect symmetry. “Human Nature”
SMOCKING: Exciting in this group for its gentle hug against the wearer's chest-plate. Two new silhouettes with this detail: Edwardian Blouse and Chrysalis Dress. Both styles lean in a feminine direction while carrying a cool, tough girl attitude.
MACHINE WASH ME!
VINTAGE WASHED FLAT SATIN
This group is elemental: a LUX foundation and effortless backdrop for the wildness of the rest of the collection.
It nods to sporty while the weight and drape is more akin to an easy silk gown. The pant and the short have pin-tuck details - a tracker reference - which added to a more elevated fabrication offers the flexibility of very casual or very dressed.
This solid offering is a nostalgic salute to my own early years in fashion retail: In the 90’s I worked in the department store I Magnin. The 6th floor where I worked was called “The New Edge On 6”. We carried Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Katharine Hamnett, to name a few, and I was a specialist for Issey Miyake’s ‘Pleats Please’. The darkly romantic feeling of slip dresses, oversized sweaters, and soft draping outerwear really made an impression on me back in 1993. Those pieces - that feeling - is still relevant to me today.
This perspective comes from my living experience as a modern woman continuing to evolve and understand how to express myself through clothing - to animate my evolution and to indulge the different moods I experience from day to day.
TINA PLAYSUIT:
Yes, we need another HERO
This timeless AND ageless shape is NEW for Holiday 2021
I’ve always felt EXTRA when I’m walking in wide-leg bottoms, and there’s something about the ease of a jumpsuit, the one-piece-wonder feeling of popping it on that’s always satisfying….
MACHINE WASH ME!
THE "FRIENDSHIP + LOVE + TRUTH" SWEATERS
There’s just something about their good vibes: it’s not just that the graphic is cool, but it’s a high vibration message that you’re wearing on your body. One of the most requested sweaters we have ever made. So excited to share it again (@ a lower price point)!
The design is from a fraternal order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the chain links represent the order’s motto: "Friendship, Love, and Truth"
Who doesn’t need that now, more than ever? (AGAIN)
TIE DYE CASHMERE
Neon Heart Sparkle + Rainbow Earthy
Pretty sure their names say it all!
Once knit, each individual sweater is prepared, folded, tied, dyed + then rinsed by hand in our workshop in LA
Each of the three sweater styles have hand crocheted red thread details representing an auspicious symbol of protection and luck for the wearer
After significant development we have fallen in love with a new quality of yarn that is a blend of fine merino and cashmere. It is much softer than any cashmere blends we’ve used in previous collections
BLEEDING HEART
This little heart of mine
I'm going to let it shine
This little heart of mine
I'm going to let it shine
This little heart of mine
I'm going to let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine
(This tee-shirt comes with a theme song!)
Three color ways are intended to work back to all other fabric groups within the collection
THIS GROUP IS TIGHT AND SWEET
Only three styles:
- The top selling Tee-shirt dress
- New smaller cropped Tee
- MESH long sleeve
MACHINE WASH ME!
THE YIN YANG ☯
In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (pronounced yan) - or "bright-black"/"positive-negative" - is a concept of dualism; the understanding that seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world
I am endlessly inspired by this ancient and timeless symbol. As dark as life can be, it can be equally bright. The darker the dark, the brighter the bright...A powerful statement to make with your fashion choice.
A real “FASHION STATEMENT”
Let’s hear it for the boys! It’s important to me to keep our men in mind; this group includes our “Men’s Tee” and “Drop Shoulder Sweatshirt” which are intended to swing both ways. A story we will continue tell within the brand
MACHINE WASH ME!
THE TIGERS
Why do we wear animals on our bodies?
To indulge our primal instincts?
Channel our wild + playful side?
Add some fierceness to the way we walk down the street?
YES to all of the above.
But also, these are really just CUTE
This group is “denim friendly” and can be paired back to all fabric + color groups;
Hero Print & Flat Satin
Solid + tie dye Classic Jersey
TRACK SUIT in Vintage Fleece: Even the new tuxedo tracker gets a tiger
TIGER TEES in Classic Jersey:
The Cropped Tee touting a single tiger
The Oversize Tee gets two
MACHINE WASH ME!
