N°21 RESORT 2023

 The Complexity of Eros 

 Exploring contrasting situations. Imagining an eroticism free of inexorable nods to voyeurism. Erasing gender stereotypes to better orient the shift toward a surprising aesthetic that melds with daily life as set in a bare, unadorned quasi-brutalist architecture standing out from amidst decoration all around. The 2023 N21 Resort collection designs the pursuit of contrasts into a hardly inevitable synthesis of everyday situations forced upon us by a changing reality still fuzzy on the edges. It’s a reality in a total state of flux which while possibly provoking feelings of instability may also produce occasions for a deeper study of trends we are already familiar with.

 ALESSANDRO DELL’ACQUA – «The starting point for the collection is an analysis of not-so-par-for-the-course erotic situations which make eros a complex though not complicated subject, one which even when easy to interpret never becomes banal. I believe that considering eroticism a normal part of a woman’s life – as it is for a man’s – also means recognizing that an individual’s personality develops within the sphere of a world which is fascinating precisely because ultra variable. Fashion has a thousand tricks and a great many techniques for portraying this quite nicely, and here I took them to the extreme,» says N21’s creative director. He goes on: «I used two images that belong to my professional repertoire. The first is that of a pencil skirt, which in my opinion in combo with particular items – a bustier top or a mannish jacket, for instance – succeeds in promptly changing the female silhouette. The second is an iconic image, that of Annie Girardot in the final scene of Luchino Visconti’s film Rocco and His Brothers: it’s a scene from real life, so typically and thoroughly 

THE COLLECTION – The collection follows a route that is at once linear and complex, just like the goddess inspiring it. Slinky black dresses made from sequins set on a powder-pink neoprene base; raw-edge crop jackets paired with pencil skirts zipped up intriguingly in back; puffer bombers in superlight satin completed by draped fuseaux leggings. And then, pantsuits with mannish jackets, matching monochrome shirt and pants in powder-pink jersey fabric secretly offset by an erotic-image print lining. On the contrary, short sheer chiffon frocks with feather band all along the neckline, practically a baby doll in the form of an evening dress. Short skirts are worn with little cardigans from which peek out tartan plaid bras. Long shapely swishy dresses are energized by tulle threadwork, while leather pencil skirts have an aged feel. Other skirts with deep slits come under mannish jackets, while accessories – in continuation with the brand’s aesthetic – take on elements that talk about the theme of the collection: as in the big-petaled flower resting on the iconic EVA Bag and on ultrafeminine shoes. All to help create that absolutely non-voyeuristic situation of a cinematographic atmosphere which nevertheless describes a very real world full of (erotic) tension and exploration.