There are few big names in London fashion who understand the delicate art of glamour quite like Marco Capaldo. (You can probably chalk that up, at least in part, to the contrast between his Italian roots and his English upbringing.) But he’s also a pragmatic designer. Even when he’s taking his cues from references as broad as David Lynch’s Lost Highway or the various up-and-coming London artists in his orbit, his clothes are rooted in an innate understanding of how his customer really wants to dress. “I obviously pull from this bank of inspiration that I look at—there’s always this red thread of the things I’m attracted to and the things that resonate with me,” Capaldo said at a preview. “But I really wanted it to be more than ever about the clothes. What’s been really exciting recently is to just finesse everything.”
You could see it in the palpably luxurious textiles he used to build the collection: a superfine grade of deliciously slinky pony hide used for outerwear; sculptural coats with hand-pulled wool fringe details; a newly developed leopard and deer print presented on a light silk chiffon and as a velvet devoré. His bread-and-butter evening dresses came in dramatically draped silhouettes, either in a deep, void-like black or a blazing scarlet; others featured lavishly embroidered surfaces of bugle beads and tear-shaped sequins, mixed together to create a seductive shimmer. (These are clothes that really come to life in movement.) But you could also see that practicality in the emphasis on garments with detachable elements: wraps and scarves integrated with buttons or hooks, or satin tops that can be tied up at the waist or left to hang loose. “We’ve really thought about how one garment can carry you through multiple scenarios,” Capaldo noted.
And even with the collection’s sophisticated air, there were still some of Capaldo’s signature cheekier notes present: a flash of bum peeking out from under an asymmetrical micro-mini skirt, or the body-revealing loose sheer tops that cropped up throughout. There’s a reason, after all, why his clothes remain particularly beloved by pop stars: Olivia Dean and Lily Allen have recently worn custom, high-octane 16Arlington looks for their live shows, while Dua Lipa stepped out recently pairing one of his lacy tops with a pair of jeans.
“Season after season, I think we move across this spectrum between sex and intellect. Some seasons, we lean more towards the sex, and some seasons we lean more towards the intellect. I think it’s constantly playing with that duality—of the British and the Italian, the masculine and the feminine, the minimalism with these punches of maximalism.” As ever, with this collection, Capaldo found the sweet spot between all those factors.