Her collections are always characterized by a richness of references, articulated via incredible techniques and expressed in finest-quality materials. There is a timelessness to them as well as a sense of style that applies to a cosmopolitan spirit. For FW21 Alejandra Alonso Rojas created elevated wardrobe essentials that work as investment pieces for the sophisticated wearer. Let’s take a look at the collection’s notes to delve into the glorious details.
Sensuality takes many forms. In this collection, the versatility is in the spirit of bold contrasts: featherweight silks sit next to structured tailoring, while pops of black and white punctuate fiery reds, fuchsias, and earthy caramels. Masculine elements meet feminine. And altogether, such polarities create powerful mixtures, outlooks, and emotions, even some bittersweet nostalgia for a bygone time or, in the designer’s case, for Spain. This collection focuses on timeless ensembles, merging the past with the modern. The designer, raised in a close-knit Madrilenian family, regularly refers to her sartorially elegant grandmother for inspiration. The family’s matriarch in one photograph wears a red blouse under a beautifully tailored black suit and a Cordovan-style, wide-brimmed hat with ease. In another, she sports a one-piece and polka-dotted bandana at the beach, and the third image is of her in a dotted blouse tucked into wide, pearl white trousers attending a book fair. The designer also looked to the empowered women depicted by Symbolist painter Julio Romero de Torres, who lived in Córdoba and Madrid, Rojas’s hometown, throughout the turn of the twentieth century. Taking cultural and sartorial cues from the strong, yet sensual poses of the women in his paintings, dots—a key design component—graphically accentuate the menswear-inspired pieces and womenswear alike.
In a tighter, more curated offering, the Bittersweet Nostalgia collection is nothing short of artisanal: a double-breasted suit jacket dress in a special Italian linen moiré to a white silk robe, bustier, and pant set hand-painted in black watercolor dots. Swap in the leather version of the blazer-style dress or a mini-skirt style with hand-sewn details for more edge. To add warmth with a masculine touch, look to an oversized, open-neck sweater in hand-knitted cashmere, the ultimate staple for casual luxury. Circular design details can be spotted throughout. On a fuchsia-hued, 100% silk crochet vest and pant, knitted tone-on-tone dots appear as part of the texture. In the same fabric, a beautifully fitted dress in caramel and another in black with a seamless trail of bias tape fringes renders surprisingly different results. A red, pleated mini dress is paired with a round-shaped bolero that drapes elegantly on the body, while an embroidered scalloped collar dresses up a classic white blouse. Here, a relaxed three-piece suit is an alternative to power suiting, tailored specifically for the empowered woman. And the hemlines on the dresses and palazzo pants are at comfortable, shorter lengths to encourage all-day wear in a time that profoundly values versatility.
Brother Vellies provided the shoes and Gigi Burris the headpieces for this photoshoot
