Last season, Bluemarble’s Anthony Alvarez looked to space for inspiration. This time, his astronaut was looking back toward Earth, the small blue dot that echoes the brand’s name. “One astronaut said, ‘It was crystal clear from up here that we are one humanity,’” said Alvarez backstage before the show. In his designs, he imagined a fictional sports team, Transcontinental, aiming to emphasize a sense of community for citizens of Planet Earth.
Bluemarble has been cultivating a strong following Stateside, something Alvarez continued to mine, tapping Veneda Carter to style the show. There was also an expanded offer for women this season as he seeks to engage consumers across gender divides in line with commercial demand.
It wasn’t all about Instagrammable hats — although there was a new one of those, in the form of a feather-fringed puffer chapka, as well as a couple of the imposing designs from his fall collection, recently sported by Bianca Censori, dwarfing their wearers on the front row.
While the young designer celebrates diversity and exuberance with his overstated, colorful streetwear looks with touches of glitz, he also wants to highlight the craftsmanship behind his creations.
Embroidered jeans were stitched by hand, with leather backing the crystal floral encrustations, for instance, while poplin singlets were lined with jersey for added comfort and the smartness of a shirt.
There was an enhanced focus on tailoring this season, a direction Alvarez has increasingly been veering toward, with baggy trenchcoats and exaggerated pleat-front pants worn low on the hips and wide on the ankle. T-shirts, worn under crop tops, had shoulder pads that nodded to protective sporting gear, structuring the silhouette.
Alvarez’s penchant for exuberance was never far away. His camouflage “triple-cargo” pants with trompe-l’oeil details were intended to make sure the wearer was seen, not invisible. “That audacity is really important in the silhouette,” he said.