Ottolinger Fall 24 Ready-To-Wear: Redefining Opulence
Ottolinger is a brand that loves to play to the public's expectations, altering clothing in ways that make it look as if it were glitching. Creating garments that look deconstructed or "unfinished" and decorated with straps in sporadic places. For this collection, Swiss designers Christa Bösch and Cosima Gadient continued their mission to challenge the aesthetic of luxury fashion by marrying chaos to the upper echelon.
This collection is a beautiful showcase of tailoring and artistry, starting with its first few looks mimicking office attire using flared, uneven collars and having that corporate color palette. All while sneakily introducing the athleisure elements garments will have as the show continues. There's a seamless fusion of multiple styles, the office siren, but with a hint of that old money look, and then it's topped off with techwear-like accents. Despite their reworked appearance, the pieces still read as prestigious and "rich," making this Gilmore girl meet Dune fantasy. Some looks even resemble the Chanel silhouette, borrowing that glamour tweed and two-piece combo. Beyond the Chanel inspiration, we see diverse materials used, ranging from knits, Pinstripes, leather, furs, jogger-like fabrics, and denim. All are used innovatively to test the public opinion of what can be considered "high-end."
Look 23
One of the three with undeniable Chanel inspiration: that tweed and blazer + skirt combo mentioned before. However, this look is the most deconstructed of the trio. Lacking, sleeves and functional buttons, but featuring a more oversized collar. Styled with nicely reworked jeans, an “Ottolinger” shopping bag, and a purse. This look, along with the two others coming before it, is really a testament to how much the “rich” image can be played with. Despite the post-apocalyptic chic, the look has it still reads as powerful.
Look 36
A lesson on how to make deconstruction work. This dress is clearly inspired by a typical two-piece suit, possibly with a blazer or button-up as well. It's that classic 9-5, cubical blue with black accents and a pinstripe sleeve coming off one arm, with the other covered by the top of the dress. This look has the quintessential essence of the collection. It has elegance, chaos, and the basic principles that the designers aimed for. It just ticked every box.
Essentially, Bösch and Gadient designed, or redesigned, what power looks like to them. The models in this collection are all wearing garments with familiar looks to what is popular now or what would be expected of people in higher education/employment positions. Some models look as if they're fashion reporters themselves, while others look like A-list celebrities. The blazers and warped pencil skirts are presented alongside sheer printed "suit" dresses. Accessorized with sling bags, notebooks, shopping bags, and handbags. The show's overall color palette was pretty extensive mixing asphalt, nudes, and maroons. Having occasional bursts of limes, mustards, mauves, and icy blues. A simple but stunning use of colors.
Ottolinger’s womenswear collection is a cutting-edge display of next-generation renaissance women, highlighting the 9-5 worker to the rodeo-drive shopper. Utilizing societal standards as a base and upgrading them to timeless examples of femininity and authority. Being no stranger to taking things apart and putting them back together, Bösch and Gadient have found their niche with the use of straps and strings. This sudo-signature of the duo appeared in several shows before this one. Leaning more maximalist with this showing, I’m eager to see the direction the label goes in next.
