ALBARELLA SS24

HORNY BANKERS

Albarella returns with his signature critique of masculinity’s norms by orbiting the concept of an Alienation.

In response to far-right Italian Prime Minister’s recent dress-code restrictions for parliamentarians, the SS24 collection observes masculine attires as they oscillate between the 9 ‘til 5 worlds of ‘Gang Banking’ and the lunar constellations of a nightly after-work-life.

Silk velvet worked in bias mocks political dualities which distract us away from the flamboyant possibilities of elegant attires serving both night and day aesthetics.

Feel yourself free to leave the WFH office in your boxers to dive into the silvery glitter transparencies of a wildly queer night out. Monochrome on monochrome is just an invite to look at the nuances of things, and Albarella’s irony is often found in the detail: a Murrell Knot Tie that bears the iconic buckle elements that bind concepts to an unapologetically dissident style.

Always joining and subverting ideas of masculinity, these Alienated conditions of labour and attire remind us of what we carry with us across our daily lives. Bring with you a Garment Bag to change suits at will.

Please don’t forget the Cherry Bag either, after all, you gotta make sure to have some balls to make money. The Bulge Bag is revisited too, the polite cut of suit trousers meekly banters the ‘package’ being served here. Things are getting serious in this jokes world of labour.

Just enjoy yourself henny.

ALBARELLA AW23

HUNTY

Hun · ty [hun-tee] Noun, Adj

1 Term of endearment merging ‘honey’ with the sassy yet loving use of ‘cunt(y)’

2 In the words of Queen Ongina: “Wait hold on.Ooh trade on the right hunty. Trade on... oh my god”

Hunty shows masculinity ‘in pompa magna’: a full regalia of male vanity where meekly historical codpieces nod to masculinity’s forced performativity and insecurity. Hunty’s fraying masculinity, made of silk and organza, is the humorous conjunction of a soft-to-hard dualism. The feminine impulse found within the masculine is reclaimed and made to strut, pout.

Albarella creates the Hunty collection by drawing from his experience of growing up queer in Southern Italy, when he had to hybridise a strong masculine stance with signifiers that also allowed for his feminine side to transpire. Hunty becomes a war cry, a soft battle against a contrived vision of masculinity.

Ring buckles tie together the blurry balances between masculine and feminine, as the soft pastels and draping silks merge with hard bondage belts, leather tie-ups and structured cuts. Masculinity is unbound, unhinged, recomposed in a cultural imagination where lace-like Swarovski chockers shimmer. Denim seams precariously rotate in defiance of the dominant rule that conceives of masculinity as static.

Albarella is born from the need to create a safe space to express queer ideals and raise awareness on the theme.