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.