There are things you can always count on finding in a Raquel Allegra collection; chief among them prints painted by the designer’s own hand. So it made sense that the opening look included a cropped cotton poplin button down shirt covered in paint smears and smudges. “Painters always look so cool, they come in their outfits and they’re covered in paint—you know, life’s textures,” said Allegra at a recent appointment in her Tribeca showroom. “There’s this painter I’ve been working with for years, and one time he came in and he let me buy him a new shirt so we traded—I gave him a fresh shirt and he gave me his painted one.” That painted shirt went to another artist who then recreated this version for Allegra. It was paired with a knee-length denim herringbone pattern skirt overwashed in a shade of ochre-ish brown, and it did indeed have that certain je ne sais quoi.
But back to Allegra’s own paintings. This season she zeroed in on some rose petals from her garden (at Raquel Allegra the garden always makes an appearance). The petals were blown up and scattered across tonal jacquard fabric with an additional allover rose print (printing on printed jacquard is another one of Allegra’s signatures). On a long sleeve blouse with an asymmetrical, ruffled trim neckline and asymmetrical wrap skirt it had a charming down to earth elegance. Elsewhere, jackets and cargo pants made from washed twill seemed poised for a life of travel, while super cozy knits made from washed alpaca had the same appeal as a baby’s favorite blanket—except groovy and for grownups. “The collection comes out of life, an authentic expression of creativity that comes out of living thoughtfully,” said Allegra.
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