Antonio Azzuolo (Q2688)
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Antonio Azzuolo is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Antonio Azzuolo |
Antonio Azzuolo is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Like many designers, Antonio Azzuolo doesn't have a lot of time for "inspirations." "Myexperienceinspires me," he said at his Spring presentation today. His experience is tailoring. And though that tailoring is often styled exotically at his presentations, his approach, he said, "is very pragmatic." Make a good jacket, sell a good jacket; the rest is set dressing.For Spring, Azzuolo riffed on the wrapped styles he trotted out for Fall, creating a long, draped "vest"—a sleeveless robe, really—that, in his words, introduced movement into the traditional three-piece suit. Because Azzuolo's work is so fine and so costly, he's often at pains to undercut its preciousness. Here, he showed it with Nike sneakers, thumbed his nose at conventions of formalwear (sport shirts got tux-shirt bibs), and commissioned ultraexpensive French jacquards in acid-rave colors. But more effective, for business and for art, was theactualundercutting effected by the introduction of unstructured tailoring, which will bring his entry price point down to about half what it has been. That should help to ensure that his slow-going-but-still-growing roster of stores—which, as of Fall, includes Jeffrey and The Corner—continues to expand.
9 September 2012
Antonio Azzuolo is a born tailor. He's on his firmest footing when he plays to his strength."There's a focus on what I do best, the tailored blazer and garment," he said at his sunny presentation this morning. Azzuolo's rope-shouldered, cropped blazers—the pieces, no doubt, that won him consideration for the CFDA/VogueFashion Fund prize—were versions of what he's shown before, but none the worse for that. The basic precepts of suiting don't change, and part of the beauty of suit staples is that they're strong enough to be practically indestructible. Made correctly, in the kind of ateliers the designer worked at during his tenure at Hermès, they'll be literally indestructible, too. (Forget buy now, wear now; it's buy now, wear forever.) Azzuolo tipped his cap to the craftsman there by mimicking basting stitches on the fronts of some jackets. Squint, and they looked like a parody of pinstripes. Don't laugh. These could sell.But Azzuolo couched the sartorial with what he called a street influence, amping up volume and emphasizing layering, the result of a recent trip to Japan. He introduced a series of sleeveless kimonos, which were layered under jackets and over loose shorts. It served as a reminder that there's an alternative narrative of suiting, too, one stranger, sportier, and occasionally sexier. Designers as disparate as Thom Browne, Scott Sternberg, and Kris Van Assche have helped to write it in the margins. It's not a surefire recipe for success. But even when it doesn't lead you to success, you stumble in distinguished company.
11 February 2012
Garnering a CFDA/VogueFashion Fund nomination is no small accomplishment, and Antonio Azzuolo isn't taking the nod lightly. Upon hearing of his nomination, the designer, who is going on his eighth season with his line, a. a., and also consulting for the eyewear maker Warby Parker, expanded his original plans for a modest "what would fit in a travel bag" lineup into a 25-look collection premised loosely on globe-trotting. That gave him the room to tackle more than his trademark tightly tailored jackets. "Young guys are interested in sartorial, timeless dressing, but they want it in a modern way," Azzuolo said. "The way we dress today, it's really a duality between the very tailored, sartorial look and the street."In practice, this Montreal native tends to walk on the dapper side of that street. His knits came in lushly soft merino wool, and an ice blue turtleneck was an ode to Jacques Cousteau. Outerwear and jackets remain Azzuolo's strong suit. Sporty half-zip pullovers, a continuing silhouette from his Fall 2011 collection, came in bright yellow and red. Meanwhile, blazers—including one cut from a pink and lime print sourced from the French mill Malhia Kent, which supplies fabric to many of the couture houses—sported softened shoulders and were neatly cropped. The designer, who paid his dues at Ralph Lauren, ran into some trouble lower down. A baggier trouser was a savvy idea, but the drop-crotch and bootcut-leg combination was less convincing.Overall, though, you couldn't deny Azzuolo's skill or eye for glamour, and in three formalwear looks, he let his tailoring flag fly. "Many of my friends were looking for options for weddings, and I do love the ceremonial," he said. One double-breasted dark charcoal suit flaunted rope shoulders, a more aggressive, slightly upward-sloping construction seen in seventies Brioni and current Tom Ford. By keeping the rest of the cut clean and sparse, Azzuolo made it work.
8 September 2011
Before launching his namesake collection, Antonio Azzuolo spent years at temples of luxury tailoring: Ralph Lauren's Black and Purple Labels on the one hand, Hermès and Kenzo on the other. He also happens to be the son of a tailor, so it's no surprise that Azzuolo knows how to cut an excellent jacket. He's wisely made it his signature. This season's iteration comes in navy or brilliant red, with a light pagoda shoulder, a double-breast, and collar or lapels trimmed in Persian lamb. Azzuolo's craft is worth every penny, and it costs more than a few. No wonder he's big in Japan, where such things are prized.There are strengths and weaknesses among the rest of his offerings. This season, he drew inspiration from the Séeberger brothers, the early street-style photographers who shot Deauville and other French resort towns in the 1930's. That accounts for a bit of the luxe, louche chic (and maybe also the free hand with white fox). Wild bursts of color, as on the trompe l'oeil knits, on the other hand, are a more contemporary touch.Azzuolo is fond of elegance and glamour, but there are times when he shades into the precious. Jackets cut from bouclé and Linton tweed—a fabric prized by Coco Chanel—felt like a bit too much. But sportier pieces, like the technical-wool anoraks the designer calls popovers, helped to ground some of the flightier flights of fancy.
11 February 2011
Style.com did not review the Fall 2010 menswear collections. Please enjoy the photos, and stay tuned for our complete coverage of the Spring 2011 collections, including reviews of each show by Tim Blanks.
11 February 2010