Valentino-certified fashion brand Act N.1 to prepare for spring 2023 show – WWD

Milan – Being endorsed by an established fashion house of Valentino’s size and reputation comes with a lot of pressure.

Yet talking to Ghalib Gasanoff and Luca Lin – label Act N.1 has been chosen as the emerging brand by the Roma company to support this season – it’s clear that the source of stress is a healthy adrenaline rush. Valentino presents the platform of Instagram to designers live broadcast of the spring show, which will take place on Thursday in Milan.

Reached by phone three days before the event, the designers were running into joints but kept their signatures as they discussed what the initiative means to the brand and what to expect from the upcoming collection.

“There’s definitely more pressure compared to previous seasons, but it’s what motivates us to do more and push ourselves to deliver a stronger set,” Lin said.

As reported, Act N.1 will replace Marco Rambaldi at this edition of Milan Fashion Week, garnering social media attention and the attention of Valentino’s 17.2 million followers. The Roman brand’s initiative with the Italian fashion department began in February, when the first contact was made between Maison Valentino and Act N.1.

“They met when we were filming three days before our previous show, so it was an injection of energy for that show because we were so busy, between work and sleepless nights, that we were thrilled to hear such news,” recalls Lynn.

Pierpaolo Piccioli, Maison Valentino’s creative director, said that when the initiative was launched last year, the aim was to give young designers the opportunity to use the brand’s social platform “as a platform to expand their work and message”, and that the talents “have the same sensibility as the original”. Identity Values” was presented.

In the year Established in 2016, Law N.1 showcases inclusive and personal, multicultural fashion, its collections are inspired by the deconstructed tailoring, theatrical and stylistic influences of its founders, as Lin was half Chinese and Gasanoff. He was born in Azerbaijan but grew up in Georgia.

The spring 2023 collection will continue to build on these pillars, Gasanoff emphasized that the creative process is proceeding as usual. The house of Valentino “gave us freedom of expression and no limits,” he explains.

“Because the bottom line is this: Pierpaolo chose us for what we do and what we offer, so it was important to maintain that independence,” Lynn said.

At the time of the announcement, Piccioli described the duo’s work as “simple and profound as every young designer’s vision should be, and perhaps all of us.”

Freedom and self-expression are the main elements of the message Law N.1 aims to spread. The brand has explored various social themes in its collections, from raising awareness around women’s rights to addressing ethnic minorities and subcultures.

“At first, we were afraid to touch on these topics the way we do now, because we were concerned about how they might be perceived,” Lin said. But now we are more confident to follow our path.

For spring 2023, the duo will explore the different characters in each person “because everyone wears a mask according to the situation,” said Lin, adding that the historical tradition of Chinese opera is referenced in this investigation and shaken by functional, key prints and pieces on clothing.

Their experimental approach often results in hybrid styles juxtaposing different pieces, juxtapositions of male and female bodies, and playing on distorted images.

“In this collection, the patchwork and styling techniques, as well as the military theme on ripped denim patches and jeans and tulle, will be exaggerated,” said Gasanoff.

Indeed, the brand is known for its stunning, high-end tulle pieces and cross-pollination tailoring, and Gasanoff confirmed that this collection will have its fair share of those, adding that the designers are ready to put the finishing touches to “structural pieces and looks with different volumes.”

This season, the duo will introduce their first collection of women’s shoes after a few collaborative experiments. These flat, primarily high-heeled styles have a “different, very graphic shape” and bring back “some elements that we use a lot in our collections,” Lin said, declining to reveal more.

A collaboration with Casio also debuts on the runway, with the Japanese brand’s watches appearing on some of the pieces. Along with the rest of the looks, these clothes are paraded in a basic arrangement meant to shine, with some props popping up here and there to give the impression of being off stage.

As for the shoot, Gasanoff and Lin have been promoting inclusivity since they started their fashion journey, sending a variety of body types and models down the runway, from grown women to little kids. This approach creates another value shared with Maison Valentino.

“Over the past few years, we’ve been in touch with a lot of different people who have connected with the Valentino story,” says Gasanoff, citing model Elisabetta Dess as an example.

“She was a Valentino model in the 1970s and we’ve been working with her for the last three years, and she’s not modeling,” Gasanoff recalled. “We loved the idea of ​​having her in our cast and we loved her character, the character she brings to our shows and videos. It was like a new discovery for us. And we discovered her historical connection with Valentino and her historical connection with Pierpaolo only recently, after the brand’s last cruise in Rome.”

In the year During the 2018 Milan Fashion Week Spring 2019 collection, Act N.1 is part of the city’s schedule, presenting collections both in physical runway shows and in conceptual digital formats during the pandemic.

The Italian Fashion Association is also supporting the brand, two years in a row from the Camera Moda Fashion Trust, a non-profit organization established in 2017 to help young Italian talents grow their businesses with financial support, as well as business mentoring programs and mentoring.

Act N.1 represents a strong market with more than 20 retailers in America, Asia through international stockists such as Selfridges in London, Harvey Nichols in Hong Kong, as well as Sita 1910, Ant/Dote and Forty Five Ten.