In the early stages of planning a collection, Stefano Gallici likes to take a trip. Last season, it was a sojourn in his hometown, Teor, Italy, to reconnect with his youth. This time around, he headed to Los Angeles solo and rented a cabin in the desert. It was there he conceived Lonesome Heaven, an Americana-infused collection, which blended a suite of historical and cultural references with the brand’s signature deconstructed, dark romance.
Gallici stripped the color palette back this season to just black, white, and blue denim, which pushed him to play with textures and layering. The first half of the collection was entirely in shades of white, cream, and ecru, starting with a white lace vest and cream cotton trousers, with a dechirée tutu and armbands layered on top, blending shaggy wool tulle and silk crepon to create volume. The second look featured a sleeveless white Napoleon waistcoat with an ecru asymmetrical ruffled skirt layered over a sheer organza maxiskirt. Then came a men’s white ensemble of cream cargos paired with a Victorian blouse and a cropped sleeveless tuxedo. The latter part of the collection mirrored and mixed many of these silhouettes in black. “I got the idea of the black and white palette from the desert,” Gallici said preshow. “When you’re in the middle of nowhere, you understand how life is reduced to minimal terms.”
As the designer acknowledged, it’s “kind of strange” for Ann Demeulemeester to take inspiration from L.A. But he said he’s fascinated by the darker side of the city. During his trip, Gallici watched Billy Wilder’s 1950 dark comedy Sunset Boulevard and started to see Los Angeles through a more sinister lens. “I was thinking about how L.A. is the ghost of a city that once was so florid. It’s almost a city worn to death,” he said. This metaphor showed up in silk suiting, waistcoats, and cummerbunds with exposed patches of white cotton lining, like the piece had been worn down over time (it was a challenge to thermally fuse the fabrics to give the effect, Gallici said).
Another stop on Gallici’s L.A. adventure was visiting aviation magnate Howard Hughes’s historic hangar in Playa Vista; this led to aviation jackets and patinated leather layered over formal waistcoats and tailored trousers. Elsewhere, he used Edwardian necklines and 17th-century-style jabots spilling out from cropped, fitted black Napoleon jackets and tuxedos. These were paired with layered ruffle skirts and fringed jersey, grazing the floor. Formal tailoring was juxtaposed with light denim shirting or double-denim tops.
“I love to surround myself with a world of reference that sometimes creates contradictions but overall is a modern reinterpretation of a wardrobe,” Gallici said. The styling was purposely spontaneous if a little heavy-handed at points. The fringed T-shirts at the waist, fashioned into skirts, for example, were tied with a fine grosgrain that could have stood beautifully on its own.
Ann Demeulemeester codes could be found somewhere among the layers. The relaxed, fringed jersey separates, fluid dresses, and low-crotch pants, paired with the brand’s signature combat boots, felt more aligned with the label’s roots. The black and petrol feathers, crafted into trim on skirts and dramatic epaulets, were another nod but felt at odds with the breezier layers.
Ann Demeulemeester combat boots have been flying lately, beloved by A-listers and the brand’s burgeoning young fans alike. This collection provided a new iteration, a heavy-duty biker boot with multiple buckles and zips. Most looks were worn with gladiator sandals with heavy buckles, some with a wedged heel.
A few of the pieces felt lived-in, like a cream tiered gown and cropped loose-fit cream trousers with printed brown stains and dirty white ballet flats. “I am fascinated by some older garments that I found in my own archive, and I kind of wanted to replicate how they feel,” Gallici said.
American artist Ethel Cain closed the show in an Edwardian-style dress with a cinched waist, reflecting the silhouette of the men’s looks but in intricate black Chantilly lace. Cain codesigned the look with Gallici over Zoom in the spring, as well as one of the men’s looks: a silk shirt and trousers, including a cummerbund with a fringed T-shirt tucked in one side. Musician Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age also walked, wearing a pinstripe suit paired with a light denim shirt. The show was soundtracked by folk singer Chelsea Wolfe, who Gallici listened to during his L.A. travels.
Now four seasons into his role at Ann Demeulemeester, Gallici feels he can experiment a bit. “I always try to approach this brand with reverence and respect. But I also like to be less orthodox in my approach,” he said. “I am building a young and fresh community around the brand, as we have seen. Season by season, I like to have a little more freedom.”
