Through intimate outlines fused into the landscape, reality becomes a pure sensation. The strength of nature provokes imagination as senses are lost in what is real, and what is real takes on the shape of a hallucination. For Andreādamo’s latest Spring Summer 2023 collection, abstract suggestions of the sea remind us of its extraordinary inhabitants. Deep within the trenches of the sea, a woman turns metaphoric, “Her skin turns into shimmering scales, light invades her body. Half woman, half sea creature.” A reflection of fantasy, as she becomes alone with the sea, the water is her element.

Using nude as a starting point, house codes reproduce according to the skin hues. Employing a new floating stitch technique, creative director Andrea Adamo reflects the constancy of the waves in the confines of his knitwear. Every step is a movement – minidresses, tops, jackets, and panel skirts – for each garment has a deliberately unfinished look and takes on an entirely new persona according to whoever wears it, in a kind of dance. Embroidered onto the mesh tulle and applied to embellish the threads of the weave are undulating crystals, creating the impression that you are seeing the skin of a marine creature that reflects light below the water “as she becomes alone with the sea, the water is her element.”

Following along the design acumen of the Andreādamo house, the rib stitching is a fundamental element in their aesthetic – evolving in the nylon see-through version that is used for garments with a scuba cut, with covered stitching adding a technical touch. Unexpectedly, surf sportswear gets reinterpreted, bringing it alongside evening wear clothes and details to produce a contemporary look. The cutouts symbolize how the body is always the focal point. By means of layering, the entire Andreādao look is created, breaking conventions for technical and evening clothes.

The ties unravel into long fringes of knitting, which emphasizes the movement by swinging. Denim is hand-dyed with an irregular effect, like the plaster of a house that the sea’s salt and wind have eroded. Like the fins of a shark in the waves, the approach taken to the tailoring is irreverent, characterized by panels left free to move to give an unfinished effect. The viscose jersey is the sea in its lively drapery that is often brought together with drawstrings to give a see-through effect that gives dynamism to the silhouette together with the porthole-style cuts.

Watch the full show here.