On February 23, AGL presented their Fall/Winter 2023 collection, celebrating quality footwear, avant-garde designs, and women’s empowerment. Supplementing the reveal was an 8-piece capsule collection conceived in collaboration with supermodel Kristen McMenamy and British stylist Katie Grand. Between AGL’s forward-looking artistry and Kristen’s androgynous aesthetic, this partnership is a match made in fashion heaven. 

Established in 1958, AGL is a high-end footwear brand that cherishes both fashion and family. Founded in the Italian region of Marche, Piero Giusti created a high-quality shoe business that would maintain its high caliber for generations to come. Now over five decades later, the brand is run by 3 of Piero’s granddaughters- the Giusti sisters. While the brand was previously popular throughout the US and Europe, Sara, Vera, and Marianna expanded the brand’s reach to every corner of the world. The sisters’ latest collection was released during Milan Fashion Week, which perfectly accompanied the brand’s Made in Italy quality. 

The AGL x Kristen McMenamy capsule is the first collaboration in the brand’s history. “The capsule arose from the desire to engage with diverse experimental, innovative, creative minds, the desire to improvise, the urge to get down and do, and experiment with new things,” said the Giusti sisters. “We have always felt at ease working in a group, from the most intimate, when just the 3 of us sisters get together for drawing sessions, to the more open, involving the style office team at the company, the hemmers or seamstresses, or the girls who do the more intricate details. Wall to wall women.”

From platform boots bedecked in buckles to a modern take on everyone favorite cowboy boot to ultra-pointy kitten heels, the AGL x Kristen McMenamy capsule truly has it all. “Whether in front of the camera, on the runway, or on the sidewalk in my daily life, I’ve worn every type of style and shape of shoe, and throughout the years, I’ve always toyed with an idea or two of what I would do if I was behind the sketch book,” said Kristen McMenamy. “This collaboration gave me the opportunity to bring those musings to life, and I’m very proud to see, and wear, the final result of mine and Katie’s shared vision.”

The larger Fall/Winter AGL collection drew inspiration from German expressionist painter Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. While black permeates most of the collection, bursts of orange and green footwear can be seen throughout- a common color palette in Kirchner’s work. As a member of the core group that led to the foundation of expressionist art- where a realistic image is distorted to demonstrate the artist’s inner feelings- Kirchner’s work aims to reveal what is most often hidden. This collection is no different. Featuring both “dark” and “innocent” styles, this collection is downright poetic.