Ami Alexandre Mattiussi
After his runway extravaganza last June, a love letter to Paris that unfurled at the base of the Sacré Coeur church followed by an open-air party on the edges of Montmartre, Alexandre Mattiussi was ready for a fresh start.
“This season, I imagined I was the new creative director coming to Ami. I told the team I wanted a white page, to scratch everything and to start again,” Mattiussi said during a preview of his coed collection.
That's just what he delivered on Thursday night. The show took place at the Opéra Bastille on a vast, spare stage laid with a white carpet. Guests sat on simple wood slat chairs as they watched a palette of sorbet shades, liquid fabrics and roomy tailored clothing glide by.
“These are the clothes I wished to design 12 years ago when I started the company. They're my favorite — easy, chic and effortless,” he said of the oversize coats white as crème, and the wide-leg trousers, silky shirts and trenches that came in shades of Champagne, oyster shell and cinnamon.
At times those neutrals gave way to bolder colors — powder blue or dusty pink ankle-sweeping coats; rose for a silky shirt worn with taupe trousers, and navy blue for a long tank dress or the roomy threepiece suit that Charlotte Rampling wore for the finale.
Mattiussi reached even farther back in time for inspiration, with charming, 1970s-flecked looks, including A-line skirts worn with matching boiled wool sweaters in shades of corn or eggplant. He finished those looks with pointy flats or boots, which looked fresh.
Post-lockdown, who really wants to wear high heels?
There were many lovely pieces here — sometimes too many. Mattiussi could have said it all in a shorter, tighter presentation where his back-to-basics designs and fine fabrics could have stolen the show.