admin The sound of rolling waves opened the spring collection of Alejandra Alonso Rojas: The designer, who is from Spain, looked to the French Riviera and Menorca for inspiration this season. “I spend every summer there,” said Rojas. “It really brings me peace, and I’m always inspired by the landscapes.” The designer fell in love with the style of Menorca natives, and she wanted to put her stamp on vacation-ready pieces in a way that felt both elevated and unexpected. To do so, she zeroed in on two specific eras—beachwear from the ’30s, and minimalism from the ’90s—to create a melange of clothes that felt retro, yet current. (The book Living Well is the Best Revenge by Calvin Tomkins also ignited her obsession with the idea of traveling to the past; it’s set in 1920s France.)
You could see these distinct references as clear as the Mediterranean Sea in some of the looks. A white crocheted tank dress featured a drop-waist fringed hemline (more ’20s flapper girl than ’30s), and it felt beachy yet sleek. The same goes for the cotton-linen suit vest and wide-leg trousers. The silky red dress with a sarong-style waist, and the silky shirt and shorts in a blue ombré treatment, both drew from the colors of those famous Menorca sunsets. “I named the blues after beaches there,” said Rojas. Instead of her usual assortment of signature silk dresses for evening, the designer said she gravitated towards more casual daywear this time around. “It’s about the freedom of summer, and being comfortable and sexy at the same time,” she said. But there was also something easy and polished about her dressier frocks, too, like the opening squared-neck LBD with thin straps.
Given that a signature element of Rojas’s work is her dip-dyed silks, she had to deliver some printed dresses as well—and they, too, had an elevated twist for spring. The designer grew up loving the work of Menorca painter David Monrós, and she decided to channel his approach to painting into her own creative process. “He painted with fish, so I painted with real fish then pressed them onto silks in this collection,” she said. The result was slinky one-shouldered dresses or floor-length tank dresses covered in abstract octopus, fish, and squid prints. Another new territory for Rojas this season was embellishments; The designer played with embroidering shells, beads, and pearls onto her looks in subtle ways. A sweet little strapless blue mini dress, ruched along the bust, had a top hemline encrusted in little shells. “It’s kind of like finding treasures on the beach,” she said. The concept of vacation wear may not be groundbreaking for spring, but Rojas made successful attempts to infuse some newness into it.
