Aelis Explores Kindness for Couture Spring 2025
Can you have a couture collection devoted to kindness?
Aelis creative director Sofia Crociani was determined to find out, sending out delicate pieces that tested the boundaries of quote-unquote high fashion.
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So she explored softness and utility, notably with two antique dresses from the late 1800s and the 1910s, mostly left untouched, to challenge the idea of the fashion system. Crociani altered them ever-so-slightly to fit the modern body, but noted that, with their origins over a century ago, they were already handmade.
Such an experiment is in line with her ethos. She has built her brand on the intersection of sustainability and art, using mostly vintage materials from her own extensive archives, and sourced vintage jewelry and hardware, or found feathers so as not to harm birds.
This season those textiles were transformed into wispy dresses with a boudoir air, silk and tulle skimming the body in a monochrome palette, with some touches of velvet and bows consistent with Crociani’s romantic style.
Many had unfinished hems, and on a white dress with black lace overlay, one could see the tears and stray threads in the lace.
“I’m aware that it can be shocking,” she said, speaking after the show. But Crociani wanted to regard the fabric’s heritage, and in a collection focused on delicacy, she felt it was appropriate to respect the ravages of time.
For men, she sent out pieces of lace gently draped asymmetrically across the body and barely stitched at the side, such as a light sash over full skirts. It was simple in structure and basic in form, a nod to the historical garments of her Italian roots. Elsewhere, a puff of feathers across the chest read as a very soft armor for the fragile urban warrior.
It was certainly a challenging collection when we are used to the newest and coolest in fashion.
Even the stark contrast of black and white stemmed from the idea of taking ink to paper, and having the two meet in a moment of harmony to create something new. Crociani wants to create art; whether it succeeds commercially does not seem to be at the heart.
To further her connection to that world, Crociani is exhibiting a piece in a collaborative exhibition at the Suzanne Tarasieve Gallery in Paris until March 8.
Launch Gallery: Aelis Spring 2025 Couture
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