Over the summer, Alejandra Alonso Rojas introduced inspirations from the sea into her dressy resort collection; for spring, she looked back to the Mediterranean Sea to develop an easier beach-minded collection inspired by her favorite place in the world, Minorca, Spain.
Backstage before the show, the designer said the clothes were “drawn by a combination between ‘90s minimalism and 1930s beachwear,” further citing Calvin Tomkins’ book “Living Well Is the Best Revenge” “to round out the idea of carefree Mediterranean-sun soaked living.
“The new thing I would say is that there’s actually more daywear than evening. We’ve expanded on and incorporated beautifully crispy cottons inspired by menswear linens; there’s two-piece suits and prints in cotton,” she said backstage of spring, which proved to be one of her most effortless, commercial-friendly collections to date.
Her signature crochet and fringed frocks also felt lighter (and came in silk), and occasion dressing offered odes to minimalist codes while feeling like optimistic, elevated beachwear with their sarong-like gathered details and colorful landscape-inspired hues.
The collection leaned heavily into the idea of slip dressing, but Alonso Rojas diversified the assortment, as seen through look one’s black tie-back number, styled with a crochet beret (a nod to both eras); look 20’s wrap top and skirt in shades of pale pink, or her closing look, a light green dress with tonal embroideries resembling waves and the sun.
But Alonso Rojas didn’t just reference the sea. She pinned little beach treasures — baroque pearls and tiny shells — onto myriad styles, which proved to be a sweet touch on a bubbled baby blue frock. The designer also expanded her artisanal techniques by creating her own prints by hand-painting and then imprinting red snapper fish, octopus and squid on canvas — a technique inspired by the works of Minorcan painter David Monrós, one of her favorite artists on the island since she was little.
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