With its classic palette (black, white, red, and beige) and the honesty of the fabrics (cotton, wool, denim, leather, and suede) it serves up a very current mix of creativity, functionality, and relevancy. Oh, and let’s throw in desirability here too, because he has also delivered that in spades. “I really need to work [the clothes] on the body. Something might seem simple,” he went on to say, “but we really do fit everything; we work on them—the jackets, the skirts, the trenches, even the simplest pieces—from A to Z.”
So the belting on those shorts of his gets deconstructed, turned into bands which variously belt his lean trousers, or fall in skinny panels from their hips; other times, they’re used as buttoned cuffs at the ankles, their hems falling crisply onto his Courrèges-y update of his scuba footwear, rendered now as slippers and boots in soft black stretch leather. Over Zoom he was keen to emphasize the shoes’ believability, which he attributes to retaining their practicality. “I wanted to stay true to how they are usually made,” he said, “and not over-design them, because I am that kind of person. Too many details and I wouldn’t wear them.”
Speaking of details, one is worked to great effect, with the collars of his trenches in cotton and leather (the latter being one of the chic-est things I have clapped eyes on in quite some time) falling onto one shoulder and sleeve; the same detailing gets added to roomier, blouson versions cropped at the hips. And that 1970 collection of Andre Courrèges’ provides the motif of a looped band over the chest, which delivers a geometric flash of skin on tanks and dresses that work right across the gender spectrum.
Di Felice has struck the right chord with gender at Courrèges, making the house-classic glossy vinyl jackets work for anyone and everyone—though this collection speaks a little more loudly to those halcyon ’70s days of unisex, with his bibbed tops (the front panels of fabric supported by a body of invisible mesh) worn with yet more of his killer, kicky pants. Some of the bibs are embellished with band detailing, which he took from the arrows painted onto stones that he sees when he’s walking on the trails in the summertime. His images of them snapped on holiday also made their way onto his moodboard. One arrow pointed one way, one pointed the other, but what’s clear from this collection, Di Felice is only going in the right direction.