Welcome to the Genderful World of Altu

In 2020, before the pandemic, the designer Joseph Altuzarra was nurturing a new idea. He started experimenting in his own dress and gender presentation, wearing skirts and dresses, and began to envision a line exploring and subverting gender conventions. Then, "it was really the birth of my daughter that pushed me to launch Altu," he explains. "I realized how absurd the binary is and how much more fulfilling it can be to design within a genderful universe and language."

Last December, Altuzarra introduced Altu, a line of thoughtful, sharply executed essentials that play with the codes of femininity and masculinity which recently released its second drop. "I wanted to start Altu with foundational pieces—the perfect leather pant, the perfect hoodie, the perfect cutout tank," says Altuzarra. "But it is all subverted and reimagined and constructed for a genderful world. I loved the idea of playing with wardrobes without the restrictions of the binary, without the duality of masculine and feminine."

His choice of the word 'genderful' itself underlines the purposeful ethos and energy of the line. For some time, clothing that broke down gender conventions has been labeled genderless or gender-neutral, terms that imply a negation or lack of gender expression. "For me it was never about negating gender. It was about celebrating the multiplicity and complexity of gender, as well as the inherent sense of play that I believe should exist within our gender expressions," says Altuzarra.

Altu's tailored standards include a pair of knee-length knit merino wool shorts with a high-rise waist and a cutout dress with a low scoop neck revealing just enough—whether it be chest hair or cleavage. "I particularly love the chunky knit with buttons down the back, which you can wear back to front like a cardigan, and the satin carpenter pants, which feel like the perfect subversion of a technical garment," says Altuzarra, naming the wide-leg pants, now available in white leather, as his "all-time favorite." Like his main line, the clothes have a refined sex appeal; it's easy to see them translating from day to night or on a diversity of bodies.

The project is deeply personal as well. "A big part of the collection is based on things that I wear and have worn for a long time," the designer muses. As for what's new in the latest drop? "I was looking at a lot of Nineties references from when I was growing up. I am also obsessed with the work of Steven Shearer, whose visual world is also an inspiration," he adds, noting the ways in which the line will continue to evolve and expand. "For this second drop I wanted to inject more color and a sense of play that was not as present in the first drop."

For more information, please visit Altu.world. Read this story and many more in print by ordering CERO04 here.