Joseph Altuzarra’s NFT Assortment With Altu

Picture Supply: Getty / Anna Webber

Gender bending. Gender fluid. Genderless. Gender nonconforming. Regardless of the way you describe garments that — put most easily — might be worn by anybody, the actual fact stays: vogue is turning into much less managed by the confines of gender. The Los Angeles-based No Sesso (actually “no intercourse/no gender” in Italian), Re—Inc, Human Nation, and TomboyX are simply some of the apparel brands eschewing traditional gender labels in favor of garments for all, no matter how one may establish.

This spirit of deconstruction and reimagination is, partially, what fueled Joseph Altuzarra to enterprise into beforehand uncharted artistic territory. Final 12 months, the 39-year-old designer launched Altu, a line of fundamentals that he previously described as “genderful” as a result of the phrase had a extra optimistic connotation than different generally used terminology.

Starting from a tank dress with a ’90s-inspired square neckline to a black skirt-pant hybrid, the gathering celebrates the class of minimalism throughout numerous types of gender expression.

Picture Supply: Altu

“Somebody who’s drawn to Altu understands the liberty in simplicity,” Altuzarra tells POPSUGAR. “There is not one specific fashion related to our neighborhood. Altu’s aim is to convey collectively folks with all completely different kinds, identities, and missions.”

He desires individuals who put on Altu to hold themselves with a way of hope and delight it doesn’t matter what they’re sporting. That authenticity and freedom of expression is one thing he want to see extra of all through the business at giant. “The phrase is truthfulness,” he says. “Trend is about inventiveness, however it must be grounded with individuals who symbolize actual identities.”

Altuzarra, who launched his eponymous label in 2008, hypothesizes that “the tenacity of youth” will encourage the subsequent period of vogue. “Not solely the keen children crashing onto the scene at this time but additionally the youth that all of us skilled,” he elaborates. “The way forward for vogue will elevate the inventiveness of childhood.”

He already embodies that sense of journey and surprise by experimenting with artwork throughout numerous mediums. His newest endeavor finds him diving headfirst into the NFT house. As a part of a collaboration with Afterpay for New York Fashion Week, 5 designers — Altu, AnOnlyChild, Jonathan Simkhai, Kim Shui, and The Blonds — launched an NFT assortment that enables purchasers to unlock exclusive collectibles with digital “keys.” “We’re democratizing vogue week and creating new alternatives for customers and retailers to entry a usually closed door occasion,” Natalie McGrath, a advertising government at Afterpay and Money App, says.

As for Altuzarra, making designs accessible to everybody begins with the garments themselves however continues within the digital world, the place increasingly persons are buying and interesting with manufacturers. “I needed Altu to be part of the push to present people who find themselves within the vogue business a solution to entry it,” he says. “This collaboration was a terrific alternative to platform Altu’s mission to create inclusive, progressive, and interesting experiences for different artistic folks.”

Altu’s digital key unlocked a special-edition emblem tote and oversize T-shirt, plus a curated exhibition information beginning with Wolfgang Tillmans’s “To Look Without Fear,” which is at present displaying on the Museum of Trendy Artwork in New York Metropolis by means of Jan. 1, 2023. “[Tillmans’s] work has been a part of my artistic course of since I used to be simply beginning out,” Altuzarra shares. “Tillmans asks guests to filter his work by means of their very own experiences; that is how I see Altu functioning within the vogue house. I need individuals who view vogue to, like Tillmans’s present, look with out concern.”