Daniela Kallmeier is aware of the stigma that follows the word minimalist. It’s been a good quarter of a century since the aesthetic was revolutionary and it’s currently overrated. As a designer known for just that, how does one carve one’s path again? The geometric architecture of the Art Deco movement was a good place to start.
Callmeier imagines his woman’s misery in a lavish Art Deco apartment. The designer believed that Giorgio Armani’s Peter Marino-designed house would do the same. These inspirations are expressed through minute techniques, such as the hand-stitched bugle beads that form the mesh embroidery on both trousers and flapper dresses. See also: A pair of pleated pants that changed expectations with a diagonal seam at the knees, like the angular tiles on the building at Rockefeller Center.
The designer also spent time considering the permanence of family heirlooms. Her passion for collecting tuchchucks began when she visited her grandmother in the summers as a child. “I already started with a pretty extensive collection of vintage bags and costume jewelry,” she said. “No brand name in sight.” It may seem like a little but a cookie can be its own form.
Although his grandmother passed away at the start of Kalmeier’s career, his magpie-ism as a collector inspired the adoration we now see slowly creeping up. “These are now heirloom pieces that I’m making from the clothes that I made for her before,” she said. Previous seasons have seen textural play through tassels and the fall collection continues this strategy. On one skirt, she stitched a boucle on organza for a burnished feel. Likewise, he developed his faux shearling textile made entirely of virgin wool — a timely addition that he said came before the CFDA ban on fur.
Despite their rich backstories, these distinctions are subtle and realistically maintain the current popular minimalist feel, though it does make pieces like the mid-century gilded jacquard jacket stand out more. Kalmeier must follow his foraging instincts and let his primitive sensibilities shine through.
