Windswept hair, a scarf draped over one shoulder, a Fair Isle knit made for the moors of Scotland. Designer Joseph Altuzarra’s latest collaboration with Old Navy is a world plucked straight out of Wuthering Heights, one you want to transport yourself to and spend fog-banked mornings roaming around in a parka. “It’s romantic, it’s feminine, it’s a real wardrobe,” the designer shares with Vogue. “There’s a real kind of feeling of romanticism and melancholy,” he adds.
The 44-piece collection, fronted by campaign star Alexa Chung, is a creative intersection of the ethereal energy Altuzarra is known for but grounded in the practicality Old Navy has built its name on. Launching September 30, with pieces priced from $25 to $140, this is Old Navy’s third designer collaboration and marks the brand’s ongoing push to spotlight contemporary American fashion designers. “When we embarked on our American designer collaborations, we were really looking at a cross-section of the best of the best of our time, starting with Anna Sui and then Christopher John Rogers. To follow up with Joseph feels like the beginning of a rounded story that is really exciting for our customer,” Zac Posen, executive vice president, creative director of Gap Inc. and chief creative officer of Old Navy, shares with Vogue.
Built around an autumnal palette, the vintage-inspired pieces, like the floral bias-cut dresses, lace camis, plaid coats, and wide-leg denim, have range across everyday to evening wear. Altuzarra notes that it is still very much rooted in the functionality of Old Navy’s origins. “Some pieces are interpretations of things Old Navy stands for,” he says. “Instead of a fleece, there’s this yoke of Fair Isle that’s linked in, so it becomes a hybrid between a sweater and a fleece, and that very much feels like Altuzarra.” Posen notes that same pragmatic throughline. “Joseph really respects the different parts of a person’s wardrobe and needs, and really thinks about that when designing,” Posen shares. “Almost thinking as a stylist, as well.” Altuzarra puts it simply: “The connective tissue is this idea of pragmatism,” Altuzarra shares. “We don’t want to make anything that’s not going to work for someone’s life, and I think that was such a big part of the core belief of Old Navy.”
Take the scarf bias dress, its print reading like a silk scarf worked into the silhouette—Altuzarra calls it one of the collection’s standouts, alongside the denim, offered in “a wide-leg boyfriend cut and a slightly flared, patch-pocket style,” according to the designer. “The denim has already been really popular in the office.”
One need Altuzarra was especially attuned to? Kidswear. As a father of three, he designed the collection’s selection of children’s pieces specifically with his own in mind. “It was my first time really dipping my toe in kidswear. I have a six-year-old, a four-year-old, and a two-year-old, and I loved designing for each of them and thinking about what they would want to wear,” he shares. The collection features plaid and floral dresses for girls and toddlers that mirror the line’s staples. “Having a matching kids’ moment in the collection is so personal to him,” Posen shares about the kids’ assortment. “He’s a family guy.”
