Review of Palm Angels Fall 2023 Fashion Show
Palm Angels is Breaking Down the Bourgeois
By Angela Baidoo
Making that stretch from streetwear stalwart to fully-fledged fashion brand, can oftentimes be a hard leap, which may either result in global recognition and product expansion beyond jersey staples, or having to take a small loss in terms of community relations due to an adjustment in brand DNA, which could be seen as akin to a watering down. But luckily the latter is not the case for Palm Angels. Starting life as a coffee table book which documented Los Angeles skate culture, the brand is now a fixture on the fashion week schedule, and a firm favourite among the many musicians, sports stars, and young Hollywood actors who attend the season and their show.
For fall 2023 Francesco Ragazzi explained that today’s collection was about expanding horizons and keeping true to your own individual spirit. Something that young (and not so young) streetwear brands are able to cultivate in spades. Often because their inspiration and brand aesthetic is not derived from an extensive archive with decades-long research and resources, but is more so cultivated from the communities within which they operate, speaking in an authentic voice to their customer gives them an edge over what will resonate, allowing them to develop products which go viral and sell-out, which also makes them ripe for the resale market.
Augmented streetwear, which means urban-attuned clothing drenched with utter refinement, is still what Palm Angels stands for
Francesco Ragazzi, Creative Director, Palm Angels
With that said Palm Angels fall 2023 collection is about growth. Showing in Paris, Ragazzi wanted to speak to a more liberated mindset, but one that was also “more precious, a tad higher” according to the show notes. His manifesto to create “urban-attuned clothing drenched with utter refinement” still stands, so what was presented for fall was less about a moving with the crowd, but rather a natural evolution for the brand, in relation to the stage (and city) on which they were showing.
Growing up for the brand meant an eclectic mix, similar to that which you might find in a luxury vintage store, everything has its own individual story, yet it all works cohesively together, which is often down to the edit. And today that edit meant a new way to wear preppy (patchworked and appliqued bombers), “sharp and lean” tailoring which incorporated hooded bibs, minimalist leather looks in all black, amplified with gold trims, engineered puffer jackets, and military-inspired looks softened with eel-skin gold loafers.
All the while never loosing that base note of authenticity. Ragazzi’s customers won’t have to be concerned about feeling to buttoned-up, as there were always subtle construction details which stayed true to the idea of casual ease, with the show notes describing it best “bourgeois codes…approached with [an] LA ease”.
The vintage store [is] a place where one finds multiple, often disparate items: special pieces whose value is empowered by the proximity with other pieces, where everything comes together. Brought to Paris, the Palm Angels ideal vintage store becomes a cabinet de curiosités
Francesco Ragazzi, Creative Director, Palm Angels
