Ever since I began following Alexandra Sipa’s career, there has undoubtedly been an interplay between fashion and politics, especially when fashion confronts urgent social issues. In her previous collections, Sipa has addressed subjects like femicide and domestic violence, deeply political acts that transcend aesthetics. These are two realms that rarely acknowledge each other in public, yet they undeniably coexist.
From my perspective, fashion is political, particularly when it sparks conversations about identity, safety, and empowerment. In the collection “Atat s-a putut” (“It is what it is”), I found this theme to be much more subtly nuanced than in her previous work.
The title, with its purely Romanian humor and irony, pessimistic at its core, has the opposite effect, preparing the audience for something more spectacular than the designer might “hope” for; it sets limits on the collection, though of course, Sipa once again breaks the mold.
Perhaps with an optimistic influence from Vivaldi, but unmistakably Bucharest in spirit, “It is what it is” is a story presented through the seasons. Thus, opening with a reading of a passage from Queen Marie: War Diaries, narrated by Oana Pellea sets the tone for the presentation, recounting, with a regal spirit, the royal family’s preparations ahead of the May 10th ceremony. I don’t think the designer’s collaboration with Voxa could please me more, because fashion and culture (and literature, respectively) must intertwine to achieve sincere artistic results.
The show features 15 looks, each an ecosystem of feelings and moods conceptually translated through the seasons, so how could it have opened with anything other than autumn? Next up are recycled materials, lace, Romanian motifs, and, surprisingly, three looks inspired by Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus that harmoniously blend with the folkloric influences.
Sipa manages to transport the audience through a distinctly Romanian sense of comfort; there’s an undeniable nostalgia for the 2000s, combined with elements of the past and tradition, along with iconic music. This energy translates into the atmosphere in the audience, and just as the seasons are rooted in emotions, the songs also take the audience through a range of moods.
The show concludes on a high note with the 15th outfit, titled "Mărțișor" (an old tradition celebrated on March 1st every year throughout Romania. The name Mărțișor is a diminutive of the month of March (Martie, in Romania). Here we see a mini dress, lace-trimmed, in the traditional colors of white and red.
Everything comes together beautifully; my only objections could be summed up as a desire for a more flamboyant finale. We find Queen Marie in the story and in the sentiment, but I won’t lie, I would have liked to see a bold piece in the spirit of the Belle Époque in which the presentation began, a nod to the Belle Époque grandeur that Queen Marie brought to Bucharest, as well as the avant-garde spirit she carried into the interwar years. Something that would break the new-gen mold and pay an obvious tribute to the great women of interwar Romania’s stage. After all, we owe much of the cultural evolution of “Little Paris” to them.
And yet, Alexandra Sipa chooses something else. And, paradoxically, it is precisely this choice that gives her strength. “It is what it is” isn’t a limitation; I’d like to call it a formula. A very Romanian one, where improvisation blends with refinement, and scarcity with invention.
After all, this is also a collection about moods. About that need, almost childlike and yet so sophisticated, to build worlds in which you can hide. And then to wear them with impeccable ease.
Images courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Bucharest Fashion Week.