Altuzarra, NYFW, and Gender Expression

At the Altuzarra NYFW runway show for Spring/Summer 2027, Joseph Altuzarra, the designer, placed a copy of Casa Susanna: The Story of the First Trans Network in the United States, 1959–1968, by Isabelle Bonnet and Sophie Hackett on every guest’s seat. The show took place at the Woolworth Building on September 12, 2026, in New York City. 

Casa Susanna: The Story of the First Trans Network in the United States, 1959–1968, is a piece of nonfiction published in May of 2024 and features supporting essays and around 400 original photos about Casa Susanna, a secret house in the Catskills owned by a transgender woman and her wife, as they offered a safe space for other transgender women in the late 1950s and 1960s. This home allowed individuals to freely express their identities and gender expression even if it was just for a weekend. Bonnet and Hackett’s work brings life back to a group of individuals who have been lost to time. 

Joseph Altuzarra, whose work is inspired by queer art history, has explained that he explores gender through fashion archives. Altuzarra said, “I really wanted the collection to feel joyful, to be all about color and this idea of freedom.” The Spring/Summer 2027 collection features bold patterns, daring color combinations, and contrasting textures. Pieces incorporate silk, leather, sequins, embellishments, chiffon, circle skirts of the 1950s, studded belts, eyelets, pinstripes, and woven bags. A Vogue article by Nicole Phelps explains that Altuzarra wanted the collection to range from a working man’s wardrobe to pretty, delicate things. 

The pairing of heavy, industrial, traditionally masculine shapes with gentle, flowing skirts and dresses balances the line between strength and fragility. Altuzurra mixes these opposite elements together to dismantle rigid ideas of gender. The striking balance of the collection landed with audiences as “emotionally coherent” and revealed “a tension between polish and something more psychologically charged,” according to The Impression. Ultimately the collection brings together these contrasting elements to prove that fashion can be both deeply personal and remarkably creative at the same time.