When it comes to playful seduction, SAGIO excels at offering garments that are bold and innovative, yet made for everyday life. Women are Alexander Sagio’s heroines, full of life, longing and confidence.
This season, the gifted designer finds inspiration within sea creatures and the idea of woman as a transformative figure. On his moodboard, pictures of iconic German model and actress Veruschka von Lehndorff set the tone, referencing her infamous body painting series shot by Holger Trülzsch. Veruschka’s shape is all sinuous lines, using the illusion of painting to turn herself into a water snake. There is a sense of fearlessness within this new collection combined with a softer power- that makes some of the clothes instantly desirable.
Pursuing his ongoing research on trompe-l’oeil techniques to achieve surprising effects, Sagio and his team reinterpret the classic placket to give it a refreshing new twist. What initially seems like pleating on dresses, jackets and suits is in fact distinct plackets that are paired together for a deeply refined look. Simplicity turns complex and sophistication becomes effortless- two contradictory notions that are embedded within the brand’s DNA.
Of course, this wouldn’t be a SAGIO collection without an emphasis on creative construction, something the designer is clearly obsessed with. This time, he introduces a new falling shoulder, which took his studio months to develop. Engineered with architectural precision, it is a key highlight on tailoring, with the fabric gently slipping off the shoulders, a highly feminine gesture Sagio beautifully captures this season. Once again, the designer uses the power of suggestion, not only thinking about how we put clothes on, but also how we like to take them off. Sea and ocean motifs appear on several pieces, with sleeves evoking the tentacles of a medusa, while a long fishtail skirt brings the mythological figure of the sea mermaid to life. The sea expresses Alexander Sagio’s passion for nature, as well as his acute understanding of women’s needs. What he offers them is the right balance between structure and fantasy, dream and pragmatism. The Budapest-based designer also gets the fact that women expect their clothes to work harder for them, making them feel empowered in all circumstances.
This season, the color palette is subtle and subdued, ranging from midnight blues and solid blacks to aqua and cream. As always, SAGIO focuses on high-quality materials, including wool, cotton, silk and leather. Despite being inventive and of the moment, SAGIO’s clothes have a timelessness to them, too, becoming part of the woman’s wardrobe to remain there, season after season.
BRAND PROFILE
Living and working in Budapest, Alexander Sagio is SAGIO’s Creative Director. Before grasping that fashion was his true calling, the Baku-born designer obtained a degree in Architecture, which obviously informed the essence -and backbone- of his future work. Fascinated with sleek lines, surprising proportions and contrasting volumes, SAGIO translated a long-standing passion for architectural shapes into his eponymous brand, which he launched in 2023, resulting in an intriguing mix of sartorial rigor and intense sensuality.
Each collection aims to strike the right balance between hard and soft, provocative and restrained, confident and delicate. His clothes are a modern reinterpretation of the power woman, which designers like Azzedine Alaïa, Thierry Mugler or Claude Montana were keen to push forward. Still, SAGIO often references the world of finer lingerie, turning the bosom into a key focal point within his collections. Sensuous, witty and charismatic, the character SAGIO has in mind may – or may not – be a female protagonist, but – in his head – gender should never be seen as an actual limitation.
SAGIO is a brand made for strong and assertive personalities, which tend to rely on their intellect as much as their sexual confidence. In that sense, the Budapest-based designer reconciles the animal part we all share with something much more subtle and sophisticated. However constructed, complex or refined a SAGIO piece may be, it nevertheless has a vitality and energy, which single it out from the rest. Privileging noble materials, such as wool, silk, leather or linen, SAGIO is on the hunt for authenticity as well as true luxury, which he envisages as the intimate and personal expression of one’s character and honest desires.
His clothes are playful, resolute and timeless at the same time, using atelier techniques, which rely on expert skills, as well as exquisite craftsmanship. Inspiration comes to the designer in multiple ways, whether it be a person, a fabric, a sentence or a gesture. It could also be music -which he always listens to while designing- or something indirect that triggers his senses. There are no written rules when it comes to the process of garment-making, and no preconceived ideas either. Instinct, nature and behavior are topics SAGIO is clearly versed in, observing -and absorbing- the world around him while processing its intricacies through his own creative lens. More interested in perfecting a specific allure than yielding into seasonal trends, Alexander Sagio follows the melody of his pulsating heart, fusing an intellectual approach with playful eroticism. SAGIO will be showcasing its collections in Paris from now on and unveil exciting new plans in the near future.
