16Arlington’s Marco Capaldo on ‘turning up the volume’ with an A/W 2025 collection rooted in 1980s cinema

‘I was thinking about how 16Arlington could exist beyond the runway,’ says Marco Capaldo, the designer behind the London-based label he founded alongside his late partner Federica ‘Kikka’ Cavenati in 2018. Recent 16Arlington shows have taken place in the curving lower gallery of the Barbican Centre (the darkened space was fitting for Capaldo’s exploration of the monstrous, inspired by Charlie Fox’s 2019 exhibition My Head is a Haunted House at Sadie Coles) or a confetti-strewn salon at the Royal Academy of Arts, watched over by an enormous flower by artist Jesse Pollock. They have proved perfect reflections of Capaldo’s crisp vision of glamour, which sways between after-dark seduction and a more playful irreverence (last season, he talked about evoking a ‘fun, sexy spirit’ inspired by Balearic escapes).

But it was time for a change, Capaldo says from his studio the week before his latest presentation at London Fashion Week, whereby in lieu of a runway show he settled on a private dinner for the label’s close-knit community of friends and collaborators which took place yesterday evening at London’s Almine Rech gallery (Capaldo curated an exhibition alongside the Mayfair gallery last year to coincide with Frieze art fair). The idea was born from a desire to present the collection at an event where ‘memories will be made’, something he sees as a hallmark of the label, which has become a go-to for those seeking contemporary and considered party dressing (and is a red-carpet favourite).

Marco Capaldo on his 1980s-inspired A/W 2025 collection for 16Arlington

But he also credits the idea to his Italian heritage (the designer was raised by Italian parents in north London), whereby communal dining is an expression of generosity and family. ‘The dinner table is very central for us,’ he smiles. ’Memories are made, food is consumed, the two are intertwined. There’s this unspoken thing where you have to stick to this very set blueprint of a runway show each season. But as things evolve, there are so many ways to execute the presentation of a collection. It’s nice just doing what feels right.’ (On the menu last night, a 1980s-inspired line-up of prawn cocktail, meatloaf, and a brown butter cake adorned with glacé cherries).

Alongside the dinner, the gallery had been transformed into a one-night-only exhibition showcasing Capaldo’s A/W 2025 collection, displayed as a series of vast prints by celebrated American photographer Ethan James Green in their first collaboration. Known for his depictions of a raw glamour influenced by both the monumental studio photography of Richard Avedon and the stark intimacy of his mentor, the late David Armstrong, Green rose to prominence with portraits of his community in downtown New York (his 2024 book, Bombshell, featured his perennial muses Hari Nef, Connie Fleming and Devan Diaz, among others). For this project, Green invited models Caroline Trentini and Yasmin Wijnaldum to wear Capaldo’s A/W 2025 collection, styled by his longtime collaborator Dara Allen, the it-girl fashion director of Interview magazine who goes by the mononym ‘Dara’.

Capaldo says that he chose Green for his command of ‘storytelling’ – a word the designer often refers to when talking about his work at the label – though there is no doubt that the photographer’s aesthetic fitted with the collection’s roots in the bold sartorial statements and power dressing of the 1980s. ‘I wanted to capture this haunting glamour,' he says, noting inspiration from David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (the late filmmaker is a perennial influence for Capaldo, who says his films capture a ‘surreal beauty between dream and reality’), Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas, and the more high-octane sensuality of the video for Robert Palmers’ 1985 song Addicted to Love.

Taking the amped-up silhouettes of the era – from power shoulders to puffball skirts – Capaldo softened, or ‘deflated’, these shapes to reflect the thrown-on ease long synonymous with 16Arlington. Meanwhile abbreviated mini-skirts, bold flashes of colour and sequins, or a new logo belt capture the more outré hedonism of the decade. ‘It’s a celebration of the past and present: the 1980s through a very 16Arlington lens,’ he says. ‘I think in terms of the silhouette it's the most volume we’ve ever had as a brand, a lot of the pieces are very exaggerated, but then they transform into real-world pieces. There’s a sexiness to it.’

As for the woman this season, Capaldo says he was inspired by the characters played by Nastassja Kinski in Paris, Texas and Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet. ’There is this quiet intensity... this kind of aggression, but also a vulnerability. A real sense of longing; this intriguing surreal beauty that you can never quite get to.’ It allies, in part, with how he sees the 16Arlington ‘attitude’. ‘There’s always this undone glamour,’ he says. ‘I think it is clothing that empowers the wearer to be the best version of themselves – the final finishing touch on what she’s doing, where she’s going.’

These have always been part of the 16Arlington recipe – early collections featured fronds of feathers and cameos from figures like Lena Dunham – though Capaldo’s evolution of the label has seen a newfound rigour to the garments’ construction and an artistic, intellectual bent which is chiming with consumers and critics. Late last year, he was the recipient of the New Establishment Womenswear Award at the Fashion Awards by friend and fan of the label, actress Simone Ashley, who was also in attendance last night. Capaldo dedicated the award to ‘Kikka... without her 16Arlington wouldn’t exist. She should be up accepting this award with me tonight, but life had different plans.’

‘The collection does feel like it has a lot of elements of our earlier work,’ he says of the evolution of the label since 2018. ‘There’s a real sense of irreverence, joy and fun. I think as the brand has developed we've played with this fine line between something that’s extremely glamorous, but also intellectual – some seasons leaning more towards intellect, other times towards glamour. Now that fashion feels stripped back, quiet, I am just excited to turn the volume up and go full force in the other direction.’

16arlington.co.uk