Resort season is in full swing, and over the past few weeks, blue-chip brands have been staging multi-day extravaganzas across all the globe. So it feels like an unexpected decision for Alémais—the Australian brand founded by Zimmermann alum Lesleigh Jermanus, known for its kaleidoscopic, prints-on-prints-on-prints designs that have become a runaway hit since the brand’s launch in 2020, and which now counts over 600 stockists—to get in on the action. But why shouldn’t a brand arguably best known for its resortwear (Jermanus’s bohemian maxi dresses and richly embellished sets were all over the last season of The White Lotus) stage a show in an exotic locale, too?
So it was that on Wednesday, a roving army of editors, models, and tastemakers—around 80 in total—were whisked from the Menorcan capital of Mahón to the breathtakingly beautiful Illa del Rei, some 15 minutes away via ferry. A decommissioned naval hospital island now under the stewardship of art world behemoth Hauser & Wirth, the grand outdoor courtyard served as the backdrop to a riotous parade of looks that paid artful homage to Mallorca. These included woven separates that sparkled like the sun hitting the water, fluidly draped dresses in shades of buttercup yellow and seafoam blue that echoed the Mediterranean wildflowers across the island, and seashell trinkets and embellished fishing lures woven through the eyelets of dresses and the braids of models’ hair. “It’s quite crazy,” said Jermanus after the show. “We’ve just taken our whole team from Australia on a 35-hour journey with three stops to this island, which we couldn’t have done without the locals opening it up to us.”
Though, in fact, this isn’t the first time Jermanus has headed to a far-flung destination for a resort show: last year, she popped up in Marrakech with a show staged in the zellige-tiled courtyard of a culinary museum, and used the show as an opportunity to collaborate with a handful of local artisans. (Along with her magpie’s eye for prismatic color and pattern, Jermanus is known for her artist collabs—in this instance, she teamed up with the Mallorca-based artist Sophie Wahlquist, drawing particular inspiration from her work in ceramic—and her commitment to using low-impact textiles, with the vast majority of her designs being cut from organic linens and cottons, or FSC-certified man-made fibers.) It all comes at a surprisingly fair price point, which has helped fuel her business’s wholesale boom over the past few years.
As for why Jermanus has decided to stage these increasingly ambitious international shows, and travels halfway around the world to do so? “I feel like it’s true to who I am as a person and the spirit of the brand—celebrating the spirit of adventure, making clothes that feel transportive,” she said. “It’s an evolution, I guess, of what resort means, and that it feels like more of a state of mind. It doesn’t matter where you are—it’s that feeling.” There’s also something distinctly Australian about it, I suggest; it’s little wonder, given its geographical isolation, that Aussies are such intrepid travelers. “When it comes to travel, we’ve got grit,” she added, with a laugh.
There was also a pleasing grit within the collection. While it featured plenty of nods to both the flora and fauna (and folklore) of Menorca and various traditions of local craft—plus a broader spirit of honoring Menorca’s colloquial nickname as the “mother island” of the Balearics, named as such for its supposedly powerful feminine energy—Jermanus deftly swerved anything too literal, folding those island references into a design vernacular that still felt very Alémais. Just take the lightly psychedelic knits inspired by local weaving techniques, recreated at her ateliers in India, and their contrasting shades lifted from the “wild combinations of color” she spotted while wandering through the island’s fishing wharves. Or the sculptural tops and minidresses lavished with intricate beading that shimmered like the tiny barnacles on a treasure pulled up from the deep. Or the crinkled fabrics that had been treated with salt-dye and UV exposure techniques, as if they’d been drenched in the sea then left out in the sun to be weathered by the elements. “It feels a bit like method acting,” Jermanus said of absorbing the island’s aesthetic while steering away from pastiche. “But most importantly, it had to feel authentic.”
In keeping with that resort attitude, the fashion show was sandwiched between a handful of activities that showcased the spirit of the island: swimming at a beach club in a picturesque cove on the island’s northern coast, a visit to the monumental Lithica quarry, and dinner at a farmstead down the end of a dusty track, with open-fire grilled seafood prepared by local chef Gabriel Del Humō. After the show, guests gathered at the island’s Cantina restaurant for a Menorcan feast, followed by a spellbinding performance by the local avant-folk musician Anna Ferrer. Helpfully, the weather was balmy across the entire two days, which neatly echoed Jermanus’s first experiences of the island. Back in January, while on a design research trip to Barcelona and the Balearics, she recalls it raining the entire time—until, that is, they landed in Menorca. “We got here, and the skies opened up, and I just had this gut feeling,” she recalled. There was a similar sense of magic during the runway show, as the scent of lavender and rosemary carried on the breeze and the setting sun cast a honey-colored light across the Balearic stone of the 18th-century former hospital. It will be exciting to see where Jermanus’s wanderlust takes her next.
