Following on from its otherworldly AW22 collection, which explored themes of fantasy through a celestial mini-film, Italian label Del Core’s SS23 collection takes its cues from the elemental force of water.

Called Fathom, the brand’s SS23 offering is an exploration of “water and its depths: how colour, shapes, perception change as one dives deeper”, and features a dreamy selection of garments that juxtapose sharp tailoring with flowing silhouettes. There’s collarless jackets and flared pants and vests with neckerchief hems that give the rippling illusion of water, knitted bodysuits that include ribbons and slashes, and sculpted dresses that mould around the body with liquid precision.

“Liquidity is life and water is the most lively element, constantly changing state, taking whatever possible form. The deeper one dives into its vastness, the more perceptions change: colours mutate fathom after fathom and life takes other silhouettes,” says Del Core.

Elsewhere, there’s towering platforms with a nail in place of the heel and oversized studs shaped as earrings and headbands – not to mention a series of geometrically shaped handbags, available in both miniature and large sizes. “For Del Core beauty is not static, but the idea of empowered, bold femininity stays,” adds the brand. “Mutating and expanding in scope to address the dreamy as well as the metropolitan, the urban landscape and the fantasy world, the collection oozes strength and precision.”

Shot by Tyler Kohlhoff and starring rising star Alex Consani, the images are situated in a desert – “a place without water” – yet it's through the fluidity of silks, the primary colour palette of reds, yellows and greens, that the collection, and the surrounding landscape, bursts to life. “Deserts, in fact, used to be luxuriant environments, rich in life and in water,” an accompanying statement explains. “Mutation is something that really attracts the creative director Daniel Del Core: there is vitality to it, a liveliness, even when it looks destructive. All of this is expressed lightly, through the sheer beauty of the images and the clothes and poses they depict.”

Take a closer look at the SS23 collection in the gallery above, and find out more on Del Core’s website.