Their experimental designs and storytelling ethos quickly stood out and the label was selected by Vogue Italia to present their Spring/Summer 2017 collection as part of the Vogue Talent Corner during Milan Fashion Week; followed by their success at the 2017 Vogue Italia and Altaroma ‘Who Is On Next’ contest, which put Act Nº1 on the map of Milan’s up-and-coming labels.
The multicultural mishmash of deconstructed trench coats, reworked sleeves of the Chinese robes, reconstructed georgette dresses, signature septum rings, patch-worked slip dresses and digitally-printed oriental landscapes swirling on viscose jacquards and silk satins. The womenswear label fuses Lin and Gassanoff’s respective Chinese and Azerbaijani heritage, imbued with inherent duality, where twisted streetwear staples are rendered in jacquard fabrics borrowed from the world of interior design.
“We are not inventing anything, fashion designers are restyling, reshaping the existing”, the designers say. Whether alluding to Lin’s parents’ art and furniture collection or Gassanoff’s memory of three-day weddings in rural Georgia, Act Nº1 is first and foremost a platform to protest against women’s unequal rights (the Spring/Summer 2019 collection was a comment on prevailing cases of child marriage). It is a way to “change the wrong stereotypes in our communities”, they add.