Flaunting the colours of Naples’s sun-baked beachside life, Rocco Adriano Galluccio’s Alcoolique collection is a picture-perfect fashion ambassador for this summer’s Italian Day festival.

Few lines are as thoroughly Italian as Galluccio’s, which will hit the runway during the event on Sunday (June 14) on the Drive. And with fashion ranking as a national passion of about the same stature as Italy’s cuisine, it’s only fitting that it would become a big part of the day.

Speaking to the Straight from his adopted home of Milan, the Naples native reveals that his entire line is made in the country, including his richly printed fabrics, whose patterns he designs himself. But the pieces also look and feel like Italian chic at its most flamboyant: think swishy, metallic-blue and -gold round minis, gold leather shorts, and gauzy, gold-embroidered skirts that somehow conjure vintage screen icons like Gina Lollobrigida, ancient Romans, and sassy Naples street life in one fell swoop.

“Everything for me in Naples is inspiration: sometimes a song, sometimes a woman on the street, the sea, the history, historical women from Naples,” says the rising designer in heavily accented English. “In my collection I have a lot of colour, because in Naples the city is really colourful: the sand, the ocean, the beach, the Blue Grotto in Capri, and also the buildings. If you go to the Amalfi Coast and Capri, the houses there have a lot of colours. But so does the food.”

Alcoolique debuted here at last year’s Vancouver Fashion Week, where Galluccio made connections with Italian Day organizers. The VFW show was just one part of a wave of success for the young designer since he launched his line in 2009, with his bold styles hitting the pages of Italian Vogue and Elle. When he returns here this week, Galluccio will bring a preview of his summer 2016 collection, continuing with his signature metallic leathers, along with hits of glitter and a bright palette of yellow, light blue, and pink.

“My line is always feminine—and everything is sexy,” says Galluccio, who’s known for slits, shorts, and flirty minis that flash long legs. “That’s the DNA of my collection and my brand.”

His silhouettes are simple, but his prints and embroidery are often elaborate—and, in the case of this new summer collection, are inspired by his own tattoos. “There’s a lot of sailor tattoos in my prints and embroidery—and the embroidery is my own tattoos. I have all my collection in my arms!”

Yes, there’s a little of Galluccio’s Naples-bred bad-boy charisma in there, but mostly his fashion show should offer a glam, eye-searingly colourful new element to Italian Day. (His outfits will be shown with new strappy leather sandals and other looks by our own Italian outpost, Kalena’s Shoes [1526 Commercial Drive]).

Watch the catwalk while you’re laying into some ice-cold gelato or ricotta-oozing cannoli, and you might, for a split second, feel like you’re standing on Capri’s Marina Piccola instead of Commercial Drive.