#2016 – Christelle Kocher

December 21, 2016July 22, 2020 | Design & Culture by Ed

Seeing Lindsey Wixson walk down the crowdy alley in Parisian La Canopée isn’t a usual, everyday sight. And it’s even stranger, when you wonder whether it’s really her, or an interestingly dressed passer-by. Christelle Kocher, the designer behind Koché, is obsessed with elevating street wear, and she’s the only designer who literally takes her clothes to the streets. For autumn-winter 2016, she invited the fashion crowd to Passage du Prado, a home of cheap phone stores and cheesy hair-dressers; her spring-summer 2017 was seen by anyone who was running their errands in this gigantic, commercial spot.

Kocher’s latest outing was filled with her quite well recognisable signatures. She works at Maison Lemarié, a couture atelier specialising in feathers, so that’s why her off-the-street (or not) parkas and sweatshirts were all about excessive layers of ostrich plume. Velour sweatpants with a multi-coloured, zipped track jackets (my middle-school P.E. memories go posh) – a thing for dressing in anti-fashion way is intense here, too. Adwoa Aboah sported a not-your-average-cross-fit bra-top, while meticulously embroidered slip-dresses never looked so… effortless. I know this sounds cliché, but admit – Koché is a brand, which fuses the idea of “on-the-go” with minute attention to detail, close to haute couture level. The styling of the show felt absolutely spontaneous, and both the street-cast, and professional agency models seemed to enjoy the nature of this show.

It seems that Koché appeared on the industry’s mind just this year – so be sure to have this brand on your radar in 2017.

Koché SS17

Koché SS17 & AW16

La Canopée. Koché SS17

September 28, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Seeing Lindsey Wixson walk down the crowdy alley in Parisian La Canopée isn’t a usual, everyday sight. And it’s even stranger, when you wonder whether it’s really her, or an interestingly dressed passer-by. Christelle Kocher, the designer behind Koché, is obsessed with elevating street wear, and she’s the only designer who literally takes her clothes to the streets. Last season, she invited the fashion crowd to Passage du Prado, a home of cheap phone stores and cheesy hair-dressers; yesterday, her spring-summer 2017 was seen by the anyone who was running their errands in this gigantic, commercial passage.

Kocher’s latest outing was filled with her quite well recognisable signatures. She works at Maison Lemarié, a couture atelier specialising in feathers, so that’s why her off-the-street (or not) parkas and sweatshirts were all about excessive layers of ostrich plume. Velour sweatpants with a multi-coloured, zipped track jackets (my middle-school P.E. memories go posh) – a thing for dressing in anti-fashion way is intense here, too. Adwoa Aboah sported a not-your-average-cross-fit bra-top, while meticulously embroidered slip-dresses never looked so… effortless. I know this sounds cliché, but admit – Koché is a brand, which fuses the idea of “on-the-go” with minute attention to detail, close to haute couture level. The styling of the show felt absolutely spontaneous, and both the street-cast, and professional agency models seemed to enjoy the nature of this show. First days of Paris Fashion Week are always my favourite – it’s the moment, when niche, French designers present their intriguing, not-business-wise attitude to style.

What’s Coming for SS17?

August 18, 2016August 19, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Via @natalia_misbhv

So, what’s coming for the spring-summer 2017 season? New designers debutting at big houses; young labels that will steal the spotlight; beauty cannon redefining moments; grear and bad collections. But, why are we thinking about summer of the next year? Note: first days of September – New York Fashion Week kicks off. And August is about to end soon…

On the 10th of September, Natalia Maczek and her team will hit New York with a first ever, MISBHV presentation. Coming straight from Cracow, Poland, the streetwear brand (adored by my friends here) is known for its über-cool, defiant aesthetic. Think gothic fonts, over-sized everything and strip-tease platforms. You might think it’s a wannabe Vetements – but no, MISBHV was nailing it on the Polish streets long time before the French collective’s fame.

It’s hard being a young and independent fashion designer in Paris, fighting for attention in the crowd of Chanel-s, Balmain-s and Vuitton-s. But still, a wave of young, French designers thrives to convey their vision of fashion. Meet Koché, the creation of Christelle Kocher, the new girl in the schedule and a second-time LVMH finalist .“I’m sharing my Paris with other people,” is how she described her AW16 unusual venue of her fashion – the 18th-century Passage du Prado, which nowadays is adopted by African hairdressers and little mobile phone shops. So, no – it’s not Grand Palais or a Rue Saint Honore showroom. I tell you – keep Koché on your radar.

Sander Lak, the man behind Sies Marjan, is into the 90s, and that might be the reason why his pastel-pink pieces got sold out within the minutes on-line. Although AW16 was his first season, the New York-based designer, takes it easy in the fashion industry. With his experience (he used to work at Dries Van Noten) and colour sensibility, I bet he will pull off another, jaw-dropping outing this season.

London is burning with talents, and Fashion East understands the needs of young individuals. That’s why, the SS17 scheme is really exciting: we’ve got A.V. Robertson, who envisions another dimension of embroidery and embellishment; there’s Matty Bovan, a LVMH prize winner, who worked (together with Robetson) on Marc Jacobs’ prints, and collaborated with Miu Miu on their latest presentation. We will also get to know Mimi Wade and Richard Malone closer during the upcoming London Fashion Week.

Anthony Vaccarello was announced as the new creative director at Saint Laurent, and his debut in Paris will tell, whether he’s able to take a big house under his wings. There are three options – he will go Hedi Slimane’s path, delivering a grunge-y set of clothes; he will do it the way he does it at his namesake label; or, he will literally shock everyone. I hope that the last option becomes true. For now, there’s a lot of Anja Rubik on his Instagram.

Maria Grazia Chiuri is another designer who will soon debut at a major, French maison. Well, in fact she switched Valentino for Dior. Good for Dior.

Boucher Jarrar‘s start at Lanvin isn’t the best. Just take look at her “first” collection, so resort 2017. Sure, pre-collections should be commercial, but… they shouldn’t be that boring Alber Elbaz’ frivolous legacy is erased for good, while Jeanne Lanvin’s quintessence is barely here. Time will show, whether Bouchra’s clean minimalism does any good for Lanvin.

Demna Gvasalia‘s debut at Balenciaga is already behind us – but I can’t wait to see what is he up to for spring-summer 2017.

September, come!

Street Attitude. Koché AW16

March 3, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

It’s hard to be a young and independent fashion designer in Paris, fighting for attention in the crowd of Chanel-s, Balmain-s and Saint Laurent-s. Surprisingly, Paris Fashion Week starts with a day of fresh and trending labels – meet Koché, the creation of Christelle Kocher, the new girl in the schedule and a second-time LVMH finalist .“I’m sharing my Paris with other people,” is how she described the unusual venue of her fashion – the 18th-century Passage du Prado, which nowadays is adopted by African hairdressers and little mobile phone shops. So, no – it’s not Grand Palais or a Rue Saint Honore showroom.

However, the spirit of a Parisian atelier is not left out at Koché. Christelle collaborates with Maison Lemarié, which does mesmerizing, artisan detailings using feathers and plume only – and the way she implemented haute couture into her hoodies and tees is just mind-blowing. The contrast is stunning, just like the models’ cast. Doing it in Eckhaus Latta way, the designer invited professional models (Karly Loyce, Soo Joo), friends and people she met on the streets, breaking the convention of an ordinary line-up. Although this stuff will be expensive (velvet skirts, shearling jacket patchworked with layers of white lace), Koché is already stirring the industry with its unique, yet über-cool attitude. I wonder where will the designer lead her brand – biting the dust and taking it on a mainstream path, or rather keeping it off-beat? Hope for the latter.