Gauchere

If you’re looking for brilliant, youthful tailoring with a raw twist in Paris, Gauchere is the brand you need. In less than 10 years, Marie-Christine Statz has developed a loyal following for her chic, minimalist aesthetic. Building on that, for autumn-winter 2022 the designer stuck to a restrained, mostly monochrome palette of black, deep blue, burgundy, anthracite and taupe to further explore what the brand stands for: sharp silhouettes and materials, plus a savvy dose of texture that’s clean, unfussy and interesting. Her opening look, for example, was a halter top that can be worn hooked over a shoulder or left long, an idea that returned on a faux minimalist, layered dress. Oversized suiting with slightly sloped shoulders nodded to budding interest in the brand among men, and was shown paired with bandeaux and fluid, high-waisted trousers. Three-dimensional fabrics brought the texture, for example fuzzy tech yarns. Patent leather gave a jean-style jacket gloss. Denim was chosen for its new-gen, water-wise washes. Sculptural evening dresses – like a trio of black gowns or fully sequined minidress in black or white – made the case for less is more, today and many moons from now. But her own account, Statz “doesn’t do crazy.” In times like these, that’s a considerable advantage, and one that her growing base is grateful to count on.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Marie-Christine Statz filmed her Gauchere autumn-winter 2021 collection in the Centre Pompidou. The bold, colourful postmodernist architecture of the Parisian art mecca fits Gauchere’s style really well. Essentially, the collection is about the way contemporary women dress in life. Statz is an exacting tailor, and her vision of modern female dress hinged on a dropped and deflated shoulder, which gave models a friendly prowess. Navy suits and brushed mohair turtlenecks followed the same line – slightly aggressive, but easy. Statz’s models passed each other in the Pompidou’s corridors and on escalators but did not acknowledge one another. “They are crossing but not interacting,” she said over a video chat with Vogue. “They are locked in and isolated in their own worlds.” However, their clothing has a freeing effect. Even with such a no-fuss attitude, Statz found ways to inject warmth. She cut a swinging tank dress in a spongy, nubbly knit and color-blocked shades of azure and grass within a single spritely look. On their feet, models wore sneakers as part of a collaboration with Li-Ning or Gauchere’s first foray into its own footwear: pillowy slides and pumps that are stuffed to have a cushy, exaggerated effect. “Structure, but with a softness to it,” Statz called it.