Ludovic De Saint Sernin

The Nipple Isn’t Freed. Ann Demeulemeester AW23

| Design & Culture by Ed

Ludovic De Saint Sernin as the creative director at Ann Demeulemeester: this sentence still surprises. The Antwerp-based brand – and its founder – affiliate with a certain depth, as evocative and raw as Patti Smith’s poetry and music; it’s about a humble crisp white shirt so well-tailored it will serve you for years; her brand used to be the epitome of sensuality that was mysterious, fluid and in a way ephemeral, blink-and-you-will-miss-it. Ludovic De Saint Sernin, meanwhile, judging on his Parisian namesake label of hyper-sexualizing clothing, isn’t really about those elusive notions. His debut collection for the Belgian house seemed to check all the boxes of the preconceived image Demeulemeester has in the mind of general public: long floor-sweeping lenghts, boy-ish black suits, a dark colour palette with drops of maroon. What certainly felt like an ambiguous idea was De Saint Sernin’s choice of covering female models’ breasts. With an exaggerately big feather (another Demeulemeester code), with a shearling capelet, or with hands. The brand’s founder, who through clothes celebrated women’s liberation and their bodies, would never censor her models. Probably, De Saint Sernin’s idea sprang from Instagram’s and TikTok’s disturbing, AI-generated anti-nipple policy (being applied to women only – because men’s nipples appear to be absolutely acceptable, and ironically, De Saint Sernin didn’t cover them in his menswear looks…), which is a topic for a whole another post. And here’s the problem: Ann Demeulemeester, the designer, wouldn’t seek approval from such thing as Instagram, while Ludovic De Saint Sernin’s vision of sexuality is conceived for that specific platform. The autumn-winter 2023 clothes weren’t bad – they might even sell well – but they weren’t an innovative take on Demeulemeester’s design legacy. Except for a couple of Ludovic-look-a-like models (this designer has a certain level of heavy narcissism about him), you wouldn’t be able to distinguish this line-up from what the brand had in offer for the past couple of studio-designed seasons.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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NET-A-PORTER Limited

Hyper-Body-Revealing. Ludovic De Saint Sernin SS23

| Design & Culture by Ed

Ludovic De Saint Sernin‘s spring-summer 2023 fashion show was a usual affair of hyper-sensuality and hyper-body-revealing, with references ranging from Robert Mapplethorpe (the late photographer’s signature look and red anthuriums, which were his favourite, phallocentric objects to capture) to the Y2k style. De Saint Sernin’s work erases binaries and treats one and all to the same eroticizing gaze. Anok Yai wore a halter top split down the middle that exposed her midriff and a lace skirt knotted over cigarette pants. It was one of the collection’s more conservative looks. There were baby-doll dresses for all genders, yoga clothes in the form of stretch leather tanks and shorts that can also be worn to the club, and barely hanging-on crystal mesh bikinis and micro skirts. Picking up from last season, De Saint Sernin continued his push beyond partywear. Tunics and pants with a loungey feel were made from a plissé material he likened to the late Issey Miyake’s famous pleats. The stripes on a pair of low-slung jeans were achieved by pulling the denim’s threads and then patching different pieces together. The reference for the denim, he said, was Britney Spears. “When you look at my work, it’s actually very TBT; it’s very throwback to my youth where I used to admire Britney, Lindsay, and all these girls, but I couldn’t dress like that.” Going on, he said, “If I can inspire the current generation, or older or younger generations, to just listen to their hearts and be trusting that they can be unique – this is literally my mission.”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

NET-A-PORTER Limited

Toned-Down. Ludovic De Saint Sernin AW22

| Design & Culture by Ed

For autumn-winter 2022, Ludovic De Saint Sernin took a slightly different path than usual. The new season pressed current Y2K generational fashion buttons, but also signaled de Saint Sernin’s design ability to think through what might come after that. A part of the thrill for him is belonging to the all-about-me self-invention of social media. So he walked in his own show – in a brown crepe open-necked shirt and matching flares, flanked by a couple of lanky lookalikes. “Welcome to my life,” he declared beforehand. “This is what I do. It’s about owning up to being who you are, your own muse.” He loved the fact that Gigi Hadid appeared in a big shirt and white boots, channeling “the Malibu girl going out in her boyfriend’s shirt. Like all the celebs I grew up with who were being chased by tabloid paparazzi in the 2000s – like Paris and Britney. “ Bella, as the finale, wore an almost sheer black chiffon halterneck dress “a bit like a nightdress. For when you have to go on the red carpet at the end of the day, but would really rather be in bed.” De Saint Sernin is known for his overtly sexy, libertine, gender-blurring crystal mesh bras and halters – and his signature cross-laced fly jeans. All of that was there, now logo’d with a LDSS sparkly print. He extended that further into body-con dressing for boys: a black leather miniskirt; a crossover jersey crop-top. But the big surprise in his collection was a whole other thing: minimal elegance in shades of brown and taupe (which instantly reminded me of a Jacquemus collection from a couple of seasons ago). Overcoats, a long bustier column dress, a brown shirt and skirt: luxurious oversized sweaters. It stood apart, in a preternaturally accomplished way. “I wanted to push the idea of daywear,” Ludovic concluded. “Because everyone’s doing mini-mini, as I have. But I thought it would be cool to go elegant and long.” It made for an glimpse of where de Saint Sernin, and his whole generation might be headed with their fashion desires.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Désir. Ludovic De Saint Sernin SS22

| Design & Culture by Ed

On Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s runway, heat and sex are regular ingredients. For the young French pioneer of sex positivity in fashion, his steamy return to what the industry is calling “physical” shows was pulsating with a whole other layer of significance. “I feel like we were in such a digital world for like a year-and-a-half that it was really critical for me to reconnect with physicality and sensuality, in a way that you could almost grab it,” said De Saint Sernin behind his co-ed spring-summer 2022 fashion show titled “Désir“. He wove all of that pent-up tension into a collection that stretched tiny strands of leather into minuscule dresses and taut bodices equally across genders to eye-popping effect. “We wanted to showcase the artisanal feel of the collection,” he explained. “All these pieces are entirely braided, knotted, and laced by hand. There’s no sewing at all. It’s really body formatted.” De Saint Sernin has been well ahead of the generational game of blurring underwear with outerwear. His easy, elasticated-waist, pajama-like pants and shirts and leather bralettes are part of this. This season it also meant a semi-sheer smocking technique, used in dresses and shirts cut to cling and strain at buttons, and delicate, semi-transparent fabrics, like laddered knits. “Mermaid, California-gothic girlfriend” is how he described the inspiration for overtly glam transparencies in crystal-beaded fishnet: a one-shoulder dress, a couple of miniature sparkly sarongs. His two finale dresses hinted at either having been shipwrecked or wrecked from a long night of partying. De Saint Sernin has a burgeoning business in his flared jeans with eyelet-laced flies, shown again this season with split hems. The signature eyelet was also an unmissable feature on a black thong. It was, he remarked with a straight face, “just a little teaser,” because Pornhub sponsored his show, and he has a collaboration with the porn site coming next spring. Of course this makes complete sense. There’s just one thing the designer might consider for the future: inviting a wider range of body shapes to his model casting. Everybody want to look and feel sexy, right?

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.