Jacquemus AW16 in Southern France

July 7, 2016July 1, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

The young generation of Paris-based designers, like Demna Gvasalia or Glenn Martens, look towards night life, clubbing and this defiant, booze-fuelled attitude. But Simon Porte Jacquemus‘ namesake label approaches fashion in a different way – rather than seeing hoodies and dilapidated denim, Jacquemus is much more innocent and… happy. And as smily as the Southern French people, contrasting with rushing Parisians. That’s why Simon took his autumn-winter 2016 pieces near his hometown, between Marseille and Avignon, and with help of photographer Theresa Marx, created the e-campaign for his brilliant on-line store. The photographs present arty coats, skirts and knits, all in bold colours and styled in the most unpredictable ways.

“The collection is about reconstruction, when you have a lot of different clothes from a lot of different people, and you put them all together and you create something new. Like an art shirt mixed with a t-shirt. I wanted these images to have something to do with the idea of a washing line. I’ve loved washing lines since my childhood, so I wanted to do something like this.” Washing lines play a significant role in Jacquemus’ campaign this season. Being a boy coming from the South of France, he’s childhood was filled with washing lines everywhere on the streets and gardens… but in Simon’s world, they aren’t cliche.

Elevated Poetry. Jacquemus AW16

March 2, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

It’s Paris, and it feels like a breath of fresh air coming along Jacquemus‘ autumn-winter 2016. The city of French fashion is undergoing a wave of youthful talent – and Simon Porte Jacquemus represents that perfectly with his extraordinary, yet wearable garments. “I would like there to be less industry and more poetry” is what he declared backstage, minutes before the show. It was all about a surrealist illusion this season – the dresses floated in the air and spaghetti straps were magically elevated above the shoulders. The exaggerated shoulders, although distinctly reminded the old, good Martin Margiela, introduced us to other arty shapes and geometric cuts – sometimes, they looked even too grotesque, as in case of the “mini-skirt” worn with a pastel-blue turtleneck. But what was the most genuine from the entire collection was the expanded accessory line – block-heeled “rond carré” shoes, asymmetrical gloves in tangerine orange and cute, kidney-shaped bags are the highlights, which will sell well.

A very, very experimental, yet down-to-earth start of Paris Fashion Week!

#2015 – Jacquemus

November 26, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

So, 2015 approaches its end, and it’s the perfect time to look back at the fashion designers who really made the cut this year. New York, London, Milan and Paris are full of great minds – but some of them have truly changed the course of trends, or rather the tendency for anti-trends. In my subjective choice, I searched for both, individualism and something more than “fashion”. 2015 is a year of designers, who made their creative vision a contemporary philosophy of everyday dressing and, of course, beauty.

Simone Porte Jacquemus is the guy who made Paris feel the youth – his childlike, fairy-tale vision and dreamy fashion shows are filled with emotions and unconventional chic. His collections trigger controversy, even though they reminisce childish, naive and even primitive way of being. What’s more, his namesake label, Jacquemus, is sold by the most influential boutiques and on-line stores worldwide. And 2015 has been his most daring year to date.

AW15 – Dadaistic silhouettes and primitively masked faces. Barefoot models. Naive nudity. Simone Porte Jacquemus continues his “childish” fashion journey, keeping his AW15 arty. With faces painted by Sebastien Bieniek, which felt very abstract and eerie at the same time, the collection provokes. Explaining that he wanted to capture some of the instinctual feel of being a child, the designer said: “I cut jackets like little kids will do—sometimes the cut is weird, there is just a half top. I like this randomness.” The whole collection, full of exaggeration and peculiar sex-appeal felt even more artistic and disturbing when you looked at the venue directed by Alex de Betak – dilapidated walls and kemping chairs felt on-point while accompanying the clothes. Escapism at its full strength.

Resort’16 – The country-side environment perfectly fits the minimal collection shot in the rural province of France, full of lavender scrubs and sunshine. The clothes which were based on asymmetric confusion and exaggerated silhouettes (Jacquemus’ ultimate signatures) had an feminine allure about them – just like the Joana Preiss standing in the field of wheat.

SS16 – This collection is different from all up-to-date. The Jacquemus girl used to be a cheerful Frenchie from Marseilles, wearing over-sized tops and striped pantaloons. This season, this girl is not that smiley anymore. In the dreamlike theatre that Simone prepared, the whole mood felt rather melancholic, and very poetic. The whole “performance” felt psychodramatic, as a young child (the designer’s cousin, Jean) pushed a large, red ball of fabric across the stage, and Jacquemus himself appeared, leading a white horse. Then, the models came out, wearing signature, colour-block dresses and silhouette-deconstructing coats. “We know me for my smile and my sunshine and my (love of the) seaside,” Jacquemus said, reflecting on his fashion that we know from the past seasons. Also, he admitted that the atmosphere of this season was different. “The girl was not dark, she was quite fresh – but you can see a little tiny bit, I tried to have this kind of sadness.” The name of the collection, Le Nez Rouge, means the red nose – but also, it reminded Simon about his childhood illness that caused his nose to be constantly red. Childhood memories and the whole idea of naivette is from the very beginning present in Jacquemus’ career. The designer is just 25, won the second LVMH Prize Award and has more and more buyers in his Parisian showroom each season – it seems that the pressure is pretty high for him – but, Jacquemus just won’t entirely grow up.

Jacquemus’ Dadaism

November 3, 2015November 10, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Simon Porte Jacquemus is one of the most daring designers in Paris. His collection trigger controversy, even though they reminisce childish, naive and even primitive way of being. The brand’s recent autumn-winter collection is deeply rooted in the period of dadaism – the shirts are printed with surreal, black hands, while voluminous trousers and skirts have those red, plastic circles through which stripes of textiles overlap. Take note of the abstract crop-tops – even though they look like pieces of a fancy, 60’s rug, they are made of wool patches, made fully in France (just like the rest of the pieces sold by Jacquemus). For the full effect of the very arty and avant-garde femme Simon creates this season, there are those paper masks – nobody is sure how practical are they, but surely they will update every possible look you think of this autumn.

The full AW15 look-book on jacquemus.com

Child’s Sadness. Jacquemus SS16

October 2, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Every collection is a new story for Simon Porte Jacquemus, the designer behind Paris’ favourite label – Jacquemus. This collection, however, is different from all. The Jacquemus girl used to be a cheerful Frenchie from Marseilles, wearing over-sized tops and striped pantaloons. This season, this girl is not that smiley anymore. In the dreamlike theatre that Simone prepared, the whole mood felt rather melancholic, and very poetic. The whole “performance” felt kind of psychodramatic, as a young child (the designer’s cousin, Jean) pushed a large, red ball of fabric across the stage, and Jacquemus himself appeared, leading a white horse. Then, the models came out, wearing signature, very-Jacquemus colour-block dresses and shape-deconstructing coats.

“We know me for my smile and my sunshine and my (love of the) seaside,” Jacquemus said, reflecting on his fashion that we know from the past seasons. Also, he admitted that the atmosphere of this season was different. “The girl was not dark, she was quite fresh – but you can see a little tiny bit, I tried to have this kind of sadness.” The name of the collection, Le Nez Rouge, means the red nose – but also, it reminded Simon about his childhood illness that caused his nose to be constantly red. Childhood memories and the whole idea of naive is from the very beginning present in Jacquemus’ career, and this show had it too. As the designer is just 25, won the second LVMH Prize Award and has more and more buyers in his Parisian showroom each season, it seems that the pressure is pretty high for him – but, Jacquemus just won’t entirely grow up. Even though this collection is much more mature than the humour accompanying the last season’s collection.