Simon Porte Jacquemus Talks About His Much-Anticipated Menswear Debut

Late last year, Simon Porte Jacquemus told me he was finally ready to show menswear, something he then relentlessly teased via social media without ever actually saying he was doing it. Until, that is, he bounded out at the end of his Le Souk women’s show in Paris this past February in a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words L’Homme Jacquemus, and then we all knew. Four months later, his men’s is almost here, with a show on a Marseille beach at 6:00 p.m. local time on June 25. What follows is a conversation about his Jacquemus menswear debut that we had a few weeks ago, and Simon was his usual honest and upbeat self. If he is always so engaging to speak to it’s because he never does anything less than engage with life and how he thinks it should be lived. He’s as open as he is talented.

Tell me why you decided to launch menswear.

I did my label Jacquemus for my mother, to not only tell a story about women, but also to keep speaking about her. For me to do men’s . . . it felt right to do it because of a sincere reason, something that happened in my life. I am not just doing it because I am already doing women’s. I have to feel it; it’s not just a business thing. I mean, it is partly for business, of course, because we are developing a line, but it is very special.

I remember, when I saw you in New York last November, you said that you’d fallen in love and that was the catalyst for the men’s.

When I fell in love last year, I then knew exactly who the Jacquemus man is, so I thought, I want to do a men’s line right now! I was really obsessed, and that energy made me start the men’s. Voilà! I’m not with Gordon [von Steiner] anymore, since the last show [in February] and since I announced I was doing the men’s . . . . It’s another story now, but it’s fine.

So why?

Why this [relationship]? I don’t know. Because Gordon inspired me a lot and we were very connected artistically. And, yes, it was one of my most . . . I have had two important relationships in my life. One was six years, and we did Jacquemus a bit together, and in fact he is still working with me. I love building something with someone. It’s really important for me. And being with Gordon gave me that.

Did doing a men’s collection come out of a specific moment or conversation you had with each other?

It was more a feeling. I was obsessed with the way he was dressing. I think Gordon has very particular taste. I don’t know . . . the way he would tuck his T-shirt into his pants, his jewelry, the mix of colors [he wears]. And he is one of the most good-looking guys I have ever met! He was really simple [in his style] but also particular. I was like, wow. I am sure Jacquemus men’s is going to be a mix between us both.

What are you calling it?

Jacquemus. Just Jacquemus. I say L’Homme Jacquemus always on my Instagram so I can be precise that I am speaking about that, but the label will be Jacquemus.

What’s going to be the attitude, the spirit, of the men’s?

For me, it is someone, like, very Mediterranean; that’s really important. That’s also why I finally decided to show in the South of France and not in Paris or New York. Being there will really give this Mediterranean idea of the brand. More and more, for every [women’s] collection, I keep speaking about the Mediterranean; you know, last summer was Spain and a bit of Brazil; this winter it was Morocco; but next summer [women’s] will be something else about the South of France.

Can you tell me a bit about where and how you’ll show?

I was unsure about where it would be, but I always had this beach, a calanque, in Marseille in mind and I did not give up on this idea even if it turned out too complicated to organize, so we did everything possible to make it happen. For me it’s one of the most beautiful and inspiring places that I know, so it was important to start the first menswear collection in this place.

What kind of mood and feel did you want to evoke with the location of the show?

I was looking for something very natural and easy. Of course, it’s a paradisiacal place, but it’s not fake paradisiacal, nothing like a luxury place. It’s really a spot where all the families from Marseille go on the weekend. A very popular place, not a private beach. For the collection I wanted to get [somewhere that was] this beautiful and paradisiacal [location], but at the same time a popular and simple family environment.

You’re working on it with Woolmark, and I hear that it really helped make the show happen.

It’s been our third season working closely with Woolmark. Wool is mostly seen as a winter fabric, but I always like to use it in summer. Woolmark has been a great help with finding new fabrics, manufacturers, and techniques; all the pieces realized with Woolmark will carry its label together with mine. Through this amazing collaboration, my dream to show my first menswear collection in Marseille came true!

What does your southern French inspiration mean in terms of the clothes?

I mean, it could be a lot of clichés about the Mediterranean, but in my own way. It could be like, comme l’a dit, like a badass: a full sweatshirt look, with the bad cap, the bad bag, the bad [neck] chain, or the guy in a suit with the wrong shirt under it, or no shirt under it. It could be like the swimmer, or the fisherman, or the guy in pajamas on the beach. The first collection is going to be le gadjo, what you call the guy in the . . .

Does it mean, like, a dude?

Yes, but it comes from the gypsies in the south; they call all the guys who are not gypsies les gadjé. It’s something that people use. It’s like bomba; it’s a way to speak about someone.

Can you give me some more details on the clothes?

There’s going to be a floral, very Calder, very Matisse. And we have a lot of wheat prints, very yellow, very Arles, very Provençal. [In a way it speaks to the women’s . . . ] but it’s much easier. My thing is I really want to be able to wear everything that I design. That’s my goal. And the prices . . . they’ll be half of the women’s.

Really?

Yes, I am working on it to make it very affordable. I know how men are thinking in a shop. We won’t sell an 800 euro shirt, but [one at ] 270 we will. I am really into dressing guys, but it’s hard for me, because I have to find a simplicity that is not too simple, but not a simplicity that’s available everywhere else; I can’t just do a polo shirt and I can’t just do craziness. It’s a balance. If I don’t think I can walk in the street in it, we won’t sell it.

__It’s that thing of you want it to be fashion but not fashion . . . __

I don’t want it to get . . . it’s hard to say, because, I mean, I am working in fashion, I am doing fashion, but I don’t want to do a fashion line [for men]. It’s weird to say that, because I know I am doing it in a way. And when I see the shoes and the bags—there are more bags than in the women’s collection! But I don’t know—I want to keep it very accessible.

Do you have a favorite piece or look?

The hoodies, but they’re done in knitwear; it’s a special technique. And we’re doing a total sport look, very Lacoste, but we are doing it in silk.

It’s interesting; we’ve seen so much fashion of late that’s aimed at blurring gender boundaries, whereas your approach is the exact opposite to that.

Yes. You see the first guy I publish [on Instagram]? He’s over two meters, he’s 125 kilos. He’s also the type of guy we don’t see in fashion right now, a big guy like him. If you are using muscle guys, you’re bad, you’re a bad brand. But me, I’m not saying, Oh the models are going to be all muscular. Non, the guys are going to be healthy. That’s the mood I want to bring. Even in the women’s, I want to have more shape—a healthy shape, more of a sports shape, like we could find in the ’90s; models who were just healthy. And it’s the same with the men’s. I do sports three times a week, it’s the most important thing in the week . . . so I want the guys to be healthy, not super-muscular, not super-beautiful. Very sunny. That’s what I want.

Who was that guy you shot?

Yoann Maestri. He is a rugby player, a famous one; he plays for Toulouse and the French national team.

How did you reach him?

I called him, and he was very happy [to be involved]. No, he wasn’t surprised. He said he loved the brand; he told me he had discovered it when I did the swimming pool show. I said that the picture I wanted to do [on Instagram] was inspired by Respiro, an Italian movie set by the sea, with Valeria Golino, and he told me that it was one of his favorite films. He has an art gallery in Toulouse. He is so curious about everything. I don’t know what I expected, but he’s a nice guy. He has like a mental force; you can feel it. He is really the Jacquemus man.

Does thinking about the South of France, does the idea of that location also influence how you cast your show?

When you live in front of the beach, in the south, you’re always bit more naked, but it’s not also a celebration of a good body. I don’t want to say that. It’s more healthy I want to show. When I look at some men’s shows, I always think the models are very young and they look a bit sick. It’s not my aesthetic. They look so sad . . . like little birds. That’s why I picked Yoann—he’s like a normal guy, in a way.

Are you working with models or casting ‘real’ people?

I am working with models. I am also trying to find old models, who are a bit older. To work with real guys it’s hard . . . the clothes are made for one [size]. A lot of people are commenting, Why don’t you work with a different kind of body? And I am like, it’s already hard to do one size for a young brand; it’s already so hard to do one size, for the fit. The gradations of the sizing . . . it’s a nightmare already to have to fit with what the agencies have. But I of course I will try to show someone healthier.

Did you care about how you dressed when you were growing up in the South of France?

I was obsessed with yellow and stripes, which are still something I care about a lot. If you look at pictures from my childhood, you always will see me in full yellow in the middle of the classroom. I was obsessed by the sun, so much. My mother was always doing my closet in two parts. One was to stay home, because we lived in the countryside, so you can destroy them, and then fancy things for school. She’d say, ‘Today you are staying in the garden, in the fields, so don’t dress up,’ and I’d say, No, I am not dressing like a farmer! I was really obsessed. Already.