Making the Grade: An A+ Outing at Courrèges
Life is all about taking risks and that exactly what Sebastian Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant did earlier this year when they put their own well-received label, Coperni Femme, on hold after two seasons to take a stab at revitalizing the house of Courrèges. At the time of the announcement this past May, the two handsome young designers (who are partners in both business and life) took themselves out of the running of the coveted LVMH Prize in order to embark on this new sartorial journey, and it seems as though their gamble has paid off.
On Wednesday morning in Paris, they personally introduced their new collection of 15 pieces made of 15 materials to an auditorium full of editors. “Since the beginning of our time at Courrèges, we took the notion of simplicity as a formal principle for our creative process so this is why today you will not see a lot of looks,“ mused Meyer. "You only see 15 designs in 15 materials in total.” The consensus? It worked. Here’s the breakdown.
Inspiration: “We believe that ready-to-wear should reflect the spirt of how we live today,” Meyer said to the crowd before the show. Check plus! The first looks focused on mouth-watering leather jackets and then moved onto miniskirts, pants (including jeans!), slip dresses, and tops, all of which were very cool and wearable.
Ready-to-Wear: Andre Courrèges’s famous "Space Age” collection focused on geometric shapes as the basis of the looks. The boys honored that notion today. Of particular standout were the miniskirts (which Courrèges claimed to have invented back in the day) that were made of two spheres of leather snapped together on the sides. But beyond the historical reference, the 15 leather jackets that opened the show left us agog. I’m sure magazine editors have already put in their requests to shoot them.
Accessories: The models wore low-cut Western-style booties (a reoccurring silhouette this season). There was one style of bag, a smallish trapezoidal shape with a silver handle that came in different colors.
Attendance: Editors everywhere! Also jewelry designer Aurelie Bidermann, blogger Susie Bubble, and someone who looked like Olivia Palermo but wasn’t.
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