December 13, 2022 |
As we sat in the office only a day ago, doom-scrolling away the days until Christmas, one post in particular leaped out from our Instagram feeds. “This is my last show,” Simon Porte Jacquemus solemnly announced – cue the heart palpitations and sudden inhalation of industry breath. But then, as we swiped left and revealed the second slide, he added: “of the year” – and alas, a surge of oxygen refilled our lungs. As it turns out, we had been pranked! Just a short while later the designer showed his vision for spring/summer 2023 in the serene Le Bourget commune just outside of Paris – and it was far from a finale.
It’s become a bit of a tradition for Monsieur Jacquemus to drag the fashion pack to the farthest frontiers of the City of Love and its surrounding regions, immersing diehard city folk and fashion fanatics in the calm countryside for his shows – recall the Aigues-Mortes salt marshes last season, the rolling wheats field near Us (pronounced: “oose”) in the French Vexin Regional National Park of SS21 and the lush lavender fields of Valensole of SS20. With his innate, down-to-Earth instinct, he somehow manages to create breathtakingly unique experiences with each and every collection, his feet firmly planted in the soil at all times. Yesterday’s runway was no different.
Dubbed Le Raphia, the new co-ed collection served as an exploration of the raffia palm; a straw-like substance derived from a tree of the same name that’s native to tropical African regions. A burlap-like corset top, a striking shaggy coat created in collaboration with French haute couture embroidery house Lesage and a ton of triangle-shouldered tailoring decorated by pouffes of straw came to the fore. Irina Shayk even made an appearance in an exaggerated raffia crop top and a silky white skirt. Monsieur Jacquemus was likewise inspired by the girls that came to mind when he imagined summers spent sunbathing in the Italian peninsula’s of Portofino and Capri: luxe, bourgeois ladies with massive hats, oversized earrings and polkadot pants.
Under the wispy straw-storm that cascaded from overhead, clothes were sectioned into trilogies – three related outfits at a time – while guys and gals sauntered along the perimeter of a sand-coloured curtained rotunda, dried wheat fibres quivering with every step. Even in its newness, quintessential elements of Jacquemus’ design aesthetic stayed strong in their stance with a taste for tailoring and French romance. For one thing, Monsieur Jacquemus’ penchant for *almost* humorous exaggeration appeared particularly in the humongous raffia sun hats, some suspended from skimpy lingerie straps or perched atop heads to hide models’ eyes from the sundown setup, others covered completely in purfling straw. Even the sunflower earrings were the size of saucers.
But it wasn’t all raffia: silver waxed denim, loose tops, geometric undergarments and skirts with 19th century crinoline-like structure were mixed in too. Clutched in models’ hands were shoulder-bags, handbags and the house’s signature micro-mini bags while clunky clogs, strappy stilettos with fur soles and pointy-toed pumps augmented with a circle and a square on either toe, were also carried across the catwalk.
Awash with textured natural fibres and Earth-tones contrasted by vivacious sunset colours, the Le Raphia collection makes for an unabashed expression of natural beauty.
Photography courtesy of Jacquemus.
