February 28, 2019 |
The future is now, and it’s looking quite fabulous. Or at least so it seems at Courrèges, where Yolanda Zobel is paving the way for communal sensuality. In her second collection for the heritage French fashion house, Zobel continued paying respect to the late André Courrèges himself, with subtle hints of archival influences. Yet this time, it looked even more braver than the first time round. Charmingly awkward and freed of gender roles, the new Courrèges tribe morphed old concepts of avant-garde with contemporary ready-to-wear. In a refreshing turn of events, this collection wasn’t about an effortless idea of style – it’s actually about caring to achieve a certain impact. Geometric cuts and circular motives, assembled with crafty sensibility. It’s aspirational, yet totally giving of the fashion climate we live in right now.
French multimedia artist Vava Dudu was in charge of covering some of the garments with her semi-abstract erotic drawings, adding another layer of communal creativity to the collection. The venue of the AW19 show was Espace Niemeyer, the iconic Parisian headquarters of the French Communist Party. Not as subversive as much as clearly political – Zobel has a powerful message to send into the world, and her clothes are doing all the talking.
Photographs by Jason-Lloyd Evans.
