March 6, 2022 |
Carnage would be a fitting description of the situation outside Marine Serre’s show on Friday night. Bodies were crushed together, security guards barked orders and members of the fashion press were left trapped amidst a frankly scary pile on. Paris is known for its eager, young crowds, who gather around the week’s biggest shows for a glimpse at the famous faces invited. This was different. People wanted in.
That’s because wearing Marine Serre has stretched far beyond illustrating you’re on top of fleeting fashion trends. Her clothes serve as calling cards for being amongst the new generation of fashion fans who are ethically minded, favour upcycling over buying new and put the planet first. In the short few years she’s been in business — Serre took home the LVMH Prize for emerging talent in 2017 — she has managed to create luxury fashion in its most democratic form. See the brand’s ateliers, for instance, who staged a live workshop in the middle of the show space, which painted a portrait of how the brand’s garments are made, some out of surplus T-shirts, others from Serre’s cult crescent-moon print. (Members of the public will be able to explore the inner workings of the brand, and have the chance to regenerate their own garments, at the space across the weekend.)
“The challenge is to re-invent the art of living on a damaged planet,” said the designer in her show notes. Less apocalyptic than her previous outings, she spoke of restoring our world’s dignity, channelling its ruins and perils into new meanings and ideals. Like old Scottish tartan scarves, for instance, used to fashion tailored coats, skirts and Harington jackets. Or patchworking frocks from clashing knits. One ball gown was made from 1990s metal band tees, another quilted from repurposed toile de Jouy. It felt punk, all done via beautiful design.
What’s brilliant about Serre is her ability to channel the anarchic codes of the fashion disrupters who have come before her, into profoundly well-made product with cult appeal. All whilst deftly utilising deadstock to use clothing as a medium to address the complexities of the present day. The world she inhabits may be at times a bleak one, but it’s better off with her in it.
Photography courtesy of Marine Serre.
