A model parades for the Jacquemus house, spring-summer 2024 ready-to-wear collection at the Maeght foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, in the Alpes-Maritimes, January 29, 2024 (AFP/Valery HACHE)
The Frenchman Jacquemus, in the midst of organizational turbulence, presented Monday at the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence (Alpes-Maritimes), a collection refocused on clothing, looks full of glamor and inspired by plastic creation.
“I feel exactly where I should be, relieved,” Simon Porte Jacquemus, 34, told AFP after his show, the “darling” of French couture, and an unrivaled success story for his generation. .
To present his new mixed fall-winter 2024/2025 collection, the designer did not rely on a breathtaking setting, such as Versailles, the salt dunes of Camargue or the lavender fields of his native Provence, but on the sober and elegant Maeght Foundation, temple of modern and contemporary art.
American model Gigi Hadid presents a Jacquemus creation during the spring-summer 2024 fashion show at the Maeght foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, in the Alpes-Maritimes, on January 29, 2024 (AFP/Valery HACHE)
Re-hanging the paintings of Miró, Léger, Soulages or Kandinsky in the rooms of the museum according to his mood, he paraded to eclectic music – from “Sexual Healing” to the lyrical duetto of Lakmé – around forty models, including Gigi Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski.
For this glamorous palette, three shades and not one more: black and white with a recurring touch of bright red, shoes and mini-bags.
This collection called “Sculptures” plays on the border of the arts: the bustier is a white cast, plaster effect which does not stick to the skin and the evening tuxedo goes to the side like a surrealist disfigurement.
Models present Jacquemus creations at the Maeght foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, in the Alpes-Maritimes, on January 29, 2024 (AFP/Valery HACHE)
In terms of cut, in a dress, in a short suit for men, in pants, as a whole, the shoulders are broad and the waist marked, the cuts simple and symmetrical.
Both the man and the woman wear the Pilota leather jacket, inspired by the one worn by the sculptor Alberto Giacometti, with on the arm, the bag called “Le Petit Calino” inspired by the curves of the British sculptor Henry Moore.
– “Stunning” –
In the front row, the influencer-star Kylie Jenner (399 million subscribers on Instagram) and her 5-year-old daughter, Stormi, who never leaves her side.
American influencer Kylie Jenner at the Jacquemus fashion show at the Maeght foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, in the Alpes-Maritimes, January 29, 2024 (AFP/Valery HACHE)
In a blue Jacquemus suit, Julia Roberts is ecstatic about the collection. “Superb,” she tells AFP.
“A real choice of materials, we feel that it continues to evolve, we focus a lot on clothes,” notes French influencer star Lena Mahfouf, aka Lena Situations.
The fashion show, with invitations for VIPs to the most beautiful farmhouses in the region and a star-studded dinner, was organized as usual outside the Fashion Week calendar.
And this was particularly anticipated, as the life of the Jacquemus house, a marketing UFO in the world of fashion, is closely scrutinized as it goes through a first and crucial restructuring.
Simon Porte Jacquemus appointed Mélissa Ait-Ouakli (ex-LVMH) as commercial director in mid-January, after the departure of Bastien Daguzan and some turbulence, which forced the designer to take over as interim director.
American actress Julia Roberts arrives to attend the Jacquemus fashion show in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, in the Alpes-Maritime, on January 29, 2024 (AFP/Valery HACHE)
Launched in 2009, the independent French brand has experienced rapid growth, driven by aggressive marketing and a loyal community.
A craze mocked by comedian Malik Bentalha in a successful video called “Jacques Mouss”, where he trashes the designer and his parades of “aioli briefs” and “fougasse jeans below 2,000” euros.
– “Zizi” superstar –
Very present on social networks, Jacquemus always appears natural and smiling, unlike his peers with a darker and elitist image. For this season, he let go of these geographical and social references: no straw hat, sunflower or cagolesque variation of women’s clothing, the designer showed maturity and a completely classic artistic anchoring.
French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus during his spring-summer 2024 women’s show at the Maeght foundation, in the Alpes-Maritimes, January 29, 2024 (AFP/Valery HACHE)
The company, which has only one store in the world, avenue Montaigne in Paris, does not publish its results, but declared to Business of Fashion magazine that it had passed the 200 million euro mark in 2002 and was aiming for half a billion of turnover by 2025.
But the heart of Jacquemus’ business remains the bag, the leather goods which are driving sales, driven by its 8 cm long star micro bag, the Chiquito (around 600 euros).
This time, the star object is the lace-up dance shoe, a “Zizi” brogue created in collaboration with Repetto, which immediately made waves on social networks.
© 2024 AFP
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