'Besides the fashion shows, a plethora of designers revealed new, extremely interesting, highly personal and original French brands that were a big change from the usual propositions of fashion’s big names'. - Frédéric Martin-Bernard
Each fashion show resembles a postcard of Paris! After using Paris’ zinc roofs, the banks of the Seine or a reproduction of a metro station as the backdrop of previous shows, Alexandre Mattiussi presented his Ami Spring-Summer 2023 collection on the forecourt of Sacré Coeur where tourists from around the world jostle to take selfies with the French capital in the background. The actress Audrey Tautou, alias Amelie Poulain in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s cult film that took place in the same Montmartre neighborhood, emphasized the cliché by opening a show that was an indication of the brand’s impressive commercial growth. The subject isn’t whether you like or don’t like his style! Alexandre Mattiussi’s success is a phenomenon the French menswear industry hasn’t seen in a long time. He began with nothing in 2011, first by imagining a wardrobe for his friends, then the male and female friends of his friends and, more recently, he had the great idea of making his logo the symbol he used to sign his drawings when he was a child – the initial of his first name underneath a heart - a recognizable logo of curves and love that has literally done away with the other signs of recognition teenagers use today. Meaning the kinds of teenagers who adore using the “like” symbol to communicate.
France's Changing of the guard
Photo : Officina Generale
Ami is clear proof that we are currently witnessing a true French “changing of the guard” in terms of menswear. In a totally different style, the recent and remarkable presentation of Lemaire in the Ecole des Arts et Metiers’ former “Textile Room” also showed a company that is solidly resting on its bases, its collections follow each other and are updated while continuing to trace the clear line of absolute chic. Two days later in the National Archives Museum courtyard a stone’s throw away, the Officine Générale fashion show also proposed a style that continues to intensify without renouncing Pierre Mahéo’s attachment to timeless cuts, beautiful materials and quality. Thus his neo-classic wardrobe is enriched by slightly trendier, more decorative and colorful pieces. In 2022, the brand celebrated its 10th anniversary with confidence and has announced that it is opening 7 new boutiques worldwide by December. Every situation has a silver lining and we can see that the recent period complicated by the pandemic and repeated lockdowns incited Pierre Mahéo to move forward. And Officine Générale is not the only company to do this. Alongside the traditional Paris fashion shows, an abundance of designers unveiled their extremely interesting French brands.
New but not Beginners
Photo: RECODED by Aalto
With over eighty companies on the official program as well as salons and diverse, sometimes private showrooms, Paris Fashion Week confirmed its status as the “place to be” after two years of fashion shows and presentations on multiple screens. During this long, uncertain period, new projects came to light discreetly. Others used the time to evolve or mature. This was the case, for example, with Tuomas Merikoski, founder of the Finnish women’s fashion label Aalto who moved his company to Paris where he worked behind the scenes for numerous creative directors. Now he launches the menswear brand RECODED by Aalto that focuses on upcycling. Tuomas cuts up a few shirts, a few T-shirts or a few old scarves to compose new pieces with crocheted collars and ribbed edges, fine finishes and well-made linings. Each one-off model has a label with a unique QR code that traces its origins, history and production. Sometimes an overdye coordinates the different fragments while maintaining their differences at the same time. Or he might appliqué a giant silkscreen to unify the different elements of a T-shirt. The collection has a definite clout and we can sense from his skills that he is no beginner.
Photo: Cyril Bourez
Cyril Bourez also proves that he perfectly masters his subject in a second collection under his name. This Frenchman, who graduated from Brussels’ Ecole de La Cambre fashion school where he now also teaches, worked at the Lanvin studios and with Raf Simons after his studies. Today he reworks archetypical menswear pieces by thinking about how men like to wear them. His shirts, whose sleeves are often pushed up, are conceived with removable cuffs and wider, topstitched sleeves that can be turned up at regular intervals. He works his pant and short waists in numerous raw-edged layers. Sometimes visible twill bands reinforce the seams. Parkas and blousons are often decorated inside and outside with carefully-chosen fabrics like the robust canvases of British Millerain. Often a placed transfer print, not unlike a Polaroid snapshot, adds extra character to his well-thought-out pieces.
Photo: Liosa
The Parisian designer Fred Llosa brings maturity to his signature Llosa collection. This designer, who worked for over twenty years with various international brands, had been mulling over the idea of conceiving a personal wardrobe that reinterprets tailored cuts to give them the ease, comfort and functionality of sportswear. In 2020 he introduced a first collection that he tested with consumers in a pop-up store in Paris’ Marais neighborhood where it was a huge success. He has now created a second collection for Spring-Summer to be sold in multi-brand boutiques that deepen his original inspiration of shapes derived from Asian pieces. The cut of some jackets recall kimonos while the closures and knotted ties are often technical. And the range of neutrals puts a special emphasis on fakely coordinated-uncoordinated outfits.
Second Post Pandemic departure
Photo: REM
Andres Azubel and Sébastien Lundin, co-founders of REM, an acronym for Rapid Eye Movement, also honed their skills in various Parisian fashion companies (Balenciaga at the time of Nicolas Ghesquière, Givenchy during the Riccardo Tisci period, Yves Saint Laurent, Maison Martin Margiela, Acne Studios and Ami…) throughout the time that they met at Central Saint Martins in London and the launch of their label. Their company’s name refers to everything that crosses our mind when we close our eyes, things that can seem disorganized and far from reality though they actually have direct links to our everyday lives. Motifs, inscriptions and slogans appear frequently in their Spring-Summer 2023 collection that is intended to be a new departure since the label was launched right before the lockdown and then “put in parentheses” until this new collection.
Photo: Gunther
Also before the pandemic, Naomi Gunther didn’t have the chance to present her label Gunther that she launched for Autumn-Winter 2019-2020. After attending Parsons School of Design in New York, the French designer questions masculine sportswear codes by reworking them in refined natural or recycled and sometimes even feminine fabrics. Everything is manufactured in a short circuit with Les Ateliers de Paris so she can check a maximum of eco-friendly boxes. Her collection for next summer is inspired by country clubs, the ancestors of sport clubs and gyms, where the wealthy used to hang out and “let loose” together. She includes a collaboration with Apnée for bathing trunks. This French brand launched in 2017 is also concerned with environmental questions. Their models are made of 100% recycled materials derived from plastic waste collected in the oceans.
Comments collected by Frédéric Martin-Bernard for Promas List