Jacquemus composes a colourful ballad to the lagoon

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Feb 26, 2019

Jacquemus opened Paris Fashion Week on Monday evening with a collection that maintained a delicate balance between a precise modernist sensibility and the bold and colourful style that has come to characterise the house. For the presentation of his collection for Fall/Winter 2019-20, the designer from Southern France took his audience on a trip to the Venetian Lagoon with its intense light and warm colour palette. 

Not a gondola in sight though, the decor instead consisting of a pretty little town square with a grocer's, a bakery and a florist's. There was even white laundry hanging in the windows and a fashion boutique which, of course, was named Jacquemus. In shades of ochre, green, sienna and Prussian blue, the little multicoloured fishermen's houses recreated a fantastical version the island of Burano. However, on closer inspection, beneath this picturesque façade there were a number of unexpected touches, like the alley named in honour of Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier or the porthole windows reminiscent of modernist architecture. 

"This collection is entitled La Collectionneuse (the collector) because it takes its inspiration from all kinds of artistic references, from the modernist chairs of Pierre Jeanneret to the architecture of Gae Aulenti, via the pop Memphis motifs of Nathalie Du Pasquier. At the same time, I'm still obsessed with colour, as demonstrated by all the ceramics that I collect," explained Simon Porte Jacquemus backstage. 

It was a collection which swung between a blueprint-like geometric rigour presented in neutral tones and a very Mediterranean wardrobe, which almost looked like a summer collection with its explosion of colours, seen in head-to-toe looks in shocking pink, intense green or electric blue, flashy touches like a culotte dress in orange leather, and a jacket and coat in golden yellow, not to mention the little open-backed tops. 

Silhouettes were flowing and comfortable with buttonless wraparound coats, boiled wool trousers and loose low-cut jumpers with wide folded edges that hung around models' shoulders like trompe-l'œil scarfs. Square pouches in vividly coloured nylon or leather transformed into cushion-like bags when they were carried in the models' arms or became curious life aids when they were attached to the side of a pair of trousers. 

Loose shirts and trousers were worn tone on tone – simple white, lapis lazuli or military beige elevated by a detachable fluorescent orange pocket – while backless silk dresses in red or blue glided across the models' bodies as they walked. 

The designer incorporated a number of trompe-l’œil details, folding back a corner of fabric on a skirt or at the waist of a trench to make it look as though it were opening to reveal a different piece of clothing. A sense of fun was never too far from the surface, especially in the accessories, as seen in a series of micro bags that models held daintily between their fingertips or tucked into their belts like a cartridge holder.  

The girls also wore long leather leggings like gaiters over Pataugas-style shoes of the same colour, recalling the boots of the lagoon's fishermen, as well as earrings decorated with handkerchiefs, which put one in mind of the laundry drying in the sun – or postcards. 

As for the wedding dress, it was a white pant suit peppered with little rings through which the long stems of daisies and white tulips were threaded.