Waiting for The Man
The guessing game is over: Simon Porte Jacquemus revealed at his fall show in
Paris on Monday that the new professional challenge he has been teasing for weeks on social media with the hashtag #newjob is the launch of his own men’s wear line.
The designer announced the news by taking his bow in a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words “New Job L’Homme Jacquemus” at his women’s readyto-wear show, held at the Petit Palais in front of guests including Christian Lacroix, Casey Spooner and Inès de la Fressange.
He won’t present his first creations until Paris men’s fashion week in June, and it hasn’t yet been finalized if he will stage a show or a presentation for the men’s line.
“I see the Jacquemus man as I see the Jacquemus woman; it’s a sincere story,” Jacquemus told WWD backstage before the show. He revealed he had a very personal reason to launch the project.
“I didn’t do men’s until now because I didn’t feel the need to do men’s and I couldn’t imagine it,” the 28-year-old explained. “I fell in love and I started to imagine that the Jacquemus man exists. I did Jacquemus women’s for my mother, and while I’m not saying that the men’s collection will be all about my boyfriends, it will still always be a love story.”
The designer has used social media as a central part of his communications strategy since he launched his brand in 2009 after dropping out of fashion school, prompted by his mother’s untimely death. (Jacquemus is her maiden name.)
He rapidly gained the support of industry figures such as Rei Kawakubo and took home the Special Jury Prize in the annual awards held by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Since then, he has won a reputation as one of the most talented young designers on the Paris scene, whose name is regularly put forward in the ongoing game of musical chairs at major houses.
His designs have become a favorite of celebrities like Kendall Jenner, Selena Gomez and Beyoncé, who wore a yellow skirt from the spring collection to take her daughter Blue Ivy Carter to the NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles earlier this month.
Jacquemus predicted that the addition of a men’s line would impact the mood of the brand. “This is going to change Jacquemus a little in the sense that it’s much more forward-looking, because there is a lot of melancholy in the women’s collections, for obvious reasons,” he said.
— JOELLE DIDERICH variety of reasons.
Alexis Mabille is foregoing his runway show for showroom appointments, which will be accompanied with a film clip, to present his new collection.
The French designer said he is focusing on tuxedos and evening gowns.
Esteban Cortázar ended a dozen-year run in Paris and moved to New York for his fall collection, accepting a one-season invitation. It was a homecoming of sorts; the Colombian-born designer started his fashion career in Miami and debuted his first collection in New York in 2002.
Acne Studios moved off the calendar and showed its ready-to-wear collection in Paris during Haute Couture week. Also missing from the lineup was Moncler Gamme Rouge, which has been discontinued as part of a strategy shift by Moncler chief executive officer Remo Ruffini.
Also sitting out are labels with lead-designer changes: Céline, which recently appointed Hedi Slimane; and Mugler, which named American designer Casey Cadwallader in December.
Emanuel Ungaro and Liselore Frowijn also opted out of the catwalk this season, with Ungaro sticking to a showroom and Frowijn planning to reveal her collection in April.
— MIMOSA SPENCER