Jacquemus Refines French Elegance With Minimal FW20 Collection
Taking it back to simple palettes and loosely-tailored cuts.
Casting a soft, gentle light against a white stage, Jacquemus‘ distinctive minimalist palette came to life at Paris Fashion Week, modeled by a roster of familiar faces, like the Hadid sisters, Laetitia Casta, who returned to the runway after a decade of absence, Joan Smalls and Doutzen Kroes. Dubbed “THE YEAR ‘97,” this season’s assemblage was imbued with soft shades of ivory, creamy ecru, gray, olive, violet and blue over linen trousers, delicate mohair sweaters, puffer jackets, trench coats, anoraks, vests and loose slacks, showcasing the eponymous label’s Fall/Winter 2020 collection in the form of clean-cut lines and loosely tailored layers.
For the designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, collections always come from a personal place, and this season was inspired by a time when Simon was a child making a skirt for his mother: “when I was 7 I took a linen curtain and made a skirt for my mother,” said Simon. “I wanted to go back to that sense of minimalism. It’s the first time I’m thinking of a collection like it would be my last. I wanted to make a minimal wardrobe, a wardrobe that would be timeless, beige and pure.”
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
Pete Casta/Hypebeast France
The collection seamlessly blends casual styles, like the checkered anorak or the denim overalls, with more traditional silhouettes, like suits and coats, offering a modern perspective of timelessness. This concept was echoed throughout the entire collection with a touch of french elegance — breezy linen textiles, semi-loose fits and light washes. Some noteworthy garments in the range included crisp white button-ups, pleated trousers, boxy trucker jackets and baggy pants with a diamond cut-out pattern, to name a few.
But the collection isn’t just minimal in its designs, it’s minimal in the show’s execution as there were no invitation cards made for the show. The designer explains that this was part of a new direction for the brand he set a few months ago, which aims to cut down common practices in fashion he feels are unnecessary or inefficient: “There are no invitation cards because it’s not necessary to mark a date or a number [...] Things must make sense in all the procedures, reducing collections and cycles, returning to more sensible things, like in our grandparents’ time. I thought of this collection like it would be my last because of all the things going on in the world and in life. It was a feeling of doubt about our profession, what we’re doing and why, so I just wanted to make more sense of it all.”
Scroll through the gallery above for a look at Jacquemus’ FW20 collection presentation.
To see more Paris Fashion Week shows, check out White Mountaineering’s highly technical FW20 styles.
