Does the world need another heritage brand? Probably not. Do women outside of France have any special feeling for Courrèges? Unlikely. But any doubts about Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant’s efforts to revive André Courrèges’s space-age label were quickly dispelled by their show this morning. The LVMH Prize finalists, who put their fledgling line, Coperni Femme, on hold to focus on this endeavor, made a clever debut. Their trick was to get down to basics.
As the pair said when they came out onstage to introduce the collection—a charming performance that was a novelty in and of itself—the show had no “total looks.” Instead there were iconic Courrèges items tweaked for 2016 shoppers—15 in all, and each one available in a range of 15 different materials. That kind of variety will be a boon to retailers, which tend to want items unique to their stores. And it was refreshing to see young designers focused so clearly on commerce, especially in a season when others have been creatively flummoxed by new responsibilities at the historic brands they’ve inherited.
The show felt a bit like Courrèges 101, what with the steady progression from the house’s familiar cropped jacket in a crinkly patent to miniskirts, A-line shifts, and cropped pants in such materials as suede, techno knits, and patchworked leather. The foundation for every piece was a white ribbed knit bodysuit that Meyer and Vaillant could spin out in a dozen directions next season if they choose to.
Courrèges’s owners, Jacques Bungert and Frédéric Torloting, planned this launch just about perfectly. The late ’60s and early ’70s have been trending on the runways since Nicolas Ghesquière landed at Louis Vuitton. Julien Dossena has done a bang-up job of breathing new life into Paco Rabanne, whose work shares similarities with that of Courrèges. Timing counts. The faster this foursome can get these pieces in shops and online, the better.
