I got to know A.P.C. in the summer of 1996 when I fell for a simple white button-down in the pages of W magazine, where I had just landed my dream job: calling in fashion credits for the well pages! By then, A.P.C.’s Mercer Street store was open in New York City, and the company was going on 10 years old. By A.P.C. standards—Jean and Judith Touitou celebrated the brand’s 30th anniversary tonight in Paris—I’m practically an arriviste. 1987, the mid-’90s, 2017 . . . the rule book hasn’t changed. Now, as ever, the label has its standards, not just the raw denim it’s known for, but also jean jackets, simple white shirts, wedge sandals, fashionably practical boots.
How do you critique a line that has wavered so little, with founders that have remained so resolute? Do you take a survey of the front row? This season it included quite possibly the most famous French woman of all, Catherine Deneuve, who showed up with her dog. Do you base it on Jean’s always erudite speech? Tonight, he quoted Balzac’s novella Sarrasine. Do you go on the fact that the Chambre Syndicale finally gave the label an official spot on the Paris Fashion Week calendar? After three decades. Or do you keep it simple, and make the clothes the thing?
The clothes are simple (and affordable) and therein lies their beauty. Jeans got a lighter wash and a shorter leg, but were long enough to partially tuck into perfect bordeaux leather boots. Jean jackets played the part of shirt (tucked into jeans) and accessory (knotted in back behind the shoulder blades), and denim jumpsuits had a starring role. As for this season’s crisp white shirt; it was long enough to peek from the hem of a pelmet mini and keep things decent when paired with super-slouchy, used and rehabbed Butler jeans. There was a smart-looking Prince of Wales coat and a deep emerald green trench. And judging by the current vogue for logos and slogans, the Hiver 87 scarf is going to be a cult hit.
At the beginning of the show Jean lodged a complaint about the current state of fashion, arguing that ready-to-wear is “not ready-to-be-worn anymore.” So, okay, maybe he fed us this line, but on the contrary, A.P.C.’s ready-to-wear really is.
