Carven has begun its rollout under Serge Ruffieux with outdoor ads appearing around Paris that place a girl somewhere in the city that’s a bit grittier. She’s wearing an ample shirt boasting an eye-catching geometric print, and then a softer ‘30s-inspired cinched dress—two of the Resort looks which he previewed this week from a remarkably transformed showroom. Formerly airy and all-white, it was now boxed in—ceiling dropped and carpeted—with only a sliver of the original skylight visible. The idea, he explained, was to appear undecorated, as a conceptual take on an old archive. Ruffieux is overseeing the global image of Carven, so these early decisions reveal glimpses of his vision, especially while we await his runway debut in September. It only takes a quick glance of the lookbook to see the Carven muse bears little relation to her two most recent predecessors—this includes the one designed by Guillaume Henry, who commendably revived the house. Ruffieux, who many will remember has come from Christian Dior where he shared the creative director role with Lucie Meier between Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chiuri, has put an eccentric, sporty spin on a young, ladylike persona.
If you haven’t noticed already, the footwear is all kinds of flat, and all kinds of fun, and ever so slightly folk. In the showroom, prime real estate was dedicated to these tasseled slides, braided cord sandals, and cut-out moccasins—here’s betting this will be the case in stores, too. Those excited to show they’ve bought into Ruffieux-era Carven can start with the intarsia insect knits and idiosyncratic scarf prints—a motif of chains and what could only be described as a scrapbook of little lambs. But the jacket details and volumes—judicious hand-embroidery on a field jacket; a gaping quilted back on a sporty vest; gathered, articulated sleeves—were more indicative of his vision over the longer term. What’s clear for now is that he’s bringing back Mme Carven’s fondness for green, both big as an ongoing color story, and small as X-stitched branding on entry-level items. It seems like a good sign.
