If for the Ann Demeulemeester Spring collection Sébastien Meunier looked to an unwitting icon from the turn of the last century, it’s because there’s a backstory. Several, perhaps.
Odd as it rings now, l’Inconnue de la Seine—an unknown teenager who drowned in Paris—was a young woman of such beauty that her death mask became a thing. Her smile in particular drew comparisons to a Mona Lisa of the early 20th century. Posthumously, she became a muse for artists and writers, including Rilke and Baudelaire.
Backstage before the show, Meunier noted that a replica of the Inconnue is the first thing one sees upon entering his apartment. The object was a gift from collector friends. Since then, the girl has since become something of an obsession for him.
In some ways this was a continuation of his recent men’s collection, which referenced the Symbolist movement. For women, Meunier’s outing ticked a lot of boxes: shades of old rose that are one of the bellwethers of Spring 2019; fabric treatments with a wet, unfinished sheen; and the trailing, tendril-like details that are something of a house signature. His romantic-nostalgic-melancholic tenor included lots of easy trousers, blouses, and nightdress-style looks that were floaty enough that they might have been suspended in water. The strongest looks included jackets, with or without a cluster of posies strewn around the neck. Trenches, coats, and full-length dresses conveyed a masculine/feminine allure. The Demeulemeester client will also feel right at home with the final series of long, floaty dresses—with or without the harness.
“[The look is] always linked to my tastes and story—it’s something very personal,” said Meunier. “We don’t know a lot about her, so you can dream up lots of things and transpose your own world on it. You can imagine anything.”
