Renzo Rosso had a prime seat at today’s Koché show. Having met and mentored Christelle Kocher via the ANDAM Prize, which she won last summer, he inked a licensing deal with her. The first results of their new partnership were on the runway at the AccorHotels Arena in the 12th arrondissement. Rosso’s specialty being denim—he launched Diesel 40 years ago—the focus of the first part of the collection was jeans. Kocher’s m.o. is to mash-up street influences with couture flourishes, so the shapes ranged well beyond standard issue. A button-down had ’80s shoulders and sleeves, and a skirt boasted a grand, floor-grazing sweep. Later on in the collection, she layered skinnies under her signature collaged slip dresses and sweaters. Adding jeans to the lineup is likely to bring Kocher’s opening prices down, a move that jibes with her inclusive vision.
The Rosso deal is only one of Kocher’s new arrangements. Less than a week ago, she was in Milan presenting a one-off collection for LVMH’s Emilio Pucci label. She didn’t have a slow start to 2020, and that was reflected in the patchwork motifs here, which were lifted from motorcycle detailing and otherwise suggested motion with their slanted, aerodynamic designs. The zigzag prints on a few menswear pieces weren’t prints at all, but jacquards. Kocher said high-quality workmanship was one of the highlights of working with Rosso’s OTB: “When I push them to make things a bit more elevated, the results are incredible; the technicians are so good.” That fact, however, was a bit lost on the audience in the cavernous arena; a more intimate setting would be better for showing off the details she was talking about, to say nothing of conjuring emotion, which is just as important to a show’s success.
Two new developments that look like promising avenues for exploration: a generous but sporty black denim cape lavished with crystals that qualified as a fresh silhouette for Kocher, and a topcoat of feathers fused to plastic with ultra-glossy results made by Lemarié, the Paris maison at which she holds down yet another job. Rosso should be pleased by this first lap around the track.
