After working together on the Fall ’19 teaser campaign, Yolanda Zobel asked Harley Weir to photograph the Resort collection—and to be its model. “She’s my inspiration in terms of who she is and what she does, and how she sees women and is so natural with her body,” said the designer. “This is who the Courrèges woman is—well, one of them.”
Upon agreeing, the London-based lenswoman received a selection of key looks and got to work being Harley, chez Harley. The 13 images feel somewhat cinema verité–meets–Cindy Sherman, even if it’s probably reductive to describe them this way. Mostly, they reveal the intimate Weir-isms and emphatic body language that have made her so sought after in the industry and beyond. The series also reveals the clothes—although only to a point. You can glean the sinuous bicolored pants; the recurrence of safety orange; a hooded trapeze dress in terrycloth; and a barely there bandeau. Without insight into Weir’s style, these looked like pieces she would wear—which was Zobel’s goal rather than a predictable lookbook.
Needless to say, the showroom visit revealed a far larger offering. A sampling of highlights: multifunctional jackets and belted coats with detachable sleeves; quirky linen dresses spliced with lining pleats; noticeably ’90s washed denim; commercially friendly underpinnings and fine-gauge ribbed knits; and a variety of new logo placements. Zobel’s interpretation of Courrèges circa 2020 accommodates both obvious (pieces with modular features) and unexpected (capes). “You need to go hand in hand with the past without going radically different,” she said. Speaking of which, her version of the brand’s signature vinyl jackets is apparently still under construction. “We’re working on a new solution,” she said cryptically.
Back to Weir’s photos; they make the point that Zobel wants Courrèges to reflect a more contemporary, idiosyncratic femininity. If the collection struck a little light compared to all her ideas, her post-mod world is nonetheless coming into view.
