Anticipating it with a bold and cheeky statement that made fashion people have a mini heart attack, Simon Porte Jacquemus presented his last collection... of the year. One in which he, in his own words, “went back to his roots” while revisiting some viral classics, bringing good friends of the house together, and presenting one of his most solid and well-structured collections to date.
Simon Porte Jacquemus is a designer with great sensitivity, and Jacquemus as a brand is a reflection of this. All the senses are summoned in his presentations, whether by the scent of a lavender field, the striking visuals of white salt dunes, or the characteristic feel of raffia. This is the case with its latest ready-to-wear collection, entitled Le Raphia, just as the star material. It is one of the elements that is already part of the brand's own personal and already iconic language that he has managed to build up in a relatively short time, the cause and consequence of its great success.
A rain of raffia fell on the heads of the diverse group of guests, including Pamela Anderson, Jennie Kim from Blackpink, Vincent Cassel, and Manu Ríos, and formed a kind of carpet on a circular catwalk where fifty-four people passed by. The way Jacquemus organised the looks in trios brought cohesion and sense to the collection and generated a sensation of solidness and depth in which nothing was there by chance and everything connected in one way or another.
Summery and more formal looks followed one after the other in the house's usual colour palette, from the characteristic off-white to the ever-present vibrant colours. Raffia was included in most of them, whether in dense form resembling fur on skirts, sleeve cuffs, or maxi-hats, reduced in small appliqués and details on denim trousers, or interwoven in pieces such as blazers and dresses as well as in the brand's most iconic accessories. La Bomba, the massive pamela who went viral a few years ago, reappears in a more rigid but equally imposing form, a return to the origins in every way.
The tailoring and dressmaking work this season is remarkable, both in the lightweight materials whose drapes, slits, and pleats adapt to the body in a flattering way and in the more structured tailoring seen in both the men's and women's suits. It's usually the womenswear that gets the attention at Jacquemus, but on this occasion, the menswear looks are just as striking. Polka-dot mini shorts, raffia summer shirts, low-rise jeans with a hint of underwear showing, and even a soft lilac cardigan, Jacquemus understands both worlds equally well.
