Hyères Festival 2024

The French duo managed to create a cinematic but also realistic narrative with their Last Tour. The eight-piece collection retells a story of a boyband, and it does so in a chronological and storytelling-like way. Concepts are the key component of a collection and the starting point. When a good idea arises that could have a great room for exploration and hints at an impactful and visually effective physical outcome, success is almost granted, and that's what happened in this collection. From the first look to the last one, each one of them tells a story on its own while also making sense all together. Each one represents the different stages in the life of a boyband member, from pre-debut to the later failed artist days and the fame and glory of inbetween. Every stage can do as a separate concept for many independent collections, but when putting all together, they give us a big screen movie instead of a season-divided TV show. 

As with most of the artists, the early days and childhood are marked somehow by the wishes and hopes for the future, in this case, one that is filled with music and spectacle. That’s why our main characters chose being a sports team mascot and a member of the school marching band to begin their journey to stardom. With these two occupations being characterised by very specific attire, Koehler and Baia adapted to their own La Cage style, creating flamboyant shapes and volumes with a dark vibe to them and unexpected materials like fabric waste or linen chasuble. The years of success arrive, and with them the flashy wardrobe with a robe-like dress in bright colours, ribbon flowers as decorations, along with a sort of presidential band that reads “Man of the Year” or a degradé pink to purple boa, very much à la Elton John. 

But after a great success comes a great downfall, and the epilogue of this story is formed by three looks that portray the decadent destiny of some of these once very loved but now forgotten band members. The colours that once were bright now are toned down, the lavish fabrics now look old, and the impeccable look is now stained by dirt and filled with holes. The process of creating this sort of look is perhaps the most interesting one in the collection. For reaching this rotten aspect, the pair decided to bury the garments under the ground for a month to get natural damage on the pieces, hence the raw aspect of the holes, stains, and discoloration on them, impossible to replicate by hand. The details go further than just the clothes; multiple vinyl records representing each look and their era were made and carried by the models. A grammy-worthy collection.

The fact that her collection made her the winner of the Public Prize of the City of Hyères confirms her purpose was successfully fulfilled and her message has been understood by the audience. Her goal when creating, described as “dressing ordinary people in an ordinary wardrobe and making extraordinary outfits” is translated in a collection that, when seen as whole, gives an extremely cohesive message, and when going outfit by outfit, makes you say, "I want that” over and over again. Getting inspired by her growing years during the 90s, specifically in that particular moment where France, her country of origin, won the football World Cup in 1998, Gaëlle took all the nostalgia, togetherness, love for sports, and overall joie de vivre and reshaped it in a way that the new generations get the hype and the older ones remember how it felt back then. 

With multiple collaborations that show her experience on the field, each look travels with grace the line between sportswear and streetwear, with silhouettes, shapes, and types of garments heavily inspired on the heavy cultural movement of the France of the 90s, where rap and streetwear à la française, as she calls it, were the thing. With this loose and slightly oversized pieces are born most commonly in full looks, either in matching tracksuits or one long piece that works as a tunic. Making subtle and tasteful references to staples of French culture like the Eiffel Tower-shaped godets in the side of the pants and the back of an asymmetrical shirt, or more straightforward, as each colour combination is taken from some of France’s more recognised football teams on different eras like Marseille, Saint-Étienne, FC Metz, or her home team, RC Strasbourg, it all is a sort of history lesson on style, tradition, and retro aesthetics. 

On the runway while the models walked by, instead of the usual songs or remixes, football chants were playing, visually making the predominantly French audience become more and more excited and, for instance, involved with what was showing. Aside from the garments, the complements were as important in the collection, with pieces that elevate the looks to an almost royal status, like the laurel-style wreath reimagined in gold and with stars instead, a royal velvet cape or an intelligent football ball-shaped gold bag. Other accessories, just as good but more suitable for day-to-day life, like the typical football scarves, sports bags, and bucket hats, are presented in their high-end version thanks to the materials, embroidery, and details used in them. 

The Texas-born designer brought a big part of his American style and heritage to the south of France, and it was memorable and awarded, taking home one of the main prizes of the event, the Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Prize, a celebration of not only his hard work but his environmental consciousness. With the goal of blending two very different universes, the men's tailoring world with the motorcycle and racing archetypes, Asphalt Cowboy results in the perfect mix of the craft and carefulness of one side and the roughness and freedom of the other. 

Inspired by his upbringing in Dallas, growing up surrounded by motorcycles thanks to his father's influence, the collection features pieces with parts and materials extracted directly from their old suits, shipped from the US to Paris, where Monroe is currently based, repurposing forgotten high-quality garments and giving a new life to them. The overall silhouettes keep that wide protective style of the motorcycle gear, but their intention and way of constructing are much more intentioned and careful, mixing traditional tailoring garments like coats and blazers (with racing prints) with mechanic suits and full leather sets.

The motorcycle aesthetics are infused through and through, with motifs resembling the starting flag present on every race, the logo of the brand resembling the ones biker clubs are known for, and the boots designed to look like the bike boot covers, but very American details are also included, like the engraving (with laser) of words—including his name—on leather similarly to how they do it with livestock. But without a doubt the stellar piece of the collection is the typical biker jacket that features on the outside all the important but never exposed materials, stitches, and pieces found on the inside of any tailoring suit, while also including parts of original biker suits on the back of the garment, the perfect representation of the codes this collection meant to fuse and of Logan’s ability to do so in a successful way.