Surprisingly wearable looks and Neverending Story vibes with a white horse on the catwalk for Jacquemus SS16.

‘Going into my Dreams’

Immediately after last night’s show, Simon Porte Jacquemus’ Instagram was updated with his classic trio of the same shot: it pictured the designer dressed all in white, leading an all white horse through his showspace, and was entitled ‘Going into my Dreams’ – which this show really did. In possibly the biggest warehouse in the whole of Paris, sitting in a circle, the attendees were taken deep into the fantasies of this rightly acclaimed young designer. Opening with a young boy, dressed in a baggy white shirt, pushing a giant red fabric ball through the space, the tone was set for a collection which felt incomparably intelligent, political, and beautiful at the same time – a dream to watch.

Attacking the corporate

In his classic palette of red, blue and white, models – singularly or in pairs – figure-eighted through the space in physically simple, but metaphorically loaded, re-imaginings of the ‘classic male suit’. White shirts and pinstriped suit jackets and trousers were cut up and re-patched together abstractly, while a blue tie was wrapped around the bust, rather than the neck. A pair of models walked together in two dresses made up of both sides of the same blazer and after the designer’s horse cameo, three dresses constructed out of countless white shirts wrapped into a heavy ball, perhaps representing the weight of the corporation upon both society and the female, were sent out into the dream. A boxy floor-length blue pinstriped dress was adorned with the outlined drawing of a suit, almost like chalk lines on the floor at a crime scene: the death of the corporate establishment (please!). The atmosphere was incredibly intense in this space where a designer had successfully managed to both capture child-like simplicity, while deconstructing and critiquing the ultimate signifier of male dominance and success.

Wearable Criticism

This collection, importantly, was also incredibly wearable. Cottons and suiting were the central fabrics, making for simple, layer-able and wearable garments, which could be incorporated into really any wardrobe. White brogues – with one square heel, one circular heel – were yet another deconstructed look at the uniform of success. The whole offering was so refreshingly forward thinking, refreshingly fantastical, and refreshingly politically aware – receiving a standing ovation which was so unquestionably deserved.

Photographer: Thurstan Redding

Words: Tom Rasmussen