Pulsating beneath the surface of the iconic French fashion house, Courrèges, lies an often-overlooked undertone of whimsical peculiarity, a unique layer of its identity born from the inventive mind of its founder, André Courrèges. This intrinsic oddness, often shrouded by the glittery glamour of high fashion, has found a spirited champion in the brand’s current Creative Director, Nicolas di Felice. With the courrèges Spring/Summer 2024 collection, di Felice not only delves deep into this delightful eccentricity but embraces it fully, emerging with a spectacularly offbeat collection that redefines audaciousness in style.
Welcome to the world of courrèges, where the absurd coexists with the sublime, where a single sheet of metal can be a shoe, and where fashion finds freedom in its playful take on the rules. When you think you know what to expect from the Spring/Summer 2024 collection, it surprises you, underlining the central ethos of Courrèges – it’s all about the unexpected.
The narrative weaves seamlessly from an urban context of models hunched over their cellphones to a poignant journey of self-discovery, basking in the glare of spotlights and chrome pendant jewelry. A passionate yearning for escapism and hedonism percolates throughout the collection, brought to life by di Felice’s vivid reimagining of Michelangelo Antonioni’s seminal film “Zabriskie Point.”
“I found myself profoundly moved by the characters’ fight for a cause and their decision to seek exile in a starkly beautiful desert. That gave me the idea of an eternal summer,” di Felice revealed. His commitment to bringing the film’s sentiment to the catwalk resulted in a compelling fusion of the old and new.
The collection starts with striking tailored pieces, beginning with a dramatic one-shoulder silhouette and evolving into an enticing, askew vested one-piece. As the narrative unfolds, these orderly styles progressively deconstruct, mirroring the characters’ transformation upon arriving at the desert. Sharp pinstripes become twisted and shirred, and a tastefully restrained jacket is daringly slashed to expose the body, exhibiting an intriguingly provocative charm.
Furthering the collection’s audacious appeal are the tees with black rib sleeve finishes breaking into a leather strap on one side, an homage to the provocative aesthetic of Robert Mapplethorpe. Elsewhere, boot-cut jeans broaden and flare, signifying an expanding horizon of stylistic possibilities. The most striking pieces, however, are dresses and skirts crafted from circles draped around the body to resemble the courrèges logo, and the finale piece – a men’s singlet in a sheer, rainbow-like print, christened as “the aura” by di Felice.
These intricate details mark di Felice’s version of courrèges as a standout amid a deluge of brand revamps. The courrèges Spring/Summer 2024 collection builds its own counterculture of unabashed enjoyment and sensuality, redefining the boundaries of fashion with a distinctively Courrèges twist. “In the end, it’s about desire,” says di Felice. “You want it, and you go and get it.” This season, that desire is found in the joyously eccentric imagination of André Courrèges, brilliantly reimagined by Nicolas di Felice.
© Photos : courrèges
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