Rebirth of Courrèges
Courrèges was THE word in fashion in the late 1960s as young women decided they no longer wanted to dress like their mothers. The neat twin-sets were ditched in favour of the ‘Space Age’ look Courrèges was renowned for. Reflective patent leather jackets and matching ‘moon boots’, became as coveted among the ‘youth quake’ as the helmet-like hairstyles. By the mid-1970s, Courrèges was fading, with mothers rather than daughters wearing the neat orange jackets that were impeccably finished. But decades later, with renewed interest in the mid to late 1960s in fashion, architecture and design, Courrèges is back.
Founded by Andre Courrèges and now with Arnaud Vaillant and Sébastien Meyer at the helm, Courrèges is finding a new audience, decades later. This young creative duo, only in their mid-20s and with only a few years running their own fashion label Coperni Femme, must have been daunted with such a mantle to carry forward.
“We both were a little apprehensive when we were asked to be artistic directors of such a prestigious house. There was little time to work on the first collection as we joined in May 2015 and the collection had to be ready at the end of September,” says Meyer. Like the Coperni Femme label, which was razor sharp and focused on the youth market, the aesthetic, as well as shared values with Courrèges had already been established. This synergy between the two labels was also noticed by Courrèges owners and co-presidents, Jacques Bungert and Frederic Torloting.
The new Courrèges collection, unveiled in Paris last September, was proof the right decision had been made. Rather than presenting models in top-to-toe Courrèges, Vaillant and Meyer dressed each model in cream knitted body suits with only one Courrèges item revealed each time. A black patent leather jacket became the focus or a pair of suede trousers with the label’s distinctive patchwork pockets. Another model was simply dressed in an A-lined shaped tunic and another wearing a short silver foil mini-skirt. “We feel extremely free at Courrèges. We feel that it’s a continuation of what we used to design,” says Vaillant.
However, while the ease of designing for Courrèges was reasonably effortless, there were important codes to learn to be able to convey the story of tomorrow’s Courrèges. “We don’t start from a blank page but have to invent Courrèges’ future,” says Vaillant. “Our challenge is to rebuild a contemporary image of what was an avant-garde label. It has to feel fresh and modern and have the right balance between the past and the future,” says Meyer, who enjoys ‘twisting’ the heritage brand in a contemporary way.
Vaillant also points out that while Courrèges’ Moon Girl Spring Summer Collection of 1965 was a milestone in fashion history, Courrèges was not fixated on moon gazing. “When you look at Courrèges it was structure, architecture, modernity, simplicity and efficiency,” says Meyer, who highlights the word simplicity as being at the forefront of their minds. “We do not work in terms of looks and we do not want to hide details. We divide our collections into five product categories: jacket, dress, skirt, top and pants. “We wanted to focus our creative process on the garment, to put it back at the heart of our reasonings,” says Vaillant, who included three versions of every style, for movement for everyday life from morning to evening. “Our mantra is wearability for all women, from the young cool girls to their chic classical mothers,” adds Meyer.
Cose Ipanema in Melbourne will be introducing Courrèges into its city and South Yarra stores. “I first heard about the revival of Courrèges through Carlo Zollo (an Australian who left for Europe to make his fashion mark and who after several high-profile fashion positions in Paris, is now International Commercial Director at Courrèges). “I’ve always had a certain nostalgia for Courrèges. As a nine-year-old child, I was already following Courrèges in magazines such as Vogue,” says Sam Hussein, Manager and Buyer for Cose Ipanema. “Carlo contacted me and it didn’t take much encouragement to meet him at the showroom in Paris,” she says. Her order book included A-line dresses, fabulous knitwear in blue, yellow, red, white or black, all with the distinctive Courrèges logo. And of course, top of the page in her order book were the cropped wet-look jackets. “Courrèges will obviously attract a younger client. But I feel it’s also going to strongly appeal to our older long-standing clients.”
And rather than starting from scratch each season or following a theme (think Latin America or the Wild West), the classic Courrèges design will simply evolve from season to season. ‘When everyone loves a certain piece, why not simply develop it from one season to the next?’” says Vaillant, who with Meyer, initially wants to focus on ready-to-wear. However, given the other world, the Space-Age world Andre Courrèges was captivated with in the mid-1960s, the foundations have been laid for adventurous ideas to be explored in the future.
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