L’Échappée Belle – a French expression meaning the great escape. A short feature film, the spontaneous jaunt of a close-knitted group of friends. The title is an allegorical reference to a newfound freedom, to the outdoors, to better times ahead. It is a celebration of the joy of being together, much of which we have sorely missed in the past year.

The film is set on the grounds of a seemingly abandoned funfair at night, with its deserted alleys of stands, rides and carousels. Neon lights, strong pop colors and mirrors lend a fun and intemporal atmosphere to the location, while the emptiness brings an eerie, dream-like sensation, reminiscent of our once empty cities in lockdown.

The main characters: a group of friends, carefree, leaving the city for an escape in a more poetic, almost apocalyptic environment. They enjoy being together again, at long last. The friends take possession of the funfair, wandering around in a space only for them, a night of exploration of what the future will be, a night of liberty and discovery, in a metaphor of the passage between old world and new world, between lockdown and freedom..

The 6-minute film was directed by Alvaro Colom, the Spanish filmmaker and photographer, whose background as a dancer influences his work with a graceful, choreography-like flow. New York-based Alvaro regularly shoots some of the most sought-after names in fashion, for magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair, and has been the mind and lens behind multiple campaigns for top fashion houses.

This marks Alvaro’s second collaboration with AMI: he has previously signed Fall-Winter 21’s digital presentation “Le Défilé”— the most-watched presentation ever in the brand’s history.

THE SET

 

Alexandre Mattiussi pictured the Ami Funfair as the ideal setting for his great escape, L’Échappée Belle. Traditional rides, including a carousel, a mirror maze, bumping cars and a life-size ferris wheel -all dressed in neon lights-, were recreated inside a Parisian venue.

The alleys were transformed into a runway for the models, who acted as a group of friends escaping the city into this almost surreal scenario.

THE COLLECTION 

AMI’s Spring-Summer 22 highlights the quintessential design spirit of the brand. The collection of the New Normal, intrinsically fresh and dynamic, yet intuitively elegant. The approach is free lighthearted. AMI’s effortless Parisian chic; its concept of wardrobe, expressive, wearable.

The collection is defined by its familiar palette, a vibrant mix between levels of tonalities: from pastels to strong, flashy colors, and muted, darker sophisticated ones -including dusty pink, bright fuchsia, deep burgundy, pale aqua and bright green-.

AMI’s iconic, modern silhouettes get sharper shapes, more volumes, and an utmost sartorial sense. Womenswear shows a newfound femininity, stronger and modern, with pieces that emphasize the waist, refined shoes, and all-over mesh embroideries.

L’Échappée Belle features a new range of bags in neutral colors that complement the energetic tones from the ready-to-wear collection: the Accordéon, AMI’s latest “it-bag” for Spring-Summer 22, a geometric shape with utilitarian feeling, and the Small Déjà-Vu – the reinterpretation on the Déjà-Vu, first seen in AMI’s Fall-Winter 21 runway.