JACQUEMUS Spring/Summer 2021 collection « L’Amour
"As an idea for this collection, L’Amour began as something different. I imagined people gathered together celebrating love. Alexander Ekman’s choreography of wheat tossed passionately through the air. Emir Kursturica’s film, Time of the Gypsieswith its enchanting realism. These scenes of ceremony large and small. But what’s so beautiful about L’Amour is how it can endure—sometimes even grow stronger—in the absence of people being together. Not long after my team was separated from each other, we were all in our homes feeling the desire to work, and a new vision of the collection emerged. We became a human chain, every step of the creative process executed with love. In fact, every decision I make concerning JACQUEMUS is motivated first by love and common sense. It’s why we shifted to a more sustainable rhythm last year, with two shows combining menswear and womenswear, held in January and June. This decision ended up saving us this season, since we had received all our fabric orders ahead of the confinement. Deciding to go ahead with our usual collection schedule and with a show is at the heart of our visual identity, our commercial strategy. With this smaller collection, presented mainly to our family and friends, we bring our interior worlds out into the open, interpreting the humble fabrics and objects we live with that have their own poems to tell. Within the home, L’Amour reveals itself in small wonders. Separate but collectively, we realized that the home is a place of endless inspiration. These impressions are what I wanted to recreate in this setting today, where we have been fully sensitive to the circumstances. My team has put in an enormous effort these last few months, and I am so grateful that we arrived here, that we are gathered together in the end. For me, it is important for people to see that a true celebration of L’Amour is universal."
As JACQUEMUS is committed to developing its production in the most progressive, sensitive and sustainable ways, the SS21 collection will be available for pre-order online, exclusively through Jacquemus.com, the morning after the show. Beyond creating a valuable connection with consumers, this helps ensure that production corresponds more directly to demand, ultimately establishing a positive commercial model for all.
Linen is the fabric of L’Amour: Natural, pure, everlasting, honest. It follows the curves of the body as a sensuous dress; it can be tailored with light construction as a pair of high-waisted pants or a summery suit. Linen represents French heritage, family heirlooms, household articles and, through both men’s and women’s collections, a fresh perspective in design. Linen lends itself to surface treatments, spanning delicate and traditional broderie anglaise and jour echelle (ladder stitching) to a tenderly contemporary array of laser-cut hearts. Appliqués and incrustations include borders of braided raffia or cotton herringbone tape and embroideries in micro-beaded wheat sheaves. Pillows are transformed into tops and bags alike—a cushioned nod to comfort beyond the home.
Silhouettes for women continue to explore and integrate notions of lingerie: twisted bra tops and bustier t-shirts; shirts and jackets featuring wraparound straps and delicate metal adjusters. Pencil skirts signal archetypal femininity. Silhouettes for men broaden out beyond workwear, adapting a more sensual attitude conveyed in the women’s looks. Jackets and shirts move through various lightweight volumes: rounded and rustic, reconstructed with asymmetric focus, loose like a deconstructed pea coat. The palette is warm and earthy, with muted yellow, olive and crisp blue conjuring the tones of faded linens and baked ceramics inspired by Peter Schlesinger’s work.
Prints take cue from kitchen tiles, vegetal motifs on ceramics, torchon (dishcloth) checks and the inky abstract drawings of Joan Miró. Painterly still life scenes—a plate of white asparagus, a strainer filled with cherries – float across men’s shirts in linen and crisp cotton. Patterns inspired by Picasso’s frescoes at the Château de Castille stand out playfully, drawn directly on the fabric.
Objects found around the home are reimagined as whimsical accessories: Miniature cutlery and tools crafted in leather dangle from suits, keychains are accented with tiny tablecloths and cuffs are fashioned from old door handles. Real mini Marseille soaps turn up as charms on necklaces and bracelets. Other jewellery pieces signal handcraft through hammered and bent metal shapes, at once artisanal and artistic. Pillows and plates become portable, carried as a tote or secured in a leather harness. In terms of footwear, women wear sandals that wrap around the ankle and flip-flops on a gentle platform; men, an espadrille- style shoe that conjures the countryside.
The Chiquito finds new expression yet again. Chrome-free vegetal tones of vibrant rose, orange and blue show early signs of natural patina, while linen offers an alternative to leather. The Chiquito Nœud features an extra-long top-handle that can be looped or worn on the shoulder. Triangular prism and cube shapes for women, and a toolbox-style case for men expand upon the recognizable references of JACQUEMUS bags. Lastly, as if the Chiquito couldn’t get any smaller, it now appears as a single earring stud.
