Is it too early to say that Simon Porte Jacquemus is shaping up to be the Martin Margiela of his generation? The French designer, who garnered a special award at last year’s LVMH Prize, has a childlike joie de vivre view about fashion. His most recent collection even had the power to make Anna Wintour smile (repeatedly) during his Monday evening show.
So what put Wintour in such a good mood? A lineup of clothing that played dramatically with proportions, geometry and asymmetry. Where metallic baby doll dresses were constructed so that the spaghetti straps rounded stiffly high above the ears or came iron flat and plastered starch-like across the front of a sleeveless jumpsuit. Jackets were so wide women wearing them would have to walk sideways through a doorway. They were almost two dimensional, in a way that was reminiscent of some of Rei Kawakubo seminal work. And then there were all of the sartorial hybrid pieces, Frankenstein designs crafted from an assortment of fabrics stitched or tied together on the body.
As other leaders of the « Now Generation », including Demna Gvasalia and Alexandre Mattiussi, looked on from the overcrowded front row Jacquemus more than proved he has earned a place among them. His voice is one the fashion world needs to have in its chorus.