Winning the grand prize at the 2024 ANDAM in June is all well and good but Christopher Esber didn’t feel he could rest on any laurels yet.
“I felt a lot of pressure to make it something I’m really proud about and feels worthy of the win,” the Australian designer said backstage before his spring show, the second he has staged in Paris.
Esber opened with a black dress with a near-sheer bodice and a draped skirt that wound back up to cover the shoulders, among the looks he’d presented to the jury headed by Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vaccarello.
What followed blended his sensual and sculptural dresses with newer directions like tailoring. Woven in were a host of references that included delicate cotton underwear of the dawn of the 20th century, 1980s draped looks and Helmut Lang-era leather suits.
Among the standouts were draped dresses anchored by large cast-metal motifs studded with sea beads; pin-sharp suits in leather scuffed back to the suede that looked like a gradient wash; parachute dresses spliced with parka-style necks, and a final trio of looks made of polka dot mesh reworked with ostrich feathers that telegraphed the idea of wearable dandelions.
Overall, Esber’s spring lineup read as a deftly executed refresher on the attractive balance of creativity and commercial viability that put him on the map that cautiously inched forward into new territory. Still, it bode well for the brand’s next chapter.
