For Patou’s fall collection, artistic director Guillaume Henry wanted to highlight a new side of the French label. Actually, scratch that — he wanted all its facets on display.
“Every time we did a show, it was a narration with one woman — Rose, Joy — and here I wanted to celebrate diversity and show these things we don’t always show, which we are also proud of,” such as commercially strong categories like knitwear and denim, he said backstage before the show.
Cue a first look comprising a color-blocked ruché top and crisp dark jeans, a novel play for a brand usually on the daily yet dressy side.
Options that followed ranged from polo shirts, smart straight-leg slacks, thin chimney-neck sweaters, roomy blousons and cropped biker jackets to knee- and midi-length handkerchief skirts and floor-length gowns in lace and devoré velvet. Footwear spanned from soft sneakers to stiletto-heeled boots, continuing his everywoman approach for the season.
Backstage, Henry named influences for the season that included Henri Matisse and Pieter Bruegel the Elder but also the Middle Ages.
As a result, the designer joked that he’s “gone medieval” with his color palette, by which he meant taking cues from stained glass for an array ranging from bubblegum pink, Klein-esque blue and greens to a whole spectrum of oranges.
There was also a substantial tapestry fabric and a print inspired by the sketches Copist monks would doodle in margins. While those were among new textile developments, Henry was sustainably minded, using offcuts for color-blocked tops for example.
Such a varied approach could have lost coherence. As it stands, its eclecticism felt democratic.
