The Rise and Fall and Thrill of Courrèges
Review of Courrèges Fall 2024 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
THE THEME
If it was not love, then it was breathing which designers were prescribing as an antidote to the madness raging on in the real world. And at Courrèges the show set was a literal metaphor for what had influenced Nicolas De Felice this season. Rising up and down suggestively the shows set was meant to remind us all that we are alive, through our thoughts, feelings and interactions with each other.
The Courrèges brand benefits from distinctive visual house codes, from the crinkle patent leather to the contrast trims and modernist logo. And evolving the brand to maintain its relevancy while never deviating too far from the heritage has been a task which De Felice has relished. The simple geometry which is the bedrock of the houses’ style was met with more ease this season. The creative director elaborated backstage “You can really see that I wanted the clothes to feel more alive. It’s the first season that I’ve worked with so many fluid fabrics. I even did bias-cut dresses and I said ok I’m going to do these dresses because they move really well and they flow across the body which is really beautiful. Even my tailoring which I normally do is asymmetrical.” And it came across in the way fabric draped on and off and around the models shoulders. And flowed around their legs. There was also the ‘let down’ of garments, as if having been peeled off, which must have been the thrill that De Felice wanted to convey, saying “This season, if I have to reduce the collection to one sentence it’s in search of the thrill”.
There was also the desire to open a “dialogue between what you want to show and what you want to keep for yourself” said the creative director, but with little left to the imagination or kept to oneself in the abundance of sheer fabrics, bra tops and illusion panels there was an opening to mix in more fabric draping and fluidity which were not just sleeves or simple strips. As when it was explained that the idea of the wrap construction should feel “protective, and like a caress” which was derived from the initial starting point of the season, which was De Felice draping a scarf around the neck in a “sensual movement”, more of a nudge in that direction, especially around the top half of the body, would have further evolved the brand from its formal house codes.
THE BUZZWORDS
Wraparound, hang loose, delightfully draped
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Look #38
What could have been an atypical sheer statement dress is reworked with added surface interest in the form of individual feather-like strands which emulate a porcupine-effect as if to prevent anyone from coming closer, a definite look but don’t touch detail.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
The idea of the heartbeat and the breathing is one of – there is still life. I really wanted to show that we are alive. The breathing can also remind you of intercourse, going up and up, higher and higher, and all the clothes have the same upward movement. The necklines go up and then down and become a sleeve. There was always this tension and the search of a thrill.
Nicolas Di Felice, Creative Director, Courrèges
THE WRAP UP
The Courrèges codes are kept intact for another season, but with a sensual styling overlay in the form of bias-cut dress and draped sleeves which mirrored todays show set which was literally breathing in and out, up and down in the same way a couple under the cover might, but this is what Nicolas De Felice hoped to bring out in this collection, that search for the next thrill.
