The Skillful Shape-Shifting of Jacquemus
Review of Jacquemus Spring 2025 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Stately Structure, Archive Revision, Demi-Couture
Returning to Paris after becoming the king of the destination show – be it in a wheat field in a French Natural Park, a beach in Oahu, Hawai’i or the Salt Marshes in Aigues-Mortes – Simon Porte Jacquemus made a return to the official Paris Fashion Week schedule in what was one of the most coveted show tickets on the last day of the season.
Todays collection was staged in the apartment of French architect Auguste Perret, who pioneered the use of reinforced concrete in his constructions with the most notable contributions to his craft including the first Art Deco building in Paris – the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées – and the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council building (which has become the unofficial home for the Miu Miu show), and it was a particularly aligned choice as strong shapes and defined structure were at the heart the show. Communicating his desire to bare himself “without artifice” Jacquemus’ choice of an intimate show space reflected this aspiration, as without the distraction of instagrammable outdoor surroundings there is nothing left to do but focus on the clothes, so the bar was set high. Think also of the fact that this show would proceed, and act as a semi-opener for Couture, so all eyes were on the designer to perform.
In the opening looks of his ‘Le Crosière’ collection (Criosere meaning Cruise in French despite showing as part of the fall 2025 men’s season) there was more than a worrying air of Pieter Mulier’s Alaïa to some of the silhouettes. This referencing aside it appeared the brand was carrying out another 180 from its avant-garde beginnings of fan favourite to the jet-set-meets-party-set to a shift towards a more moneyed clientele since his spring 2024 collection. It is now evident that Jacquemus is on an upward trajectory when it comes to the customer he is seeking approval from. Both the womenswear and menswear were embedded with the hallmarks of couture techniques, from the sweeping draping that stood away from the body in soft waves to the feather plumes feverishly bursting from all angles on a skirt set and framing the shoulders of a tailored coat. Waists were emphasised with corset-belts in exotic animal skin in an all-black and all-white ensembles where the male models trousers curved out into a banana shape. A shape featured throughout, which may explain the addition of a tonal print of the fruit on a tunic-style top. Taking a look back at his own archives for other references, the polka-dots were a look back to his fall 2017 collection that was an homage to the Parisian girl and the boxy silhouette of his surrealist banana-print tunic and skirt set was a rework of the opening tailored blazer look from his fall 2016 collection. In light of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2025 theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”, Jacquemus’ tailoring in the style of the Zoot Suit – broad shouldered jacket, high-waisted tapered balloon leg pants – matched the flamboyance of the women’s silhouettes, as a certain level of swagger will be needed to pull off these looks, so expect to see them fresh off the runway on the first Monday in May.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
With this collection, I want to bare myself before you, without artifice, just our silhouettes in the intimacy of Auguste Perret’s apartment.”
Simon Porte Jacquemus, Creative Director, Jacquemus
THE WRAP UP
In pulling back the frivolity and figure-flaunting silhouettes that made the Jacquemus brand so well-loved by aspirational shoppers and party girls alike, it has been revealed that the next era is to lean into a not-so-quiet level of conservatism, and todays collection with its referenced to the Old Hollywood and Housewife silhouettes of the 1940s and 1950s (periods the Trad Wife movement hail as their baseline) are likely to find a home in the consumers shifting to this mindset.
