Indeed, it's an eclectic, cosmopolitan programme that celebrates a sense of function as much as imagination. There’s the art of cut and volume, while identity is the backdrop to styles that combine different heritages. For Bianca Saunders (Andam Prize 2021), both her British and Jamaican roots influence a style that draws on masculine, feminine and urban references.
With Lazoschmidl, the brand's narrative approach goes beyond trends to become a major fashion statement, using revisited codes such as pop culture to assert a singular, colourful expression.
Created by Vincent Frédéric Colombo, a French designer born in 1990 and raised in Guadeloupe, CR.E.O.L.E. is a “manifesto on the heritage of the Creole community/diaspora and on what we could become in the future.” The roots of our identity serve as a foundation for imagination, craft skills and experimentation, and the future holds the legacy of a rediscovered memory.
Lagos Space Programme, created by Adeju Thompson in 2018, explores African beauty through the ancestral work of Beninese foundrymen and natural organic indigo dyes. The brand won the International Woolmark in 2023.
Meanwhile, “Memory is home” is the theme chosen by Cachi, a Franco-Argentine duo based in Paris, to “reinterpret the codes of craftsmanship, blending the richness of tradition with a resolutely contemporary vision.” The rigour of the traditional Argentine Gaucho costume is echoed in the purity of French porcelain. Exploring contrasts and finding the right balance between “know-how and innovation” remains the challenge of this duo, who combine graphic work and structured cuts with techniques such as screen printing and embroidery. “These collaborations reveal the human dimension of the process, through meticulous handmade work,” they say, defining their collection as a “tribute to love, craftsmanship and expression without borders.”
Victor Koehler and Victoria Baia founded́ La Cage when they were still students at the Duperré school and were among the finalists at the 39th Hyères International Fashion Festival in October 2024. With their wardrobe of wool, linen and silk inspired by the 90s cinema, theyrevisit the codes of ceremonial or parade clothing. Inspired by an imaginary music group, their new collection, entitled Last Tour sets the tone: “The pieces in this collection are the archives of the group's members. These looks are relics of their concerts, memories of their youth, clothes whose sentimental value makes us forget their dilapidated state, good luck charms that they can't part with. In our approach, wear and patina are part of the garment's life cycle and play a central role in the aesthetics of our collections. Each of our pieces is the result of craftsmanship and experimentation, putting our garments to the test of time.”
What we observe is the bleaching, eliminating, creasing, playing on the theme of wear and tear to move forward yet somehow reinventing a past…
The takeaway: Keep everything, reinvent everything, transform everything. The passion is omnipresent.
A digital version of the SPHERE Paris Fashion Week Showroom is also available by invitation with the support of Le New Black and Grand Shooting from January 22, 2025.
By Laurence Benaïm.
