Through the Eyes of Maitrepierre

For the second time, Alphonse Maitrepierre presents his collection at the Maison des Métallos in Paris. “An all-white space, perfect for this highly colourful collection, all about volume. I needed a white cube to make people stand out.” What is the theme? The bond between humankind and ultra-powerful nature inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's iconic Princess Mononoke (1997). Couture anime?  A Parisian dive into the Japanese fantasy woods? The designer, who worked at Jean Paul Gaultier and Acne Studios before founding his own house in 2019, has thrown himself into a recomposed future. “I wanted to work with an artificial intelligence that has recreated flowers. There are plants that wrap around bodies,” explains Maitrepierre.

He continues, “For the last four seasons, we have been working with a software engineer, who enjoys creating different types of algorithms. To generate some fields, we coded very precise keywords to recreate that feeling when we were children running through meadows. We added words reflecting human emotions, from ‘beauty’ to ‘nostalgia.’ When you're two meters away from the pieces, the flowers seem quite lifelike, and up close, you realise that they're not completely finished. I loved exploring this notion of a flaw.” 

In broader terms, he says, “When it comes to design and creation, I feel unrestrained. My brand finances itself partly through collaborations such as Desigual. I would like to keep the same formula but set it up in a more permanent way over time.  What are we trying to do? To intensify the back-and-forth between traditional know-how and the digital world. I like to dissect the hype around artificial intelligence to understand its potential and limits. I perceive my House as a creative laboratory.”