A little barefoot boy, dressed in white, ran the full length of the Orangerie at Versailles and heaved open the heavy oaken door at one end to let in the models. The symbolism of it was touching—the child was playing Simon Porte Jacquemus as a boy, the models were wearing a collection based on his family, a long line of peasant farmers from the South of France.

“This is a big thank you to my family,” Porte Jacquemus said, sounding emotional before the show.” When I told my grandparents and father I wanted to be a fashion designer they said, ‘yes, go on. You will be the best.’ They believed in me and empowered me. They gave me that.” The lore and the allure of Provence have been the very essence of the Jacquemus brand ever since he founded it at the age of 19. In January, he started looking through photographs of his extended family going back three generations, proudly showing off their harvests of carrots, green beans, lettuces, and potatoes in the fields where he grew up.

He wanted to honor them with a collection that he described as “humble,” – meaning cotton, linen, and the idea of embroidered tablecloths, aprons, and headscarves. Yet this also came over as his most mature and sophisticated so far. He made pure, voluminous-skirted silhouettes out of the idea of peasant shirts and smocks, layered pristine broderie anglaise bed linens into tiers of handkerchief points. Striped dresses echoed traditional candy-wrappers.

Sexiness has its place in the Jacquemus world, of course. He pretty much went overboard with it last time he was at Versailles—a collection that went all-in with the naked dressing trend in fall 2023. This one kept it far more subtle, covered up at the front, while maybe curving a back in to outline the derriere, or giving glimpses of spine and shoulder.

The romance of Provencal regional costume was elegantly celebrated in swathed shawl collar dresses cut with a cool edge in leather. The idea of proud Sunday best tailoring played through his menswear: a large sloped shoulder nipped into the waist.

And there were vegetables! A string of garlic, a tray of cherries, strawberries, and tomatoes, all crafted from leather. There was a bag woven from imitation rosemary, another in the shape of a leek. In one farm box, a guy was carrying a brace of regular Jacquemus clutch bags, as if to say: this is what I produce in my profession.

Jacquemus now is a company with an impressive architect-designed office, studio, and atelier, and shops in Paris, London, New York, and LA. The direct feedback from customers has taught him, he says, to be more himself. All of the white dresses at the end spoke to the fact that his business in bridal wear is taking off. “LA gives us strength to be more ourselves,” he said. “People want specific things, they like discovering fresh things which feel French. And menswear is equal to women’s now.”

All this is a major achievement for a designer who is still only 35. He’s only really getting started though, he feels. “This show is about where I’m from, and where I’m going.” It’s his innate ambition plus the secret vitamin C of optimism that fuels him and infuses everything he does. I said it right at the beginning, and I say it now: I want to be the sunshine of fashion.”