The invitation for the Courrèges show at Paris Fashion Week was a pair of black sunglasses. “Bring me to the show,” read the fine print at the bottom of the box.
Not everyone got the memo: while front-row guests Naomi Watts and Emma Chamberlain donned the wraparound sunnies, Kim Petras and Wooyoung, of K-pop band Ateez, came without.
Creative director Nicolas Di Felice called his spring collection, shown on a white circular set: “Blinded by the Sun.” Having spent part of the summer in Ibiza, he meant it both literally and metaphorically, at a time when it’s easy to feel blindsided by reality, never mind global warming.
For those who want to shut out the world – or enjoy complete sun protection – he offered baseball caps draped with full face-covering veils, inspired by a look from the archives. The filmy fabric was tucked into miniskirts and slit open at the side to reveal matching bikini tops – concealing and revealing at the same time.
As the weather report on the soundtrack announced rising temperatures, the clothes gently peeled off. Backless swimsuit tops were spliced into fresh takes on the Space Age label’s signature drop-waisted A-line minis, while the sleeves on bulky leather jackets zipped open to reveal bare arms.
De Felice took the slim fabric-covered belts favored by founder André Courrèges and stacked them into glossy vinyl tops, skirts and dresses that looked faintly like Venetian blinds. He subtly elongated the brand’s signature check to evoke solar panels.
As the lighting cranked up, more people whipped out their shades. “Is it getting hotter in here?” wondered one guest. The models, meanwhile, shielded behind dresses with stiff front panels inspired by nylon car sunshades. “Even if they look quite stiff and quite couture, she can bend, she can sit,” Di Felice noted.
A designer with a strong technical bent, he can sometimes get caught up in complex constructions. This season, he kept the clothes easy breezy. The world is complicated enough.