Jacquemus Fall 2023: Your Elitism is Showing
Set on the illustrious and notorious lawns of Chatêau Versailles, Simon Porte, founder and designer of Jacquemus, showed his Fall 2023 collection “LE CHOUCHOU”.
“Chouchou” means “scrunchie” in French, the puffy ruffley hair accessory most associated with 80s big-hair-shoulder-pad enormity. It’s also a term of endearment— “mon chouchou.”
With his teasers on Insta featuring absurdly large hairpieces, which were staples of 18th century excess and 1980s hair trends, it’s apt.
This is the start of Porte’s bid to elevate his brand from mid-level luxury accessible to higher luxury, which despite a sagging global economy, is predicted to have yet another record-breaking year. It’s no small thing to show at Versailles, a venue which hosted its last fashion event in 1973.
Far from the Provençal shirt dresses and kelly green cargoes on breezy Hawaiian shores of past collections, LE CHOUCHOU offered tailoring befitting royalty, with pannier-esque micro-shorts, deconstructed crinolines, peplum boxers, and high-volume sleeves—a mainstay at Jacquemus.
There are obligatory indulgences in trends: balletcore with square-toed satin flats, tutus, and floral patterned and ballet-pink hoisery. Multitudes of micro-shorts, after the fashion world started questioning pants, as well as silver, seen on a rather avant-garde interpretation of Look 13.
The color palette is a dignified array of off-whites, red, navy, and powder pinks, with brocade floral patterns and the occasional (perhaps irresistible for a Frenchman like Porte) stripe. A polka-dotted frock nodded to one of Princess Diana’s iconic spots.
This homage to Princess Diana is the crux of what makes the collection a contradiction. With its backdrop France’s symbol of excessive luxury and its consistent nods to 18th century fashion, Porte can’t shake the stiffness of out-of-touch elitists. Even references to ballet point to a life of expendable income, even if its participation in a trend.
He prominently features the plague of the modeling industry: nepotism babies. The show features Monica Bellucci’s daughter, Gigi Hadid, and of course, Kendall Jenner, who dons a choker referencing Princess Diana’s revenge dress. What a way to water down the famed middle finger to the establishment.
Even if he eschews the rigidity of both the tailoring of the past and its conservative implications, he doesn’t fully separate himself from it, no matter how far he drags his show from the golden halls of Versailles.
Does dragging Princess Di into it serve as a further deconstruction of the monarchy and, ergo, the upper class? Or does it simply dredge up a cherished anti-monarchy heroine to distract from Jacquemus’ move further from fashion enthusiasts and closer to luxury clientele?
With the ascension of King Charles, the recent submersible tragedy, and global inequality growing, it can feel like a pithy attempt to be punk in the gardens of Versailles.
At the same time, it could be read as a dressing down of the institutions that traditionally dominated political and social spheres. Like it or not, the wealthy have historically driven fashion. Porte could be stripping—literally—the building blocks of the luxury uniform on its home turf, leaving only remnants behind: the skivvies of the upper class.
Regardless, Porte has done what he does best yet again: create a visually enticing fashion show worthy of viral fame. It’s a definite move from his bread and butter tailoring, materials, and color palette—a change I personally welcome from the designer.
Still, I it’ll be up to us to decide if his up-the-skirt interpretation of the monarchy is holding onto our awe of the ultra-rich or a strip-down of old institutions before their very eyes.