Alphonse Maitrepierre wanted to pick up where he left off in the past two seasons, confronting once again a bourgeois wardrobe with contemporary notions like leisurewear and codes from the digital-first era in his “Nostalgia” collection.
“The idea’s not to say things were better in the past. It’s about cherry-picking the good ideas and bringing them forward to make use of that heritage,” he said. In his case, that meant splicing together chic basics into items that could be worn multiple ways, or cutting them from loungewear materials like toweling or fleece.
Best embodying the season, he said, were the slingbacks revisited with latex rabbit heads as a nod to fuzzy slippers. Gold-plated mice by French artist Marie Beltrami foreshadowed an upcoming jewelry collaboration, a new development for the emerging label.
There was plenty to look at in this lineup with double-sleeved sweatshirts, as well as trompe-l’oeil hybrids like new spins on last season’s blazer-hoodie and a trenchcoat with a dress built in.
Maitrepierre’s technical mastery continues to grow and his work continues to be compelling, but this collection felt a little lacking in the narrative thread that usually pulls it all together.
Source: WWD