Jacquemus launched in 2009, when designer Simon Porte Jacquemus was only 19 years old. And, in a case of perpetually arrested development, his work has always skewed young – but that’s not a bad thing. In fact, this brand has managed to circumvent the problems of some of its older peers because of its intensely youth-focused outlook. Jacquemus was doing Instagrammable collections before veteran brands had even created Instagram accounts.
A focus on youth doesn’t mean products for actual kids, but for gamine young things, the type to invest in a few great accessories each season rather than a full look. Accessories are a particularly strong suit for Jacquemus, having landed on a balance between the itsy bitsy (those adorable belt bags) to the massive (straw totes big enough to stuff your entire travel wardrobe into).
Spring/Summer 2019 saw a deepening of the youth messaging, with sun-worshiping clothes that put the body on full display. While there wasn’t much that was ‘new’ in terms of the offerings, the cuts of the clothes were decidedly better – more fluid and languidly draped – whereas they’ve suffered the occasional boxy fit in the past. At the show, the designer declared that in these clothes, you couldn’t tell if his girl was heading out or heading to the beach, but we’re pretty sure we know where she’s going.
Jacquemus was doing Instagrammable collections before veteran brands had even created Instagram accounts.
If sand and sun isn’t her destination, we’ll eat our (massively oversized) hat. Jacquemus left little room to imagine his girl elsewhere, especially with so many bikinis, ultra-short shorts, fringed beach cover-ups, and striped longline tunics in the line-up. Sundown might send her indoors and, in that case, she has a few babydoll dresses and lovely trench/dress hybrids to choose from.
