Following the “Pariviera” show last June - an imaginary gateway unfolding on the Parisian asphalt - I felt the need to refocus my message and get back to the essentials. Was it a response to the complex times we are living through? Perhaps. In any case, it feels right today to welcome you into a school: a place of knowledge, education, transmission, sharing, and respect.
Founded in 1854 by Elisa Lemonnier, a pioneer of vocational training for women in France, École Duperré is a public institution. Until the late 1960s, it trained young women in dressmaking and the applied arts. It then became co-educational, opening up to creation and printing, graphic design, and more. Its courses impact history, technique, art, and the craftsmanship of many professions connected to fashion. In other words, foundations - a method, rules, a precious grammar that one later draws upon instinctively throughout an entire career.
This return to the school benches is by no means a pretext for a preppy turn at Officine Générale - quite the opposite. I narrowed the range around my preferred color tones, which are not primary colors. I tended to simplify volumes and lines rather than add a finish, a trim, or a seasonal detail. I favored beautiful fabrics as true, reliable classics you want to leave in day after day. Light flannels worked in total looks. A few wool satins, cotton poplins, touches of cashmere. Also Prince of Wales checks, herringbone and striped fabrics, and here and there, a scattering of polka dots.
In this way, I have renewed - with a sense of continuity - the identity I shape for both men and women. I continue to refrain from producing garments created specifically for a show. Remaining faithful to my message is, for me, essential.
Thank you for being here,
Pierr
