Simon Porte, Jacquemus’ mother, probably had an inkling her son might become a fashion designer when, at age eight, he pulled down some curtains, wrapped them around his hips and — voilà — a naïve skirt.
The young Frenchman sought to recapture that primitive approach to dressing up with his fall collection, paraded in an under-renovation townhouse. Some of the clothes did not move far enough beyond fig leaves, leaving a few models topless and probably blushing behind their handmade masks. One top resembled a blanket bunched over the bosom, while a pair of corduroy bumsters morphed into a bikini on one side.
More substantial clothes, while still childlike, included oversize felt coats and white cotton shirts and dresses playfully decorated with sashes of felt, giant grommets or patches of teddy-bear fur. Jacquemus is a wild one and strolled out for his bow in bare feet, like his models.
The collection will come under repeat expert scrutiny this week, as Jacquemus is once again a semifinalist for the LVMH Young Designer Prize.