It’s been a season of backward glances and frequent archive trolling, including at Ami Paris, where Alexandre Mattiussi was crowing about a “new start” at his 15-year-old label.
“Back to my roots, deeply, to bring back that casualness, that richness, that easiness that made me successful since the beginning,” he said, leading a visitor through a run-of-show that looked like a dream casting of the well-dressed people you’d wish to see file by you while seated at a Paris café terrace.
It was preppy zhushed up with French sophistication, plus a soupçon of grunge, hipster signposts like ball caps and beanies knocking the formality out of Mattiussi’s roomy tailoring and studied layering. Most exits hinged on full-legged pants teamed with an oversized wool coat with enough swagger to straddle a board meeting or brunch on a chilly Sunday.
While low key, the clothes were terrific, and the handsome cast indeed resembled a range of characters, from tomboys and art students to jocks and femmes fatales, the latter nonchalantly pairing their satin balloon skirts with a snug sweater and polished derbies, or a pencil skirt with a hoodie.
You May Also Like
Mattiussi said his aim was “getting the right mix between what I call the perfect wardrobe and something much more real, much more grounded.”
“I feel like fashion has become something very apart, and at some point really far away from our lives. We live in a very difficult world. We watch the news. What’s the point doing this if it doesn’t look real?” he asked.
He staged the show in a vast, vacant retail space on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, a glaring signpost of the challenges fashion and retail are facing amid massive geopolitical turbulence, and a distracted consumer.
“We kept a good level of business,” Mattiussi said in answer to a question about 2025, crediting accessible pricing amid luxury hyperinflation for being able to hold his own.
“I believe that there is a great opportunity for us to still grow. We just opened a store in Korea, the biggest store in the world,” he said of the multilevel flagship in Seoul’s Hannam district.
Mattiussi is also gearing up to open a new retail destination on the Place des Victoires, a macaron’s throw from Ami headquarters. “That’s going to be my store, my selection, my curation, my buying — guest collaborations, dinners, parties, cocktails,” he said, flashing a big smile.
It will be interesting to see what he cooks up for his closest amis.