In the last two posts we looked at S/S 18 collections with strong links with fabric elaborations. Let's continue the thread by focusing on Koché's new designs.
Christelle Kocher's S/S 18 show took place in the Fourth Arrondissement-based Church of Saint-Merry, and the starting point for the collecition was a multi-year agreement with Paris Saint-Germain soccer club.
The designer cut, shattered and remixed the sports jerseys with the Fly Emirates logo, then she proceeded to reassemble them with Koché's own branded T-shirts.
In some cases the (genderless) football jerseys were embellished and decorated with Swarovski crystals matched with tracksuit bottoms in a sort of pixellated or faded check print or combined with embroidered skirts.
In others the jerseys were collaged together to form colourful asymmetrical dresses with lacy inserts donned by models wearing bodysuits covered in sparkling embroideries.
Pleated khaki pants and skirts built from squares of fabrics introduced practical variations in the collection. The most convincing experiments were the polo shirts with sculptural peplums, the satin soccer jerseys with an elaborately intricate origami-like handmade pleated motif and striped shirts reinvented as evening dresses with a train.
In a way there wasn't anything extraordinarily new on the runway if you consider Margiela recombining sneakers, soccer balls and baseball gloves in leather jackets and dresses or Margiela's supporters scarves sweaters (View this photo), besides Kocher experimented with rugby shirts in her A/W 17 collection.
Yet in this case the feminine Vs masculine/delicate Vs strong dichotomy worked pretty well, but what genuinely saved Kocher from falling into the banality and the next Margiela parody is her knowledge in couture techniques and her experience: Kocher's curriculum includes periods at famous houses like Emporio Armani and Dries Van Noten and she is also the artistic director of Maison Lemarié (owned by Chanel and known for its fabric flowers, decorative elements that appeared on some of the jerseys in this collection).
The diversity of the cast that featured both professional models and friends also worked well with the space and with Koché's ethos: the church where the show took place is known for being open to all religions and sexualities, while the designer has a precise vision for her house, conceived as a modern multicultural brand aimed at empowered women (and men as well...), offering clothes with Haute Couture silhouettes, but made with very functional fabrics.
Milan Fashion Week closed with the first Green Carpet Fashion Awards, focused on eco-friendly fashion. Kocher would have deserved a sustainability prize with this collection as she proved you can slice, cut and recombine soccer jerseys and come up with your own versions of upcycled and wearable couture-meets-sport hybrids.
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