Once a year Hyères, the charming coastal town in the south of France, plays
host to Europe’s most progressive newcomer festival acknowledging the wealth of young talent in both fashion design and photography. Now in its 28th edition,
the Festival International de Mode et de Photographie today opened its gates to
an international audience of industry experts with the jury meeting of its ten
designers in competition chaired by Felipe Oliveira Baptista, Creative Director
of Lacoste.
First up was Marion de Raucourt, whose collection ‘Nowmansland’ was based on
the concept of packaging systems, replacing stitches and seams with glue and
simple, yet effective clasps paying tribute to the ‘one piece’ cut in fashion.
Her simple geometrical forms, laser cut and kept in black and nude leather,
were highly wearable and beautifully fused garments and accessories, mixing
antique elements in a contemporary collection.
Another favourite of the morning was Chinese-born Shanshan Ruan, whose
self-professed ‘Simplicity is the Key Word’ tagline wonderfully summed up her
elegant collection. It was based not on a concrete object but on memories of
beautiful things, fade-out moments, that become a blur over time. Layered, hand painted organza forming simple lines and shapes forever retains memories in very wearable everyday wardrobe pieces that are as commercial as effortlessly
elegant.
Camille Kunz had always wanted to be one of the guys. Inspired by her
relationship with her three brothers, she put into fashion what it felt like
for her to vanish into their world, ‘The Boy Vanishes’. For this she
reimagined the typical wardrobe of a Swiss teenage boy upgrading banal daytime
wear into a conceptual collection merging silk screen and digital print and
covering parts of her designs in resin. Oversize jumpers, track suit bottoms,
prints based on the floors in her parents’ house gave this collection a very
personal as well as contemporary touch.
Over the next three days, the ten short listed designers will be showcasing
their designs daily before the grand award ceremony on Sunday evening. It
remains exciting to see who will make the race this year.
Harald Weiler
