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 inFrance, 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 impart 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,
Pierre
