Aigle takes to the rooftops of Paris for its first fashion show
For Aigle's first official presentation at Paris Fashion Week, the French label treated itself to one of the most beautiful views of the capital. On October 4, the brand's young urban explorers strolled along the walkways and around the terrace of the Centre Pompidou's fifth floor.
For this event, the Etudes Studio trio, Aurélien Arbet, Jérémie Egry and José Lamali presented their third season as creative directors of the brand and proposed a particularly different approach to that of their Etudes shows.
"The brand will be 170 years old in 2023 and yet this was its first presentation at Fashion Week. It was a historic event and we are proud to bring to life the pioneering spirit of Aigle and to contribute to the writing of a new chapter. We chose the presentation format in order to be on a longer, slower time frame on purpose. In order to prolong the theme of the collection we created three cycles of continuous strolling on the 5th floor terrace of the Centre Pompidou," explained the designers.
"At Études the rhythm of the fashion show is short and intense. Here we wanted to evoke contemplation, moving around outside in an urban environment. The idea of time suspended above the city. A magical view of the Parian rooftops. But we can also imagine the group wandering around the city in Seoul, Tokyo or Shanghai."
For this collection, Aigle has not changed its wardrobe. The meticulous work on sleeved pieces started two seasons ago is back, with many oversized mackintoshes, going down to mid-thigh, calf or knee-length. The boys wore them over trellis trousers or shorts cut short at mid-thigh and hoodies or sleeveless down jackets with shirts. Some of the blue tone-on-tone offerings could be a chic Japanese university uniform. Girls dressed in long pleated skirts, elegant high-waisted trousers or wide shorts, combined with short parkas and turtleneck jumpers. Natural materials, such as cotton twill or poplin combined with viscose and tencel, reinforce the premium outdoor aspect.
The brand also claims that 75% of the collection is an eco-design. Men and women wore the house's signature boots, as well as rubber clogs and walking shoes.
"Marking the change of a historic brand like Aigle is about enhancing its strengths. We have redefined the brand's iconic features and codes and we want to make sure that they are visible. By looking into the history of the brand, we realised that it was aimed at urban people, we ourselves are very urban but very attached to nature, we create clothes that are what we are and that represent the Aigle customer; a person who has an active life in the city and who practices outdoor activities. We want to create versatile clothing for everyday life," said the trio from Grenoble. These clothes will be offered in the brand's network, at its retailers and on its website.
As part of this approach, Aigle has signed a creative collaboration with the Centre Pompidou. The relationship between the brand and the museum has been launched for two years and in this spring-summer 2023 collection, the look is made up of a mackintosh, a skirt, a sweatshirt and a cap, all based on the codes of a painting from the museum's permanent collection.
"Piet Mondrian's art piece "New York" was chosen for what it represents, an avant-garde abstract piece that helped to change the field of creation. In our opinion, this piece perfectly symbolises the Centre Pompidou with its primary colours and graphic lines that recall the architecture of the building."
The trio, who share their time 50-50 between the activities of Etudes and Aigle, explained that in two years they have found the right balance to work on the collections and the image of the brands, but also to develop projects, such as the one with the Centre Pompidou. For the time being, the creative team has not yet decided on the format of the brand's next presentation, even though a new general manager has just taken up her post.
"We imagine each collection presentation one after the other. We wanted to fully experience this first appearance during a Paris Fashion Week to better reflect on the next one," concluded the trio.
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