Proenza Schouler: Petits mains and high technology in a French Lycée

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Jul 2, 2017

Every editor of note in fashion went to the Lycée Jacques-Decour on a dank Sunday morning, for the first major show of the Paris haute couture season - the Paris debt of New York’s Proenza Schouler. And even though what they witnessed was technically speaking ready-to-wear, it marked a brilliant beginning to the fall 2017 couture season.
 

Proenza Schouler’s creative duo Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have been spending lots of time in Paris these past months, working on the first fragrance, due to be launched by L’Oreal in February 2018. And, a strong French influence was evident throughout this important, and often beautiful, show.
 
Presented under the arches of the courtyard of this Paris high-school and beneath the green bronze gaze of smiling academic statue, the models marched along the mosaic pathway. Opening with a pair of stunning cocktails; off the shoulder assemblages of enveloping fabrics like abstract modernists sculptures; then stunning with femme fatale lace columns. Before climaxing with several great mink, fox and marabou feather concoctions held together with tough chic hooks and grommets.

These Americans in Paris stayed true to their signature shapes; from the bustier dresses, this time done as leather inserts into flared frock coats or red jersey ensembles; or cut away waistcoats that descended below the knee.
 
“We used our free time here meeting with independent artisans and little ateliers; and the result was the ribbons, feathers, Irish lace and everything – that was the general inspiration,” smiled  Hernandez.
 

“It’s a commitment to beauty and diving deep into the codes of this whole métier,” added McCollough.
 
Finished with a great series of mink handbags; organic looking petal shaped pointy flats and rather fabulous chunky plastic bracelets it made for a great fashions statement. A look sure to ripple through fashion over the next year.
 
It also marked a new step technologically. The whole show was recorded in 3D by forward-thinking luxury Internet showroom, Ordre. Allowing buyers to subsequently to view the whole collection via virtual reality Oculus goggles; and order any look they want with a tip of the finger.
 
“It’s bringing the Paris front-row to anywhere in the world,” explained Simon Lock, founder of Ordre.
 
Proenza Schouler have been the darlings of Manhattan fashion cognoscenti for over a decade. However, this collection was a significant step up in quality by the designers, fully justifying the decision of the Féderation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode to allow them on to the official Paris schedule.