With a title like “Shopping Chronicles,” Patou’s fall show was always going to be a lighthearted affair.
Arriving on the tail end of 10 days of men’s and couture shows in Paris, the event was held on Friday morning at La Samaritaine, the department store owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the luxury conglomerate that also controls Patou.
Viewers of “Emily in Paris” might recognize it from the Netflix show’s second season, when several scenes were filmed inside the store, including a fragrance launch by the fictional Maison Lavaux. Further blurring the line between fact and fiction, “Emily in Paris” stars Camille Razat and Jean-Christophe Bouvet — the latter in character as designer Pierre Cadault — were among the guests.
Artistic director Guillaume Henry said he was inspired by watching women shop. “With Patou, we traveled a lot. We went to Asia, we went to L.A.,” he said backstage. “I saw the women in the department stores and their appetite for fashion gave me mad energy. I wanted this to be a joyful collection, full of humor.”
That spirit was apparent from the first look, a racer red quilted zip-up coat with a matching bucket hat and shopping trolley. Henry’s collection was full of crisp silhouettes: bra tops with mermaid skirts; cropped puffer jackets with flippy pleated skirts and knee-high boots, and neat little jackets with gleaming buttons.
For daytime, he offered ribbed sweater dresses and skirts, some with deep slits; oversized bomber jackets lined in faux fur; monogram separates, and swing coats. New this season were the spaghetti-strap cocktail dresses that had “click purchase” written all over them.
Henry is a commercially minded designer and he loves watching clothes fly off the rack. “At Patou, inspiration and creativity are fundamental, but it’s no coincidence that I’m not a painter or a sculptor or a movie director. I love the notion of product. I love the quality, the workmanship, the price. These are things I constantly discuss with my teams,” he said.
He’s also beefing up his accessories assortment, with collaborations with Bollé on eyewear and Maison Ernest on shoes, as well as cute new ruched satin handbags in a variety of sizes — not to mention those Caddie trolleys. With “Emily in Paris” costume designer Marylin Fitoussi sitting in the front row, it’s only a matter of time before this collection comes full circle.