Patou RTW Fall 2021
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With a focused selection of pieces, Guillaume Henry offered a full, versatile wardrobe for the fashion conscious, bursting with volume and color. Options felt endless, not due to an excess of styles but rather thanks to clever layering, versatile cuts, embroidered embellishments and prominent accessories. This was his fourth collection since joining LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton to revive the house founded by Jean Patou in 1914. The luxury group brought it back to life after three decades of dormancy, with an eye to courting new generations of luxury consumers.
The look: Flamboyant confidence. A fashionista takes the town by storm after months of coronavirus lockdowns — time spent rooting out treasures from her French bourgeois grandmother’s closet.
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Quote of note: “I love the idea of doing an à la carte menu, this idea that you can can take things in the simplest form or you can go for a maximalist silhouette,” Henry said. “I wanted joyful and fanciful fashion — I was thinking a lot about gardens so there are flower details in all the looks.”
Key pieces: Smart suit jackets and trousers in fantastical patterns inspired by prints by Michel Goma from the ’70s; elegant, removable collars with guipure lace, intricate embroidery and curved edges; hybrid dresses with knitwear bodice as a base; long, pleated jersey skirts. The house focuses on fabrics with an ecological bent, like polyester from recycled fibers and organic cotton, and has turned up some versatile ones, that hold volume. “No need for shoulder pads,” said Henry, smoothing down a pair of sharp, Maleficent-like shoulders that became textured sleeves, before pulling them back out — to the side this time — into feminine puffs. Even accessories added volume — large, gold earrings and felted headbands with bulky patches of colorful sequins.
Takeaway: Henry has assembled some rich ingredients for fashion devotees out to personalize their own style. “We want to dress people in fashion but also my cousin in Lyon — we’re seeking a balance that is not divisive,” he said.
Launch Gallery: Patou RTW Fall 2021
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