Courrèges’ space-age futurism, with super-short skirts and famous go-go boots, was given a fresh new feel for Fall/Winter 2021 with Nicolas Di Felice’s debut collection for the French fashion house, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.
The 37-year-old Belgian, graduated from La Cambre in Brussels, and after a career spent working for a dozen years in the shadow of Nicolas Ghesquière at both Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton, and Raf Simons at Christian Dior, paraded his debut collection in a white cube plonked in an outdoor concert venue in the north of Paris, more exactly at La Station Gare des Mines known for its eclectic programming that Di Felice frequents. Titling the collection “I can feel your heartbeat”, Di Felice – the third to assume the position in the last decade – said it was an ode to the young people grounded by the coronavirus pandemic.
Walking the perimeter of this futuristic setting with carefree ease, this season’s Courrèges girl looked to have leapt straight out of the 1960s and into the world of today, which she took to with natural confidence. Courrèges’s ’60s futurism has been filtered through Di Felice’s child-of-the-’90s eyes.
Graphical effects, ultra-short silhouettes, geometric lines, colour blocking, vinyl and leather all jostled for attention, and among it all, one could see the Courrèges DNA that brusquely propelled fashion into the future more than half a century ago. Presenting little easy-to-wear pieces that were never boring and demonstrated a real attention to detail, the house’s new creative director reimagined its codes with a contemporary twist, all while tapping into the heritage of André and Coqueline Courrèges, particularly the couple’s creative early years.
Vinyl, a house signature for decades, has been also redesigned to be more eco-friendly with bio-based polyurethane and a certified organic cotton base. It was a technical way to restart Courrèges with its new phase.