One of the most enjoyable experiences of the fall-winter season was the collection of a young French designer Julien Fournié. Invited member of the Paris haute couture syndicate, Julien Fournié worked for such houses as Céline, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Torrente and Dior, before establishing in 2009 his own brand. His previous collection “First Genes” received a high praise from fashion critics and demonstrated an extraordinary talent and sensuality of perception of the couturier.
“First Chimeras” – is the name of his new collection, which was presented at the Salon Artcurial on the Champs Elysees. In Greek mythology, the chimera is a monstrous fire-breathing female creature with a lion’s head, goat’s body and a snake’s tail. The idea to combine animal and aesthetic origins formed the basis of each model. Thin elongated Modigliani silhouettes and bronze-gold Klimt palette served as the main source of inspiration for the fashion designer.
From the first minutes of the show Julien Fournié managed to plunge the audience into the atmosphere of fantasy and highly artistic history, the mixture of savagery and grace of forms. As if descended from paintings of the great masters, models with hairstyles in the form of straw fan hats and in a Japanese style make-up, dressed in chocolate, amber, bronze and beige tones smoothly paced between rows. The bold combination of fabrics (silk taffeta, leather, sable and fox furs), deliberately flashy zippers, bronze and black sequins, giving the impression of scales: all well-balanced between antiquity and modernity. Stand-up collar, wide sleeves and deep open backs once again emphasized the desire to create a truly feminine couture image, full of charm and mystery.
In his interview Julien Fournié admitted that the strength of his heroine is in her vulnerability. A silhouette of a new collection, in addition to Japanese culture, was inspired by the proud posture and gait of “Saint-Petersburg princesses” he noticed during his recent trip to Russia. “Russian northern capital, – he added – have left the most vivid memories. It was where I first encountered the phenomenon of the Slavic soul! I’d love to go back there. ”
Photo credits: Yannis Vlamos / Pixelformula / Julien Fournie