“Jacquemus is not about nightlife and clubbing and things like that, it’s more about fruit and vegetables and rolling in the grass,” said the brand’s founder, Simon Porte Jacquemus in a recent interview with Dazed. Surreal and poetic, his label is about something more innocent and playful – an energy inspired by the south of France, where he grew up.

This region and its traditions also inspired the designer’s SS17 collection which, unveiled to the soundtrack of French period drama film Jean de Florette (mixed by Clara 3000), saw him look to Les Santons de Provence – those terracotta figurines that depict village life. 

The influence of these santons is present too in the collection’s accompanying campaign which, unveiled today, sees model Rose Van Bosstraeten (who opened and closed the SS17 show) dressed up like one. She appears as a woman carrying a loaf of bread, some vases, a sheaf of wheat and a bundle of sticks.

“The collection is about those figurines and the traditions of the south of France,” the designer explains. “So it was very logical to shoot them this way, like figurines. I wanted to speak about those traditional santons in a poetic and modern way.”

“Ever since I started this collection, I knew that Rose Van Bosstraeten would be the right person to present my collection,” he continues, speaking on his decision to cast the Belgian in the campaign. “She has something very simple, naïve and beautiful (about her). I really fell in love with her. She reminds me my mother, (which is something) I’m always looking for.”

And how will the Jacquemus girl be spending her Christmas? “Apparently she’s stuck on a ceramic base,” the designer says wryly. 

See the campaign in the gallery above

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