Last night, the SS24 men’s season came to a crashing close in Paris, as Ludovic de Saint Sernin sent a typically skimpy collection out onto a cobbled runway and implored his fans to PLEASE read a book. The fashion train never stops though, and editors were held back from hoofing it out of the city of love by the little matter of a destination Jacquemus show.
Ticket lost in the mail? Here’s everything you need to know.
IT WAS HELD AT THE CHATEAU DE VERSAILLES
Jacquemus really said “Let them eat cake” for SS24 – unlike former lady of the house of Versailles Marie Antoinette, who actually never uttered those famous words. A convoy of black Mercs transported guests up the iconic driveway and to the side of its famous lake, where a fleet of little white rowing boats were waiting for them.
…AND THE BOATS WERE SEATED ACCORDING TO CLASS
The VVVIPs were plentiful – Simon is a popular guy! – with Emily Ratajkowski, Adèle Exarchopoulos, and Victoria and David Beckham all ushered into the bobbing little boats and handed white parasols to shield them from the blazing sun. Also showing up was Drag Race icon The Symone, who pumped up her hair to Marie Antoinette proportions (and had her assistant freeze-hold her wig on the step and repeat as she waited to have her photo taken). Elsewhere, 00s supermodel Laetitia Casta and Colombian singer Karol G also made an appearance at Simon’s big spring summer show, while the more lowly attendees took their seats away from the water at the end of the runway (lol, hi!)
Simon loves an epic runway – just look at his SS20 show, where models surely doped up on Benedryl traipsed through a blooming lavender field – but this one surely took the biscuit as the longest Jacquemus runway ever? At 400 metres in length, it took the models a good couple of minutes to get all the way down it, and wildly, all looked calm and collected – not a bead of sweat in sight.
After driving a bunch of models about on a golf cart, Jacquemus fave Gigi Hadid came out of hibernation to walk for her pal Simon. Also making a rare appearance on the runway was Kendall Jenner. We guess turning down a guest spot at Versailles was too much for either of them.
THE COLLECTION WAS (UNSURPRISINGLY) INDEBTED TO MARIE ANTOINETTE
Photography Emma Elizabeth Davidson
Full of frou-frou tulle and lace, the coquettish collection’s vibe was Marie Antoinette, but on a slaggy night out in 2023. Barely-there, nip-flashing bralettes came matched with pouffy mini-crinis – perhaps in some way a small tribute to Vivienne Westwood’s seminal 1994 Cafe Society collection – while signature suits from seasons past were rolled out with new finishes and textures, waists cinched and shoulders blown up to cartoonish proportions. Le ChouChou, as the offering was called, wasn’t just about Versailles’ most famous resident though. Splashed across the mood boards that propped up backstage were endless images of Princess Diana, with her influence seen in the flashes of scarlet that punctuated proceedings, the way the models demurely held their handbags, the OTT crown jewel-esque accoutrements, and the chiffon that blew out dramatically behind the show’s closing looks – seemingly in reference to a similar detail embodied by her infamous ‘revenge dress’.
