There’s a certain type of concept store, often found in Hackney, Stoke Newington or the Marais, that sells edible-looking soap, extortionate wobbly candles, interior design magazines you’ve never heard of, and minimal luxury fashion arranged by block colour. It’s the type of place where cool (rich) young people spend hours of their lives, sipping matcha and sampling the latest loamy fragrance. If this concept store were a fashion collection, it would be Courrèges SS27: simple, fresh and fun, with a quirky twist thrown in now and then. 

Yesterday morning (September 30), South African designer Drew Henry made his debut as the French brand’s creative director, taking over from Nicolas Di Felice. There are only two debuts this Paris Fashion Week – barely any compared to recent seasons – with Carven’s new designer, Kai Nesselrath, set to premiere his vision this afternoon. After two seasons of huge switch-ups at major houses, debuts have been the talk of the town. But with only two this season, all the attention was on Courrèges. 

Having previously worked at Céline, JW Anderson, Phoebe Philo and Burberry, Henry used his debut to update the house codes, pulling them into the present. Founded in 1961, Courrèges is known for its space-age silhouettes, almost comical goggles and platform go-go boots. For SS27, that DNA remained clearly visible, but Henry reworked it for a contemporary audience.

The first look arrived in all white, like a blank page – a knee-length waistcoat with the top three buttons done up, left loose and open around the waist and legs. Then came the block colours and playful flourishes: furry stilettos and ludicrous hats, the latter taken directly from Courrèges’ archives (originally designed by Jean Barthet in the early 1960s). The house’s go-go boots were reinterpreted to look deliberately worn, while sweet babydoll dresses were given a more contemporary twist, appearing on male models.