French Lady Type – it’s the aesthetic that simply received’t cease giving. And with the Paris Olympics mere hours away, you’d higher buckle up, because it’s about to turn out to be much more omnipresent. The explanation French Lady Type aka garconne model resonates is its timelessness, its realness, and its rooted-in-utility-ness. Oh, and one thing else actually essential – tradition.
And who higher for example this level than Agnès B? Though, regardless of her independently-owned, 51-year-old enterprise with 231 shops globally (137 in Japan alone), Agnès doesn’t care to speak about ‘Trend’. Her collections are classic-casual, ageless and intentionally anti-fashion.
As a substitute, she’d a lot fairly talk about her love for the humanities and myriad methods of supporting and showcasing artwork, movie, music and tradition on the whole. An unintended designer, she has no formal trend coaching however studied drawing in Versailles and dreamed of being a museum curator. Which explains her pure intuition for recognizing expertise and befriending artists. “Sure, all my pals are artists and musicians. I don’t have bankers or folks like that as pals!” she informed me throughout her current SS25 menswear presentation in Paris.
Her artist friendships are nicely documented however some notable examples: she was among the many first to exhibit Ryan McGinley’s images after assembly him at a celebration; she noticed Jean-Michel Basquiat’s early work on the New York subway then befriended him shortly earlier than he died; she has supported Concord Korine’s movies since 1999 and exhibits his work in her gallery; and he or she designed Chet Baker’s wardrobe for Bruce Weber’s poetic 1988 documentary, ‘Let’s Get Misplaced’.
She additionally famously wardrobed David Bowie after seeing him carry out in Paris throughout his 70s Berlin period, “sporting all these German brown pleats”. She despatched him a pair of black leather-based denims with a observe recommending he rethink his stage put on. He promptly requested her to decorate him. “We had been nice pals for 25 years. His final album, which may be very shifting was known as Blackstar, and Jimmy King, [his photographer] informed me, ‘It’s due to your T-shirt – he was at all times sporting your khaki T-shirt with the black star.’”
As a significant cinephile, Agnès has produced and supported documentaries and artwork movies, and allowed cult administrators to borrow her garments to avoid wasting on costume rent prices. Being anti-fashion, her white shirts (suppose Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction, above), males’s fits (for Steve Buscemi and Harvey Keitel in Reservoir Canines, beneath) and stripy tees (for William Klein’s Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? beneath) are good supporting characters in traditional films. “Quentin Tarantino went to the store we had in L.A and that’s how I got here to decorate [the cast of] Reservoir Canine and Pulp Fiction,” she remembers. “I really like him very a lot; we at all times spend time speaking in Cannes and Paris. I’m fortunate to have been near folks like Basquiat and Tarantino. They’ve proven confidence in me.”
Whereas on a 48-hour go to to Paris final month, I finished by Agnès’s La Fab artwork area on Place Jean-Michel Basquiat. The huge Gallerie du Jour (beneath) hosts common exhibitions from Agnès’s 5000-piece artwork assortment, however importantly additionally has a bookshop promoting posters and artwork fanzines, in addition to a devoted T-shirt store promoting her ‘T-shirts d’artists‘ collection. It’s a good way of creating artwork tangible, wearable and accessible. I imply, what may very well be extra accessible than a fanzine? “I like accumulating fanzines. Artists make them with me, or folks ask me for images to make use of of their fanzines. We’re near this motion. And we’ve got a library, so typically we put the fanzines in there.”
At her SS25 menswear presentation, T-shirts are gaffer-taped to a wall, collage-style, together with collaborations with road artists and an upcoming one with Gilbert & George. Endlessly curious, Agnès usually images the road artwork in Paris, sending the artists’ tags to her workforce for them to determine the artist and method for official collaborations. There’s a captivating synergy between the hand-wrought graffiti tags of road artists and Agnès B’s very personal handwritten emblem. The distinctive, illustrative typography is utilized in actually each kind of communication you may think about – from retailer signage, to indicate invites to posters and T-shirt designs.
The presentation itself, held in her Canal Saint-Martin HQ, is low key. When you don’t get a celeb-drenched live-stream extravaganza, you do get an objets trouvés show of shells and stones collected by Agnès herself (ready to be long-established into handmade jewelry). And a thought-about wardrobe of garments that exhibits she completely is aware of her buyer (artwork and media varieties who love a great trouser, an fascinating shirt and a well-cut arty tee or two).
My first expertise with Agnès B was circa 1989, recognizing one in every of London’s coolest membership youngsters on a 31 bus sporting a pair of Agnès B pants as a hat (true story!). Immediately, her Ametora-style emblem caps are in style with Japanese youth and I’ve since amassed a uniform of her gamine fundamentals – together with roomy cashmere crew necks, stripy T-shirts, boxy Brando tees in plain black or white, and signature pearl-button snap cardigans. Sure, they give the impression of being higher as they age. An ardent eco-activist, many Agnès B items are made in France and there’s a perform on the brand new web site that highlights the traceability of every garment.
Whereas flâneuring about Paris on foot and on the Metro, having fun with the verdant squares, the beautiful canal, the uber-cool new Dover Road Market and native boutiques, it’s fascinating to notice the quiet affect of Agnès B. It’s all there in utility-chic shops like Merci and Centre Business (the place I choose up my copy of L’Etiquette Femme journal) and naturally A.P.C, whose Jean Touitou labored with Agnès earlier than launching his personal line. Unprecious, but in some way ineffably elegant, I suppose that’s additionally the formulation for French Lady Type.
THANK YOU TO AGNES B FOR HOSTING THE TRIP AND SPONSORING THIS POST
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: To come back
NOTE: Most photos are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate hyperlinks and PR samples. Please learn my privateness and cookies coverage right here
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