Marine Serre is a lady in demand. In advance of her Paris Fashion Week show, taking place Tuesday, she launched a capsule collection Sept. 14 on MatchesFashion.com, celebrating with a London Fashion Week takeover of the retailer’s new Mayfair townhouse, 5 Carlos Place.
The line, dubbed Futurewear, includes long layered dresses made from upcycled shirts, Swarovski-embossed leggings and her breakout ball bags with their handles of upcycled scarves. It was displayed on an ingenious installation made from old gym machines sourced on eBay. They were dismantled and reformatted Dr. Seuss-style into a real-life “Manic Soul Machine,” the name of Serre’s fall ’18 collection.
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The capsule also features a Swarovski-encrusted version of those Nicholas Kirkwood collaboration boots that walked her fall ’18 runway.
When FN caught up with Belgium’s new wunderkind, she explained that the capsule is actually a teaser for the spring ’19 show she’ll present in Paris tomorrow.
She revealed that it will feature a new couture-esque line of unique pieces alongside the wider collection with its upcycled and deadstock components. “I want to do amazing things with what is already there,” she said. “Everything is unique. You will never have the same dress as the next person.”
“It will be evolution,” she added. “The last collection was 30 percent upcycled, but we’re doubling this figure for spring.” The whole point, though, is that you won’t know that it’s upcycled because, she said, “that’s not the idea I’m trying to sell.” For the LVMH prize winner, it’s normal. She’s been using such materials for the last five years.
“Marine has such a unique point of view that’s really exciting to me as a buyer to see things that you haven’t seen before,” said Matches’ fashion and buying director, Natalie Kingham. “Everything she designs has a story, is functional, wearable and comes from a real place of integrity.”
Burberry CEO Marco Gobbetti recently said that “modern luxury means being socially and environmentally responsible,” and Serre agrees. “It’s important to redefine what luxury is because today cheap and expensive products look the same.”
Following last season’s Nicholas Kirkwood collaboration, she will also lay the foundations for her own footwear collection. “We are launching our own shoes in the show,” she revealed, adding that we can also expect to see further collaboration across both shoes and ready-to-wear.
