Just breathe: Courrèges Autumn-Winter 2024 by Nicolas Di Felice

For Autumn-Winter 2024, Nicolas Di Felice continues to study symmetry and sensuality,  proving once again that the Courrèges girl is the hottest and chicest in town.

There was also a focus on outerwear: leather and gabardine trenches, short and long overcoats, fake fur, biker, signature wipe-clean vinyl and denim jackets (the jean ensemble worn by Irina Shayk was one of the highlights). And a newly expanded Holy bag made its first appearance on the catwalk in an array of seasonal prints and leathers, called by Nicolas Di Felice “the companion of confidential escapes”. The show finished on a high note: when the last model walked the square runway, the heart stopped beating… Then, the finale march commenced to the sounds of Chopin’s classic “Nocturne”. And the heart went on again. A truly unforgettable, irresistible fashion moment.

The fashion fiesta continued at night at Courrèges’ afterparty on the outskirts of Paris, where both collaborators and friends of the brand, dressed impeccably in eco vinyl dresses and jackets, danced to the favorite techno sounds until dawn. If you ever wondered if Courrèges girl is real, this was the place to make her first acquaintance.

It’s already a good Courrèges tradition; gathering guests in a box showspace on an early Parisian morning. This time, the creative director of the house Nicolas Di Felice took over the famous Carreau du Temple space in le Haut Marais, where he constructed a precious, almost snowy white arena. And just as the first model walked the runway in a black trench, her hand tucked suggestively in her bottom front pocket, we heard not only the music composed by Erwan Sene, Sophie Koella and Di Felice himself, but also the soothing sound of a woman's breathing. While the central Lycra-covered part of the showspace rose and fell, mimicking her heart’s beating. What an idea! A surreal surprise, conceived Di Felice and his friend, artist Rémy Brière with a little bit of technical help by the creative polymaths Matière Noire. As they say, it always takes a village. And in Di Felice’s case, a group of close friends/collaborators, who together make impossible possible.

The collection was filled with sensual-wear, a staple of the brand that under Di Felice’s four year tenure became one of the hottest and most sought after Parisian labels. Think bias-cut slip dresses, rectangular cut tops, hanging off nothing (invisible bandeau construction does the magic), latex thigh-high footwear, lingerie finishings and leather pin-up bras, that, according to the show notes: “take the story behind closed doors... As bodies disrobe, feather appliques mimic the electrified texture of goosebumps, while blindfold-inspired sunglasses express sensual surrender”. 

Text: LIDIA AGEEVA