The result of this unusual journey is a free and joyful transposition of certain principles of severity and rigour that evoke the East. With a will towards elegance, the silhouette is softened and made sinuous, the shapes fluid and gliding. For this reason, the supplest and yielding fabrics were favoured, such as georgette and satin – without renouncing structural perfection or the importance of aplomb, which identifies the shoulder as the natural focal point and allows the garment to fall with ease. In colour, too, I played between composure and impetus, setting “cool” combinations of black and white against vital modulations of terracotta, yellow and orange, and against the various blends of brown that define different qualities of leather – from suede to nappa to marabou – with an appearance that is slightly aged, worn, lived-in. 

The signs of an era are reread in a forward-looking key – an era that combined allegorical expressiveness of military origin with the composed, regal femininity of its protagonists, from Joséphine Beauharnais to Paolina Borghese, to Madame Récamier as portrayed by David. 

By manipulating historical suggestions, the architecture of the garment is redefined, new resonances between wardrobe elements are tested, and singular alchemies of materials are sought. The fundamental cleanliness of lines is completed through a sequence of calibrated fullnesses, roundings and swellings, generated by distinctive cuts, drawstrings, lacing and drapery. In the same way, the balance between composure and impetus defines the chromatic identity of the collection – restrained yet varied. Alongside the non-colours of winter, solid and natural – urban grey, military and olive green, khaki – appear the tender white and powder pink of the complexions of the “merveilleuses”, austere and precious black, imperial red, and the Martinique fuchsia that Joséphine may have carried back with her to Paris, in her memories and in her heart.