“Garments are tools for people to feel protected”: Marine Serre on her latest conscious collection and dressing Beyoncé

FT NEWS

Last season, Marine Serre emerged from Paris Fashion Week as something of a soothsayer. COVID-19 was on the brink of being declared a pandemic and, as face coverings became increasingly common, the masks Serre had presented three seasons in a row—with the original intention of protecting the wearer from pollution—reached a new level of pertinence. “It’s important to be into the time that you are living, to be as sensible as possible and open to being practical,” the 28-year-old explains when we speak in the days before unveiling her spring/summer 2021 collection through an ambitious film.

Entitled Amor Fati–a Latin phrase, which translates to “love of fate”—the short, directed by Sacha Barbin and Ryan Doubiago, stars Iranian-Dutch singer Sevdaliza and Serre’s friend Juliet Merie, alongside the designer’s runway regulars including Amalia Vairelli. The protagonists lead us from one dystopian vision to another, from sterile laboratories to Martian landscapes, with a particularly eye-popping moment at the film’s midpoint reminiscent of the notorious scene in Luis Buñuel’s Un Chien Andalou (1929).

Continuing her experimentation with upcycled materials and picking up on narratives from previous seasons, Serre is resolute in ushering the industry towards a less wasteful future that, as she reveals here, is not so much preoccupied with the new as it is the stories and associations assimilated into the fabric of our clothes over time.

Do you think people are buying fashion more consciously now, especially over the past six months?

“During lockdown, our social media was very active and people started to take the time to understand what we are doing. They were reflecting and thinking why they dress the way they do, questioning the choices they make.”

Can you describe the main themes you wanted to explore in Amor Fati and what you hope people will take away from watching it?

“I didn’t want to do a show for spring/summer 2021, I wasn’t going to ask people to travel—if we can have one more season where people aren’t flying and are helping save our planet, then that’s something.

“It was important to keep a connection between the characters and the way they dress, empowering them through their garments and in turn the way we dress ourselves. We pass through three worlds in the film that exist simultaneously—a water zone, a mountainous land and another environment that is more clinical—each with a different feeling. Some moments are seductive, others are dangerous. But it’s the same people throughout, it’s just their outfits that change the role they play. The garments are tools for people to feel protected — that makes a lot of sense right now.

“What was important for me in this movie is to mirror what is happening in the world and, at the same time, imagine what society can become. It questions the life we have lived over the past six months, where we don’t know what is real and what is a dream.”

Your Message

Click here to post a Enquiry

Advertisement