By Seth Khouri
After three seasons of showing within the Paris fashion calendar, Simon Porte Jacquemus—the creative director and founder of his namesake label—returned to the destination-led spectacles that have become synonymous with the Maison (recalling the lavender fields of SS20 and the coastline of Capri AW24). This season, the house travelled to Corsica, where the island’s dramatic coastline formed the backdrop for its latest collection.
Held along the winding path to Phare de la Pietra, models descended against the turquoise expanse of the Mediterranean. The forty-nine-look collection, spanning both womenswear and menswear, demonstrated just how assured Jacquemus has become in the language of cut and colour.
For womenswear, voluminous skirts and pleated dresses arrived in shades of blue, mustard, pink and terracotta. Sleeveless blouses with plunging necklines sat alongside simple cotton jerseys, their deep necklines inverted across the torso. One standout, Look 30, paired a white, form-fitting, floor-length dress with a plunging neckline that gave way to cherry-red fur punctures resting just below the waist, disrupting an otherwise restrained silhouette.
Menswear, however, proved to be the collection’s strongest proposition. Billowing trousers and fluid button-downs became recurring signatures, while pleated Bermuda shorts and tunic-like shirting introduced a welcome sense of ease. Jacquemus’ colour pairings were particularly assured: cyan tailored trousers sat beneath charcoal-grey blazers, while pale pink shirting emerged beneath vivid red jumpsuits. Look 42, though restrained in palette, was among the collection’s most resolved. A sheer cream singlet, detailed with graduated tabs that widened as they descended the garment, sat atop pleated white trousers and simple black sandals.
There is an ease to Jacquemus that cannot be manufactured. While the dramatic setting inevitably framed the collection through spectacle, the garments rarely relied upon it. Instead, the collection suggested a designer refining his vocabulary rather than expanding it—one whose understanding of proportion, colour and silhouette continues to mature with quiet confidence.