Mood board: Véronique Nichanian’s summer is always sublime – and always carried off with artisanal aplomb. This studied nonchalance continued to flourish in S/S 2020, with generous volumes on trousers, shirting and knitwear. They evoked a sense of happiness, freedom and frivolity. Materials were all fluid and airy. Colours were taken from a summer lunch: mint, aqua, plum and bubble gum pink.
Best in show: The Maison started as a harness and bridle workshop in Paris in 1837 and is known for its leather accessories and savoir-faire. Yet, it is its iconic, hand-printed silk scarves that endure. The original, introduced in the 1930s, was based on a woodblock drawing by Robert Dumas. Today a fleet of artisans are involved in the birth of new styles. It takes three months alone to turn raw thread into rolls of 100–150-m-long silk twill, which is then printed and finished by hand in the ateliers. For S/S 2020, Nichanian paid homage to the scarves’ prestige, over-dying them and collaging them onto cotton t-shirts, youthful three-button shirt-jackets and zipped blousons.
Finishing touches: Pleated Bermuda shorts came in cotton serge, roomy trousers in technical cotton gabardine. Shirts had baseball necklines. Blousons in plain cotton poplin featured high, drawstring collars and were worn under matching light shirt jackets. The whole look was Nichanian’s riff on street. Sweatshirts and jogging trousers were in fleecy goatskin and sorbet cagoules were worn over untucked white shirts. An almost cargo shape trouser had button tabs on the hips and a modern, cyclic chic. §
