As she shows her S/S19 collection in Paris, we share the 2017 LVMH prizewinner’s poignant reflections on the power of place
“I grew up in the centre of France, near Brive-la-Gaillarde, in a village of four or five houses. Of course we had a car, and we were not far from the city – but my daily life was in the middle of the forest. The landscape is very beautiful, natural and wild. Growing up in the countryside as a child, there was a lot of freedom, to go out walking, to get lost, to learn to do things by yourself and then find a path back home. I love the quickness of the city now – but in the country, when you have to be sure you have enough food, enough water, or you might not have television, phone signal, or it might rain, then you are faced with the realities of the world. It puts your feet on the ground. And I really like that sensation. When I have had enough I know I can go back there – it’s like a door, always left open.”
Parisian fashion may be renowned for its storied houses, but Marine Serre’s politically inclined clothing is swiftly shifting the focus. Such was the resonance of Radical Call for Love, her graduate collection – in part a response to the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels – that she won the prestigious LVMH Prize for young designers in 2017, the first to receive the award before launching a label. The spoils allowed for a studio in Paris’ 18th arrondissement, where her Autumn/Winter 2018 collection took seed. The result: a deft hybrid of lean, utilitarian sportswear and traditional couture techniques she calls FutureWear, which is just as well attuned to the present. In rare spare moments, Serre returns to the region of Corrèze, where she grew up. There, she feels the way she hopes women will when they wear her clothing: free.
Hair: Pawel Solis at Artlist Paris using Oribe. Make-up: Adrien Pinault at Management Artists using MAC. Photographic assistant: Charlotte Krieger. Styling assistants: Rebecca Perlmutar, Camila Paiva and Georgina Craig. Make-up assistant: Marie Tritsch
This story originally featured in the Autumn/Winter 2018 issue of AnOther Magazine, which is on sale internationally now.