Patou S/S 2025 Paris

[vogue28]

VOGUE.COM

 

[vogue28]

VOGUE.COM

 

[disco54]

I like this ! He finally found his footing

 

[Lola701]

I saw him in Paris near the Parapharmacy at St Germain Des Pres recently and I kept thinking how he is probably the only CD of a LVMH who could walk like that while being totally incognito. Not one tourist recognized him…

Besides that, this is what a Jacquemus collection designed by a skilled designer looks like.

It’s like a Jacquemus/MiuMiu kind of situation. I’m less convinced by the long couture reproductions at the end but it’s very Charming.

 

[tricotineacetat]

This is wonderful, the drop waisted silhouettes are a lot more accomplished than when Saint Laurent or Burberry tried their hands on this very tricky silhouette- Here, everything looks easy and effortless!

It‘s really a collection edited to just the right amount of variety and a clear message what it‘s about. Bravo!

 

[Alquimista]

Happy he is doing more drop waisted, 20's shapes.

You can sense Miu Miu here, of course, but the intention is more womanly.

 

[Jacque Marcel]

Why is not at Givenchy? I can see modern day Audrey Hepburn is this.

 

[Lola701]

Why is not at Givenchy? I can see modern day Audrey Hepburn is this.

Don’t give LVMH bad ideas! Henry needs to stay away far from luxury lol.
Patou, much like Carven is perfect for him…

 

[jeremydante]

I have always wanted Patou to have a Schiaparelli-level resurgence, basically just a good PR strategy. I liked this collection.
Additionally, I want more people to know that Karl Lagerfeld worked with Patou, IDC how long/brief.

 

[tricotineacetat]

Don’t give LVMH bad ideas! Henry needs to stay away far from luxury lol.
Patou, much like Carven is perfect for him…

Agreed. I think a large part as to why this collection works and feels fresh is that it doesn't come with the usual pretense of a massive image build around it. He had a great cast of models but in the end it was a very low key presentation - The clothes live up to that, both in terms of the pricing and design.

Now compare that with Vaccarello's Saharienne womenswear collection, with those overpriced cargo trousers and jumpsuits. I'm not exactly sure how evidently 'luxurious' the clothes were, after all they were also just made of cotton. It was essentially sportswear. But at that price point, I think the luxury aspect is more the elaborate brand and image building and less the product itself.

 

[Lola701]

Agreed. I think a large part as to why this collection works and feels fresh is that it doesn't come with the usual pretense of a massive image build around it. He had a great cast of models but in the end it was a very low key presentation - The clothes live up to that, both in terms of the pricing and design.

Now compare that with Vaccarello's Saharienne womenswear collection, with those overpriced cargo trousers and jumpsuits. I'm not exactly sure how evidently 'luxurious' the clothes were, after all they were also just made of cotton. It was essentially sportswear. But at that price point, I think the luxury aspect is more the elaborate brand and image building and less the product itself.

That overpriced Vaccarello collection lol. I really loved some pieces but the prices are insane….I’ll see if I like it as much when I see it on sales.

But I think in Henry’s case, designing for luxury turned out to not work. He did Nina Ricci which is positioning was just above Carven and Patou. It’s Avenue Montaigne and all and I really think he designed with a different woman in mind.

When he designs clothes for contemporary brands, there’s a sense of reality and pragmatism that works wonderfully for him. He said that it was a frustration for him to not see people wearing his clothes in the street anymore when he went to Nina Ricci. That’s why he jumped on the opportunity to relaunch Patou instead of taking Pucci.

 

[disco54]

The only issue I have with Patou was obliterating their storied Perfume line , what a shame and idiotic decision

 

[Thefrenchy]

Never met a single person who wears this brand, I wonder how they survive.

 

[tricotineacetat]

Never met a single person who wears this brand, I wonder how they survive.

It takes time to re-establish a brand. They did that in a below-the-radar way, different from all the other LVMH brands where the aim is to compete on the highest performance tier.

My guess is this collection might help to generate a bit of traction - The success of Carven is probably what they were trying to replicate with his hiring but one look at where that brand went afterwards tells me just how unstable a name is even if it enjoyed years of commercial success. Carven was very much a dormant name, much like Patou was, too.

 

[THD96]

It's okay, but nothing has top his Fall 2021 for me. That collection is the direction that him and the brand should explore more because Jean Patou legacy is kinda underrated for me.

But I don't mind this, and I hope this will be a success because LVMH always treated the brand as an afterthought.

 

[TaylorBinque]

This is actually better than it needs to be. They need better PR and marketing because this is underserved. Definitely very stylish

 

[Darko]

Stylish and clean
I like

 

[Urban Stylin]

I like the retro feel, some of them remind me of nurse uniforms from the 70s and early 80s which isnt a bad thing because they did actually look like chic Miu Miu models with their low heels and head scarves.

 

[Thefrenchy]

It takes time to re-establish a brand. They did that in a below-the-radar way, different from all the other LVMH brands where the aim is to compete on the highest performance tier.

They relaunched in 2019. That's more than enough time to get on the radar, especially after hiring Henry who at the time still had that aura from his decently successful Carven relaunch.

They just got lost with poor brand image (I still cringe thinking about that whole Patou cat thing... Looked straight out of 2010 pinterest boards), and low marketing investments.

The name also doesn't resonate with anyone, except to mention the perfume line.

There was this whole thing in the 2010s of wanting to relaunch dormant brands. Harvey Weinstein (yeah) wanted to relaunch Charles James in 2014 but was stopped by the fund from Luxembourg that owned the trademark and the brand was sold in 2018. Three years prior, he wanted to revive Halston and we saw where that went. Same for Paul Poiret that was acquired by a Korean group in 2015 and relaunched in 2018 with Yiqing Yin as CD, now it has become an obscure makeup brand. And so on.

My point is: let these brands sleep, there are enough brands around and these very old names don't resonate with people. Especially if it's to give them mediocre relaunches.

 

[tricotineacetat]

They relaunched in 2019. That's more than enough time to get on the radar, especially after hiring Henry who at the time still had that aura from his decently successful Carven relaunch.

They just got lost with poor brand image (I still cringe thinking about that whole Patou cat thing... Looked straight out of 2010 pinterest boards), and low marketing investments.

The name also doesn't resonate with anyone, except to mention the perfume line.

There was this whole thing in the 2010s of wanting to relaunch dormant brands. Harvey Weinstein (yeah) wanted to relaunch Charles James in 2014 but was stopped by the fund from Luxembourg that owned the trademark and the brand was sold in 2018. Three years prior, he wanted to revive Halston and we saw where that went. Same for Paul Poiret that was acquired by a Korean group in 2015 and relaunched in 2018 with Yiqing Yin as CD, now it has become an obscure makeup brand. And so on.

My point is: let these brands sleep, there are enough brands around and these very old names don't resonate with people. Especially if it's to give them mediocre relaunches.

I think the case is not as clear-cut as it appears, especially when we look at the aspect of time spent so far to establish this dormant brand - There is certainly more pressure with Sabato de Sarno at Gucci given that the mission was a complete overhaul of the brand as well as to meet with extremely high revenue targets - For a designer then not to deliver a lacklustre performance sets a significantly more alarming message than for Guillaume Henry, whose first batch of products were released during Covid.

The way I see it, with Patou, LVMH is testing out a different brand building strategy - Less on the high investment scale and with the idea that it's not supposed to compete with their existing top-tier luxury maisons. Unlike Kenzo which enjoyed great success under Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, Guillaume Henry's performance has no predecessor to compare with. The fact that Kenzo has yet to generate traction under Nigo takes a little bit of pressure off from Patou's performance.