Simon Porte Jacquemus - Designer, Creative Director of Jacquemus

[tricotineacetat]

But the root of the problem is the lack of technical skills and the fact that he chilled when the commercial success came instead of improving himself.
And so now, without a CEO, he has to handle everything himself while already having a fairly big brand.

I think that poses less of a problem for as long as the prices stay consistent and the product remains “honest”. Your example of AMI is a good example at that - The quality and construction is decent for the prices he’s asking and they haven’t risen drastically despite the brand’s growing popularity. Jacquemus of course has entry price products aimed that young customers can afford, but the majority of what he is selling today painfully shows his lack of technical skills and and a heavy reliance on marketing to make up for poor quality fabrics and construction as well as lacking refinement one should come to accept for a designer at this stage of his career.

 

[LadyJunon]

It may sound weird but I don’t think the industry is at fault here.
Both Jacquemus and Vêtements got their breakthrough moments thanks to the industry and the appreciation of their work.
Jacquemus was heavily criticized until
His SS2017 which was his breakthrough in the industry and he confirmed the promise of his talent with the FW2017.

The commercial success came with his SS2018. The thing is when the mass started to catch up, instead of pushing through, he rested on his laurel and stopped being a designer and started building a brand.

The same for Vêtements. The moment it started to have a resonance with the mass, sacrifices were made or the focus changed.

I think that Jacquemus' immediate commercialisation was a consequence of the 8-year lag prior to that. Jacquemus had always had to exist in that more pragmatic mindset that usually comes much later in a brand's lifecycle (usually 10 to 15 years). So when Jacquemus found a look that clicked, he immediately merchandised it to hell: the giant straw hat, the Chiquito and Bambino bags, the Saudade dress, the Rond-Carre (which is actually a callback to his pre-Bomba days).

I think that poses less of a problem for as long as the prices stay consistent and the product remains “honest”. Your example of AMI is a good example at that - The quality and construction is decent for theartemis' prices he’s asking and they haven’t risen drastically despite the brand’s growing popularity. Jacquemus of course has entry price products aimed that young customers can afford, but the majority of what he is selling today painfully shows his lack of technical skills and and a heavy reliance on marketing to make up for poor quality fabrics and construction as well as lacking refinement one should come to accept for a designer at this stage of his career.

The core difference between AMI and Jacquemus is that they playing completely different games.

Unlike Jacquemus, AMI never tried to present itself as fashion in the first place. The brand doesn't aim to propose anything exceptionally beautiful nor does it aim to challenge ideas of taste. AMI is just a palatable, approachable company that makes palatable approachable clothes. That's not a bad thing, but the Jacquemus customer isn't checking for that.

I'll argue that Courreges, Coperni and LDSS are probably more comparable to Jacquemus in the types of customers they're targeting with Courreges is the biggest threat with Pinault's deep pockets and Di Felice's design chops.

 

[plentyofhorns]

I'm not sold on this proposition: I think Jacquemus perfume and especially beauty is actually a big gamble. Look how long (and how many previous missteps) it took a brand as big as Prada to get into beauty. Fragrance is now an extremely saturated market, and it's harder and harder for products to find customers these days. Many bigger and better brands have tried and failed at the fragrance game. If Helmut Lang, Yohji Yamamoto, Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, or Stella McCartney couldn't create lasting fragrances, why should one expect better from Simon Porte Jacquemus? Houses with long-established traditions of perfumery like Balmain and Carven can't sustain fragrance lines, and well-known brands like Givenchy, Ferragamo, Zegna, and Fendi have consistently been struggling with fragrance. Hell, the entire Kering conglomerate can't get fragrance right – Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Boucheron, and Brioni are all perfumeless; Saint Laurent was foolishly disembodied from one of the greatest designer fragrance lines ever created; and Gucci sits on a pile of some of the worst scents ever released. Were Jacquemus to release a fragrance line right now, I suspect it would get the same sort of disinterested reception as the perfume line Courrèges has been trying (unsuccessfully) to make work.

I think his perfumes could work because a lot of women really want to be in his Jacquemus world. I don’t think young girls are begging to be part of those other brand universes in the same way. A nice flowery perfume would probably sell like hot cakes, but then again the market is fickle

 

[Phuel]

This person is the Trisha Paytas of the industry.

 

[susseinmcswanny]

Trisha Paytas is a real artist tho...

 

[Phuel]

^^^ For sure! But I wouldn’t bat a lash if he ended up just sewing his label onto TEMU trash the way that she would stick her name on AliExpress rubbish and sell it as her merch at a hilarious markup to her dumb fishies. He’s so gross in every way.

 

[Nimsay]

French Heatherette.

 

[Lola701]

The core difference between AMI and Jacquemus is that they playing completely different games.

Unlike Jacquemus, AMI never tried to present itself as fashion in the first place. The brand doesn't aim to propose anything exceptionally beautiful nor does it aim to challenge ideas of taste. AMI is just a palatable, approachable company that makes palatable approachable clothes. That's not a bad thing, but the Jacquemus customer isn't checking for that.

I'll argue that Courreges, Coperni and LDSS are probably more comparable to Jacquemus in the types of customers they're targeting with Courreges is the biggest threat with Pinault's deep pockets and Di Felice's design chops.

The irony is that because of AMI’s popularity in France, a Jacquemus customer will likely be an AMI customer.
And AMI is considered as a designer fashion brand. Alexandre Mattiussi’s story telling: He worked at Dior Homme under Slimane, worked at Givenchy under Boateng and then Marc Jacobs gives him a credibility that worked from the first season.

Someone could go to AMI for a double breasted wool coat but only go to Jacquemus for a logo sweater.

I would say that in that area of young cool brands, Coperni is maybe at the bottom.

I don’t even think, tbh that the Jacquemus customer is checking for his non commercial stuff.

French Heatherette.

No, that’s Christophe Guillarmé lol.