«Is the sky blue?» is the leitmotif that accompanies the collection’s runway reflecting on contemporaneity and its obsessions. Courrèges FW 2023
«Is the sky blue?» – Courrèges FW 2023
In a globalized world in which metropolises are economic hubs and home to an often inordinate number of citizens, Nicolas Di Felice reflects on being urban. Already the setting of the fashion show has the air of having come out of one of the big cities like Paris, Milan or New York. A well-defined square blurred from the viewers’ view, shrouded in smoke that almost seems to mimic fog.
And the constant outflow of it, from below, perhaps recalling smokestacks or maybe the problem of pollution. Opening the catwalk is a model carrying a smartphone, keeping her gaze fixed on that as she walks the runway. At this point the leitmotif begins, «Is the sky blue?» Which seems to be the warning to observe what surrounds one against the disenchantment of screens that overwhelms each of us in everyday urban life.
Next, other models bring their cell phones to the runway. Parading bodies follow the perimeter as they cross paths with others and never seem to really pay attention to their existence, to disregard the other from themselves and off the screen. Meanwhile, the question repeats itself, redundantly, and accompanies the audience until the end of the fashion show and after.
Fall Winter 2023 by Nicolas Di Felice
Defined, almost architectural lines characterize the collection designed by Nicolas Di Felice for Fall Winter 2023 in Paris. Making this sort of urban uniform, that the creative director has imagined, more rigorous is the totalizing presence of the color black.
Declined on different types of fabrics, even used and mixed in the same outfit, but always raven at least in most of the initial looks. Volumes create a double play, sometimes through jackets with important shoulders and over that dominate the styling, other times they are minimal, necessary only to cover a small portion of the body.
Few other colors appear on the runway sporadically, most often white, but also ensembles in total red or total pink. Leather is an essential element: in the gloves that sometimes go as far as covering the shoulders, and in the boots, often strictly above the knee. What is comforting is the knowledge that Di Felice is making an effort to research materials and had already declared last year in Vogue the shift toward more conscious choices.
The inspiration for the Paris Fashion Week, Courrèges FW23
Already from the release of the first looks it is clear how the central focus of the show’s production for the creative director was the smartphone. For its absolute and pervasive presence in today’s life that tends to guide behavior but also way of dressing.
It is no coincidence, then, that models with cell phones wear what are ostensibly jackets but turn into capes.Just to leave both the hands and the arms free in the usage of the tool. Every detail is reworked and updated according to the urbanized and digitized contemporary reality. Also the fabrics are far from the futuristic plastics and more connected to the subway sphere as the designer points out.
In the finale, the casual attitude is replaced by the brightness of chic dresses that contrast with the daily style of the previous ones. The color also changes and, in this shift, some of the dresses bear the brand name along the entire length. Then long skirts with slits and train close the runway interrupting the insistent city hubbub and music in the background.
The codes borrowed from the Courrèges archives
Since taking over the reins of the brand in late 2020, Nicolas Di Felice has always been a fan of using the archive. Not a mere copy and paste from the past but a reworking of codes with respect to today’s context. A-line and short-hemmed dresses, like those designed by the founder, are reworked with necklines and cut-outs.
The latter, another distinctive element of the brand since its founding in 1961 are found in every variation in the collection. Deep and wide on the back, but also double on the chest, while other small cut-outs highlight the navel and belly area. Even the jackets open on the lower stomach are reminiscent of some of the creations of old Courrèges. The garments’ well-delineated, geometric shapes are also borrowed from the brand’s historical style.
Not only rather square shapes but also circles along with the addition of decorative elements in metal or mirrors that echo the same form. More unusual for the brand are the weaves of fabrics used above all in the last tranche of the collection. Also taken up instead is the luminous pattern dictated by fabrics such as vinyl and sequins, amplified by the inclusion of mirrors struck in the final performance by beams of light.
From futuristic to urban age – Courrèges FW23
Back in the days when Courrèges conceived dresses with mirrored allure and reflective fabric, used eyeglasses that mimicked closed eyelids with exaggerated eyelashes, and created dresses that looked like they came straight out of a spaceship, his style was called futuristic.
Today in 2023, the brand catapults itself into the urban era thanks to Nicolas Di Felice’s vision. A series of sweatshirts declined in the structured version with a completely transparent fabric. Or white or black with or without a hood, paired only with pants or topped with coats and jackets.
Elegant looks are also composed of comfortable elements such as boots with moderate heels or soft suits and pants or jacket and pants also pinstriped. Simple elements traceable to the metropolis and expertly revisited by the creative director.
