The appointment of two new artistic directors at Carven mere weeks before Paris Fashion Week, raised eyebrows as to whether the collection would be a success or not, but Alexis Martial and Adrien Caillaudaud pulled it off with style.
As an abundance of high waists, pastel colours and dainty florals graced the catwalk, it was obvious that the 1960s were a big influence, with Jane Birkin noted as one of the muses for the collection.
For Carven it was all about the separates; miniskirts, fluffy jumpers, trousers and oversized structured jackets, the aim was that all pieces could be interchangeable and still remain tailored. The whole feel of the collection was reminiscent of that 60s dewy-eyed, prim and proper schoolgirl look that we expect from Carven. Slingback clogs were the only choices for shoes, paired with colourful ankle socks and the outfits were not complete without a belt, contributing to the high-waisted aspect of the pieces.
The collection stayed true to the style of the Parisian woman, though Caillaudaud said: “We wanted to give our Parisian a bit more electricity. She is Parisian in attitude but she has a London spirit.”
They certainly achieved this by adding their own, new, fresh inputs into the collection, though they remained close to the style of design the previous artistic director, Guillaume Henry, made Carven famous for. These subtle changes came in the form of accessories, something the brand had been lacking quality in while Henry was at the helm.
If this first debut of Martial and Caillaudaud’s joint role as artistic directors is anything to go by, we can excitedly look forward to more collections from the new and improved Carven in the near future.
