PUFF PIECES: Simon Porte Jacquemus continued to elaborate on his fall 2023 collection “Le Chouchou,” staged at the Château de Versailles last June and featuring puffball shapes.
The French fashion brand and Net-a-porter invited 60 guests to the palace on Wednesday night for a lavish dinner, which started with cocktails and cheese puffs and ended with a religieuse au chocolat, a dessert wrapped up in — you guessed it — puff pastry.
“Choux” is the term for the dough used for éclairs, profiteroles and other sweets, while “chouchou” is French slang for “the favorite” or “teacher’s pet.”
Tina Kunakey, Khalil Ghani and Anaa Saber were among those who caught the last moments of golden hour overlooking the palace’s vast gardens and fountains, before repairing to a long table laden with grapes, dates and tall candelabras.
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The event was the celebrate the launch of a capsule of exclusive pieces in collaboration with Net-a-porter, one style worn gamely by Ad Interim Chief Executive Officer of Yoox Net-a-porter, Alison Loehnis, who sang the praises of its stretch velvet fabric surrounded by all that “choux.”
“Everyone think about Jacquemus for daily life, and we want to connect with the night also,” Jacquemus told WWD. “We dress a lot of people for weddings, and I think there is also a space for us with eveningwear.”
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Loehnis noted that eveningwear is an important category on Net-a-porter, and the Jacquemus items just went live.
“What he’s done is reissued his signature silhouettes, but in eveningwear fabrics. It’s very elegant and elevated, equally quite young with that wink that Jacquemus gives throughout the whole collection,” she said.
It was photographer Tyler Mitchell’s first time at Versailles, but he forgot his camera.
“I’m regretting that,” he said as he took in the views. “I mean, I’m blown away, it’s breathtaking. I have no words. Perfect time of day. Perfect weather… The fact that this was someone’s backyard alone is insane”
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Richie Shazam was camera-less also, but not without reason.
“Actually, the last time I came was over 10 years ago, I brought a little digital camera and I lost the camera with a memory card and I was so gutted. Because I know there was a lot of magic on that camera,” Shazam said.
After dinner, guests were invited to wander the palace, filming everything in the dim light, and devoting the most footage to the famous Hall of Mirrors, empty but for a few dozen guests — and free of choux.