Text: Jesse Scott
As the lights dimmed and the music swelled in the Atelier des Lumières on the penultimate day of Paris Fashion Week, guests expected to see this season’s initial Pierre Cardin looks make their way down the runway. Instead they were immersed in a blue fantasy, as the atelier’s 360 degrees of screens were illuminated with soothing waves and vividly colored fish. Sharks glided through coral reefs, scuba divers drifted above schools of fish, and rays floated gracefully through the depths. For almost ten minutes the audience was surrounded by the rhythm of the ocean, forcing us to suspend disbelief after stepping off the sunny Paris streets and re-orienting our collective perspective so as to better understand the spectacle that awaited.
Then the first model appeared, dressed in a retro-futurist style that, due to the regal blue and gold color scheme and boxy silhouette, unmistakably recalled the tomb of Tutankhamun. Aesthetically, the proudly independent Cardin house rarely chooses to engage with the current flashpoint – instead referencing the frontiers of human experience in creating a fantastical world season after season. This year was no different; while the ocean was the central theme, Cardin created a modular Atlantis-style universe that transcended time to bring us into both the ancient world and the space age.
With the World’s Oceans in Peril, Cardin Presents a Rallying Cry for Sustainability
An ocean-themed collection was the perfect opportunity to focus on sustainability and progressing fashion into a better future. Global warming and over-pollution have increasingly wreaked havoc on ocean ecosystems in recent years, compromising the existence of the beautiful organisms and habitats that dazzled guests in the video prelude to the show. Cardin addressed this by presenting one of the most sustainable collections to grace the runways this season; from up-cycled neoprene to pleated organza, the collection was designed entirely from either recycled fabrics or the house’s dormant stocks.
Creative director Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin has long been outspoken on environmental issues, for example launching the Bulles Awards, which honored environmental scientists and activists while raising awareness about climate change, in 2022. As an independent house, Cardin is uniquely positioned to take a leadership position in sustainable fashion; this season saw the brand again affirm its role in the vanguard of the space.
Bold Color Blocking and Exaggerated Shapes Recall Modern Art and the Natural World
Rodrigo Cardin has always loved bright colors and he maintained the status quo for Fall/Winter 2024. Vivid blues, pinks, greens, and other colors anchored the season’s most spectacular looks; Cardin eschewed pastels and subtleties to evoke a bold tropical paradise. Circles, stripes, keyholes, and arrows adorned many modular looks, recalling the structures and color blocking favored by several of the groundbreaking 20th century painters who shifted artistic trends from figuration to abstraction.
Piet Mondrian’s bright “De Stijl” neo-plasticism (which found geometric and chromatic harmony by reducing art to essential shapes and the three primary colors) was evoked by several dresses. Sonia Delaunay, a French abstract artist who favored vibrant colors and circular forms, was also evoked; a number of looks were adorned with clean circular patterns, cut-outs or jeweled accoutrements. Perry Ellis specifically quoted Delaunay as the inspiration for one of his most memorable collections, a 1984 offering centered on knitwear. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, this season saw Cardin bring Delaunay into the contemporary sartorial conversation; her aesthetic translates just as effectively to synthetic neoprene and space age silhouettes as it did to Ellis’s classic and casual knits.
Many pieces offered literal interpretations of the ocean. Waving coral was quoted by a vivid red top worn above iridescent black pants. Intertwined rings on one piece mimicked the tail of a humpback whale as it breaches. A black hoop worn like a tutu above a slinky dress created a jellyfish shape. And one dress was flanked by rippling green fins.
Diving into New Frontiers for an Unforgettable Immersive Show
The limited men’s looks on offer were clear highlights of the collection. Of his more literal ocean references, Cardin was at his strongest when conversing with scuba diving and submarines. One male model swaggered down the runway wearing a neoprene tracksuit-style outfit highlighted by a shimmering circle imitating the window or hatch of a submarine. Another male model wore an orange-accented look that referenced both space suits and the heavy “dry suits” worn by scuba divers when diving in cold-weather conditions. And cutouts on the protruding neck of a sleek black jacket recalled the back-up “octopus” regulator that divers tuck into the shoulder straps of their BCD’s.
Cardin’s attention to detail was the most impressive thing about this collection. Each accoutrement of the modular looks, including the limited-run Evolution “Wave” sunglasses (produced using an eco-responsible “Made in Italy” model) was carefully considered. The synchronized production was almost as memorable as the clothes, as each look was mirrored by individually paired clips of ocean imagery that played on the Atelier’s massive screens as the model moved down the runway.
Fall/Winter 2024 was a triumph for Pierre Cardin. A highlight on the Paris calendar due to the innovative designs, spectacular production, and poignant message of sustainability alike, this show should create waves both editorially and in stores.