|
Maxime Simoens, an emerging French designer, is shaping up to be the new object of Beyoncé’s fashion-focused desires.
On late Thursday evening when the singer surprisingly unleashed 14 new singles and 17 music videos on to the public as part of her self-titled ‘visual album’, Simoens was revealed as one of the young, conceptual labels that she enlisted to help covey her cinematic vision.
Beyonce’s decision to wear Simoens’s fringed mini-dress in her video ‘Mine,’ a ballad that features Drake, is her second endorsement of the 29-year-old designer’s work. The first came when she appeared on the cover of her 2011 album, 4, in a heavily detailed purple dress of his design.
Video star: Maxime Simoens's spring 2014 design (seen on the runway, L) is featured in one of Beyonce's 17 new music videos that were released on Thursday as part of her self-titled 'visual album'
The pop star’s 17 videos are incredibly stylized: each one was conceived to express a singular vision that would compositely register ‘like a movie,’ she said in a promotional video for the album.
Much of the short films' cinematic drama comes courtesy of designs produced by a guard of emerging labels. Among them is Simoens’s spring 2014 metallic fringed dress.
Beyoncé’s stylists had plucked the look from Simoens’s first fully-fledged ready-to-wear collection, which he presented this past March after receiving a landmark investment from fashion conglomerate LVMH.
Based in Paris, Simoens told MailOnline by phone on Friday that he found out about Beyoncé’s album release along with the rest of the world.
‘I knew there was something going on,’ Simoens said, still excited from the rush of his discovery. ‘But we didn’t know for sure, we just sent out a few dresses and didn’t know how they would be used.’
First endorsement: Beyonce first wore Simoens's designs on the cover of her 2011 album, 4
He says that Beyoncé’s endorsements provide him the opportunity to ‘get the universe to know’ about his burgeoning label, which has drawn accolade for its use of clean lines, sharp tailoring, and graphic intrigue.
In many ways, Simoens’s aesthetic has practically been charted for Beyoncé’s appreciation from the very start. The singer is known to patronize labels that enlist structural drama and empowered femininity – both hallmarks of Simoens’s label.
'Even if it is a little part, it’s a part that is huge for me –she’s a massive icon'
Simoens explained, rather earnestly, that being included in the Beyoncé project ‘is really interesting …Even if it is a little part, it’s a part that is huge for me –she’s a massive icon.’
He added that he thinks she could ‘be a top model with her face and body, it’s incredible.’
The lyrics in Beyoncé’s new album drip in sexual references that range from Monica Lewinsky to Skittles candy – but their heartfelt message (clearly dedicated to husband, Jay-Z) is a sentiment that Simoens considers to be ‘a new way to present a woman sexually.’
‘You see that she wants to put women in the sexual spotlight, but not in a way that’s too obvious or tacky…its romantic sexuality,’ Simoens said of Beyoncé’s lyrics.
To his delight, many of Beyoncé’s songs are laced with French language (Est-ce que tu aimes le sexe? is an example, in her song Partition).
‘She has someone speaking French, who is talking about sexuality and femininity, and because it’s in French it’s really exciting for me,’ Simoens eagerly said of the other common denominator he shares with the album.
Rising star: Simoens (pictured above) established his label in 2009, only three years after graduating from a fashion French university
While the two have never met, Simoens is hoping to change that in new year when he travels to New York to present his pre-fall 2014 collection this January.
The financial opportunity of coming to New York for presentation is one that Simoens attributes to his new partnership with French fashion conglomerate LVMH.
In February LVMH’s venerable chairman Bernard Arnault announced that he had taken a minority stake in Simoens’s label. At the time his spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that the purchase was made ‘in order to help accelerate [Simoens’s] development.’
Prior to the announcement, Simoens was rumored to be a possible replacement for John Galliano’s role at Christian Dior.
While those rumors ultimately faded when Dior appointed Raf Simons as creative director, many fashion professionals still take LVMH’s investment in Simoens as a sign that the company is grooming him to take the helm of another one of its mega brands (Celine, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi among them), one day.
Simoens told MailOnline that LVMH has taught him how ‘to push my collection in a commercial way…it’s about strategy and the things that a young designer doesn’t really know.’
He founded his label in 2009 three years after graduating from the prestigious Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.
His brand was established as a primarily eveningwear-based label (Simoens has already presented three couture shows – more than his turns at ready-to-wear).
Trademarks: Simoens is now preparing to expand his label, which is recognized for its clean lines, sharp tailoring, and graphic intrigue
It is now sold at more than 50 luxury retailers worldwide, but he expects that number to increase in the coming months.
Simoens says that he is now learning how to introduce more ‘streetwear’ into his collections as part of his efforts to commercialize and prepare for expansion.
He is in the process of designing his first range of handbags and shoes for the same reason – tasks that he says require a ‘focus on the details.’
He added: ‘I try never to listen to other brand and what they’re doing, but to focus on my style.’
0 comments:
Post a Comment