A.P.C. Catherine Deneuve
Clean lines, sober colors, and carefully selected materials, A.P.C. is adored for its timeless style and expertise. The brand with the acronym always aims right and without a lapse in taste.
Minimalist, but never basic, the Parisian label masters the “Frenchy” wardrobe to perfection. Each collection revisits a French elegance by avoiding the diktats and excesses of contemporary fashion. In contrast to clothes designed for the “commodity woman”, Jean Touitou, founder of the iconic label, wants to make women desirable without artifice or vulgarity
This is one of the factors that gives A.P.C an important place in our selection every season. The brand always has an eye on the culture and its time. Constantly in search of the chic and the true, A.P.C. tells its story through art, freedom, literature or politics.
Now a cultural icon, the brand continues to renew itself by developing strong concepts like the “butler” and APC Interaction and Jean Touitou's Label Collaborations. And today we are going to talk about the capsule collection between A.P.C and the woman who answers to the name of Catherine Deneuve.
The “INTERACTION” program
Let’s leave the first one aside and focus on the “Interactions” project. Rather than simply putting an X on its label, A.P.C wanted to develop this collaborative concept following the capsule collection with Kid Cudi.
Called to multiply the collaborations and interactions this capsule also allowed Touitou to leave the spectrum of fashion. The collection with Brain Dead, or the one with Gwyneth Paltrow, confirmed what really interests the founder: the encounter.
In an age of social distancing, the word “interaction” takes on its full meaning. He then called on artists and outside personalities to bring their vision on the work of the Parisian studio. For its seventh Interaction, the iconic acronym of the Atelier de Production et de Création, becomes A.P.C. C.D. by giving carte blanche to the legend of the seventh art, Catherine Deneuve, for one autumn.
The Deneuve
From Belle de Jour to Jacques Demy’s films, via the front row of Yves Saint-Laurent and Marc Jacobs’ fashion shows, the one who has too often been reduced to the rank of muse proves, once again, that it is difficult to put her in a box. Catherine Deneuve has created an image and a style that surpasses fashions and seasons. An aesthetic that she perpetuates here in this #7Interaction for the timeless acronym.
A close friend of Yves Saint Laurent, attached to the clothing grammar of Nicolas Ghesquières Louis Vuitton, there is something that cannot be taken away from her, it is her sense of style and her presence. With a thin cigarette in her mouth, Catherine Deneuve comes to the studio as a neighbor. There is a certain sensitivity to fashion that emanates from the one that some nickname the Deneuve.
Catherine Deneuve knows the fabrics well. The actress knows how to recognize the value of a material, and the volumes that will make him earn more. Armholes too low or shoulders too wide, thanks to her seasoned eye, Catherine can notice the defects at first glance. As a great lady, if a drawing has misinterpreted her words, her reaction will be as cordial as sharp. A friendly reproving look will be enough to put things back in order and reach the perfection of this collaboration.
A.P.C. C.D. a collaboration that sounds like an evidence.
In the middle of the fabric coupons, in the workshop rue Madame, Paris 6, the collaboration sounds like an evidence. They have in common a district of Paris, a certain modesty, the taste of the others and of the dress. Both have a passion for fashion and, each in their own way, they embody a bit of France.
On one side, we have A.P.C., emblem of Parisian chic. On the other, the film icon Catherine Deneuve, international symbol of French elegance, iconic figure and memory. He summons Samuel Beckett and Joseph Beuys in his collections, she dodges any attempt to confine herself in a concept. Sometimes classic and sometimes daring, the collection highlights jacket and skirt, pants and white blouse with polka dots, golden sandals and pumps.
This collaboration has established a mutual trust. Their common love for the unspoken has allowed the creation of a small world populated by new heroines.
A wardrobe all in elegance
In this capsule collection, we find the idea of chic specific to Catherine Deneuve without lacking madness. As in the movies, Catherine’s A.P.C. heroines embody a vision of timeless elegance where the pieces are created with the precision and the requirement of the initiated.
In all, nearly a dozen pieces are produced under the “A.P.C. C.D.” label. Among them are two strong silhouettes, namely a two-piece suit in navy blue wool and a jacket and skirt khaki set. Two formal uniforms, kind of BCBG, which reveal an obvious femininity with all the elegance and subtlety that we know of the legendary “style Deneuve”. To these two sets come to be added essentials like a white shirt with red polka dots, a sailor sweater, and a dark green blouse printed cashmere. An elegant wardrobe completed by accessories, including gold sandals and mid-heeled pumps embossed in green python, two bags, a wallet, and a pair of golden sandals.
To contrast with this sobriety, an illustration signed by Mathias Augustyniak of M/M Paris, brings a note of fantasy to the collection. Printed on silk squares and t-shirts, the illustration constitutes the soul of the actress by representing the animals had in her life.
This 7th Intervention then offers us a resolutely vintage wardrobe. It is presented as a tribute to timeless elegance with accents sixties and fantasy.
A capsule that tells a story
With this capsule, A.P.C and Catherine Deneuve have created a parallel universe, populated by new heroines from a fantasy novel.
Among its main characters, we find Nicole and Renée. Both form the imperious tailor in navy blue wool gabardine. But what would they be without Florence?
On mid-high heels, the sweet Florence in lambskin leather embossed with a beautiful python to make his two sidekicks gain in presence.
Opposite the trio we find Mathilde and Nelly, a skirt and a jacket coordinated in khaki. Soft and fluid, these two young girls of good family with a powder grain will meet the sparkling Eliane. Although our two sisters get along wonderfully with this pair of golden sandals, it will not be long before she fails them. Fortunately, it is without counting on the fidelity of Gaby, the white shirt with red dots. Ample and short with its classic collar, Gaby does not lack softness, like her cousin Séverine. In silk twill these two cousins have in common an Italian origin which will not displease the other characters.
Séverine, on the other hand, has swapped her white silk with red polka dots for a dark green paisley print. Her collar gives her a more mature look, but she doesn’t lose sight of her spiritual aspiration.
Everything changes the day when she finds a candle with the name of Fabienne and the inscriptions “Luceo non uro”. Mathilde and Nelly discover that Fabienne is none other than the middle name of Catherine Deneuve. Placed under the number 8, could this candle play a more important role than it lets us imagine? This capsule collection with Catherine Deneuve will also give continuity in the ideas of the Parisian brand that will collaborate in the future with Kanye West, RTH etc..
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