When it comes to Jeanne Damas observers, casually call her the ‘epitome of “French Girl Cool”’ and a ‘style icon’. After all, this Parisian It girl is able to throw together endlessly pleasing ensembles that set rather than riff on trends. Last night at Jacquemus’ spring/summer 2018 show during Paris Fashion Week she cast her expert fashion wizardry to breathe new life into an item in the most unexpected way.
Every fashion week brings a corpus of new street style trends. But, what we saw last night we weren’t expecting to see (so soon). Over the summer, you may have noticed, the rustic straw bag became the IT accessory to hold. Considering its intrinsic expiry date plus its humble and essentially non-luxurious status it was the last thing we thought we would see a darling of France's Fashion Week holding. Yet, there was Jeanne Damas dressed in a diminutive Jacquemus party dress clutching a raffia handbag.
When the weather was warm, the basket bag became a byword for conjuring up visions of Jane Birkin in the South of France, rambling flea markets and sandy seaside excursions with salt whipping your hair. For winter, this romanticism doesn’t sit right. However, as front row-fodder Damas shows it is reductive to think as this 1970s accessory as limited to just the summertime.
As the crisp air of autumn sets in, a lo-fi functionalism of a wicker bag adds an edge of wanderlust to a post-watershed outfit. Here, Damas has twinned her shoes to her off-beat bag to elevate her little black dress. Let this accessory be not only a reminder of the heat that will come again but also the freewheeling attitude that's inherent in summer. Come winter, we'll all need this reminder!