Courrèges’s Designer Is Inspired by Parks, Empty Nightclubs and, Well, Trash

When I started [working as the artistic director] at Courrèges in 2020, we occupied just one floor of a seven-story building [in Paris’s Eighth Arrondissement; André Courrèges founded the company in 1961 and opened his first store there six years later]. Little by little, we’ve begun renting the others. This picture (above) was taken a year into the job, on the day I moved into my new office. When I arrived, I found a piece of paper with a note for me from André’s wife [Coqueline Barrière]. It said, “Never repeat the past. Create your own future.” The spring 2023 show was about the passage of time. The fabric on this dress (below, right) is molded from silicone to look like coral, which can last thousands of years under the sea. When it comes to embellishment, it really needs to add a layer to the story of the collection. I’ll never make a special fabric just for the sake of it. I recently did [a one-off] couture [collection] for Jean Paul Gaultier, and people were telling me, “Dream, dream.” But in my dreams, I don’t see crazy fabrics. For my [fall 2022 Courrèges] show, we covered the floor with thousands of crushed cans (below, center left). They were so shiny they looked like diamonds, but it was just rubbish. I try to find beauty where it’s not.

Credit…From left: courtesy of Nicolas Di Felice; Charles Negre, “Crushed Can,” 2022 © Charles Negre/Lambert Lambert; courtesy of Nicolas Di Felice; Robin Galiegue/courtesy of Courrèges

I grew up in Charleroi, Belgium, and when I was 3, my family took a trip to the French Pyrenees (above, left). My mom was working for a travel agency, and I remember long hours in the car with my sister. I was a hyperactive kid — gentle, but a bit tiring. During Carnival in Belgium, you dress up and knock on doors asking for candy. Apparently, I did this every weekend. My parents told me that the neighbors would send me home and be like, “Not every weekend, please.” Each summer, I go to this little Greek island (above, center right) with my boyfriend. It’s one of my favorite places on earth. You just eat, swim, ride around on your scooter, nap, get ready for dinner and voilà. There aren’t too many people, and it hasn’t changed in 20 years, so I don’t want to share exactly where it is.

“A Swedish Love Story” (below, right) is one of my favorite movies. It’s a simple film [directed by Roy Andersson and released in 1970] about teenagers falling in love no matter what their families think. There’s this contrast between the toughness and vulgarity of the adults and the purity of the young ones. (Don’t hate me if it’s boring.) I love this Baffo chair (below, center) [designed in 1969 by Ezio Didone and Gianni Pareschi] because it’s so simple and geometric: From the top, it seems like a square. There’s something dark about it, too — a bit Mapplethorpe. I had one in my old apartment, but it doesn’t look good in the new one.

The 19th Arrondissement, where I now live, has some of the highest points in Paris. From my home on the eighth floor (above, left), I have 360-degree views of Parc des Buttes-Chaumont; it’s beautiful because it was built on a garbage dump. I remember climbing its fences at night with [the fashion designer] Glenn [Martens] when I was working at Balenciaga and he was at Gaultier. One time, we slept there.