Delphine Achard/WWD
Nicolas Di Felice is loosening up.
Three years after taking the helm at Courrèges, the designer eased up on his precision tailoring with a spring collection inspired by a desert road trip.
Dressed in slouchy oversize sweatshirts, twisted shirtdresses and T-shirts half-tucked into waistbands, models stepped out onto a white square covered in dried paint, the surface crunching under their blade-like heels. Di Felice visited Marfa, Texas, last summer and returned with a fascination for vast dry expanses.
“She’s breaking ground,” he said of his show set. “I wanted to project this energy of women looking very fierce and strong and confident in their clothes.”
The tough cool of biker pants with buckles running down the side was balanced by sensual necklines and circular cutouts exposing the midriff. The neckline of a leather jacket was peeled back to reveal the collarbone, which is fast emerging as the erogenous zone of the Paris season.
Even the tailoring had a softer edge. Bell-sleeved coats and bustier dresses came with scalloped hems that grazed flared pants, slit at the thigh with little diagonal zips. “You can just open a bit. You just show what you want,” the designer demurred.
Since joining the Space Age label in 2020, Di Felice has turbocharged the brand, dressing celebrities including Dua Lipa, Rosalía and Beyoncé, who wore a custom Courrèges look on the opening date of her Renaissance World Tour. But he’s never lost sight of the bread-and-butter of any successful business: great product.
“In fashion, we talk about everything, but we sometimes forget to talk about clothes. I can assure you that as far as I’m concerned, that’s my craft. It’s what I love, what I studied for and what I’m good at,” he said. That focus was reflected in this tight collection, which should give retailers plenty to smile about.
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