“Page blanche” is how Alexandre Mattiussi described Ami’s AW23 collection, which comes hot off the heels of a very busy year for the designer and his fast-growing brand. There were collaborations with Puma, more than 20 store openings across various continents, a show at the Sacré Coeur filled with iconic guests, presences at the Met Gala and Cannes film festival, and perhaps most memorably, an appearance in the third season of Netflix’s hit show Emily in Paris, in which the American ex-pat orchestrates a campaign featuring Ami logos emblazoned across hot air balloons. Alexandre’s new year’s resolution? Opt-out. “I don’t want to play that game,” he says of fashion’s increasingly frenetic spectacle. “You know, I just want to please myself, and please my customers.”
Hence why you may have noticed Ami has wiped its Instagram feed. His collection also offered a detox from logos, bright colours and anything that could be deemed overly complex. Instead, it was all about going back to basics. “I said: let’s start again, from scratch. I had an opportunity to maybe consider this collection as the first one, so it’s sort of the beginning of a new chapter.” The show, held on the stage of Opéra Bastille (and decked out in a cream carpet), opened with a look that said it all: a lovely white overcoat, double-breasted and wide-shouldered worn over a simple white dress, hair softly pulled back and face kept bare(ish). “I said let’s go quiet and let’s try to whisper a little bit,” Alexandre added. What followed was his idea of perfection: clothes that can offer the building blocks to a great wardrobe for any of life’s situations.
In a palette of buttery creams and yellows, noisette browns, good-taste greys, the occasional pale pink and periwinkle, and lots of navies — Alexandre offered up oversized tailoring, suede jeans, plenty of sweaters and the (very) occasional touch of sparkle in the form of crystal-embroidered pumps and tank tops. The clothes were perfectly tailored basics – with a cast that was anything but. Charlotte Rampling closed the show in — what else? — an oversized navy suit. This was a collection for anyone else looking to clear out the fuss in 2023. New year, new Ami.
Credits
Images courtesy of Spotlight.