Reorganised in the wake of the health crisis, this year’s Andam Fashion Awards were granted last week to four designers based in France, among them Marine Serre, who was honoured alongside Y/Project, Mossi and Tekyn.
Winning the most generous award of 200,000 euros, the 26-year-old French designer has once again been recognised for her innovative, inclusively styled and politically committed creations, which are building the foundations for the future of fashion. Here are three things you should know about one of the most promising talents of her generation.
From tennis to design
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Was Marine Serre predestined to become a fashion designer? Yes, if you consider her spectacular rise in the industry, but not really if you look back on her childhood. Ready-to-wear and couture were not her main obsession in her teens, but the game of tennis, which she played at a very high level until the age of 16. Ten years before she caused a sensation on the catwalks, the young designer was already causing a stir on the courts. These are two different worlds with very different atmospheres, but fans of fashion cannot cannot fail to appreciate the sea change that has led Serre to increasing success year after year. Moreover, industry specialists are not the only ones to delight in her designs, which are very much anchored in our era. Certain fashion icons are very keen to get their hands on Serre’s signature sportswear-inspired jumpsuits and leggings, among them Kylie and Kendall Jenner who exert an extraordinary influence over an entire generation of millennials.
Hybrid clothing drawing on many sources of inspiration
Marine Serre has rapidly built a reputation in the world of fashion with highly distinctive collections in which her label’s logo, a crescent moon, figures as a motif on most of the creations. The designer, who cut her teeth at Balenciaga and later at Martin Margiela, also stands out for the hybrid nature of her clothing, which draws on multiple sources of inspiration both in terms of its aesthetic and the manner of its design. With its unprecedented mix of references to sportswear, couture forms and techniques and oriental influences, Marine Serre’s work is daringly experimental and invariably marked by an awareness of the political causes of our era.
Politically committed fashion
With her collections and her shows, Marine Serre has made the issue of the future of the environment a key focus in her creative endeavor. This was notably the case with her 2020 spring-summer collection, which was showcased in a presentation intended to raise media and public awareness of the urgent need to address climate change. The collection christened “Marée Noire” was notably marked by a majority of upcycled creations. In answer to the question of “how can we reduce the carbon footprint of fashion?,” Serre’s response was to recover unused stocks of fabric and to give them a new life. That was nine months ago… Since then, more and more major labels have followed in her footsteps with collections created from recovered and recycled materials.
(Main and featured image: Marine Serre/Facebook)
