Fall '23 Mens Fashion Week: Marine Serre

“Today’s presentation of the house’s latest collection, set under the impressive soaring volumes of the Grande Halle de La Villette, may rely on a poetic, almost mystical, ambiance—but the message of the show could not be more clear. This set pulls together a handful of recognizable signs and symbols. As the sun streaks across the space, how can we fail to think about the ever-quickening timeline on which we find ourselves trapped, forced to maintain the unsustainable rhythms of our daily lives that separate us from both ourselves and others? Those disconnections have, of course, precipitated today’s equally rapid acceleration to climate disaster, which now seems to have been dialed up to an out-of-control setting. At the center of the stage, a trio of oppressively high towers, constructed of tightly compressed abandoned clothing, echo our own absurd destruction of this planet.” - Marine Serre

Three 26-foot towers of secondhand clothing stood as a reminder of the environmental cost of textile waste — and a symbol of a zero-impact show decor since the clothes will be utilized in the brand’s future collections. “The house is at a turning point. In the beginning, you establish your codes, repeat them, and forge them, and now we’re in a phase where I’m really trying to bring upcycling to the street. Now in its seventh year, her brand has created a recognizable aesthetic with outfits made from upcycled denim, household linens, T-shirts, and silk scarves. This season Serre added tote bags to the mix with an opening sequence of looks made from cream, white, and beige cotton totes. The show notes claimed that each garment needs to be used 20,000 times — or roughly 54 years of daily use — to offset its overall impact on production, though it did not explain how numbers were calculated. Alongside incorporating colorful patterned tapestries, jacquards and brocades into patchwork outfits accented with graphic orange lines, Serre crafted her signature moiré fabric using recycled fishing lines and nets.¹

Learn More & Shop Current Collection: MarineSerre.com

About Marine Serre

Serre was born in Brive-la-Gaillarde nearby Corrèze, France. She studied in Marseille and after two years she moved to Belgium, to attend La Cambre, from where she graduated with high honours in 2016.¹ Serre made her runway debut in February 2018 in Paris. Her collections have been met with critical and commercial acclaim, and her brand is stocked internationally at Dover Street Market, Nordstrom, SSENSE, and more. [6] Her work focuses on innovation and sustainability, with a minimum of 50% of her collection consisting of upcycled material, such as old lace table cloths and vintage silk scarves.²

Serre held internships working under Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen , Matthieu Blazy at Maison Margiela and Raf Simons at Dior, before scoring a year-long junior designer position at Balenciaga, working with Demna Gvasalia . Whilst at Balenciaga, she also worked on her eponymous label.³ Her graduate collection also piqued the interest of the Parisian concept store, A Broken Arm, which put her pieces on a pedal stool alongside the likes of Céline and Margiela, selling out quickly.

In 2017, the Paris-based designer’s fifth-year graduate collection, “Radical Call for Love,” was shortlisted for the Hyères Festival, the ANDAM Prize and the LVMH Prize, ultimately winning the latter, as the youngest designer ever to do so. The judging panel, that included Karl Lagerfeld and Pheobe Philo, was drawn to Serre’s athletic and futuristic style, blended in form-fitting designs that featured her signature crescent moon print. Since her official debut at the Autumn/Winter 2018 show, the designer has shown three collections at Paris Fashion Week which have featured technologically-forward designs incorporating anti-pollution masks. Working with materials that have no inherent value such as old jeans, recycled fabrics and bedsheets, around 50% of silhouettes in her “Green Line” collection were recycled fabrics.⁴

Learn More: MarineSerre.com

¹ Marine Serre RTW Fall 2023, WWD. January 22, 2023

² MARINE SERRE IS WILD AT HEART". SSENSE. 18 August 2017.

³ "Here's How Marine Serre's Upcycled Clothes Actually Get Made". PAPER. 2020-04-16.

⁴ “Marine Serre, Designer.” BoF