It’s very hard for a brand, which has been around for a decade to scale new heights. The novelty factor has worn off, the prizes like LVMH, Hyères or Andam go to the new kids on the block, cool collabs with bigger brands like Puma, Swarovski or Mercedes-Benz go to the latest buzzy designer and branching out into bags, shoes or sunglasses or even fragrance to generate much needed revenue is not as easy as it sounds as one needs solid partners who believe in the future of the label. Marie-Christine Statz and her label Gauchere are exactly at that point. Critically acclaimed for her art of tailoring and cool vibe, she nearly won the last Andam and its coveted prize money but only nearly. To make ends meet and deal with sliced retail budgets, stores who pay too late and still develop her collections to the next level is no small feat. But one the Düsseldorf native is very good at and yesterday she had an excellent show where she added flashes of color like red to her mostly black and white œuvre and continued treating black leather in a novelty sensuous way, which is becoming a signature for Gauchere.
Flashes of color
Black leather
It’s all about focus?
While some shows are nearing one hundred looks again, Statz kept a razor sharp focus with only 35 looks just like her minimal tailoring which was often combined with three-dimensional layering where many of her mousseline tops were ruched and knotted to create graphic surfaces as in a beige over the knee skirt and tank top or her first look of an oversized jacket with shaved off lapel and double turtle-neck.
Ruched and knotted mousseline tops
Oversized jacket with shaved off lapel and double turtle-neck
Sculpting leather and silhouette?
Statz is very comfortable using leather as in her high waist pants or the show stopper on Tasha Tilberg of big volume and zippered at the front leather pants and knotted and midriff revealing tank top. Her oversized jackets and mini shorts provided a cool direction on the shape of her collection. For Statz this contradiction represents the dizzying speed of our hectic digital lives.
Tasha Tilberg for Gauchere S/S 2024
Oversized jackets and mini shorts
The sunglasses?
Created in collaboration with Ahlem Manai-Platt whom Statz has befriended in Paris and who started her brand Ahlem in Los Angeles in 2014, the boxy shapes covering the eyes and forehead were in perfect synch with her tailoring.
Sunglasses in boxy shapes in collaboration with the brand Ahlem
