Une Vie de Poupée
Once in a while I get to thinking about one of the greatest films of all time: Clueless. In these moments of retrospection I fantasize about t-shirts that might’ve circulated in 1995 as promotional material for the film and I check Depop. What I forget is fashion’s current infatuation with “Y2K” and have to crawl through thousands of thrifted negligees and ugly plaid skirts from fast fashion slave-traders. It’s easy to think of the Y2K style as platform boots brimming with style and Alicia Silverstone somehow making some of the gaudiest outfits in movie history look incredible, but reality was far less appetizing — Disgusting low rise sweatpants, white women in qipaos, the sheer horniness in both fashion and media which permeated everything. But I digress; I reckon a lot of people’s affection for the Y2K aesthetic, much like my love of 2007, is born largely from nostalgia. And nostalgia, that I can understand. Especially with as fucked up as life seems now, there’s something heartwarming about the blissful naïveté of disgusting, in your face, effeminate colors, tiny purses, and whatever the fuck was with Paris Hilton’s shirts. Even at 9 and 10 with no comprehension of fashion or the trends of the time, something that stuck out to me for whatever reason was Polly Pocket dolls. The feel of the rubbery clothes, the simple, bright colors, it was everything we want 2000s fashion to be through the rose-tinted glasses of dollhouse idealism. Not to mention the cute little boxes the dolls and all their accessories could fit in — bourgeois Barbie could never!
Trying to box Jacquemus into any category or style is hard. It’s oozes French Parisian chic but is also is riviera, festive, sculptural. When trying to describe what the brand was one day I suddenly fell upon the coloring. Despite the most recent season being held in a neutrally toned field, it’s hard to not associate Jacquemus with vibrant colors, colors which ultimately remind me of the disgusting palette of the 2000s, but more subdued, where pink becomes more pastel than hot. All the tiny accessories remind me of Polly Pockets, the tactile feel of a purse that can fit entirely in your palm, the way everything is in a neat little package, be it the dust bag a purse comes in or the way the brand seemingly has a shape or size of bag for every purpose. Remember what I said about tiny purses? Jacquemus is the undisputed king of the tiny purse. Be it tiny purses or huge hats, Jacquemus is about shape, it’s larger (sometimes literally) than life, it’s performative, it’s bright and fun. Something about the youthful, endless summer vibe of the brand is reminiscent of the innocence of childhood dolls.
Same thing, right?
Watching and reading interviews with Simon Porte Jacquemus, you get the sense that the clothing is secondary. Simon talks endlessly about growing up in the countryside, going to farmer’s markets with his grandparents (the OG cottagecore shawty..?), his late mother, and the ever-present, ever-chic Jacquemus girl. Much like the Chanel woman of nearly a century ago, the Jacquemus woman is vibrant and dresses with versatility in mind — the perfect image of effortless style. In a way, it feels wrong to talk at length about Jacquemus because I don’t think the clothes are to be studied. The feeling and lifestyle they represent are more important, which is why the garments are so often simple, approachable. Much like dolls sell the perfect life — a cute house, stylish wardrobe, perfect grooming — Jacquemus sells a small sliver of utopia. It’s everything our nostalgia wants us to think the 2000s was, only better.
