The invitation to the Marine Serre show came with a foldable nylon shopping bag with her signature crescent moon motif.
For her return to the Paris Fashion Week women's calendar, the designer took over Ground Control, a former mail sorting center turned covered market housing a vibrant mix of stalls and street food stalls.
There was a Marine Records store, a florist, and a pizza stand, and some guests sat at round tables where waiters served tea and coffee in renamed antique mugs with a black crescent.
“I really tried to find a place in Paris where you can still feel that sense of connection,” he explained backstage. Serre continued his tradition of opening his show to the public, raffling off 200 invitations and holding an open casting call on Instagram that attracted 3,000 applications.
The street models rubbed shoulders with veterans like Guinevere van Seenus, Kristina de Coninck and Marie-Sophie Wilson, as well as Kate Moss lookalike Denise Ohnona.
Newbies smiled as they made their way around the venue in street looks that included printed jumpsuits and jeans, airbrushed or embossed leather jackets and Serre's first tracksuit, which was dressed with pointy python-print boots.
Serre, previously reluctant to cash in on its immensely popular logo, plastered it on everything from a baby carrier to a shopping cart to a pizza carton to a water bottle. And why not? She opened the door to collaborations and pop-up activations when the collection hits stores.
She's also rounding out her collection with office-friendly outfits, so there were classic black diamond-print jacquard suits and colorful cufflink sets, shown on a pair of royal cufflinks.
Many looks were designed to go from day to night, like a ruched red moiré dress with a matching bomber jacket and a stretch dress with white lace panels and animal print jersey. The model wore cat-eye style sunglasses and carried a baguette. “You can be elegant to go buy your bread. “I really like that idea,” said the designer.
Asked if she was prepared for guests to steal a souvenir coffee cup, Serre smiled: “I figured you could do it. As long as you don’t occupy the chairs, it’s fine.”
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