When we meet Bouchra Jarrar at the Hôtel Saint Dominique in Paris, she’s instantly recognisable by her flat cut fringe, shoulder length black hair and wide smile. Impeccably chic and quintessentially French, the designer’s minimal and contemporary approach to dressing revolves around an arsenal of sleek blazers and tailored jackets. As we settle down to chat, the first topic of conversation is inevitably about her time at the house so far. “It’s been all about discovering the house and six months of really intense work, but I absolutely love my work and I absolutely love to create for women – this is my job, to create fashion for universal women,” she smiles. The love Jarrar speaks of was evident in the collection she showed on September 28. Her signature razor sharp tailoring and exacting cuts not only materialised in the form of chic monochromatic biker-style vests, wide-legged pantsuits and cropped leather jackets, but she also showed off a much softer, more romantic side. Ornately draped dresses made from silk and organza floated and flowed gracefully down the wooden parquet runway of the Hôtel de Ville in striking shades of azure blue and billowing floral prints. The varying lengths, proportions and silhouettes within the collection offered up versatile dressing options not just for many different types of occasions, but for a wide range of women, too, something Jarrar confirms was at the forefront of her mind while designing the collection. “The editing of this collection ensures that every woman is going to be able to find something that works for her.”
The garments that were presented in the collection are a natural representation of Jarrar’s own thoughts on what the fundamental pieces of a woman’s wardrobe should be. “Every woman needs a sublime trench that she will keep forever, a series of day dresses and a good pantsuit that will give her a lot of confidence for important meetings. She also needs a series of accessories, evening gowns and to be herself. I know the power of garments and how on certain days they can really help women.” She flashes a smile and adds, “Every woman needs a Lanvin wardrobe!”
Born to Moroccan parents in Cannes amid the Seventies, Jarrar’s earliest memories of fashion are of accompanying her mother to buy fabrics as a child. “I used to go with her and touch everything – I loved it,” she recalls. “We’d go back home and the couturier would come over and my mum would tell him that she wanted a dress or a skirt. The idea that you can give life to a piece of fabric lying on the table with imagination and transform it into a piece of clothing was magical for me. It’s something that still fascinates me today. ”After studying at the École Duperré in Paris, Jarrar began her career at Jean Paul Gaultier’s jewellery department before serving as Studio Director for Balenciaga under Nicolas Ghesquière for 10 years. This was followed by a comparatively brief three-year stint as Head of Haute Couture at Christian Lacroix, before starting her own brand which offered both ready-to-wear and haute couture in 2010. It was there that she really came into her own, developing the sharp, minimal and well-cut clothes that undoubtedly played a large part in her appointment as Artistic Director of Lanvin, which came earlier this year in March. “The name Jeanne Lanvin inspires me a lot – I appreciate and admire that she was a modern woman in her time, so the proposition to join Lanvin surprised me in a good way because I didn’t expect it. It was a great pleasure to say yes, I was at the right point in my life as a woman and at the age where I was ready to open up my creativity and serve a great name. I was just ready.”
Curious as to whether Jarrar’s background in couture has had any influence on her ready-to-wear offerings for the brand so far. “I just came as myself,” she explains. “The techniques I’ve learnt during my 20-25 years in fashion are why I’m here – to work, create, imagine and communicate and to bring a coherence to the Lanvin message. I fuse both couture and ready-to-wear techniques, because it’s important for me to understand how we dress and what it feels like. I’m here to create desire and give creation to women, that’s my mission.” There’s been a lot of discussion about the wearability of couture at the moment and its place in daywear; does she think couture can be mixed with ready-to-wear garments and worn on a daily basis? “I think that it mixes very easily, it’s very possible to mix daywear couture pieces and ready-to-wear without any problems.” An interesting perspective, considering Lanvin actually began as a couture house – perhaps under Jarrar’s direction, the brand may return to its couture roots and start producing haute couture collections in the future. “Things have to go step by step,” she muses. “Building with the house is very important, so we’ll work hand-in-hand together. My collections for Lanvin are very much couture, so I hope that one day we’ll get there.” It’s a little known fact that Jarrar closed her own brand shortly after accepting the job at Lanvin, a move that has allowed her to place her focus squarely on her new role. But, is there any difference between the clients she was designing for at her eponymous label and the ‘universal women’ she is designing for now? “No,” she demurs, “I was chosen for Lanvin because of who I am and what I do, I’m not going to reinvent myself.”
As we reflect on her appointment, we mention the fact there has been a lot of celebration regarding the recent selection of female creative directors at heritage French brands. Does she believe gender makes a difference in design? “No,” she replies resolutely. “There is no gender in fashion – for me, creation is universal. What I know is that as women, we know each other well and that is the main difference between a woman and a man. We know ourselves by heart and we know how we grow. I’ve always worked with male designers and I have a lot of respect for them.” Our conversation then turns to her spring/summer17 collection – did any of her predecessor Alber Elbaz’s design elements come into play when designing the collection? She shakes her head. “Alber wrote a wonderful story at Lanvin. It was fantastic for me to start after such a great designer. But, there is a past and a present, and I’m the present. I have so many ideas that I don’t need to go there, out of respect to him and his work. I’m here to bring a new signature to the house.” She pauses briefly before adding, “The birth and history of this house is an exceptional source of inspiration and, always, the fabrics. I cut and I mold, that’s how the idea starts. Then I design and explain to the team. I need to put my hands on the fabrics because the most important thing for me is to bring the best possible proportions to the silhouettes. I’ve been like that since I was a child… I know where I’m going when I touch the fabrics.”
Our meeting with Bouchra takes place at the very end of Paris Fashion Week, which was an event that saw a number of other newly appointed Creative Directors also make their runway show debuts at storied Parisian fashion houses. From Maria Grazia Chiuri at Christian Dior to Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent, the buzz surrounding the revelation of these collections was palpable throughout the French capital in the lead-up to the shows. None more so than at Lanvin, where the anticipation surrounding the direction of Jarrar’s spring/summer17 collection made it one of the season’s most talked about, before the show had even been unveiled. With her runway debut now behind her, what is her vision for the brand moving forward. “It is to work on the artistic coherence – the window into the house that we give to the outside world. For the first show, it was very important for me to settle the basics and establish the vocabulary of the house and its core message. Going forward, we are going to see women wearing Lanvin and be able to identify that what they are wearing is Lanvin. That is my goal for the house.”
