The International Festival of Fashion and Photography of Hyères ended on Monday. I had a look around the photos from the shows and one young designer really stood out for me, even though he left the festival empty handed: Maxime Rappaz.
Rappaz is a recent graduate from HEAD in Geneva, taught by Martin Grant and Anne Valérie Hash amongst others. His bachelor collection “Finally I Opted For The Square” obtained the Special Jury Prize at the HEAD Fashion Show in Geneva. He joined the Roberto Cavalli team in Florence this January and I am curious to see how his minimalist designs work their way into Cavalli’s OTT creations.
The collection shown at Hyères was a pink variation of his bachelor collection that was based mostly on his photographic experimentations. He recreated in garments the pure, straight lines that surround us and tried to make square, rigid shapes work on the human body. His collection of minimalist organza dresses is completed by rigid accessories and architectural leather panels. If you remove the rigidity of the accessories, what’s left is actually extremely wearable pieces and I think this is why I love it: Rappaz manages to offer both fashion as art and fashion as an every day commodity.
Traduction – Maxime Rappaz est un jeune diplômé de HEAD à Genève. Il présentait une version de sa première collection au Festival International de la Mode et de la Photo à Hyères. Il est malheureusement reparti les mains vides, mais j’ai eu un vrai coup de coeur pour cette collection qui allie l’artistique au commercial.
Photos Maxime Rappaz
Photos Baptiste Coulon