The Metamorphosis of Maxime Simoëns
By Chiyoko Takada and Danny de la Cruz
A spacious, modern and minimalistic atelier in white welcomed me on a beautiful Paris afternoon in early November. After seeing his Spring/Summer 2023 collection during Paris Fashion Week in September, French designer Maxime Simoëns invited me to his atelier for our first meeting and an interview.
While the rooms of the atelier were lined with pieces from the latest collection, the front room showcased a lone mannequin adorned with a golden, chain link dress which highlighted daring artistry.
We settled into one of the rooms for the interview and as we talked, Maxime Simoëns immediately made me feel comfortable with his relaxed, open and friendly style. By the end of the interview, I felt as if I had become part of the Maxime Simoëns’ family and had come to understand his journey which has clearly led to his rebranding and metamorphosis.
“I want to make clothes easier to wear and with a stylish look.”
Maxime Simoëns
For this designer who grew up in Lille, France, it’s all about manipulating incredible fabrics and developing his own prints to create architectural and tailored silhouettes, yet comfortable with playful details. Not one for mood boards, countless hand-drawn sketches are what inspire him to build the next collection. He leverages his vastly different experiences from each of his prior fashion houses to create ready-to-wear women’s and unisex collections. Simoëns is a firm believer in creating limited editions, as opposed to mass production, which ties into his efforts around sustainability and the upcylcing of any unsold stock.
Simoëns had originally planned to study film, but thanks to a life-changing Madonna concert and the Jean-Paul Gaultier’s costume sketches for the show, he ended up at L’Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne to pursue fashion. After working at diverse fashion houses starting with Jean-Paul Gaultier, to Elie Saab, Christian Dior, and Balenciaga, Simoëns set out on his own to create ready-to-wear women’s collections. It was during this time when Simoëns caught the eye of LVMH and became the first of many fashion brands in which the company would invest.
Simoëns eventually parted ways with LVMH but successfully landed a role as Creative Director at Leonard, then to Azzaro to oversee everything from couture, ready to wear, to accessories. He later found himself focused on menswear at Paul Ka until everything changed with Covid.
Coming out of the pandemic, Simoëns emerged with a clear focus on rebranding and with a core DNA of unisex fashion, cultivating rarity and upcycling. His flagship store in the Marais is also undergoing a transformation to reflect the new era of Maxime Simoëns.
When asked about his focus on unisex clothing, Simoëns stated “the unisex corresponds to the contemporary lifestyle, the gender fluid is more and more normalized. The woman wears her man’s pieces and vice versa.”
After his successful unveiling during Paris Fashion Week and receiving a positive response from international press including Soen from Japan and WWD, Simoëns has been very focused on the next chapter — the development of his Fall/Winter 2023 collection inspired by two dramatically different images. One inspiration is via imagery of a caterpillar’s metamorphosis into a butterfly, and the other is The Raft of the Medusa (Le Radeau de la Méduse) oil painting by French painter Théodore Géricault, which embodies the spirit of survival. “This painting is one of the major inspirations of this collection because its subject has a universal scope. It affects (us) as much today as yesterday,” said Simoëns. “This painting resonates with the fate of migrants crossing the Mediterranean currently, but also evokes the problems of climate change and the disasters perhaps to be expected in cataclysms that will undermine the collective well-being of humanity.”
After a quick holiday on the beaches of Bali, countless sketches and the creation of prints for the new collection, Simoëns is on track to unveil his next collection in early 2023.
I’m excited to see where this talented designer goes next. His diverse experiences in the world of fashion has clearly led him to where he is today – leading his eponymous brand where he has the ability to take the helm with a clear, creative vision and express himself in his own way, and in his own time.
Atelier photos by Chiyoko Takada/Inspiration imagery courtesy of Maxime Simoëns
