Paris Fashion Week is when the big names come to play. Rick Owens, Dries Van Noten, Thom Browne, Yohji Yamamoto, Louis Vuitton, and many more show why the French city is still the capital of the fashion world. But for the past few seasons, a smaller, fairly undercover brand Pigalle has put its stamp on the city.
Last year, Pigalle's Stéphane Ashpool took home the ANDAM award, awarded to the best out of a handful of rising brands. Named after the neighborhood in Paris where the brand is based, Pigalle's hyperlocal culture and philosophy around it runs so deep that Ashpool coaches a local boys basketball team and occasionally uses them as models for his collections.
But the designs you end up seeing don't usually hit on the notes you'd expect. Though Pigalle has worked with Nike and made basketball-oriented pieces before, the collections they show during Fashion Week are daring, different and worth paying attention to—and do still retain some of that sporting influence.
For many, their first encounter with Pigalle was through the brand's basics, like their logo hoodie. But with that ANDAM victory last year, Ashpool promised to put the money back into the line and invest in a proper atelier to help build a strong foundation for the rising brand. So far, so good. Fall/Winter 2015 was a start and Fall/Winter 2016 was a gigantic step in the right direction for a brand that has been making ripples for a minute, but wants to start making waves.
Vogue Runway's Luke Leitch gave it a "sensual streetwear" label, and with the lighter tones and touches of makeup you can understand why. But beyond the gender-bending that has taken hold over the past few seasons, Pigalle's clothes have such dimension, rich color, and interesting details—like the incredible pleated vent on the sleeveless topcoat above—that you can't help but crack a bit of a smile when you realize it's coming from a small, but loyal braintrust in the heart of Paris.
While the familiar logo is still there, albeit in different, elevated versions, the clothes feel almost futuristic—from another planet at times. They may be a bit off-putting to those who only know that logo as one they bear on their chest in between Supreme hoodies, but it should be encouraging to those who have tracked Pigalle's shot to stardom of late. The only issue is how we can get our hands on them, as many of Pigalle's most intriguing designs don't make it across the pond to the States. Hopefully, that will change with all the promise shown here.
