Following up on retro summer trend with Brigitte Bardot…

Text by: Fiammetta Cesana and Gabriella Natoli

 

A celebration of natural beauty, of spontaneity of gestures and movements. Summer 2018 evokes the nostalgia of the 60s: the aperitifs up on the villas’ terraces overlooking the seashore, where the passing of time is marked by good wine and background music…

“The idea was really about the feeling of being at the beach all day and then coming back to this party at night, I loved this collection so much and I wanted to make a beautiful memory of it.” – Simon Porte on his Jacquemus SS18 womenswear collection “La Bombe”.

Today the 60s style of French women on the Riviera is blended with the sensuality of flamenco dancers, bringing back to our mind some Brigitte Bardot’s fashion highlights.

Which are the three must haves of this French-Latin summer?

 

Straw hat

The history of the this hat goes back to the Middle Ages. It starts in the fields, in the Tuscan area of Signa, near Florence, in the early 1300s, when the peasants already worked the straw and used to wear white braided hats. Suitable as a shelter from the sun, but also useful as a basket for the har- vesting, in a few decades it becomes a very fashionable accessory, moving from low classes to the bourgeoisie. Then, centuries later, the divas of the 60s, such as Brigitte Bardot and Audrey Hepburn, showed off the straw hat in the most diverse occasions, a bit like a symbol of vanity and a bit to hide the face underneath its wide flakes.

Jacquemus takes inspiration from here and twists the hat exaggerating its size. It is no longer an accessory, but the protagonist of summer 2018 look, that wraps the body, protects it and emphasizes its curves.

Headband with earrings

The headband, in black elastic or light suede, is picked up by Porte to give the look the freshness and naturalness typical of teenagers who usually wear it in high school or at dance class. Again the reference to the 1960s fashion is very strong: how can we forget the headbands that Brigitte Bardot liked to combine with jeans and striped t-shirt?

Then the earrings, coloured and different from each other, recall those in ceramic that the designer as a child noticed in the souvenir shops during the walks on the Cotê d’Azur.

The south of France, in fact, has a long tradition of ceramics’ production: in particular, the area of Vallauris, a town located between Antibes and Cannes, is internationally renowned for artistic ceramics, as well as being home for 50 years of an important biennial dedicated to the contemporary production.

Wrap dress

A dress, but also a beach robe, a top + skirt, and a bit like a sarong… The wrap dress is the must of summer 2018, suitable for going to the beach, for a boat trip, for an aperitif at sunset or for a party by the sea. The garment that all women use during the summer and all summers, with an extra twist. Jacquemus interprets it in a Latin way, adding details typical of flamenco costumes, but without upsetting its essence and nature. The wrap dress in the version with fringes, very short, long-sleeved or midi is suitable for women of all ages, if they are not afraid of showing their legs and appear sexy almost unconsciously.