With his habitual irreverence, Pierre Kaczmarek wanted to play with the notion of what it means to succeed or to lose, and used golf as his conduit, inspired by a documentary about infamous French golfer Jean Van de Velde, who in 1999 — the same year the youthful designer was born — beat significant odds to almost win the British Open, before losing at the last moment. “He was a real loser,” said Kaczmarek. “It was a bit like a metaphor for my life,” he added, without further elaboration.
As well as the presentation’s setting, an indoor mini-golf course, the sporting references were knocked home through one of the season’s collaborations, which saw Kaczmarek twist sporting attire from Adidas in a capsule lineup, each piece autographed by hand, including a skirt with his signature “W”-shaped zigzag hem.
Elsewhere, he offered up logo pajamas, slouchy linen suiting adorned with origami butterflies made from banknotes, and even a pink and lilac wrap skirt printed with a giant dollar bill.
While Kaczmarek started his label with men’s, he continues to expand his selection for Mrs. Wendell — now accounting for more than half the brand’s sales, he said — and visually, it was the skimpy pieces in the ironic lineup that attracted the eye as his models teed off in a setting as kitsch as the collection itself.
Dresses, skirts and blouses in all-over lace or floral chiffon left little to the imagination, tied with ribbons across the chest or down the sides. Candy=pink pinstripes, meanwhile, became pleated miniskirts, paired with matching shirts, perhaps borrowed from Monsieur’s wardrobe.