Enfants Riches Déprimés. Fall 2020 Men's - Paris Fashion Week.

Images from the designer and the public domain. Credited to the photographer/company where applicable: Gorunway.com)

The young so-called antifashion stalwart Henri Levy for his brand Enfants Riches Déprimés, has attempted to create an underbelly of clothes and designs that run into the very high end of L.A. /Westcoast punk rock and American iconic retrospection.  Which in the very short time of his clothing label existing, he has been able to assert degrees of interest from an inner circle of celebrities.  With large doses of the French Situationist (1972) collage work with Vivianne Westwood and the late Malcolm McLaren's 'Sex' shop (1976) as obvious influences, the brand is still maturing  Yet, for the brief period that it has existed, Levy has been able to define an intensity of its manifestation, through punk rock stylizations and more so his t-shirt designs – the rawness has an appeal, but overall lacks a visual refinement.  Enfants Riches Déprimés has only existed since 2018, with only three runways shows under its belt, which clearly can be seen with the two previous showings.  There is a struggle with styling and Levy admits that he hasn't always understood the job of a stylist, who, with a careful eye for details, will look over the fittings prior to the show.  Which is absolutely essential for a designer to have, particularly for an emerging fashion designer like Levy.  

For Enfants Riches Déprimés Fall 2020 men's wear collection he was very fortunate, through his friendship with singer and actress Courtney Love introduced Levy to the extremely talented costume designer and stylist Arianne Phillips, who was just nominated for 'Best Costume' for Quentin Tarantino's “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”. I've always felt it is important that fashion designers at times think like a costume designer in preparation as they would for a Hollywood or stage production.  In its cinematic presentation, the details are important and in comparison to the, at times, overt quickness of a runway show with no room for rehearsal, it can, in so many ways, be overlooked as an necessity to ensure all refined aspects are on display.   The devil-is-in-the-details and like a chain reaction, any unkempt piece from the collection, which was amiss due to its sloppy detailing can unbalance the whole showing.  Buyers are no fools, particularly when they'll study the collection via photographs of the runway thereafter.  What may briefly look good on a catwalk, an image recorded later can reveal its inconsistencies. 

So in light of Phillips eye for details and presentation, Levy's latest collection for Enfants Riches Déprimés is a vast improvement from his previous shows, there is the refinement of fits and styles, that from all perspectives are very well set together. Phillips's love for accessories i.e jewelry, can be seen amongst the models – from her experience with Opera productions to Broadway and Hollywood stylizations. Levi's styles have moved up a notch, tailored superbly, maintaining his t-shirt prints he has kept the punk rock nostalgia, but Phillip's has assisted him in maturing the styles and creating a more reinvigorated take on the said influences.