Ludovic de Saint Sernin gently blurs lines with his debut at Paris Fashion Week. 

Inspired by the sexual liberation suggested by Robert Mapplethorpe’s photography and teenage dreams of 80’s celebrities, the emerging designer reworked those visual and conceptual suggestions through an essential fashion vocabulary. A minimalist collection of 10 finely tailored outfits was beautifully presented at La Villa Rose within a simple decor of tropical plants and succulents.  The clothes were worn by male models but as Ludovic stressed his designs are for anyone who wants to wear them, without any gender restrictions. Artisanal embellishments such as Japanese ceramic discs, mother of pearls buttons and frayed hems enriched the clean silhouettes, giving to the garments a personal and vaguely nostalgic touch. Sensuality is tackled subtly through languid designs such as 70’s-inspired pants with a corset-like crotch reveiling underpants (or perhaps bare skin) beneath and small leather handbags and backless slippers that blur even further the lines between masculine and feminine. The fresh and youthful feeling conveyed by Ludovic de Saint Sernin‘s clothing was enhanced by the street-casting, mainly made of Ludovic‘s friends and people who inspire him daily. Sophisticated yet daring the 26th-years-old French designer made quiet, extremely elegant, debut.