Adeline André: do you speak flou?

I first met with Adeline André through her namesake niece when I was 20 or 21, and I was not even a student at the Institut Fran?ais de la Mode yet at the time. I was quite impressed: she met me at her work table, in her atelier, without really knowing why I was meeting her (I must admit I was too impressed to remember my questions).

?We never lost contact and Adeline has always graced me with wise pieces of advice, in addition to inviting me to her Couture shows. If you have only attended the big house shows and never seen what is a Couture show by Adeline André, you have never felt the true spirit of what fashion is all about.

While writing an article about her, I made a connection with Michelin-starred restaurants: when you attend her shows, you receive a card (a menu) which describes the looks you are going to see. And she always finds exquisite words to make her flamboyant colours visually fascinating and appetizing.

?I keep in memory a spectacular moment, maybe around 2016 or 2017, at the Institut du monde arabe , when the model came in covered with a very beautiful dress-cape. Everybody was under the spell. Then suddenly Adeline came on stage and cut a few thread, to discover another dress hidden beneath (I think it was the "convertible" dress). Her collections are all about unexpectedness and surprise.

?All the pieces she creates are extremely well structured: the coats are closing only thanks to their cut and the help of gravity, without the need of any button or zippers!

?Adeline André is probably one of the most underrated names in the French fashion industry, which is a pity. Seeing her works makes you really fall in love with the notion of couture, and I have seen many people approaching her who ended up either working with her or going into fashion. She has always been faithful: her models are not professional ones, but the friends she likes, who come back season after season with their recognizable faces and silhouettes.

?I even had the opportunity to model for one of her show once. Believe me, I am much better at writing!