Early independent career rapidly brought Theyskens international success: the stylist of Madonna, Arianne Phillips chose his work to dress her client star in black satin coatdresses, signed Theyskens, for the 1998 Academy Awards. André Leon Talley listed the dress as one of his favorite Oscar dresses of all time.
Then came Parisian shows where the designer stood out by the collections inspired of eighteenth-century style that reworked traditional French fabrics.
By fall 2000, Vogue reported that “Theyskens has established himself as one of the most powerful creative personalities in fashion”.No wonder that prominent fashion houses lined up in the queue to get this wunderkind in-house.
First came Parisian Rochas where Theyskens became artistic director in 2002.
The designer created a French-influenced “entirely new silhouette for the house” with a gloomy romantic touch becoming his signature.
Historic French fashion house Nina Ricci (2006- 2010) and American contemporary brand Theory (2010-2014) came after.
Ensemble
Olivier Theyskens. Spring/Summer 1999 MET
Became famous for its sexy sets made “to dance and shine all night long”, Azzaro house saw its finest hour in the 60s. Loris Azzaro, the brand’s founder dressed up the world’s jet-set, it-girls of that moment: cinema starts Marisa Berenson, Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin, Sophia Loren, and Raquel Welsh.
The challenge of new creative director consists in breathing new life (the initiative started earlier by Olivier’s predecessor Maxime Simoens) into the glorious archives while preserving the DNA of Loris Azzaro.
In the latest Spring-Summer 2022 couture collection Theyskens copes with this task brilliantly, as usual.
As unconditional fans of the designer work, we have been following his creative adventures from Europe to the USA and back and infinitely grateful that Olivier found time in his busy schedule to answer our few questions.
Here is Olivier Theyskens exclusively for FOXYLAB NY from Paris.
For this collection, I wanted to express an evolution in the language of my work for the House by mixing the codes of masculinity and femininity, bringing a focus on the allure of a fluid, casual suit and playing the game of androgyny. This dialogue with the atelier approach of very typical Azzaro dresses guided me throughout the season.
No, it’s a distinct work: to immerse oneself in a history, in a heritage is quite different from building one in one’s own image. This work is very complementary and I am happy to be able to work on these atypical terrains. I’m very inspired by the legacy left by Loris Azzaro, which is considerable. His aesthetics and his predilection for freedom and hedonism are for me very stimulating grounds for creation.
A young person who is interested in fashion opens up to a universe that is full of possibilities, that can also touch on art, that shows traditional but also innovative know-how. It is important for a young person to keep an open mind, and if they wish to express themselves in Couture, to have the requirement to do things in the best possible way in the realization of ideas as well as models.
