Marine Serre has been inspired by sustainability and conscious fashion from the very beginning. With her fresh, young-looking brand that quickly made its way into the industry with its upside-down moon logo and reworked garments, the uncompliant designer proved to be true to her eponymous label’s identity since its launch.
Born and raised in Corrèze and working in Paris, Marine Serre has gained ground quickly as a couturier for and from a new generation.
When Hard Drive, Marine Serre’s first solo exhibition, took over the Lafayette Anticipations space
During the latest fashion week in the French capital, she took over the Lafayette Anticipations space with Hard Drive, her first, vast solo exhibition conceived as part of the fashion show itself, as well as the ultimate behind-the-scenes experience.
“A hardware that stores and protects a body’s technological essential information – the Hard Drive collection compresses my ethos,” said Marine Serre. She disclosed the core materials and savoir-faire of her fashion house through “an exhibition pushing fashion boundaries, questioning outdated automatisms and placing human action at the centre of transformation.”
For two days from the show, visitors could fully experience the brand’s universe by going deep into its creation, production, and regeneration processes through innovative upcycling techniques.
While conferences, guided tours, performances and textile customisation workshops rocked the space, the exhibition featured countless installations and original paintings from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries: the art world served as an inspiration for some modern silhouettes.
Is ‘Marine Serre Futurewear’ still the future of fashion?
After visiting the exhibition, I made some reflections. With the self-coined term ‘Marine Serre Futurewear’ and the implementation of sustainable practices in the supply chain and garment design, the designer can be a brave explorer.
While several other fashion brands have just started to release small recycling or upcycling drops and collections made from more ethical fabrics, Marine Serre has consistently pushed for circularity in fashion as a core value in her work.
We are talking about a not-so-distant sustainable future in the fashion industry: it’s Marine Serre!
This green attitude is perceived not only through recycled or upcycled materials, eco-fabrics and sustainable production methods – but also through design.
When I saw Marine Serre’s items on my IG feed for the first time, I thought, “Wow, there really are clothes from the future around here.”
The issue of sustainable production and consumption is taken seriously at Istituto Marangoni Paris: teachers help us look at sustainability from different perspectives and develop the topic within our projects. I really appreciate that the school drives students to be more responsible about this crucial aspect of fashion.
What’s on Marine Serre’s Hard drive? Not the fashion we are all used to
Marine Serre is a unique phenomenon we had never run into before, at least in the fashion industry. From philosophy to design, from production to communication, all this is perceived as original, authentic, and experimental. And the Hard Drive exhibition was an excellent proof of this impression.
This idea of hosting a two-day event to present the collection instead of a half-hour runway show was super. Hard Drive was more of an exhibition than an ordinary fashion event.
It allowed us to dive into Marine Serre’s universe and experience the brand’s authenticity, rule-breaking aesthetic and craftsmanship.
Fun fact: there was a space where customers could customise their garments by printing the iconic Marine Serre logo on them. When a brand cares about customers, it lets them interact and share their values. I think that’s priceless!
Marine Serre always splits her collections into different groups of looks that share the same overall pattern – like tribe or tartan motifs. As always with Marine Serre, I was impressed with the styling: each look aimed to showcase the pieces from the best experimental side.
But overall, the collection turned out to be much softer and less slick than we are used to expecting from Marine Serre. The way I see it, for the Hard Drive exhibition, Marine decided to move away from futuristic vibes and towards comfy and handcrafted pieces, dusty colours and prints.
