Ihopeits Jacquemus, someone across the table cut in.
Yeah, Jacquemus, another guest agreed.
From there, to my surprise, the sentiment echoed around.
SOFT POWERChez Porte Jacquemus, pillow fights and cozy couch hangs coexist. Models Devyn Garcia (in red) and Deva Cassel wear Jacquemus (here and throughout story); jacquemus.com. Fashion Editor: Julia Sarr-Jamois. Photographed by Théo de Gueltzl.Vogue, November 2024.
But they had views about the brand.
Jacquemus is really exciting, someone insisted to me.
You have the sense theyre doing something new.
PIECES OF WORKA jute tapestry after Alexander Calder, candleholders by Garance Vallée, and a ceramic vase by Peter Schlesinger in the living room. Artwork in Living room: © 2024 Calder Foundation, New York/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
Now that looks like minor success.
In the spring, it opened stores in Dubai, Capri, and Saint-Tropez.
Artwork in Living room: 2024 Calder Foundation, New York/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
SOUTHERN CHARMPorte Jacquemus (right) and husband Marco Maestri at ease at their home on the French coast. Photographed by Théo de Gueltzl.
Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
But everyone can feel part of the Jacquemus story.
In person, Porte Jacquemus at first seems true to Insta-filtered form.
SUNSHINE STATESSunflowers are a recurring motif in the house, including here in the primary bedroom. Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
In Jacquemuss Paris, one almost believes its true.
She was like, A hundred fifty.
Hes someone I know I can lean on in the everydaybut also on the dance floor.
MARKET RATESMore sunflowers abound in this flea-market-sourced oil painting by Jean Mamez, which rests on a bureau in a guest bedroom. Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
SOUTHERN CHARMPorte Jacquemus (right) and husband Marco Maestri at ease at their home on the French coast.
Photographed by Theo de Gueltzl.
I need to make noise.
ROOM WITH A VIEWThe airy (and, yes, sunflower-laden) living room brings the outside in. Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
A lot of up-and-coming brands have disappeared after two years because its hard to keep up a constant presence.
That is, he says exhaustedly, my nonstop job.
Not long ago, Porte Jacquemus also became the brands acting CEO.
GARDEN VARIETIESOff the rustic, fruit-laden kitchen, yet another balcony facing the sea. Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
His drive for prominence is almost fragrant in most rooms.
Iamat a big French house, was his bumptious retort.
I am at Jacquemus.
SITTING ROOMTwin chairs form an ad hoc observation deck over the Mediterranean betwixt slope and sea. Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
Hes just sotherefor a good time and such a free spirit, says Dua Lipa.
There is the smell.
Even as we renovated it, we kept it as it was.)
TANGLED UP IN BLUECassel catches the light next to a pair of Jean Cocteau drawings in another guest bedroom. Artwork above and below the mantel: © ARS/Comité Cocteau, Paris/ADAGP, Paris 2024. Photographed by Théo de Gueltzl.
Nothing has changed, and a lot of things have changed, Porte Jacquemus muses.
What Im living right now is exactly what I dreamed of, what I always wanted.
SUNSHINE STATESSunflowers are a recurring motif in the house, including here in the primary bedroom.
HANG TIMEJacquemus towels color the sky. Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
I was 15 when I sawLe Mepris, he recalls.
My mother and father were, like,paysanscan I say that?
COLORFUL QUARTERSA guest bedroom on a path leading to the sea. Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
We were a farmer family.
I told the owners of the Casa Malaparte, Ive been obsessed with this house for 15 years.
Benvenuto a Malaparte, somebody says, as the lens looms close.
SHINE ONPorte Jacquemus finds a still moment near the sea. Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
Inside, the corridors of the villa thrum with final preparations for the show.
Maestri presides over a makeshift media command center at the top of the stairs.
Thats probably because Im a dad.
an attendant summons her.
So what theyre going to need you to do….
He describes a path up the Casas big staircase.
A melody fromLe Meprissweeps from nearby speakers.
Halfway up the staircase, Paltrow turns all with the authority of a star.
you’re free to look straight at the orange square!
the director shouts to her.
Im going to say Action!
and you’re free to say Bonjour.
Camera rolling…. Sound rolling….Action!
Bonjour, says Paltrow.
Were going to need it louder!
Paltrow nods and resets herself; a hush of expectation falls again.
Bonjour, she says, with feeling.
ROOM WITH A VIEWThe airy (and, yes, sunflower-laden) living room brings the outside in.
Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
The show begins an hour later.
The pale yellow dress turns over to Jacquemuss signature single-color leisure suits and then to diaphanous draped dresses.
In person, life on the bluff had more earthbound aspects.
The easy life, it turns out, is hard work.
GARDEN VARIETIESOff the rustic, fruit-laden kitchen, yet another balcony facing the sea.
Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
When I say Jacque-, you say, -Mus!
cheered the other passengers.)
Can you give to me the J!
Can you give to me the A!
But he was surprised at how quickly his audience caught on.
SITTING ROOMTwin chairs form an ad hoc observation deck over the Mediterranean betwixt slope and sea.
Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
Todays photography centers on four models.
Porte Jacquemus is sprawled in the corner of a black-leather couch with a fan blowing across him.
Exactly the lifestyle I dont want, he says.
It can happen one time a month or once every two months, but not more.
Lights are out by 10.
Now, surrounded by staffers, he asks for a coffee.
Justlookat me, he laments, curling into the couch.
Can we do something with the collar?
Closed, Porte Jacquemus says with a judicious shake of the head.
The brand wont show at the usual times and places.
Instead, Porte Jacquemus exhibits outside Fashion Week and invites his childhood idols and his grandmother.
Hes not really on trend, Prigent adds.
During a break in the shoot, Porte Jacquemus wanders the collection racks, inspecting the wares.
He shrugs and takes up another mens piece.
Over the past year, Jacquemuss demographics have seemed to grow more adult and affluent.
Its a big change for the company.
TANGLED UP IN BLUECassel catches the light next to a pair of Jean Cocteau drawings in another guest bedroom.
Artwork above and below the mantel: ARS/Comite Cocteau, Paris/ADAGP, Paris 2024.
Photographed by Theo de Gueltzl.
Unlike many prosperous and busy people, he keeps no art advisers or decorating surrogates.
Sometimes random shoppers recognize him, too, and ask for photographs.
Im here so often that the market has invited me to create my own boutique, he says.
His gaze suddenly lights up.
I love this chair!
A few minutes earlier, he made his first purchase: a striped orange jersey, 65 euros.
(Very expensive, he mumbled, shaking his head.
But Im obsessed with these stripes.)
My biggest obsession is sports, in general, he explains as he continues wandering the stalls.
I think they are the superstars of this world.
We had a super connection, and he told me about Marco, Porte Jacquemus recalls.
So I decided to text Marco and say, Hey, do you want to eat pasta tonight?
Not a euphemistic come-on: Porte Jacquemus likes to cook and to eat pasta.
He said nohe was too tired, apparently.
Then two or three days later, I said, Okay, come in front of my building.
We are going to eat pasta.
HANG TIMEJacquemus towels color the sky.
Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
It was the first thing that made me think: Im into it.
I grew up eating every day at my grandparents place, Porte Jacquemus explains.
Porte Jacquemus and Maestri were clear about their family orientation from the start.
I think a week after we met, we spoke about whether we wanted kids, Maestri says.
I said, Its my dream.
He was like, Its my dream too.
We brought them back and slept for 28 hours, Porte Jacquemus says.
You realize how quickly they are changing.
These are weird years for the fashion industry, Porte Jacquemus says.
Outside, a vendor buttonholes him to ask about the twins.
My friend chides me, Women dont want children, they want babies!
she adds with a laugh.
COLORFUL QUARTERSA guest bedroom on a path leading to the sea.
Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
A certain familial intimacy shapes Porte Jacquemuss company.
Alice, our first intern, is now head of the studio.
Fabien, who sold the first collection, is now our image director.
Of the first 10 people at the brand, six are still here, Porte Jacquemus says.
He furrows his brow.
When I was 20, I wasprayingfor people to help me.
That period, when he launched his label, was perhaps the most intense of his life.
His mother was 42 when she died in the car accident.
It was a dreamit was a big dream, he says.
Suddenly, when I lost her, I understood that time was running.
I became obsessed with that idea: Time is fuckingrunning.I need to realize my dream.
My grandmother was like, Simon, what are you doing?
I was like, Im going back.
I had such intense energy.
He snaps his fingers.
That was the click.
I went to the fabric market and bought fabric.
Designing was just half the work.
I imagined a campaign.
I published it on Facebook and said, Hello, this is my first collection, LHiver Froid!
and it started to be shared, shared, shared.
On Tumblr, it was shared a million times.
The French press called me three or four weeks later and said, We want to do an interview.
I was like, What?
This is how it started.
Its a film in a wayit was so beautiful.
I wanted to have the attention of everyone.
I was in front of the Dior show manifesting with my friend.
I didnt have any other option.
Ineededto be seen and in this world.
We are nearing the end of Porte Jacquemuss path through the puces.
He has slowed his pace slightly with the weight of memory.
I always say, I didnt lose my mother; shes with me.
Thats why I left so quickly and I had such a strong energyI didnt feel alone.
At his mothers death, he says, hed left her just one thing: an issue ofVogue.
SHINE ONPorte Jacquemus finds a still moment near the sea.
Photographed by Matthieu Salvaing.
But a vision has been plantedas surely as a lemon tree.
Its going to look like a mix of the South of France and New York, he says.
The video, which took him seconds to make, is fit for social media.
But Americans love my story and get itin America, its very appreciated when youve done everything by yourself.
I didnt want a cute, cool store in Le Marais, he said.
I wanted Avenue Montaignethe center of high fashion in Paris.
Now a SoHo boutique, expensively designed and expensive to maintain, is the next step.
Since I was 18 years old, Ive stuck to my position, he says.
Ive said no to so many things in life, because I have something else in mind.
Im still not happy.
Theres work to do.
I need to show my product in my environment, he goes on, focusing his gaze.
Its about making people feel theyre in my house.
Interiors throughout photographed by Matthieu Salvaing; for photos by Matthieu Salvaing: creative consultant, Sophie Pinet.
