The New Look

The New Look

Founded in 1972, French Connection has long been a beloved ready-to-wear brand around the world. At its latest NYFW runway show, the label showed both womenswear and menswear, and tapped singer Morgan Saint to perform. To keep us up to date, The Daily talked to creative director Maria Chen about the company’s modern yet timeless takes on current trends.

BY ARIA DARCELLA

What inspired the new collection?

This season takes influences from sportswear in day to eveningwear. We studied the real-life wardrobe staples of the people around us, models and influencers, and the ease to which they wear them. We were inspired by their lifestyle of traveling, picking up bits and pieces from different cities and cultures, and then reinterpreting their findings to fit their personal style. To us, this is what modern-day fashion is about—the celebration of diversity and individuality.

What’s your design process like?

Each season we travel the world picking up inspiration from different cultures and colors, including India and East Asia. We appreciate and use the local craft from each of these regions. The people inspire the process. We have worked with some of the same family businesses for generations and take pride in the partnership that we have with these amazing people. We also have the most incredible and talented master technicians in our London atelier. Their passion, combined with years of experience working with the brand, brings a beautiful synergy to the design process of each collection.

How did you choose Morgan Saint to perform at your NYFW show?

We’re super excited to be working with New York City native Morgan Saint. She is raw, understated, and personal in both her music and her style. French Connection has always supported emerging, young talent—Kate Moss, Adriana Lima, Hailey Baldwin, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and British boxer Anthony Joshua to name a few. We feel that Morgan embodies our brand’s core values and beliefs. She’s modern with an edge, has loads of personality, and doesn’t take herself too seriously. We are big fans! What’s the latest for French Connection’s menswear? After focusing the past couple years on womenswear, it was time to shift some attention to menswear. The first collection under this new modern direction showed on Tuesday. I am excited to show the men’s and women’s collections in the same handwriting. This collection is for the cool metropolitan man.