The morning after his show, Le Palmier, at Paris Fashion Week – typically the busiest week in any fashion house’s calendar – Simon Porte Jacquemus welcomed a friend into Jacquemus HQ. Swapping the front row for the role of interviewer, Service95 founder Dua Lipa stepped inside to discover what really happens before the runway lights go down.
Dua and Simon’s story is almost fashion folklore at this point. In 2018, Simon created a look for for the video of One Kiss: Dua’s polka-dot bodysuit, the dramatically oversized sun hat slipping over one eye – a look that felt instantly, unmistakably Jacquemus. Since then, it’s been Ibiza summers, spontaneous dancefloor moments, front-row glances, endless fittings and that serene all-white moment at his wedding in 2022. Theirs is a friendship that blurs the line between collaboration and real life; a bond formed as much over books and art as over his incredible clothes.
Simon started Jacquemus at the age of 19. What began as a personal project and a dream has grown into one of France’s most recognisable fashion houses at rapid speed: still playful, still emotional and tied to family values, but now operating on a global scale. And this is all down to Simon. Dua’s visit traces that evolution from the inside out: upstairs in Simon’s office, where shelves bow slightly under the weight of piles art and photography books (he likes to encourage his teams towards the pages of these for references, rather than looking online); downstairs in the atelier, where runway looks – barely 24 hours old – are handled with forensic-level care by the team; and finally into the showroom, where buyers circle rails with sharp eyes and models waft around the space, to showcase the looks in a way that you can see how the fabric moves with grace.
During their conversation, Dua asks all the questions you’d want answered: how does Jacquemus begin a collection? When does he know a piece is right? How did this all start? Simon, with the humour and warmth that have made him so beloved within the industry, responds candidly, speaking with real pride about the brand he has built from the ground up.
Expect plenty of nostalgia as the two laugh about shared memories and reflect on growing side by side as artists, each carving out their own distinct creative worlds – ones that continue to collide. It’s a friendship for the ages, for sure.
Discover the inner workings of Jacquemus with Dua in our video below...
