French couturier Maxime Simoëns has led a very interesting career. Just 26 years old, this young designer from Lille has rocketed up the rungs of the fashion ladder in an impressively short span of time. In 2006, Maxime graduated from L’Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne with high marks. He continued his fashion education under the guidance of major designers the likes of Elie Saab, Jean-Paul Gaultier, John Galliano for Christian Dior and Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga.

In 2009, Maxime was selected to take part in the Hyères Festival, an annual event that puts the spotlight on young designers. Motivated by the experience and encouraged by the enthusiasm of the press, he soon felt the drive to create his own fashion house. His first collection, entitled Black to White, was a tribute to Michael Jackson. This was followed by two more collections, Woman on Wings and Cherry Blossom Girl.

In January 2011, Maxime’s summer collection This, Madame, is Versailles, made the official catwalk of the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week. This resulted in Maxime becoming the first designer ever to be accepted as a member of the Paris Chambre Syndicale de la Couture before having shown any of his collections on a runway.

This experience was renewed a few months later at his Fall 2011 couture collection, Nosferatu, which was most recently shown at Women’s Fashion Week 2011 Singapore (WFW). Maxime was one of eight French couturiers to display their collections at the event’s Haute Couture Exhibition. Nosferatu was also featured in the opening show for the second day of WFW’s Haute Couture Week.

Actress Mélanie Laurent, Maxime’s personal muse, soon became a devoted follower of the house. In no time at all, he became the designer of choice for many trend-making celebrities, such as Beth Ditto, Gossip Girl actresses Leighton Meester and Blake Lively, and Astrid Berges and Rachel McAdams, who wore his designs at the Cannes Film Festival. Perhaps his most well-known piece is a beaded purple dress worn by Beyoncé on the cover of her album, 4.

Maxime was named the new Creative Director of French fashion house Leonard in October 2011, a truly well-deserved appointment and a fitting finish to a whirlwind year of memorable experiences.


LifeAndStyle: Congratulations on your new position! We are excited to see what you have in store for your first collection with Leonard. Will you still be maintaining your own line, or will you design exclusively for Leonard?

Thank you for your kind wishes and support! My first Leonard Fall 2012 collection will be presented this March in Paris, but I will of course continue designing for my own brand and showing my couture collections during the months of January and July.

LifeAndStyle: The Nosferatu collection you showed at WFW appears to emphasise lot of fringe, feathers, detailed panels and sculpted silhouettes. How would you describe your own design philosophy? What inspires you?

We offer ultra luxurious ready-to-wear with a touch of couture spirit and a French knowhow. My designs are creative, modern and always elegant. I like playing with contrasts, between textures like glossy opposed to mat or the fluidity of a mille-feuille against structured geometric lines.

I try to impose a personal image of a modern and fresh fashion without ever falling into ephemeral trends but by inscribing my style and codes season after season. Fashion should tell a story, carry a dream and allow the client to live an emotion beyond the product itself.

LifeAndStyle: Could you tell us more about the economics of haute couture? With houses like Lacroix no longer offering haute couture services, it must be a challenge to sustain requirements for the Chambre Syndicale while still being able to create prêt-à-porter lines.

Ready-to-wear is the future of haute couture. Furthermore, the border between couture and luxury ready-to-wear is becoming thinner and thinner. We also offer an haute couture custom-made service for our clients, which allows them to acquire our dresses from the catwalk according to their desires, a change of colour or length for example.

LifeAndStyle: You have accomplished so much for someone so young. Has your age ever played a role in your work, for better or for worse? Have you ever encountered any difficulties, or on the other hand, surprising advantages as a result?

It’s definitely hard to be respected and taken seriously by people around me especially when they are older than me. But it does allow me to prove myself and to show that just because I am young I am not to be played with, because age certainly has nothing to do with my choices.

LifeAndStyle: Who is the Maxime Simoëns woman? Where does she go and what does she do when she wears your dresses? Is there any specific woman that you would give anything to dress?

The Maxime Simoëns woman is modern and independent. She has character and humour, but never forgets her femininity. The clothes should bring her confidence without ever imprisoning her. Day and night she is always elegant. Any woman who seeks this refined Parisian elegance and French knowhow is a Maxime Simoëns woman.

LifeAndStyle: The concept of haute couture seems to be controversial in the industry, with many designers and companies claiming to fall under the label without actually fulfilling the requirements. What are your thoughts?

Haute couture is a label for extreme quality and of an exceptional knowhow. The process is extremely strict and regulated. To become a member of the French Federation of Couture is a great privilege for a designer. But the designer must respond to previous requisites and present a very detailed dossier on his brand with a letter of request.

Above all the designer must be recommended by a fashion house or designer that is a permanent member of the federation. I had the honour of being presented by Monsieur Jean Charles de Castelbajac and fashion journalist Mademoiselle Agnès.

I was also, at 25, the youngest designer to become a member and an exception because I hadn’t yet presented my first runway show.

W: maximesimoens.com, leonardparis.com