Mais il est où le soleil ? Autumn Winter 2010 - 2011

This Belgian women's ready-to-wear label is starting 2010 on a positive note. Its sales outlets are around the one thousand mark, thanks to strong growth in Northern Europe and the constant increase in the label's concept stores. Laurence Everard's highly effective management style and Val Pollet's very assured approach seem to have contributed to the label's magic and its strong customer loyalty and devotion.

Winter collection 10/11
Emotion, conviction and sincerity are the keynotes of every collection. This time, the feeling has been evoked by images of horses running free against the background of a watercolour countryside, in juxtaposition with the impersonality of a contemporary city. An unashamed punk princess rules over this dream-like world. She adores precious things and contemporary art. She is amused by the eccentricity of Tim Walker, the British photographer who hangs beds in trees and has people walking upside down.

For winter, four exclusive designs of daisies, bouquets, feathers and spirals, drawn with a light touch, dissolve into a palette of five worlds : from an uncompromising black and white base, the colours are expressed in intense tones which carry each range progressively to an ethereal transparency. Earth, chocolate, marron glacé and mustard, illuminated by gold. Cobalt, slate and pistachio juggle with mineral greens. An incredibly deep blueberry mixes with blackcurrant and mauves, up to a beige pink, the colour of skin. Bordeaux and plum are brightened
up by tea rose and prawn.

Keen to nurture the brand's identity, Nicolas Pirson, a young Belgian talent, photographed the North Sea, its outdated hotel rooms, cobblestones gleaming with rain, the mythical Grand Place and Brussels by night. Five images reproduced on pleated voile, which is combined with knitwear and jersey.

If the clinging, sometimes structured line is simplified, it always plays on the feminine charm of a stiffened collar, sculpted with blends of knitwear and satin or woollen thread embroidery. There are frills on cotton shirts with pearl buttons, they emphasize the hem of a pencil skirt or turn into removable cuffs. Tunics drape over leggings, cardigans are inspired by boys' cardigans. The apparently «fluffy» boleros fit well with the hand-knitted tailored coats. There are dusters, tulle petticoats with taffeta belts (in 10 colours) and mohair camisoles with a lingerie feel which keep winter at bay. But the black leather and maroon calf suede, decidedly rock in some pieces, give this collection a retro-futuristic beat.

Loose-fitting, sarouel, stovepipe, jodhpur, sailor or urchin shorts... each displays exquisite attention to detail, thanks to the skills of a specialist in trousers, and creates a range of products which are literally capable of fitting every body type.

As a fun touch, the accessories can be interpreted in all sorts of ways. Large flowers pinned to a jacket lapel, or used to shorten a long dress. Chokers, feathers, which look like egrets. Small fur bags with silk, very '80s. Elasticated shoulder straps, belts, for dinner jackets or in patent leather. Bracelets, gold bangles and chains in resin. Bags made by an Indian NGO, which look like mini suitcases with a military cut, link to the collection's visuals, drawn on waxed canvas.

Point of sale information
Belgium: +32 (0) 2 526 84 70
United Kingdom: 020 30 51 29 37
info@ousoleil.com
www.ousoleil.com

Press agency Belgium
top secret communication
Avenue Louis Bertrand 125
1030 Brussels
T. +32 (0)2 244 93 28
F. +32 (0)2 241 56 89
margo.van.raemdonck@top-secret.be
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