PFW menswear: Andam 2023 winner Louis Gabriel Nouchi introduces the female form

Louis Gabriel Nouchi (LGN) concluded the second day of Paris Fashion Week menswear FW24 on Wednesday, January 17. His Andam 2023 competition award opened the doors to a unique women's ready-to-wear collection, inspired by his menswear designs. The new boyish look has arrived.

For his fall/winter 2024/2025 collection, Nouchi, as a spokesperson for the queer cause, presented pieces for women, adapted copies of his masculine wardrobe to fit their morphology: long coats and jackets, oversized shoulders, tailored waists, pleated pants, shirts, and a ‘marcel’ (a tank top for the younger audience).

The standard of the 19th-century masculine silhouette versus 2024 is represented with a preference for deep black, leathers (thanks to its partnership with Ecco Leather), and textile innovation (jacquards with faux fur patterns, lush Tencel knit stitches, and jacquard with cut threads reminiscent of feathers and fur).

For Louis Gabriel Nouchi, inclusivity also means dressing women

This immersion into the world of women's ready-to-wear responds to the demands of numerous clients. It also aligns with the creator's desire, as stated in the press release, to denounce "masculine ambition, symbols of opulence, and their translation into men's fashion looks."

For this reason, the creator chose to name his collection ‘Bel Ami’, a direct allusion to the 19th century Parisian cynical and devastating protagonist in the novel by Guy de Maupassant. As if to signify the decay of this injunction to this male behavior, the fashion show takes place in a space under reconstruction, located on Paris’ Rue du Faubourg-Poissonnière.

As for his runway show, it not only featured beautiful models. The audience boasted clients and friends. It's his style, his way of saying no to gender stereotypes: seniors, tall, large, small, thin, drag, etc. Through this inclusive stance, LGN also enables end clients (who do not all fit the standard model size) to better envision themselves wearing the collection. A win-win.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.FR. Translation and edit from French into English by Veerle Versteeg.