Sartorially speaking, Mossi Traoré has taken his fans dancing on the moon and on a whirlwind tour of the US in the past couple of seasons. Just weeks ago—impending PFW notwithstanding—he hit India as well, this time as part of a presidential delegation that included France s newly appointed minister of culture, Rachida Dati. But if one of his message tees skewed protest (a cry against politicians’ geopolitical maneuvering, wherever it exists, he offered), Traoré is not really a political animal. He may vent emotion through clothes, but his point is more to “show people that Mossi couture has its place in the world.”
To bring that home, the designer doubled his usual lineup, sending out 30 looks that distilled the essence of why he fell in love with couture in the first place. Fluid tailoring, meaty brick-hued knits and a nod to the South Korean artist Lee Bul were layered with emotion: Madame Grès–inspired pleating and draping mixed with asymmetrical lines in three distinct chapters that channeled anger, sadness and, finally, hope. To that last point, Traoré is also committed to treading lightly on the planet, in this case by working a bottled green fabric with changeable accents sourced from artisans in India, and by once again using eco-friendly milk casein fiber for delicate pleating, and wool made from recycled cushions and mattresses. Even the discarded doodles in his sketchbook became fodder for a new foray into print. There were some fun experiments here—a sliced and wrapped perfecto comes to mind, ditto a pleated cocoon of a gray overcoat—but the strongest statements were the simplest: a pair of black trousers with a layered overskirt, the easy cut of a green pantsuit paired with a crossbody bag in the same fabric, or Japanese denim paired with meticulous pleating.
Traoré often points out that he wants to find something new in what’ s old. That might mean working new life into fabric that was once a mattress or pushing a new generation to get to know Madame Grès better than Kim Kardashian, as he plastered on one tee. Only time will tell on that one, but in a world that feels hopelessly messy right now, he offered up some welcome grace notes.
