A school bell sounded as a loud crush of teens spilled from classrooms above into seats opposite the audience, a straggler in a red knit cap triggering applause. This was the start of class and Ami s Spring men s collection.
Designer Alexandre Mattiussi said he d been watching the American TV shows Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills, 90210, as well as the French teen-pulp hit Premiers Baisers. High school, high-camp melodrama! You can imagine him absorbed in hours-long Netflix marathons. The Breakfast Club, that oft-cited source of teen self-discovery, also came into play. "Really, I just wanted to have fun," he enthused after the show.
Indeed, this was a joyous, energetic ode to teen spirit. Schoolboy stripes in sporty team colors set the raucous tone, punctuated by heart prints and smiley-face badges on baggy basics. Ever present was that classic campus uniform of the two-buttoned blazer over a starched cotton button-down, here untucked, and shorts. T-shirts came in bold two-tone combos and track shoes in "Sour Patch" colors, said Mattiussi, who d clearly done his homework.
