Julien David Gets into the ’90s via the Victorians

Hey, music/fashion fans, can you imagine a world where ’90s indie rocker Elliott Smith (RIP) gets cut up with club music and becomes the runway soundtrack for a Paris Fashion Week collection set inside the Beaux-arts de Paris?

david julien black skirt top movement

If your answer was, “No, I can’t—not really, but I’d like to,” go front row and backstage with us to check out how SPACE designer Julien David imagines spring 2016.

“We’ve got a lot of colors, but we didn’t actually want it to go too ‘pop’,” the designer told me after the presentation. I had asked him about choosing the Elliott Smith song “Needle in the Hay” and winding it around electronica and using it for the entire show. How did that mood relate to the collection, which definitely riffs off ’90s-era styles but also references Victorian-era bustle skirts?

david julien floral top

julien squar crop skirt

“We wanted to draw the mood into youth, youth in terms of that moment when you’re really questioning things. The romance of all that, as well as the grunginess of it. We thought the track was perfect because though there’s sadness in it, there’s strength in it too.”

david julien floral BIG

julien davidd crop floral bright group

And while there was a pastel tropicalia vibe to some of the prints and colors, an overtone of dark lab jackets and long skirts countered them as well as the music did. Cropped and strappy tops and mini vests were paired with slim slacks and cropped pants that had a pajama-set feeling.

david julien black jacket

Julien David’s footwear has been a major component of his presence in SPACE, so we paid extra attention to the chunky gladiators that went down his tiled runway.

david julien sandals

While they don’t belong specifically to either era, they’re a great illustration of the way David can take a shape or style and throw new and colorful influences at it. We’ve seen a number of gladiators on the runway this season, but these are the first with a fringed platform.

julien crop floral

While we were talking backstage about teenage years and the kinds of tunes that give them musical accompaniment, I asked David if he would choose to be 15 all over again should such a thing ever be possible.

julien backstage
“Yeah, for sure. I would love to,” he answered immediately.

julien david backstage

And in the end, that’s the attitude that describes it all—the music, the time in one’s life and the Julien David spring ’16 collection.

It’s the attitude of acknowledging sunshine and shadow, and then embracing all of it wholeheartedly.

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Read: Julien David Is All Over the Place in the Best Way

Shop: current season Julien David at SPACE

—Laura Cassidy



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