As a surfer with a creative yen to ride the endless heritage swell of Parisian couture culture—but with a progressive bent—Antonin Tron is carving his own indie spot in this city’s conglomerate-crowded scene. This season Tron said a central inspiration was the performance of Arletty in the 1938 expressionist and borderline existentialist film Hotel du Nord: this contains a particularly wonderful and strangely modern scene in which the actress undresses and dresses while co-star Louis Jouvet, unmoved, plays with his camera. Arletty was also a key reference for Azzedine Alaïa—and here, similarly but differently, the actress sparked Tron’s generation of “atmosphère.”
The simple-seeming but expertly applied device of knotting strips of material to secure and drape was a signature that ran through the collection. Tron employed a form-fitting black jersey with lace like relief and chiffon, a material he said was new for him, to create shadows and transparency against the forms he was outfitting: in a season full of sheer sections this stood out for its depth.
Tron’s asymmetrical, cut-out and often bias cut dresses in recycled plissé or jersey were as complex in their construction as they seemed to effortlessly sit on the body (with the notable exception of the slightly too-long but expertly-handled of the penultimate look). Cropped vegan leather biker jackets and trenches, cut higher and then knotted at the back, accented the main, softly bodycon offer along with handsome sandals by Christian Louboutin. There were no bags as yet, but Tron said that as he grows his still fledgling business he wants to add them to his mise-en-scène.