Imagine: the curtain rises at the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre Mogador, not for a musical, but for an extraordinary Haute Couture show. On Tuesday, January 28, 2025, Julien Fourni\u00e9 invited us to his \u00ab\u00a0First Circus,\u00a0\u00bb a Spring\/Summer 2025 collection that celebrated much more than fashion. It was a personal event, marking the designer’s 50th birthday and the 16th anniversary of his house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what a show! Fourni\u00e9, finally feeling \u00ab\u00a0completely free,\u00a0\u00bb opened the doors to his deepest imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From Childhood Dreams to Parisian Runways<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The inspiration for \u00ab\u00a0First Circus\u00a0\u00bb? It’s touching, almost secret. Fourni\u00e9 tells us about his childhood, where his room was a refuge populated by \u00ab\u00a0fantastic figures\u00a0\u00bb \u2013 superheroes, manga heroines, princesses \u2013 his \u00ab\u00a0protective talismans\u00a0\u00bb against a sometimes difficult outside world. Add a pinch of 90s pop culture to that, and you get the raw material for this phantasmagorical circus. Because for Fourni\u00e9, fashion isn’t just a matter of fabric and cut: \u00ab\u00a0I don’t design […] fashion pieces, I create characters,\u00a0\u00bb he confides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Parade of Unforgettable Characters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And what characters! On the Mogador stage, we saw an incredible troupe parade: a goddess from the future in a cyborg trench coat, a White Rabbit, \u00ab\u00a0luxury dealer\u00a0\u00bb version, bombarding you with glitter, a Ringmaster impressive in his authority, a Joker as if \u00ab\u00a0exploded\u00a0\u00bb with creative madness, a melancholic clowness escaped from an old black and white film, a princess who might have stepped through the looking glass to explore other realities, and even a \u00ab\u00a0burlesque spectre,\u00a0\u00bb both gothic and glamorous in a checked sheath dress. Not forgetting the wild audacity of a giant pink tutu worn with a helmet and knee pads, hurtling down the stage in a burst of pure joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Between Exceptional Know-How and a Touch of the Future<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Each creation was a demonstration of meticulous Haute Couture craftsmanship. We admired the precise cuts meeting fluid silhouettes, the sculptural corsets, the skillful draping, and the sparkling embroideries. But Fourni\u00e9 doesn’t only look to the past. He blends this ancestral know-how with his passion for rare vintage fabrics and a resolutely modern approach, using 3D design in partnership with Dassault Syst\u00e8mes to visualize his creations before even cutting the first piece of fabric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than a Show, a Performance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The choice of the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre Mogador was not insignificant. Fourni\u00e9 wanted to blur the lines between fashion and performance, incorporating dancers, energetic staging, and models with expressive gestures to immerse us in his universe. It was an invitation to share his \u00ab\u00a0joy of dreaming, drawing, sewing, and performing.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Fourni\u00e9 Manifesto<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, \u00ab\u00a0First Circus\u00a0\u00bb is much more than a collection. It’s a cry from the heart: \u00ab\u00a0Long live independent and free Haute Couture!\u00a0\u00bb. It’s a thumbing of the nose at ephemeral trends (\u00ab\u00a0Down with trends!\u00a0\u00bb). It’s proof that Haute Couture, in the hands of a designer like Julien Fourni\u00e9, can be a formidable tool for personal expression, a way to transform his most intimate dreams into \u00ab\u00a0legendary\u00a0\u00bb pieces, ready to enter history. A total spectacle, both deeply personal and magnificently universal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cr\u00e9dit photo: FHCM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Imagine: the curtain rises at the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre Mogador, not for a musical, but for an extraordinary Haute Couture show. On Tuesday, January 28, 2025, Julien Fourni\u00e9 invited us to his \u00ab\u00a0First Circus,\u00a0\u00bb a Spring\/Summer 2025 collection that celebrated much more than fashion. It was a personal event, marking the designer’s 50th birthday and the 16th … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,4,19,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chikh-larbi-haute-couture","category-haute-couture","category-haute-couture-spring-summer-2025","category-julien-fournie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-8th-art.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-8th-art.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-8th-art.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-8th-art.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-8th-art.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=827"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-8th-art.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":843,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-8th-art.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827\/revisions\/843"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-8th-art.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-8th-art.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-8th-art.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-8th-art.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}