Does one believe in reincarnation? I can recount two previous lives. The first one being a man. a Roman soldier. The second time being the Queen of France. Now you know Vivienne and I loved the old perfumes of Versailles which inspired our new fragrance Boudoir, which is also the name of this collection. Boudoir is all about a private, secret space without non-stop distraction. It's this space where you are nearest to yourself, where truth lies. The truth is inside your heart.
The collection started with looking at designs of old curtain drapes, translating them into things you can wear. I fell in love with these typical Italian fabrics that you would find in markets everywhere, we combined them with iconic prints of the house, reusing leftover fabrics. I live in Milan and spent time on a Sicilian island this summer - more than anything I wanted to capture the spirit of the Mediterranean. What was most important is that everything looks easy and lived in, worn, simple to care for - neither old, nor new - real clothes that belong to the people that wear them. I used skins of lace punched leather, embroideries left in drawers - nothing went to waste. It's wonderful to show in L'Institute de France, a cultural and historical place of enormous importance. The Ikebana in the room is comprised of sunflowers and one umbrella from Cherbourg. There are lots of sunflowers on our studio terrace in London and every time I look at them they make me smile. We are living in a world of great change; therefore, I've chosen the last movement of Jupiter by Mozart as the music. It's a sound that foresees the future in the most hopeful way. Andreas Kronthaler
