MARINE SERRE: ENSEMBLE

Photography by Boris Camaca
Styling by Marie Gibert
Text by Caroline Issa

Marine Serre has a special quality about her. Her ambition, laser-sharp focus and originality account for some of it; the rest is a less tangible, more magical disposition that makes anything and everything feel possible.

It’s perhaps a necessary quality when you’re battling a fashion system that has always done things the way it likes. While many  designers claim to “do it their own way”, only a handful make it from launch collection to global brand. Even fewer do it replete with an instantly recognisable monogram, circular and authentically sustainable production processes, and genuinely great design. And we haven’t even mentioned the superfans. Serre is like the K-drama of fashion, spreading her unique way of thinking to a hungry global audience made up of those who didn’t even know they wanted an upcycled denim jacket or a regenerated nylon second-skin top printed with a crescent moon. The superfans show up to collection launches, pop-ups, retail activations and shoots, while her shows are populated by a familiar cast of models and friends. It’s this transparency and intimacy that has transformed an ambitious 2016 graduate collection into a brand that means so much more than a new collection every few months.

When thinking about community and what it means in fashion, Serre was one of the few designers we could think of who genuinely embodies its principles. Often brands “do” customer engagement while holding their nose, inviting people into their rarified world as a privilege and an honour. Serre’s relationship with those who wear her clothes is unself-conscious and open, whether it takes place in one of her workshops or in conversation at a launch. This is a democratic but still authoritative relationship to the means of creation, one that seeds mutual respect and benefits from a collective vision as to how a 21st-century fashion brand could operate. For this story, TANK gathered several Marine Serre “family members”, and spoke to her about love, intention and tunnelling through the good and the bad in fashion.

\ Marine SerreAfter stints working for Balenciaga and Dior,  Marine Serre gained renown for her 2016 collection A Radical Call for Love. The following year she was awarded the LVMH Prize, aged 26. Her clothes blend high fashion with a commitment to sustainable making practices; around half of her haute-couture pieces are made from end-of-life products.

Caroline Issa Since Marine Serre launched you have built this tribe of superfans. How did you build that community? Was it organic?

Marine Serre For me, community is a byproduct of loving people, and I don’t think you can have tactics for that. It’s only about giving love to people. That’s how the Marine Serre community started. Part of why it is so inclusive is because we never thought about inclusivity. For me, coming from the countryside and not knowing much about the fashion world, the only thing I wanted to do was make everything a pretext to love. The community was built by actions and decisions I made on where to do the show, who to work with, who would walk the show. Of course, you have people who like you, who don’t like you, who don’t like you now but like you later, and that’s OK. For me, everyone is welcome. We have the chance to have a voice that is heard around the world and across the internet. I think it is hugely important to pay attention to this aspect. It’s not just about thought but about the actions you take: during the show, during the campaign, in your daily life, through the sizing and colour of the garment. We are part of nature and I think we should respect each other. If our community is built like that, even if I don’t explain it to people, they know it. When it resonates with them, they will enjoy being around the brand and we will start sharing moments together.

CI There is a radicalism in your practice, from the way you open up your shows to the public to your casting to the sizing to the way that you make your clothes. Is radical the right word to describe how you operate? Do you feel there are more traditional rules you can smash?

\ Rebecca Lamarche-VadelDuring her tenure as curator of the Palais de Tokyo from 2011 to 2019, Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel was responsible for some of the most ambitious exhibitions in the museum’s history, staging defining shows by Tino Sehgal and Tomás Saraceno. Part of a movement of young, politically engaged curators that emerged in the wake of France’s student demonstrations in the late 2000s, Lamarche-Vadel graduated from the Sorbonne with a degree in art history, history and political science. She is now the director of Lafayette Anticipations, where Marine hosted her 2021 show-cum-exhibition HARD DRIVE.

MS In the beginning, I think people called me radical because it’s easier to put people into boxes, but my goal was never to smash the rulebook and break things. I was coming from an outsider’s perspective, doing things that were logical for me and answering with my emotions. I was more of an artist presenting questions to the world. Maybe in their naivety, my questions were radical for the fashion world, but for me they were basic. Sustainability, inclusivity, our way of working, our mode of production, the position of women in the business: all of these things came naturally. When I started, I think the fashion world was in this moment where there was too much everywhere. I was like, “You know what? While I have a chance, I’m going to tell people what I think.” Maybe it was because I was young and bold, but actually I’m still young and bold! How do you love without radicalism? I also feel a lot of the things I have worked on for the past seven years – upcycling, ecology, inclusivity – are now normal in fashion. Everyone’s like, “Oh, we should be inclusive!” I’m like, “Yeah, come on!” Not in a pretentious way, but I know that I’ve opened doors, and I’m really happy that upcycling, ecology and inclusivity have become important points of discussion in the fashion world. These things are the pillars of what I’m doing so will always be there in my work. I think it’s really important to always question yourself and question what you are doing. I’m still questioning my work, other people’s work, the world, the fashion system every day.

CI What are you questioning the most right now?

MS After Covid-19, I was questioning joy at work. How do you lead people? What does it mean to lead a team today? How do you make sure that your team enjoys their work? How much time should we spend working per day? I always ask my team, what is the intention of what we’re doing? If there’s no intention, you better not work with me, because I’m going to question things every day! It’s kind of a headache for them, but that’s why we keep doing things.

\ Rokhaya DialloRokhaya Diallo, an anti-racism activist, political documentary filmmaker, and Black Muslim woman, has sparked significant controversy simply through her presence in France’s cultural industry. In 2020, her documentary Acting While Black: Blackness on French Screens delved into the systemic inequities faced by Black talent in French cinema and television. As an advocate of change in a male-dominated industry, collaborating with Marine was a natural fit.

There is something poetic about fashion that is closer to cinema than the written word

CI The fact that you still don’t have your own store is so interesting. You’ve been able to connect with a global community without having a physical space. You’ve done the most amazing pop-ups and I was curious how you’re thinking about these connection points, and whether in the future you see more ways to connect physically with your customers and your community?

MS It has always been important for me to connect with people. Shows were always a really important moment, which is also why I decided to do exhibition shows so more people could come. I invited 4,000 people to come to the show to make sure everyone could be there. I think physicality cannot be replaced. Of course, I love my e-shop, and we designed it in a really good way where it’s built for upcycling pieces. People love our Instagram and how we communicate there. But in an increasingly busy world where we are all disconnected, meeting people face-to-face is really important. At some point, I will want to build my own store. It’s in the interests of the house where you can feel the Marine Serre energy, not just during the show.

CI Correct me if I’m wrong, but you also have a lot of production in your headquarters, right? You do a lot of your upcycling where your design studio is. That must have been a very conscious decision.

MS Everything is here in the 19th arrondissement in Paris. Everything from the e-shop, the atelier, the couture, the commercial sector, human resources, finance and upcycling all happens here. We have around 3,000 square metres. I cannot separate the teams: there is this synergy when we are all working in the same space. I have done workshops and presentations where we are showing the process of how we make a garment. Even if we do not own a store, we’ve created many pop-ups where people learn how upcycling works. One day we did an event in Paris about upcycling a T-shirt. You could go there, pick your T-shirt, look at it being made and buy it. One of the women took videos of the process, paid and left, and she forgot the T-shirt. I realised then that the process was the important thing, more so than her wearing it. I thought this was such a beautiful thing, something that only happens when you are really enthusiastic. Or really tired!

Momo Ndiaye /Senegalese-Italian model Momo Ndiaye has quickly become part of the brand family. He was featured in their autumn/winter 2024 campaign and was the face of the Zalando red capsule collection. (TANK photographed Momo in 2020.)

CI  Let’s go with enthusiastic! It’s interesting how people are finding the brand and how it represents this alternative way of doing fashion business. The beauty of what you do is that the clothes themselves are amazing: they’re sewn beautifully, they fit beautifully, and they’re made with so many interesting, alternative processes. How much time do you spend researching or thinking about new processes of making clothes?

MS It’s a hard question, because ecological fashion is not only the garment, but it’s also the studio. It’s also the show. It’s also what you consume, the transportation, the country in which you produce. I’m thinking about processes every day, all the time, because my life is about finding new ways to create a better world. When it comes to more technical and design elements, we do a lot of brainstorming with the team. Every week or two we have meetings to look at new upcycled material or new ways to make a garment. We also look at what is new: how can we recycle polyester? How can we make the most ecological jeans? How can we make sneakers that don’t pollute the world? Every time I design, I always tell my team, if something is not the most sustainable you can find, don’t show me. As everyone knows about it, it becomes a standard, logical practice. Of course, it has consequences. I know by comparing ourselves to other businesses that our ways of producing are really expensive. It’s hard because if you want your fabric to be certified in a specific way, you will be paying €25 more per metre. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. I always love people who are really consistent in their thoughts and ambitions. I stick with ideas that make sense for me, even if there are financial consequences for the product.

CI  It’s a great philosophy: you need to have a backbone with the way you approach things.

MS It’s like the human body: without a backbone, you cannot live.

\ Clara KataClara Kata, as well as being the partner and manager of Kalash, also oversees La Maison des Femmes de Saint-Martin, an initiative to support women and children who are victims of sexual violence. She met Marine at the HARD DRIVE show, where they bonded over their shared advocacy for women.

\ KalashAcross his decade-long career Martinique- born, France-based Kévin Valleray, better known as Kalash, has been one of France’s most politically potent and commercially successful rappers. His 2017 song “Mwaka Moon”, whose lyrics alluded to nascent racial tensions in Europe, topped the French charts for eight consecutive weeks and was later certified diamond. In France, he is seen as one of the music scene’s key players in the fight against the far-right. He met Marine at the 2024 GROUND CONTROL show, and has since become a collaborator and friend.

CI Why is fashion still the medium for you? What is it about fashion that still gives you the energy to keep questioning things and wanting to evolve?

MS The first thing that motivates me to continue is the love that I receive every day from people. Yesterday, I was on a run with my dog and this girl stopped me and showed me her coat. She said, “This is you, right?” And I was like, yeah. So cool, I felt so good! It made my evening. Sometimes I see people wearing some of my garments and they don’t recognise me. I’m really lucky to have the chance to share my ideas with people who want to have this conversation. They want a better world for the next generation and they are choosing joy and change over greed and overconsumption, even if it’s hard. In answer to your first question, fashion is a really beautiful medium. It’s difficult because you have fast fashion, you have luxury: it’s a big mess of shit. It’s hard for outsiders to understand what’s happening within the industry. But I try to focus and hope at some point people will like the brand and become part of the community. There is something poetic about fashion that is closer to cinema than the written word. At a show, you are communicating  a lot of messages. If people want to have this conversation with you and love to come to the show, then it’s even better. .

\ Justine SerreAs the Associate and Chief Financial Officer of Marine Serre, Justine has been instrumental in the brand’s expansion. Along with her sister Marine, she is part of the brand’s near 100% female-led executive team