IN THE MOOD FOR CREATIVITY
Boramy Viguier is 30, Spencer Phipps 34. Both work out of Paris, both started their brand less than three years ago and both had their first runway show the same season, in January 2018. Which is pretty much all they designers have in common. Spencer Phipps, red hair, red beard, grew up in San Francisco and his love of nature runs through his sustainable clothing label. In fact he first came into the public eye with his outdoor wear; a more Parisian, more fashionable version of Californian brand, Patagonia. Boramy Viguier, dark hair, dark beard, French father, Vietnamese mother, was heavily influenced by authors such as Frank Herbert, J. R. R. Tolkien, Philip K. Dick and Moebius, as well as by the darker side of science fiction, designing costumes for sci–fi heroes, panelled parkas and suits brought up–to–date with snaps and zippers. Building on these premises — sustainability and the great outdoors for Phipps; part–mystical, part–sci fi tailoring for Viguier — they have gone their separate ways: Phipps has moved further upmarket with each collection, from the €100 T–shirts of his early days to €3,000 embroidered silk pyjamas. Viguier, meanwhile, has branched out with zipped jackets starting at an affordable €280 alongside his fabulous €3,000 coats.
It already takes a vast amount of energy for a young designer to get noticed in a crowded fashion landscape. The coronavirus crisis further complicated matters this year, from an aesthetic standpoint — we don’t necessarily want to design or even wear the same clothes as before — but more so from a business perspective, as fledgling companies had to invent solutions if they were to continue to source supplies, manufacture, publicise and sell their products. Phipps and Viguier
