Simon Porte Jacquemus: “I don’t do clothes; I do stories”

Raised on a Provençal farm, Simon Porte Jacquemus built an independent, sun-soaked fashion empire built on charm and authenticity.

Simon Porte Jacquemus | Photographed by Zoë Ghertner
Simon Porte Jacquemus | Photographed by Zoë Ghertner

When Jacquemus presented his Fall 2025 collection Le Paysan at Versailles, he opened with a scene from his own story: a barefoot child actor heaving open a heavy wooden door, symbolically inviting the world into the designer’s idyllic memories. It was a poignant prologue to a deeply personal show rooted in his rural upbringing. In an age of corporate luxury and fleeting trends, the 35-year-old designer stands out for sincerity, proving how a Provençal childhood can blossom into one of fashion’s most influential independent brands.

Jacquemus Spring Summer 2026 Collection
Jacquemus Spring Summer 2026 Collection | Source: Jacquemus
Jacquemus Spring Summer 2026 Collection
Jacquemus Spring Summer 2026 Collection | Source: Jacquemus
Provençal Roots

Simon Porte Jacquemus was born in 1990 to a farming family in rural Provence. From a young age he displayed a creative streak. One of his earliest creations was a skirt made from a household curtain for his mother, foreshadowing the homespun inspiration of his later designs. Jacquemus’s sun-drenched childhood would become the wellspring of his brand’s identity.

Jacquemus "LE COUP DE SOLEIL" Spring Summer 2020 Collection
Jacquemus “LE COUP DE SOLEIL” Spring Summer 2020 Collection | Source: Pinterest

At 18, he moved to Paris for fashion school but found the program disappointingly blasé. A few months later, his mother’s sudden death in 2008 became a turning point. Jacquemus dropped out and resolved to start his own label. In 2009, at 19, he debuted his namesake brand, using his mother’s maiden name in her memory and grounding it in his passion for culture, from fine art photography to cinema and everyday gestures of French life.

“I knew life could stop now. I knew you don’t get a second chance. I didn’t want to waste time”

— Simon Porte Jacquemus, Lampoon Magazine, 2021

During the founding phase of his label, he worked at the Comme des Garçons boutique in Paris, where he crossed paths with Rei Kawakubo. With little money for materials, his aesthetic was minimalist out of necessity. To gain visibility, he sent friends out in his pieces during Vogue’s Fashion Night Out in Paris in 2010, effectively turning the streets into his first runway. Those early collections, though humble, radiated authenticity. In 2015 the establishment took notice when he won the LVMH Prize’s Special Jury award for young designers.

Jacquemus Spring Summer 2020 Collection
Jacquemus Spring Summer 2020 Collection | Source: Jacquemus
Jacquemus Spring Summer 2020 Collection
Jacquemus Spring Summer 2020 Collection | Source: Jacquemus
Jacquemus Spring Summer 2020 Collection
Jacquemus Spring Summer 2020 Collection | Source: Jacquemus

Playful Minimalism

Jacquemus’s designs have always carried a naive minimalism, born as much from thrift as intent. In his early pieces he even skipped pockets and buttons simply to cut costs. This stripped-down approach, paired with quirky Provençal motifs, felt refreshingly new. His breakout womenswear pieces were deceptively simple yet instantly viral: a gigantic straw sun hat from his Spring/Summer 2018 collection that nearly swallowed its wearer, the tiny Le Chiquito handbags that could barely fit a lipstick, and playful dresses that nodded to French pastoral nostalgia.

Jacquemus Fall Winter 2020 Collection
Jacquemus Fall Winter 2020 Collection | Source: Jacquemus
Jacquemus Fall Winter 2020 Collection
Jacquemus Fall Winter 2020 Collection | Source: Jacquemus
Jacquemus Fall Winter 2020 Collection
Jacquemus Fall Winter 2020 Collection | Source: Jacquemus

In Fall/Winter 2020, Jacquemus presented his L’ANNÉE 97 show, a nostalgic throwback to the late ‘90s infused with vintage cues like polka dots, ruched silhouettes, and retro references. It was during that show that model Gigi Hadid executed an iconic hair flip on the runway, a moment that became instantly etched in fashion memory.

Jacquemus "L'AMOUR" Spring Summer 2021 Collection
Jacquemus “L’AMOUR” Spring Summer 2021 Collection | Source: Jacquemus
Jacquemus Spring Summer 2021 Collection
Jacquemus Spring Summer 2021 Collection | Source: Jacquemus
Jacquemus Spring Summer 2021 Collection
Jacquemus Spring Summer 2021 Collection | Source: Jacquemus
Jacquemus Spring Summer 2021 Collection
Jacquemus Spring Summer 2021 Collection | Source: Jacquemus

In July 2020, as the fashion world was emerging from lockdown, he staged L’AMOUR in a wheat field outside Paris. One of the first in-person shows of the pandemic era, it reinforced his ties to rural roots while sending a message of resilience and optimism. The bucolic images of models moving through golden fields in crisp tailoring and fluid dresses reminded the industry of Jacquemus’s ability to turn personal landscapes into global moments.

“I just want to tell something about happiness.”

— Simon Porte Jacquemus, Vogue, 2018

Few designers of his generation have used Instagram as effectively. Simon positioned himself as the face of the label, posting behind-the-scenes glimpses and sun-soaked selfies that drew followers into his world. In an industry often consumed with seriousness and theory, his unpretentious sans chichi attitude was a refreshing counterpoint. “It’s a generous and big-smile brand,” he told The Guardian. “Everyone is invited; there is no snobbism.” That ethos, sunny, inclusive, and a little cheeky, defined Jacquemus as a designer who never lost sight of simple joys.

Global Stage
Jacquemus "LA MONTAGNE" Fall Winter 2021 Collection
Jacquemus “LA MONTAGNE” Fall Winter 2021 Collection | Source: Jacquemus

Even before the intimacy of L’AMOUR, Jacquemus had already mastered the grand gesture. His Spring/Summer 2020 Le Coup de Soleil show, staged in Provence to celebrate the brand’s 10th anniversary, became an instantly iconic fashion image. A hot-pink runway sliced through lavender fields as models walked in sunlit dresses and oversized hats, creating a dreamscape that was instantly shared across social media. The show crystallized his approach to turning locations into narrative, proving that a runway could double as both theater and love letter to his heritage.

Jacquemus Fall Winter 2021 Collection
Jacquemus Fall Winter 2021 Collection | Source: Jacquemus
Jacquemus Fall Winter 2021 Collection
Jacquemus Fall Winter 2021 Collection | Source: Jacquemus
Jacquemus Fall Winter 2021 Collection
Jacquemus Fall Winter 2021 Collection | Source: Jacquemus

That philosophy continued in subsequent productions. In 2022, he brought Le Splash to Hawaii, setting models against turquoise waters and volcanic backdrops, and later presented Le Papier in Arles with a stark, sculptural white setting. The following year’s Le Raphia was staged under cascades of raffia confetti, enveloping the audience in texture, while Le Chouchou at Versailles in 2023 floated a runway on the Grand Canal in front of international guests. By 2025, Le Paysan returned to Versailles, transforming the Orangerie into an intimate tableau of his youth, complete with a child actor symbolizing his younger self. These shows reinforced Jacquemus’s reputation for designing experiences as much as clothes, where setting and storytelling were inseparable.

Even as the productions grew more elaborate, the clothes stayed playful and accessible. His menswear line, launched in 2018, carried the same Mediterranean spirit, often styled barefoot on beaches in breezy shirts and soft knits. By the mid-2020s, Jacquemus’s signatures such as straw hats, cheeky mini-dresses, and flirtatious pastels were everywhere, from high-street imitations to celebrity wardrobes.

“I don’t do clothes; I do stories.”

— Simon Porte Jacquemus, The Cut, 2014

The label consistently ranked among the hottest on the Lyst Index, leapfrogging far bigger houses without the machinery of a corporate parent or massive marketing spend. Instead, Jacquemus relied on instinct, sincerity, and the cultural resonance of his shows, which consistently drew global attention and made French fashion feel alive again.

Jacquemus "LE CHOUCHOU" Fall Winter 2023 Collection
Jacquemus “LE CHOUCHOU” Fall Winter 2023 Collection | Source: Jacquemus
Jacquemus "LE CHOUCHOU" Fall Winter 2023 Collection
Jacquemus "LE CHOUCHOU" Fall Winter 2023 Collection

Independent Vision

Through it all, Jacquemus has fiercely guarded his independence. Rare among top designers today, he still owns 100% of his company. This freedom enables bold risks, like showing off-calendar or pursuing unconventional collaborations, but also means shouldering all the risk. With no big investor or beauty-license cash to fall back on, he knows each collection must pull its weight. Creativity and commerce must strike a careful balance in his world.

Jacquemus "LA CASA" Fall Winter 2024 Collection
Jacquemus “LA CASA” Fall Winter 2024 Collection | Source: Jacquemus
Jacquemus Fall Winter 2024 Collection
Jacquemus Fall Winter 2024 Collection | Source: Jacquemus
Jacquemus Fall Winter 2024 Collection
Jacquemus Fall Winter 2024 Collection | Source: Jacquemus

Over time, Jacquemus has evolved both personally and professionally. In 2022 he married his partner Marco Maestri, and in 2024 they welcomed twins, life events that shifted his perspective toward the long term. Meanwhile, his business was expanding. In late 2024 he opened his first U.S. flagship in New York’s SoHo, where a block-long line of fans waited on opening day. He called it “the beginning of an expansion”, with Los Angeles next on the horizon.

“I always had the ambition… I pictured this since I was 15 years old.”

— Simon Porte Jacquemus, GQ, 2025

Simon Porte Jacquemus | "LE PAYSAN" Spring Summer 2026 Show
Simon Porte Jacquemus | “LE PAYSAN” Spring Summer 2026 Show | Source: Jacquemus

In January 2025, Jacquemus returned to the official Paris Fashion Week calendar with a co-ed show in Paris. Ever the innovator, he partnered with Apple to film the entire presentation on iPhones, blending tech with tradition. The upstart from Provence has matured into one of his generation’s visionary designers, yet he has not lost the joyful spirit that defined his start. In the end, Jacquemus proved that sincerity and personal storytelling can form the foundation of a global luxury brand, one that continues to thrive on its own terms.

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