Childhood memories

Ludovic de Saint Sernin reveals a very personal debut campaign
By Alex James Taylor | 8 June 2018

Rewind to FW18, specifically to Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s sophomore collection – a bold and elegant gender-fluid offering inspired by Dalí surrealism. Now, the young Paris-based designer has released the accompanying FW18 campaign imagery shot at the designer’s family home in the Dordogne, France, by photographer Brett Lloyd.

“It’s where my family house is located, its called La Francherie,” says de Saint Sernin. “The house has been in the family for over 200 years and for that reason it is quite special. I spent every summer there growing up and so I have very fond memories of it.”

A personal setting for a personal brand, de Saint Sernin cut his teeth working under Olivier Rousteing at Balmain before founding his own eponymous label. In the space of less than a year, he has quickly built a creative team in sync with his own vision – “a fashion family” – and filtered his experience into a minimal and sensual design path; think delicate wrestling singlets crafted from ceramic cutouts, laced-front jeans and ballet shoes produced at the Repetto factory in Dordogne.

Ludovic de Saint Sernin FW18 / photography by Brett Lloyd

“The biggest thing I want to express with Ludovic de Saint Sernin is a return to beauty,” the designer explains. “We are awash with streetwear right now and I think its important to have clothes that are beautifully made in an artisanal way. The imagery is an extension to this. I love beautiful imagery where the hint of a story is eluded to. It might be a romance or a friendship, we’re not quite sure. That vision through the lens of sex or sexuality (in a super subtle way) was what was on my mind for this campaign.

His favourite childhood memories spent at the Dordogne? “Summers with my cousin. She is the same age as me and my best friend.”

Ludovic de Saint Sernin FW18 / photography by Brett Lloyd

Follow Ludovic de Saint Sernin on Instagram.


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