Paris-based designer Louis-Gabriel Nouchi is poised for the next category for his menswear label: womenswear.
An inaugural five women’s looks will debut on the runway on Jan. 17, as part of the fall 2024 LGN Louis Gabriel Nouchi collection, inspired by “Bel Ami,” by 19th-century French novelist Guy de Maupassant.
“Since the book is about a man who succeeds in social climbing thanks to women, it felt opportune to debut the range here,” the designer told WWD in a preview.
Women have long been part of his creative considerations. He’s had female models on the brand’s runway until spring 2022, but it also fits in with Nouchi’s ethos of accommodating a wide range of body types.
“It’s in continuity of our reflection around the body, the social status afforded by clothing,” he continued. But he was also leery of falling into tropes of seduction, owing to his brand’s overt sensuality.
“I wanted to explore the sensuality of all bodies, adapting the LGN codes such as [male] underwear elements and tailoring to different anatomical volumes, without sexualizing any skin that’s shown,” he added.
In his women’s designs, he will continue to subscribe to a menswear-driven aesthetic and proportions, with details subtly reworked to conform to the female form or habits such as left-side buttoning.
“I didn’t imagine a couple when looking at the LGN man and woman,” he said. “They can be best friends, colleagues — or rivals.”
If the moment felt right creatively, it also coincided with the brand’s recent acceleration from 17 points of sale for fall 2023 to around 45 as of the spring 2024 deliveries.
The designer attributed his six-year-old brand’s growth spurt to a combination of good sell through rates, a savvy price point — and the buzz of having “Emily in Paris” star and childhood friend Lucas Bravo on his fall 2023 runway.
Turnover of the company has leaped 141 percent overall. Wholesale, introduced only two-and-a-half years ago, grew 110 percent, according to Nouchi. It overtook the brand’s Paris flagship and e-commerce for the first time in 2023, taking a 60 percent share.
The company recently expanded to a new studio in Paris and now has a 10-strong core team, in addition to apprentices and freelance specialists.
Winning the ANDAM prize in 2023 accelerated the time frame for adding a women’s offering, which Nouchi sees as a natural progression for the brand. “This is rooted in high demand in store, where we have 30 percent of women buying for themselves,” he said.
The LGN women’s offering will be a capsule wardrobe spanning shirts, tailored separates and trench coats, offered in sizes ranging from XS to 2XL for now.
Prices will be congruent with their male counterparts, ranging from 350 euros for a shirt and up to 1,150 euros for a trenchcoat. Jackets will hit around 990 euros at retail and trousers at 550 euros, a positioning Nouchi sees as ideal for a highly competitive segment.
