Introducing KOCHÉ, the Designer Completely Revolutionizing Parisian Fashion

KOCHÉ is one of a host of fresh brands working in the city of lights right now that is challenging the sartorial codes of old. Not only is Christelle Kocher ahead of the latest fashion trends, but she is also on top of important contemporary issues such as gender neutrality, misidentity, and female empowerment, resonating with generations in a way high-brow brands never could.

KOCHÉ has carved out a unique space that stands boldly at the crossroads of high fashion, street culture and contemporary art. The bright, multicolored pieces are inspired by a deep interest in casual and comfortable sportswear, often manifesting in loose yet luxurious cuts, with a splash of cool patterns. There’s a focus on practicality and comfort, crafting spacious outfits that allow plenty of movement.

Since graduating from Central Saint Martins, KOCHÉ founder Christelle Kocher has been honing her craft for 13 years in the luxury fashion industry, working with brands like Bottega Veneta, Dries Van Noten, Chloé, Sonia Rykiel and Emporio Armani. She became the artistic director of Maison d’art Lemarié, a Chanel-owned couture atelier specializing in feathers, making for a curiously eclectic combination when crossed with the tracksuit bottoms of urban streetwear.

Whatever the thematic thread of the collection, Kocher seems to remain faithful to the honorable mantra that form should always follow function, making each one comfortably tailored to the needs of modern women. In this way, her work tends to promote the image of powerful women who act with purpose, flaunting bright shades that refuse to be kept in the shadows of the sideline. There is a ferocious self-assurance to these large and luminous pieces.

Elsewhere, her creations embrace multiple and multicolored inspirations to trial a fashion that frees itself of limits—sometimes mismatched, perplexing, but always genuine and unique. Particularly fond of drawing inspiration from the gender fluidity of youth culture, Kocher’s style is speckled by a sense of searching for authenticity. With baggy bombers and billowing sleeves, it’s all a matter of finding one’s place in a changing, sometimes overwhelming world.

The SS17 collection is particularly innovative—a kind of retrofuturism, with her outlandish patterns begging a double take—and is set to carve out Kocher’s space in the fashion world.