Marine Serre is Wild at Heart

I’m from a small village in Central France, near Corrèze. When I realized I wanted to study fashion, I didn’t want to go to Paris. It was too obvious. Also, I did not feel like living in the capital, so I went to Marseille. After two years, I was ready to move. I didn’t know anything about the industry so I figured it would make sense to get a bit more involved. I was into garments and how they were made, but the rest, I had no idea. I was searching for good schools and Central Saint Martins was too expensive, so I went to Belgium. La Cambre is a public school, it was a really good fit.

We met in my second year in Brussels, when I was still studying. We were in separate worlds, which was really inspiring.

But you had an inclination and a passion for fashion, Pepijn. You were always dressing eccentrically.

I studied in Brussels for five years before graduating. As a result, I had headspace to really understand where I stood and what I wanted to do. I did a lot of internships during my studies: I worked at Alexander McQueen, at Martin Margiela, and at Dior during Raf Simons’ reign. I didn’t have a network in the Paris fashion scene, but I learned that if you work really hard you get something back from that. I was never afraid or too shy to apply to any of those houses. The only problem in the beginning was that my English was very bad. But I learned quickly, with Pepijn’s support.

I started to work on “Radical Call For Love” after the attacks in Paris and Brussels. I was questioning myself: “What should I do as a designer today?’ I wasn’t just going to make skirts after such an event. I had always loved historical garments, especially from the 19th century, so I started to do some research in the public library in Brussels. I saw a connection between 19th century garments, Morocco, and the people in the streets. From that point, I worked organically forward. “Radical Call For Love” is about passion and values.

I don’t think you make fashion alone. For example, the photographer that made the images of “Radical Call For Love” is one of my best friends. We developed the idea for the images together while going out and drinking beer. When I created “Radical Call For Love,” I didn’t think about launching a brand. I was making garments, I was interested in developing silhouettes and I wanted to be contemporary. I work with a lot of cuts that people can attach to sportswear, or even couture. I like hybrid garments and hybrid looks. But the most important thing is that you can wear my clothes every day on the street. For me, it is important to connect to reality. The relation with everyday life is very important, I am not interested in making complex clothes for no reason.

Afterwards, I received a proposition from Balenciaga. That’s why I moved to Paris.

Then I met with The Broken Arm again; they asked me to do an installation in their window during fashion week, and to produce a small capsule collection exclusively for them. From then on, little by little, we started to build the brand together.

I didn’t realize the impact. I just thought, “This is nice, people want to dress in my clothes and buy them.” I thought, “Let’s take on the challenge because it’s there.” We accepted all the deals and then we started the production process. That was an intense time, as the team was composed of only two people. I was also working for Balenciaga, so basically we were only able to work on the brand in the evening and at night.

I don’t know if it was because of The Broken Arm windows or because some scouts had seen my graduation show, but I was contacted by a headhunter from LVMH who invited me to apply for the prize.

It was all a bit surreal, but I applied. I did a quick application because I thought I would never get it. There were 1200 applicants; I was the youngest one participating, and I had only one collection on the back of my experience, my graduation collection. I never thought about getting in, let alone winning the prize. But then we won it.

I’m not making any compromises. When I compose the silhouette, I’m going straight to the point. When I mix sportswear with couture I make it look sharp because I really think all the details out. You can see it’s honest. I love what I do and I’m working hard for it. I think people are touched by that.

I’m very disciplined. I think that comes from my tennis background. I played from three to 16-years-old, every day after school and on Sundays. There is a certain repetitiveness in the discipline of sport, and a certain repetitiveness in the discipline of fashion. Sport, and the culture around it, is still really important to me. You can see the references in my garments.

I learned one important lesson playing tennis: take one ball at a time. I was young when I started, and I got very angry when I lost. I got good when I finally understood what my father meant when he said, "Take one ball after the other." That doesn’t mean that I don’t think about winning the match, but I don’t think about the ball that is coming in two years. If I look at that ball instead of looking at the one that is coming now, I will lose the match. It’s a way to keep focused and calm. It helps me to act. Things change so quickly: last year I was a student in Brussels, now I am a fashion designer in Paris.

I remember when I had to explain in front of the LVMH jury—to the most famous people in fashion—who I am and what I want to do. I hesitated about where to start, so I smiled. That was a good start. Then Phoebe, Karl, and Nicolas all had a lot of questions about the business and production side. They all wanted to know if I could handle the production on my own, if I could deliver on time. I remember one of them saying, "Okay, amazing work, but how can you handle the hard business." “Yes, it’s hard but I’m working to arrive there.” When I went out, everyone was smiling.

The second collection is called “CORNERSTONES.” It’s not really a new collection, but an evolution of what I have been doing so far.

One ball after the other.