Tribute to Robert Mapplethorpe: the collection from Ludovic De Saint Sernin
Ludovic de Saint Sernin collaborates with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, combining his kinky, French romanticism with the New York eroticism of the photographer-artist.
As Robert Mapplethorpe said: «Beauty and the devil are the same thing» . After collaborating with Raf Simons, Opening Ceremony, Beautiful People, MISBHV and Anthony Vaccarello for the exhibition created for Saint Laurent, the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation turned to Ludovic de Saint Sernin . «In my imagination, this was a collaboration with him» said the French designer. “I imagined that he was still alive today, and that we were creating clothes that he would feel as much his as mine and that he would want to photograph.”
A photographic narrative that comes to life with the co-ed autumn winter 2024-25 collection presented during New York Fashion Week. Graphic flowers that create contrasts, BDSM inspirations and a brazen use of leather that is structured on male and female silhouettes without any gender distinction.
A dark New York kinkyness that combines with the designer's French romanticism. The American fashion show, created in collaboration with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, created by Mapplethorpe himself in 1988, a year before his death, wanted to tell "the squalor and glamor of New York" , which have always guided the work of the photographer-artist, as Patricia Morrisroe also underlines in her biography. «One of the first ideas I shared with the foundation, when we met for the first time in the archives, was to recreate Robert's floral images, my favorites, on metal mesh and crystal mesh dresses» , says Ludovic de Saint Sernin referring to the works “Tulip”, (1985), and “Flower”, (1986). «These are probably the most artisanal, ambitious and meticulous pieces I have ever produced and I am proud of the result. They are unique pieces and that's why I love them so much."
