Yesterday, Carven announced Mark Thomas as its new director of design. While the timing in the middle of Paris Fashion Week may seem unexpected, Saturdays have been the brand’s typical calendar spot since Louise Trotter arrived as creative director in 2023, and Thomas has been her senior designer all along. Given his previous roles at Joseph and Lacoste, where he also worked alongside Trotter as the head designer of menswear, and as creative director at Helmut Lang (2017-19)—and simply because he is well respected across an inner circle of the industry—people were often congratulating him after the Carven shows, as though recognizing them as a work couple.
In the wake of Trotter’s departure to Bottega Veneta following Matthieu Blazy’s appointment at Chanel, Thomas naturally and deservedly assuming Carven’s design lead is now official—and comes with the reveal of this fall collection and lookbook, which provide glimmers of both his smooth transition and shifting vision.
The Paris-based, British designer had six weeks to develop everything on his own. “It’s the first turn of the dial towards what we will do for spring/summer in September/October,” he told Vogue from the fifth floor apartment in the building where Madame Carven began designing in 1945. He noted that having the atelier on the first floor was a godsend (on the ground floor is the brand’s flagship; Carven’s parent company is ICCF Group, founders of Icicle).
The images were shot in what was once the apartment’s wood paneled bedroom (not shown: the breathtaking Eiffel Tower views out the window). Thomas anchored the collection around two main silhouettes: an archive jacket dating back to 1951 named Esperanto and a fluid robe de chambre, or dressing gown. The former, well-constructed across the shoulders and fitted at the waist, gives the impression of being Madame Carven’s sportier answer to Monsieur Dior’s Bar jacket, and Thomas used it as the base for a structured coat in pressed tweed, and then extended the chic fabric to a side slitted skirt shown over a visible slip.
Several looks continue the ideas that were becoming the brand’s new, languid language—loosely tied blouses and tops peeling open from the back, only with volumes adjusted more closely to the body. Skirts that suggested wraparound scarves and a crisp white shirt with a rolled-over collar were subtle statements but speak to an understanding that women are often looking for something distinctive but not necessarily dramatic. Thomas was dropping hints that there will be stronger color expressions—see the looks in all-over lapis blue and a double-breasted coat in peony pink—and the timing feels right given how neutrals dominated earlier collections.
Carven’s pillowy shoes and bags showed a playful side that proved popular, and Thomas has proposed a classic pump with faux fur toe caps and fuzzy babouche slippers that emphasized the polished and relaxed storylines within the lineup. Women will appreciate how everything appears straightforward with a little twist.
While the brand founded by a woman who understood ever-shifting ideas of femininity has lost its female lead, Thomas is adamant that his vision can represent multiple female perspectives. “I will try and do as much as possible to surround myself with women that embody the brand—friends, photographers, stylists,” he said, at once soft-spoken and determined. “I want and I’m aware that I need to have the characters of Carven all around me.” In that case, perhaps it’s no coincidence that his chapter is starting with the Esperanto, which nods to the world’s international language; femininity being a language, too.