I recently chatted with Chaz Jordan founder and creative director of Paris headquartered brand Au Courant Paris, the brain child of Chaz’s, he was an open book of knowledge regarding his design process. Au Courant Paris is an aesthetically sound brand that has grown exponentially since it’s 2011 inception. The quality is what’s so striking about each piece of from Au Courant… it’s superior details, stitching and construction goes above and beyond. They debuted their new Spring/Summer 2015 look book (titled androgynous), each garment is designed with that perfect-unisex-cut.Enjoy our conversation with the young fashion mogul while we discuss the growth of his brand, Rick Owens & much much more.
FS: Au Courant PARIS is such a young brand but since it’s inception it’s grown by leaps and bounds. How does the brand reinvent itself after each collection?
CJ: This may seem like a difficult task but in essence it is very simple. There was an excerpt I read on Rick Owens that stated he would create the same silhouettes over and over without much change and he still remains at the front of the avant-garde aesthetic that he has pioneered. When asked why he chooses not to divert he responded something similar to, ‘this is the style that I like and that fits who I am and I am very good at producing this style’.
I began to apply the same mentality when producing collections. We pull certain elements that we have found to be successful from past collections and integrate them with slight adjustments to fit the mood of the current collection.
FS: What are the foundations and ideals of what Au Courant Paris stands for?
CJ: Our ideology is clear, our only objective has been to produce the best constructed pieces using the highest quality materials and fabrics. These points intertwined with a superior level of design is what we value and have come to be recognized by amongst our peers and clients.
FS: Your brand did a men & women line the last collection, but this go around you released the ‘androgynous’ unisex line. Creatively what inspired you guys to do that?
CJ: We all knew we were due for a follow up women’s release. The concept to merge both releases into one unisex collection was created last year when I had the idea to photograph a men’s collection on the frame of a woman. That developed into producing a collection that would ‘fit’ well on a woman’s frame and not just ‘look’ nice in the photos.
FS: How long does a collection from ‘Au Courant’ take to come to from fruition to concept to store rack?
CJ: We have been very fortunate in terms of building great relationships with all of our suppliers and manufacturers. Typically it takes 2+ months for the average brand to produce a collection while we are able to produce sample collections in 2 weeks. From there, production time ranges between 1 – 2 months.
As a result, we re-launched our development program which allows us to assist individuals and companies with development and production utilizing our supply chain. This is accessible via our page under the development tab.
