Atlein's Play with Memory

PARIS, France — Antonin Tron has been on a steady rise with his Atlein label. In the span of four collections and two shows, he progressed from a concise line up of jersey pieces, adding knitwear and now fabric. "We're growing slowly, as it happens with independent labels," he said backstage. This was Atlein's most grown-up outing so far. It was housed under the porches of the striking Eglise Expiatoire — a graveyard cum chapel somehow reminiscent of Étienne-Louis Boullée's neoclassic architecture — and revolved mainly around the theme of memory. The setting was apt, if slightly melancholic. "I wanted to explore memory as both a personal and a collective theme. I kept thinking of my own memories, but also at the memories of my family and those of our society."

How did these concepts translate into clothes? Easily, it must be said. Tron twisted familiar shapes, from slightly militaristic mannish tailoring to feminine, slinky dresses and even more familiar references (Tron worked under Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga and clearly belongs to the modernist school of design led by Helmut Lang). The outcome of such speculations was personal and fresh — feminine with a chilly tingle. There is still room to progress, of course, and maybe his coldness could be tamed, but this was the very good start of an upwards trajectory.