Anais Jourden stages successful maiden show at Paris Fashion Week

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Mar 7, 2018

The childlike countenance of diminutive Anais Mak conceals a rather determined young woman. Four years ago, she declared in an interview that she wanted to show in Paris, and now she has done it. Mak, a 28-year-old designer from Hong Kong, staged her very first Paris Women’s Fashion Week show on Tuesday, slotting into the calendar just ahead of Louis Vuitton.
 

After studying at the Studio Berçot fashion school in Paris, Mak launched her women's ready-to-wear label in 2012, right after she graduated. She called it Jourden, her second name, and rechristened it Anais Jourden this season. Mak was initially supported by directional Hong Kong fashion store Liger, where she did an internship before launching her solo career.
 
A pragmatist, Mak left Paris after her studies, going back to Hong Kong, where dressmakers are highly qualified and less expensive, and where she created her first capsule collections.

Her style is highly feminine, and her well-crafted creations, infused with a slightly aristo-baroque feel, soon won over a slew of celebrities, some of whom travelled to Paris to attend Anais Jourden's first show, like singer Flore Benguigui, Australian actress Adelaide Kane and Hong Kongese blogger Mayaoo.
 
The Autumn/Winter 2018-19 collection by Anais Jourden is a delicate affair, almost evanescent, featuring guipure dresses, sheer tulle sets decorated with metallic garlands and Chanel-style jackets in frayed fabrics.

Demure dresses in poplin cotton, pleated or ruched, showed alongside much sexier outfits with polka-dotted see-through tunics and corsets in black or white, and fishnet cycling shorts worn over lace-up knee-high suede boots or early XXth century-style booties.
 
Cotton blouses with oversize ribbons, baby-pink velvet matching tops and trousers, and jackets and dresses in shaggy, glittering sky-blue thread completed the wardrobe.

Anais Jourden was featured at Parisian concept store Colette last autumn, and is available at top boutiques and department stores worldwide such as Barneys, Lane Crawford, Isetan, Tom Greyhound and Le Bon Marché.