The COVID-19 pandemic has completely transformed fashion week into a mostly digital space, and Paris Fashion Week is no exception despite still keeping some of its physical shows.

For the first time ever, French brand Berluti collaborated with another creator – ceramic artist Brian Rochefort – for its Ready-to-Wear Menswear Spring/Summer 2021 collection. In a recent conversation, creative director Kris Van Assche and Brian Rochefort discussed the inspiration behind the season amidst this new normal.

This season’s concept involves vibrant prints from Rochefort’s work by printing the patterns of his sculptures onto silk shirts, creating textured knits, and applying patina workings on the brand’s signature shoes. By combining non-traditional concepts from Rochefort’s ceramics and Berluti’s traditional structure, this new collection breathes excitement and freshness despite dark times. “I’m really happy that I didn’t make an all-black color collection,” Van Assche said in the conversation.

The creative director announced that the brand will release a portfolio from this season’s photoshoot at the end of the year, and people will be able to purchase pieces from the collection. As soon as it is safe to hold physical fashion shows, Van Assche said, “I will miss the emotions [this season], so as soon as we can go back to fashion shows and storytelling, I will definitely do that.”

View this post on Instagram

– #BERLUTI x BRIAN ROCHEFORT – This season, Artistic Director @kris_van_assche adapts to the challenges of our moment in time in a long-distance collaboration with the ceramic artist Brian Rochefort (@energygloop), the first creative collaboration on ready-to-wear for Berluti. Here shown as a preview, the collection of garments and accessories will be fully unveiled and launched in stores in January 2021. Brian Rochefort’s work has been lately exhibited at @massimodecarlogallery, @vandorenwaxter, @mcasantabarbara and @sorrysorry_were_closed.

A post shared by BERLUTI (@berluti) on Jul 9, 2020 at 10:39am PDT