Nicolas Di Felice has been creative director at Courrèges since 2020, which means that yes, he presented his debut collection smack in the middle of lockdown. The French maison founded by André Courrèges in the early 1960s has always been known for its modernist and futurist ideals—a tradition that Di Felice has carried on with ease. On this week’s episode of The Run-Through, he joins Nicole Phelps to discuss how those manifest in his work. “Courrèges was about a revolution of the ’60s; the fact that before [women] were a little girl or a wife, and then in the ’60s, la jeune femme arrived, and with her, freedom,” he says. “This quest of freedom, and this need of freedom is something that I think is really inspiring, and it’s a forever subject, even now.”
The Belgian designer, who worked with Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga immediately after leaving school at the famed La Cambre in Brussels, claims MTV as his first fashion inspiration; perhaps that’s why he considers it an essential part of his job to go out dancing. “It’s really important for the people that [have] this job to still live in the real world and to go [out] and see [it],” he tells Phelps. “You know, I’m from Belgium, and in Belgium, there’s not this guilt related to partying. Actually, after a good party, I feel really healthy. You can be tired, but in a way, it can give you lots of good energy as well.”
Listen to the episode below to learn more about his education, his summertime gig as the guest designer of Jean Paul Gaultier’s latest couture collection, and his favorite celebrity red carpet moment.
