By Cheryl Tay

Eymeric François, fashion prodigy, is a representative of the new wave of Parisian couture who showcased his Spring/Summer 2011 collection during Women's Fashion Week 2011 Singapore from 26 to 30 October 2011.

SENATUS looks at designer whose rebelliousness in his designs is only matched by his steadfastness to avantgarde creations.

Eymeric François, fashion prodigy, is a representative of the new wave of Parisian couture. After completing his fashion studies in 1999, he took part in the Dinard Young Fashion Designers Festival in April of 2000, and won a prize that had to be specially created for him. Jean-Jacques Picard of LVMH had been so impressed by his designs, which were felt to be more haute couture than ready-to- wear, that he created and awarded the Special Jury Prize to François as there was no prize in the Festival for haute couture at that time.

He presented his very first couture collection, named “Jeux d’épingles” (Pin games), in the same year at the age of 21, after having worked as an assistant at the fashion houses of Thierry Mugler and Christian Lacroix.

This was quickly followed by the launch of his ready-to-wear line in 2002. Its first collection (“Zip me up!”) was based on his January 2000 haute couture collection, “Under the sky of Paris”, which had inspired newfound fascination with zips in the fashion world.

In 2003 he became an invited member of the highly exclusive Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, sponsored by Donald Potard, the president of Jean-Paul Gaultier. Since then, in addition to producing haute couture collections, he has collaborated with the Studio Harcourt, designed stage costumes for concerts and prestigious productions, and launched his first ready-to-wear luxury collection in October 2010.

His dresses are an out-of this-world tribute to women; each piece presents a dreamscape where the wearer is a mythical heroine. He utilizes the most unexpected materials (take for example an elegant, flowing dress made entirely out of yards of zippers and a dress embroidered with pins) and presents them in stunningly graceful and feminine silhouettes.

Another keystone of Eymeric François’ creations is the corset, which evolves with each collection yet exudes sensuality which is at the core of his designs. The codes of his couture house are Elegance, Sensualism, and Fetishism, which aptly sum up the spirit embodied by his unforgettable pieces.