The Zadig & Voltaire Winter 2016 collection stays true to its rebel heart as Cecilia BÖNSTRÖM pays tribute to the city in which the fashion house was born, Paris. When writing this new story, she took inspiration from the unmistakable figure of Michèle, the heroine of the classic film Les Amants du Pont-Neuf made flesh by Juliette Binoche. Against this urban backdrop, which is deaf yet Romanesque, this look, the crossroads where über-luxury and urbanwear meet.

Stretch out the last days of summer with the return of classic pastel colours like lilac and mauve. Free-spirited, like its dresses with flower prints and transparent touches. Elegance flows from the leather fringes of its jackets, skirts and ranger boots.

Insanely feminine yet voluptuously masculine, the elegance of the Zadig & Voltaire girl derives its strength and independence from a mix of vintage effects and prints, mesh cocoon-like shapes from Italy and South America, ultra-soft furs and leathers to caress, maxi volumes cut through with light silks and lace, put together and superimposed pretty much played by ear. The season’s pallet ranges from black to grass green, from Prussian blue to red. Amongst them are the almost ethereal, vaporous shades of powder, cream, beige and camel.

The neoprene sweatshirt with military touches of silver and gold, zipped, with or without a hood, can be worn with matching trousers, breaking away from its sportswear heritage to declare itself chic. Jumpers in irregular knit with eyelet detail and breathtakingly soft gilets warm up with a patchwork of fur.

The suit, the house’s iconic image, will be jacquard this season, with gold motifs. It hides a fine, ultra-slim scarf, knotted and floating over the chest. Blazers, a must-have, come buttonless, with upturned collar, or with military details embroidered in gold thread.

The Perfecto and the leather dungarees are back, this time in new proportions: the former have lost their collar and the latter have slimmer straps. The leather is combined in self-contradiction, over the fragility of a Victorian-style blouse, a silk shirt and lace shoulders.

When walking through the city under the bridge, the Zadig & Voltaire girl chooses Odessa boots with comfortable heels, in a pythonesque patchwork of leather and hide, or Mods boots in leopard pony skin or metallic stormcloud-grey snakeskin, or even in studded leather and suede. Off her arm hangs the new Optimo bag, a rectangular hobo bag inspired by the Candide, in python-skin leather in autumnal colours or in leather with quilted strikes.