PHOTOGRAPHY BY STUART PERKINS
STYLING BY BRAULIO GONZÁLEZ
INTERVIEW BY WALDO BAEZ
Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection brought out the more sensitive side of sexy. The French designer’s eponymous label took their signature eroticism to new heights with a tribute to Robert Mapplethorpe, embracing both domination and delicacy in the legendary photographer’s studies of BDSM, male beauty, and blooms.
While Ludovic de Saint Sernin, or LdSS for short, has established a strong identity in just seven years, incorporating fetish languages like leather and criss-cross lacing in their craft-forward gender-fluid clothes, this collection is distinguished by its homage to romantic fragility, referencing the flowers Mapplethrope photographed: roses, irises, tulips, orchids, and lilies.
The Paris-born de Saint Sernin, who cut his teeth working at Dior, YSL, and Balmain before he struck out on his own, has had a breakout year. Amidst all the busyness he found time to talk earnestly about dreams, magazines, Mineshaft fantasies, and Charli XCX.
What are some of your earliest memories of falling in love with fashion? There was never a time when I didn’t know I wanted to become a fashion designer. It’s always been my dream. I was drawing from the moment I could hold a pen and I was learning about sewing, designing, drawing, painting, and illustration. I’ve been collecting fashion magazines since I was a teenager. It’s really incredible that
I am living my dream today.
What were some of those magazines that you started collecting as a teen? Back in the day: Vogue, Vogue Paris, Vogue Hommes, and Numero. Later on, I got into Purple and Self Service, the French school staples. Love Magazine was such a huge thing at some point. I was always buying it at the airport. Now it’s a nightmare every time I move because I have so many magazines. They’re the heaviest things in the world. I could open my own bookstore at this point.
It must be crazy now seeing your work in some of these magazines. The craziest thing. I’m very passionate about print and I think it’s so important to support and to have a physical object. I love to be the first one to open the magazine, smell it, and turn every page.
How was fashion school for a young Ludovic? It was interesting because I grew up in Paris in the 16th most of my life, a small, posh, and conservative district. It was its own little bubble, and I didn’t know the more creative side of Paris. I followed a very traditional course until I was 17 because my mom wanted me to have a traditional high school experience. Once I got to École Duperré, which is a fashion and art school, I was mingling with people from such different backgrounds and it really opened my eyes. My knowledge of fashion was the big Paris houses, like Dior, which I thought was the best of luxury. Then I discovered anti-fashion people like [Martin] Margiela, Rick [Owens]. It was super interesting to just deconstruct all the knowledge that I had gathered growing up. I was a shy student because I felt quite vulnerable when I was in the process, so I would try to do it from home, and then show my work to the teachers at school. I was always a perfectionist.
Speaking on the conservative background you grew up in, how was coming to terms with your queerness? I find environment is such a huge part of self-discovery. My world growing up was very sheltered and conservative. So there wasn’t a lot of room for queerness. It wasn’t something that was on my radar. Going to a school where everyone was a lot more free and didn’t give a fuck about what other people thought about them, it slowly allowed me to come to terms with the fact that there were other options. But I’m a slow burner. It took a while for me to think that I could find my own queer family and identity, and be comfortable sharing it with other people. One of the biggest things was reading Just Kids by Patti Smith, which is why I became so obsessed with Robert Mapplethorpe. I could identify with him both on a personal and artistic level.
How does his artwork resonate with you? What was interesting for me was that he discovered his passion for male beauty – which became his signature. He could transform a flower into art, a person into art. That is beautiful. A lot of the subjects that he photographed (homosexuality and BDSM), were all things that probably came from a place of shame and that you don’t get to be proud of in public. At that time, I was coming into my own sexuality, and looking at the things that I thought were wrong with me or society. I would love to be able to liberate people the same way with fashion, being proud of the things that we feel we shouldn’t be proud of. It was a very eye-opening moment for me when I was like, wow I can turn my insecurities into something that’s gonna make people feel incredible.
The transformative power of an artist. Fab. What other things have informed your idea of beauty? For me, it is just creating an image that is purely beautiful, that creates an emotion that could be simply erotic. That could make you wanna be the best version of yourself. That’s what I want someone to feel wearing LdSS. The power that you get from feeling good.
What was the creative process to produce this collection? And what were some of the main challenges? Robert was such an icon and inspiration to so many people. When you work with an icon in mind, you want to be able to pay tribute in the most beautiful and authentic way. And it’s been done so many times, I was focused on making sure it was unique to me and my brand. But it was super natural because he’s been on my mind for about ten years. It was the most fluid creative process. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and I was also challenging myself to do something unexpected. I worked with the flowers and organza. We wanted to show a new side of Robert and LdSS that was a lot more delicate and poetic, innocent and fragile. To show the evolution of who Robert was, a young man who came to New York wanting to be an artist, and explore and define his identity.
I loved that you focused on Robert’s flowers, pulling from both the romantic and darker sides of him. What other areas of his life served as inspiration? I looked into everything, The X portfolio, his jewelry, his drawings, his posters for the ballet, trying to gather as much information as possible throughout the six months I worked on this collection, and incorporate these subtle references. We also collaborated with the fine jewelry brand Tous.
I noticed some BDSM references in the styling, like the red handkerchief on the back pocket in one of the runway looks. Exactly. [Laughs] I was trying to find common points of interest between the two of us and trying to work with him as if he were there.
If you were able to go to the club Mineshaft [1976–85], what would you have worn from the collection? I would’ve worn the leather bracelet above the biceps, framing the muscles, with look 32, that Troye Sivan wore. That black frame on the body with the diamond shape, attached to the black leather pants. Backless. That would’ve been hot.
What were some of the techniques that you developed to interpret Mapplethorpe’s photography into textiles? With the flowers, we had a few different techniques. One of them was using organza and velvet cut-outs. We used the silhouette of the flower, traced it, and then hand-cut everything, fusing them onto the fabric. We sent the artwork to this factory and through this technique, half of the black velvet is eaten away and becomes transparent. We also used crystals and metal mesh to create stability for the flowers. An insane amount of work. You receive the metal mesh in different block sizes and then if you want to create the motif of the flower, you have to take each little metal square (they are about five millimeters), and then recreate the motifs by individually inserting crystals into the metal.
A technique I’m into in your brand’s DNA is lacing. What do you love so much about it? I love the ceremonial aspect of having to be laced into a garment. I find it very sensual, very exciting. The fact that most of the time, you can’t do it yourself is also exciting because it creates this intimate relationship with the garment.
Fab. What do you find sexy? I find someone sexy who knows who they are, with an understanding of what they stand for and how they present themselves.
Just like Mapplethorpe, you’ve pushed and played with gender in your designs. I’m curious, what is your opinion on the potential of fashion to question the binary? As simple as it may sound, what I want for most people is that regardless of who you are, if you see something that you want to wear, you should do that no matter the garment. I think the wearer defines the gender of the garment.
This past year and a half has been full of wonderful things for LdSS. How was it being part of the Met Gala in 2024? It was a dream come true. We had just had our show in New York and when we went back to Paris, we started receiving requests and requests. We were like, Oh my God. For the Met, you never know until that person is on those stairs if they’re gonna show up in your pieces. The conversation started particularly after Kylie Jenner wore one of our dresses for the Vanity Fair after-party. It put us on the map for more celebrity dressing. So we ended up dressing Ashley Graham, Rauw Alejandro, and Camila Cabello. We worked in secret for like a month and a half.
Between New York and Paris, which you say is your favorite city to party in? Paris has good parties, but New York is so fun and it’s new people, new places. It’s neck and neck.
Do you have any tips for people to enjoy French nightlife? It isn’t about the clubs, it’s more about collectives and people organizing parties and raves in or outside Paris every month or so. You are better off chasing the right collectives and finding your family.
That’s very Brooklyn too. I’ve heard you’re a little bit of a DJ. What music have you had on repeat lately? [Laughs] I’ve been listening to Charli XCX, to “Bad Gyal.” This really fun song, it’s a Britney remix.
If you were able to tease what’s to come for LdSS through a song, which one would it be? I was gonna say “360” by Charli XCX but not on a cocky note [Laughs].
Cocky is fine sometimes [Laughs]. We’re seven years into LdSS. It’s a very small team and what’s most important is that you understand it’s made with love. All we try to do is add love and beauty to the world.
This story is printed in GAYLETTER issue 20, to purchase the issue click here.
All shoes throughout are by Christian Louboutin.
Photo Assistant: Jeff Martin.
Makeup: Christian Diaz.
Hair: Velvet DeLorean.