From the XVIth century, a twill fabric has been crafted in Nîmes, made from local raw materials such as wool and silk. Its tight and resisting weave makes it the perfect fabric for men’s garments, the “futaines”, made in Italy. Exported by English merchants through the harbor of Genoa, they were meant to become “Genoa’s clothes” – which became “Jean’s clothes” with an English accent.
During the XIXth century in the United States, this fabric turned into a cotton twill, relying on the local cotton business. At the end of the 1880, the western borders of the USA were pushed further, together with the Gold Rush.
Gold miners are working in dire conditions, for them and for their clothes. For them, Levi Strauss figures out a working pant in this strong fabric. To make it stronger, he will double the seams, add rivets, belt loops…
The jeans are born.
It remains a work gear until the 1930’s, when it begins to drift towards ready-to-wear. After WW2, with the Golden Age of Hollywood pictures, he truly becomes an icon of the daily wardrobe.
The very first outfit that enhances the bottom, it is infused with a revolutionary spirit – and will actually be part of all society revolutions in the XXth century. Although it has been walking on the Haute Couture catwalk, especially with Jean Paul Gaultier, it is, along with all its clothing variations for women or for men, the synonym of casualness, of a kind of carelessness, even of a non-conformism which is quite a paradox given its popularity.
In the collections of Maison Alexandre de Paris, the specialist of hair accessories for over 50 years, there are hair barrettes, headbands and hair claws made from acetate as much as fabric hairbands, bows and scrunchies.
Featured in the seasonal collections, denim also belongs in the Timeless collection, with fabric accessories and acetate creations. For the later, our Creative Studio has been working closely with our Italian supplier to come out with the print of a denim fabric on a sheet of acetate.
Very handy to style ponytails, hair barrettes are also perfect to pimp up loose hair or to complement a more sophisticated updo. In the Alexandre de Paris collection, you will find acetate hair barrettes as well as fabric ones.
For a plain ponytail with medium dense hair, you may use the St Sulpice hair barrette. To add polish to a chignon, enhance it with a camélia, our Maison’s iconic flower.
Simply wear the Perrine or Pauline bows in loose hair, casually clipped at the back of your head or withholding two side locks into a half-up style. The Céline bow is a mini-version to slide on the side of your head to hold a strand of hair or to tuck into a braid or a chignon.
At Alexandre de Paris, we stand for handy as much as nice accessories. Hair claws are maybe the most obvious example and you can have a look at this article that will tell you everything you need to know about them.
Therefore, in the Denim collection, there is the St Germain hair jaw clip, made from denim printed acetate. It comes in medium size and small size.
Headbands have made a bright come-back lately. Featured in denim, they drift away from the bourgeois code, just enough to gain on casualness without losing its statement touch.
You crave for the sleek lines of Charlotte and its very trendy volume. The bountiful width of Adèle is skillfully set on a thin basis which makes it very comfortable to wear, not to mention its modern and feminine style.
For bow lovers with short hair, Esther is definitely made for you! Should you go for a retro-chic style, you will doubtlessly pick-up Aude, with its two entwined straps looking like a knotted scarf.
So handy to tie hair, hair ties and scrunchies are naturally easygoing.
With the Camélia A. hair tie, made from acetate, add the iconic flower of our Maison in your hair.
Marguerite is a little hair tie fully encased in denim and adorned with a knotted ribbon: it feels like your hair are casually tied with this ribbon. With more volume, the Sophia scrunchie is perfect to style ponytails but can also work wonders around a tousled chignon.
