The Fashion Obsessive's Archive: Jean-Denis Franoux's 'Regarderobes'
Jean-Denis Franoux, a former fashion educator and designer, has cultivated an exceptional fashion archive, 'Regarderobes,' comprising 25,000 pieces. This collection, born from a profound passion for understanding garment creation, functions as an endowment fund to serve educational and institutional purposes, rather than existing as a conventional museum display. Franoux's journey began with perfume bottles before evolving into a lifelong dedication to clothing, driven by a desire to comprehend the intricacies of design and wearability. His discerning eye has gathered significant works from pivotal designers spanning various eras, from early 20th-century haute couture to influential avant-garde pieces, all united by their distinctive cut and construction.
Franoux's approach to collecting is guided by an intellectual curiosity into the 'whys and hows' of fashion. He prioritizes pieces that demonstrate innovative design and represent key moments in a designer's early career, such as the foundational works of Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo. The 'Regarderobes' initiative seeks to foster a deeper appreciation for fashion's historical and structural dimensions, offering students and institutions access to a living library of sartorial evolution. Through exhibitions and publications, Franoux envisions a future where unexpected connections between disparate pieces can ignite new dialogues and inspire a fresh perspective on fashion, emphasizing the creative process over individual notoriety.
The Genesis of a Grand Fashion Archive
Jean-Denis Franoux's journey into the world of fashion archiving began not with garments, but with an early fascination for perfume bottles. This initial inclination for collecting objects in their serial dimension, observing variations around a singular theme, naturally transitioned to clothing. As a fashion student in Paris in the 1990s, Franoux meticulously acquired pieces from flea markets, evolving into a dedicated vintage hunter through online platforms and auctions. This pursuit was never about mere acquisition or speculation, but stemmed from an inherent need to dissect and comprehend the foundational principles of shape, cut, and construction in fashion.
His extensive archive, now numbering 25,000 items, includes rare treasures from design giants like John Galliano, Comme des Garçons, Yohji Yamamoto, and Martin Margiela, alongside historical pieces from Madeleine Vionnet, Balenciaga, and Madame Grès. Each acquisition contributes to a comprehensive narrative of fashion's evolution, offering insights into the minds of designers who shaped the industry. Franoux's collection, formalized as the 'Regarderobes' endowment fund, is legally protected from dispersal, ensuring its availability as a vital educational resource for schools and other institutions, preserving its integrity against potential misuse.
A Collector's Philosophy: Beyond the Price Tag
Franoux's philosophy as a collector is deeply rooted in the study of 'cut,' which he believes is the driving force behind all fashion. He is particularly drawn to designers who ignited his passion for fashion, such as Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo, whose early works challenged conventional norms. His focus lies on the formative years of fashion houses, where the core design DNA is most evident. For Franoux, the value of a piece is not determined by its market price but by its inherent historical and constructive significance. He recounts the painstaking acquisition of a pristine Balenciaga haute couture gown from 1938, a piece that encapsulates both baroque opulence and minimalist precision, a negotiation he undertook with the bank to secure its place in his archive.
This dedication extends to recovering lost fragments of collections, like a matching bodice found decades after its overskirt. Franoux views his collection as a dynamic, evolving entity, akin to a living organism that continues to be assembled. He envisions 'Regarderobes' as a platform for fostering unexpected dialogues between pieces from different eras and designers—a 1968 Balenciaga dress paired with a 1987 Yohji Yamamoto skirt, or a Vionnet-inspired top alongside a Comme des Garçons piece from 1988. Through curated exhibitions and future publications, he aims to inspire the same sense of excitement and intellectual curiosity that he experienced when encountering groundbreaking fashion, prioritizing the intrinsic importance of the garment itself over the celebrity of its creator.