What is Drôle de Monsieur ? Why the rising star of the French street is "Drôle de Monsieur".
French street fashion is suddenly gaining momentum in the street scene. The fashion addicts have been eagerly looking at "Drôle de Monsieur" as a brand to watch. The word "Drôle" in the brand name means "strange" or "eccentric. Who are they really? We interviewed them directly when they visited Japan for a pop-up event held at the "JOURNAL STANDARD relume Omotesando store. We will now take a closer look at the true identity of "Droll de Monsieur," who has suddenly appeared on the Japanese fashion scene.
I want to keep a certain distance from Paris. Because everyone wants to do the same thing all the time.
When one hears the word "street," one may tend to associate it with the United States. However, the street scene is developing in Europe as well, and it is the French street scene in particular that we would like to focus on. The reasons for this and the "now" of the scene are covered in "Finam Unplugged vol.04," which is now on sale to rave reviews, so please refer to that issue. Here we introduce one of the most important brands on the French street, "Droll de Monsieur".
Danny is in charge of design and PR.
Maxim works with Danny on design as well as sales and other activities.
The brand is created by two Frenchmen. Dany, a tall man with a handsome face, and Maxime, a quiet character with a skinny head. They met on a whim and immediately hit it off as two people with a passion for fashion. They started their brand in 2014 with the idea of creating something that did not exist in the European fashion scene.
Modern street wear with French taste. That's the concept behind Droll de Monsieur. The word 'Droll' in the brand name means 'Strange,' and that is exactly what we are.
Why they are "Droll"? There are two hidden meanings.
Danny used to be a restaurant manager and I was a student studying finance. Neither of us knew anything about making clothes. But our passion for fashion led us to start our own brand.
It is a reckless challenge to start a brand with no education and no idea of what is right and what is left, no matter how much you love fashion. At first, they released a few sweatshirt models, relying on the Internet. After that, they begged their acquaintances who are knowledgeable in the field to teach them how to make clothes, and their current collection offers their own total style, from outerwear to pants.
This was the first reason. When I asked him about the other reason, he replied.
When you think of fashion in France, the first city that comes to mind is Paris, but we are working in Dijon, a city about 300 kilometers southeast of Paris. However, we are working in Dijon, a city about 300 kilometers southeast of Paris. Here, we can see Paris from a bird's eye view, and we can present what we want to express while keeping a certain distance from the mainstream of fashion," says Danny.
Paris is a wonderful city. But in terms of fashion, it's a different story. There is too much information there, and everyone tends to do similar things.
Unlike the city, the city of Dijon has a tranquil atmosphere. Historic buildings are eye-catching.
When I asked them for information about Dijon, they replied, "Fashion is not exactly flourishing.
Dijon is our hometown. It's a really peaceful town, and we like it here. We like it here. It's not a fashion center, so there are some difficulties when it comes to creation. That's why I think it's important for us to create for Droll de Monsieur.
In creation, he is also influenced by the Japanese style.
The items they create are extremely simple. The approach of adding a subtle design to basic items such as sweatshirts and parkas is noticeable.
We like minimalism and we design what we want to wear. We like minimalism and try to design what we want to wear.
The two use photographs as references in creating their items.Brand's websiteThe "JOURNAL" content on the website reveals the sources of inspiration for their collections.
We are not influenced by any particular culture. We look at various photos together, share our opinions, and decide on a design based on a shared image. For style, we also refer to photos of Tokyo street fashion. There are many people in Tokyo who have a style that cannot be seen in France, such as the way they wear pants, especially in terms of silhouette and length balance. We combine this with French culture, which is our identity, in our designs.
The two men recommend these striped pants. At first glance, they look like elegant slacks, but they have an easy waist and are made of jersey-like fabric, so they are very comfortable to wear.
The essence of streetwear is that it can be worn on a daily basis. And I don't want to pick and choose from my wardrobe, I want to be able to pick and choose quickly. For that reason, I think a little elegance is necessary.
Our Japanese partner pushed "JOURNAL STANDARD relume".
The collection was originally available only through the brand's official website, but now it is being delivered to a limited number of stores. Now, however, they are delivered to a limited number of stores.
As I mentioned earlier, Droll de Monsieur started out on a small scale. As I mentioned earlier, 'Droll de Monsieur' started out small, and our only sales channel was online. But one year, we held a guerrilla presentation at Paris Fashion Week. The idea was to walk the streets wearing the sweatshirts we are wearing now, with the words "not from paris madame" written on them. And we did it without any permission or announcement. It was a great success.
After their Parisian debut, online orders began pouring in. The presentation they gave was well received by the discerning Parisian fashion addicts.
That's how we got noticed, and stores started to order from us. But that doesn't mean that we are okay to sell our products anywhere. We want to do business with stores that we can relate to. We want to do business with a shop that mixes "Droll de Monsieur" with other brands and edits it to our liking. We like street brands such as Supreme, luxury brands such as Carven, and A.P.C., which represents France.
What was your impression of "JOURNAL STANDARD relume" where the pop-up event is being held this time?
Our Japanese partners pushed us to do this event, saying, 'This store is good. When I actually came here, I think it is a very nice store. The selection of brands, the store interior, and the atmosphere are great. In France, it is very rare to have this kind of pop-up approach. So we are very happy and excited to be able to share our world view with our customers.
Finally, Danny and Maxim told us that they would like to open their own store someday.
It is important to increase the number of stores and to have many people recognize Droll de Monsieur, but it is also a dream for the brand to create a store that concentrates our world view. I think it would be interesting to create a store not in France, but in London. Our brand is very popular in London (laughs). (Laughs) In Tokyo? Yes, that could be a possibility. I think we can offer a unique style in Tokyo. However, it has only been two years since our brand started and we need to steadily build up our strength, so I can't say at this stage, but I hope you are looking forward to it.
