Meryll Rogge Fall Winter 2022 – 2023 at Paris Fashion Week
Meryll Rogge is a womenswear label based in Belgium. A contemporary wardrobe infused by surprising associations, it offers classic and sturdy pieces revisited with a sense of unexpected beauty. Drawing simultaneously from the radical simplicity of menswear and the exquisite sophistication and coqueterrie of eveningwear, the label seeks to establish a joyfully ambivalent style – one made of fortuitous connections and pragmatic sartorial decisions.
A strong and bold idea of femininity as a creative principle and a firm belief in the long lasting qualities of standards, both in shapes and materials, define the label’s identity. Crafting a forward-looking style imbued with a true love of the past, the label dresses a free-spirit woman who favors the assertion of the individual self over norms and repetitions. Meryll Rogge is a creative director, hailing from both Antwerp and New York, whose ever-shifting approach to fashion embraces the ultra-masculine just as effortlessly as the decorative opulence of the feminine.
Poor connection
Out of focus, deformed or randomly juxtaposed – what happens when we see ourselves through the glitches and poetic malfunctions of our screens? This collection explores a beautifully distorted vision of our everyday realities and the surreal narratives it creates. Hosted as an impromptu cocktail party, it is made of imaginative approximations: situations and habits overlap, rules are happily abolished to compose a pleasingly puzzling new etiquette.
Day looks take on an evening-like sense of glamour: revisiting the cuts and details of sport jerseys leads to unexpectedly sophisticated floor-length v-neck polo shirts and pastel color blouses, all in technical knits. Seemingly familiar soccer-inspired prints in bold geometric shapes become all-over patterns covering outerwear jackets and coats.
It’s all a matter of perception – delving into the beauty of the bland, a palette of neutrals unfolds across trench coats, classic men’s shirting poplins and washed-out denims. Corduroy weaves and leopard prints appear as new classics. Tried and true Shetland knits, lovingly worn out present their delicate rips and tears, as for a fittingly dubbed “broken heart cardigan”
But the spirit and fantasy of night life is never far away: photo prints on shirts evoke the beautiful chaos of an artificially lit club scene. An exaggerated ruffled tuxedo shirt convenes memories of disco while sparkling gold studs trim suede shirts and trousers.
Who wears what? As guests swap clothes and identities, conventions and traditions are deconstructed and fancifully reassembled. A glove becomes a stole, two lace-trimmed charmeuse slip dresses merge into one while an up-cycled blanket makes up a hood.
Unfolding throughout the pages of a photo book, drawing from Cindy Sherman’s Play of Selves (1972) and old-fashioned dance manuals, this collection celebrates our failures and successes in socializing, our attempts to establish connections.
Designer profile
Belgian-born Meryll Rogge started studying Fashion Design in 2005 at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. She is part of a generation of Academy graduates that is breaking the mould in fashion today. In 2008, Rogge left school to land her dream job by joining Marc Jacobs’ design team in New York.
As a Women’s Collection designer she had the opportunity to work on some of his most iconic collections. Nearly 7 years later, she returned to Antwerp to become Head of Women’s Design at Dries Van Noten. The start of a fascinating collaboration that has lasted for many inspiring years.
Today, the creation of Meryll Rogge is a natural evolution of Rogge’s accomplishments and ambitions. Wishing to express something more personal, she set up her studio near her hometown Ghent. In 2021 Rogge received the Belgian Fashion Award for Emerging Designer, and the following year was nominated for the LVMH-Prize 2022.
All images courtesy of Meryll Rogge
Photography Jorre Janssens Casting DM Casting Models Anna Brunius, Abigail Diantete Tuamonadio, Emily Jeanne Debocq, Julie Kegels, Louis Moortgat, Hitomi Muramatsu, Meryll Rogge, Timo Zündorf Creative Direction Timo Zündorf Hair & Make-up Florence Teerlinck & Gwen de Vylder
PR Agency Karla Otto Paris