OUEST Paris – French label, founded and creatively directed by Arthur Robert, is one of the contenders for the Pierre Bergé Prize.
Paris, May 30th 2023 – This morning in Paris, ANDAM (The National Association for the Development of the Fashion Arts) announced its annual pool of finalists as it continues to champion the fashion industry’s most exciting emerging talent. The association announced its list of 12 nominees, who are competing for final cash awards.
Nominated for the Special Pierre Bergé Prize which is worth 100,000 euros is French brand OUEST Paris and its founder/creative director Arthur Robert. The gender-fluid brand has in just a year and a half become an industry favourite. Founded in 2022, OUEST Paris (Ouest meaning “West” in French) is a mix of designer brand, streetwear and denim. A mix of Paris, Biarritz, and a dreamed California, with products being manufactured within the EU, at the fairest price possible. Proudly based in a multicultural city, OUEST Paris is fully aware of the environmental and societal issues of our time.
“I welcome this special opportunity to express OUEST Paris’ vision of modern masculinity on this incredible institution’s platform”, says the Founder and Creative Director Arthur Robert.
The core DNA of OUEST Paris establishes itself more and more, proven with its latest collection. A continuous obsession with the baggy shapes of the early 2000s Californian skating and surfing cultures as well as odes to the Wild West. Ouest Paris is currently available in retailers worldwide, including La Samaritaine, Printemps, Galeries Lafayette, Kapok in Hong Kong, Cement in Tokyo, and The Webster in Miami amongst others.
The finalists will be presenting collections to the ANDAM jury on June 29
OUEST Paris Fall Winter 2023 Collection
On Wednesday, January 18th, OUEST Paris revealed its new collection for Fall Winter 2023 Collection.
OUEST Paris was created by Arthur Robert in 2022 and is now in its third season. At the heart of the designer brand : the Wild West meets Biarritz.
Inspired by the imagery of going to the beach in the winter, Arthur Robert’s latest collection heavily emphasizes the brand’s surfing side. “The idea was to have all of these pieces that are inspired by lone surfers,” he explains. “The memories of visiting family in Biarritz during the winter holidays as a kid”.
The new collection – OUEST Paris Fall Winter 2023 Collection also pulls reference from Stephen Milner’s A Spiritual Good Time and its aim to uncover a dialogue between surfing communities and gay culture. With Arthur Robert’s usage of life vests and skintight foam neoprene, this release is imbued with all of the covert sensuality of a surfer in a wetsuit. Mohair knits and suede slipper boots, a nod to those sported by surfers coming out of the water, maintain a warm and cozy undercurrent.
Heavily inspired by Karlheinz Weinberger’s photos of the Swiss Halbstarken subculture, metallic jean rivets are manically nailed onto different pieces and leather accessories are more than frequent. However, what the collection truly capitalizes on is Weinberger’s intimate gaze on this subculture, and a certain eroticism, manifested here in the fetishization of denim and its riveting, frantic decorations.
The core DNA of OUEST Paris establishes itself more and more, proven with this third release: a continuous obsession with the baggy shapes of the early 2000s Californian skating and surfing cultures as well as odes to the Wild West, with Western cuts on the new tailored coats and jackets, and embroidery on shoes; on the cowboy belts elongated to mirror that of a skater’s; and via the chap cuts of the jeans.
A restrained color palette: black, white, khaki, with OUEST Paris’ signature denim blue. Eye-catching pieces, such as the landscape intarsia jumper, are crafted with the colors of the French Basque mountains.
OUEST Paris Fall Winter 2023 Collection is currently available in ten retailers worldwide, including La Samaritaine in Paris and The Webster in Miami.
ABOUT OUEST PARIS
Founded in 2022 by Arthur Robert, OUEST PARIS is a mix of a designer brand, streetwear and denim, a mix of Paris, Biarritz and a dreamed California. Raw denim, skate-inspired pieces, folk volumes, workwear details and durable fabrics. A cool and creative complete wardrobe, with most products being manufactured within the EU, at the fairest price possible. Proudly based in a multicultural city, Ouest Paris is fully aware of the environmental and societal issues of our times.
ABOUT ANDAM
Founded in 1989 by Nathalie Dufour, with the French Ministry of Culture and the DEFI (supervised by the French Ministry of Industry) as historical institutional sponsors, ANDAM (National Association for the Development of the Fashion Arts) was conceived from the beginning as a structure for recognizing and assisting young designers on the French and international fashion scene.
The founding of ANDAM constituted a decisive step forward and the first public initiative in the promotion of young fashion talents. Martin Margiela was awarded as the first ANDAM fellowship winner in 1989.
ANDAM unites and coordinates the institutional and private players of the fashion industry to develop strategic and transversal actions in favour of young designers and Paris influence, as the world’s fashion capital.
Each year, through its five prizes, the ANDAM Fashion Awards offer a financial and logistic support to fashion designers chosen after a long and in-depth process of selection, contributing to the vitality and durability of the Fashion creative industry.
Beyond the competition, ANDAM’s annual core mission is to guide and advise the young fashion brands in their structuring and development and introduce them to the various actors of the fashion industry (manufacturers, know-how, luxury groups, journalists, institutionals, press office).
All images by OUEST Paris
PR Agency KCD World Wide Paris