Fforme Fall 2024 Ready-to-Wear

In two short years, Fforme has become one of the buzziest labels in New York, a testament to creative director Paul Helbers’s exacting talent and vision. In a dimly lit midtown studio space, Anastasia Coope, a singer-songwriter whose work Helbers described as “psychedelic folk music somewhere between Nico and Leonard Cohen,” sang for the crowd (which included Carmen Dell’Orefice sitting front row next to Morgan Spector and Annabelle Dexter-Jones, a cool combination that captured the brand’s appeal). Coope’s performance set the tone for the seductive collection that followed, which found Helbers exploring silhouettes that caressed the body. “The curve is our signature,” he said days earlier at his SoHo studio. “What’s new this season is we’re adding techniques like sculpting and draping—which I do directly on the body—and these techniques give a sensuality and a femininity. There are a lot of almost liquid, Madame Grès–ish silhouettes.” This was most noticeable in a new jacket shape, created without lapels and cut with princess seams.“We kind of reduced [the jacket] to the minimum,” Helbers explained. It was part of the opening look, made from gabardine crepe and worn over a jersey draped-neck top and tucked into wool trousers with a meticulously pleated elastic waistband that truly redefined the way a luxury brand should approach an elastic waistband from this point forward.