Joie (Q4850)
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Joie is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Joie |
Joie is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
2007
Creative Director
For a brand named after a French word, it’s somewhat ironic that Joie had never been offered in the French market until now. But as this California-cool label set its sights on Paris, it wisely took a page from the Paris fashion playbook. Fabrications have become crucial to the brand narrative, with newish CEO and chief creative officer James Miller working to perfect laser-cut florals and burn-outs, fine ribbed knits, and a new vegan leather made from recycled materials. This care for a higher level of craftsmanship will set Joie apart from its French fashion partners of a similar price.But nice fabrics are only as good as the garment they are cut into. Here, the Joie team balanced out its flippant little frocks with smarter, more practical ways of dressing. Many wide-leg jumpsuits numbered among the looks, as did zhuzhed-up day-to-evening dresses in orange and lilac florals. Blouses were wafting and cut away from the body, and an ever-growing knitwear range placed an importance on hand-feel with a bit of Lurex shine. The most exciting piece for women on either side of the Atlantic will be a bias-cut and paneled leopard-print dress with a tie collar: surely the most technically advanced item from Joie—and one that pairs nicely with a denim jacket and flats.
29 February 2020
The burnishing of Joie these past couple of years, from contemporary California bohemian into a somewhat more polished player, has elevated it to an enviable position financially—and freshly appointed CEO James Miller, an alum of Ralph Lauren, is hatching big plans.During a showroom visit, Miller said that a sharp focus on details—texturized fabrics, mixed-media knits, fringe, laser cuts, and burnouts—had resonated with the Joie base, boosting the bottom line and prompting the brand to look farther than its own backyard, literally and figuratively.Hawaiian prints, South American influences, and architecture were just some of the global currents defining the Spring collection. Key looks included higher twists on the white-shirt-with-jeans theme, in a devoré fringe paired with ’70s-redux denims, or a laser-cut eyelet top with acid-wash cropped flares. Everyday “feminine utilitarian” staples included jumpsuits in navy or floral print, a perfecto-inspired linen jacket, and streamlined cargos with deep patch pockets and a front slit. The brand cast a wide net on dresses with varying results, from a short, flounced chambray dress that skewed a bit girly to a boatneck black and white print that looked on trend and polished.As a California brand, Joie is attuned to sustainability, and to that end Miller said that by this time next year, 75% of its offer would be based on organic, natural fabrics and treatments like silks, cottons, organic dyes, and slub linens, representing a threefold improvement over the recent past.All of which leaves Joie eyeing the prospect of bringing the brand’s aesthetic to Europe and beyond. The wind is at Miller’s back: Joie is striving for more polish, while the world continues to dress down. That the two will converge is self-evident; what is trickier is landing thatje ne sais quoithat will catch a Parisienne’s eye. The brand has a French name. That’s a start, anyway.
2 October 2019
When the time came to drum up the Joie Fall collection, Sarah Rutson said she and her team were just emerging from the inferno that was California a few months back. During a showroom interview, she recalled coasting up Mulholland Drive, heading to a brainstorming session and looking around her. It was all scorched earth, with flowers shooting up from desolation, blue skies and sunsets as only California can do them. By the time she parked, Fall’s story had taken form.Cue an accessible, even comforting palette of neutral shades, spun out in blanket coats, snake print, and 1970s-inflected motifs flecked with gold. As a California brand par excellence, Joie has the luxury of sidestepping (or ignoring) anything that feels tricked out or otherwise contrived in favor of offering a loyal base legible pieces that are just trend-aware enough to get them where they want to be.This season, those options include a three-quarter bronze dress with a flounced neckline, a checked pantsuit with easy tailoring and cropped flares, pretty pleated floral-print skirts and dresses, high-waisted jeans tailored like trousers with patch pockets in front, and cargos with satin-finish pockets that elevate casual just a notch. Rutson’s mantra for Joie is “nothing contrived—it has to be soft and useful.” That probably explains why the brand’s fortunes keep growing in the high double digits year after year.West Coast sensibility or no, anyone who is interested in what’s happening on the fringes of high-ticket designer fashion would do well to keep an eye on what Rutson is doing these days. Her philosophy is pretty straightforward. One recent post: “Trends come and go. What keeps a woman relevant isn’t chasing them.”
2 March 2019
Everyone loves a comeback. When retailing wunderkind Sarah Rutson joined the Collected Group 15 months ago, she had her work cut out for her, but she’d already bought and edited every brand in the world, so she knew what she needed to do. Two weeks later, she had steered three brands back to solid ground (Joie, Equipment, and Current/Elliott).For Joie, the numbers are in and they speak for themselves. The Fall collection was a bumper crop for the California label. That’s not a huge surprise: Rutson is laser focused on reinjecting Joie into almost every woman’s life, aiming for “inclusivity with a very clear message,” she said during a showroom visit in Paris this week.She seems to have found the recipe. For Spring, the brand took its cues from Peggy Lipton (ofMod Squadfame) and Jacqueline Bisset, minus any caricature. That might mean cropped denim culottes or a breezy blush button-down dress with feminine gatherings. It might be a macramé-inspired top with fringe. Colors were ’70s-inflected, too: rust, blush, marigold, and rich blues led the way on blouses, leather jackets, and gauzy (but not too) tops and dresses. A denim suit looked office crisp, but then again you could break everything up and have fun with it. Python made an appearance in several iterations, from gray tones to buttery yellows. Pretty knitwear basics offered wardrobe-building layering options, while soft leather pieces captured the sunset colors of the season. Soft dresses moved beyond beachwear without overthinking the thing. Nothing felt tricked up.Joie is a something-for-everyone proposition, and it is ramping up its fluency fast. Rutson understands how to talk to women on a broad scale; if she stays the course, this will be a brand to reckon with.
30 September 2018
Rachel Wilder-Hill explained the inspiration for the latest Joie looks as “London in the ’80s, vintage Victorian, rock ’n’ roll English rose.” Basically, a heap of Anglophile references interpreted with wide creative license. But given how the brand is so steeped in Los Angeles style, the Brit positioning helped to recast basics and statement pieces alike with new appeal. The first look she singled out consisted of a maxi dress scattered with hand-painted flowers that was paired with a Cowichan-inspired sweater sprinkled strategically with sequins. Truth be told, it felt very West Coast, save for the high-contrast scheme of black, white, and crimson. Wilder-Hill pointed out how a shirt with a high Victorian collar instantly altered the attitude of a red leather skirt and slouchy red merino sweater. Indeed, the disparate elements balanced out nicely, and the same shirt under a black jumpsuit felt perfectly office-ready, no further styling necessary.Fashion gals who had dismissed Joie for one reason or another would find no shortage of great updates for Fall, including varsity cardigans reworked as sweater robes, sweatshirts with dramatic gigot sleeves, a leopard-spotted car coat, and faded gray jeans studded with tonal pearls. When she noted that the brand will be expanding its denim offering, this seemed promising.The rebranding of Joie’s parent company as The Collected Group and the appointment of Sarah Rutson as chief brand officer (she will also oversee Current/Elliott and Equipment) partly explains Wilder-Hill’s shift towards a stronger, soigné mix of separates. “Joie is evolving,” she confirmed. “It’s no longer just a coastal brand.” The other factor that she revealed at the end of the visit: A stand-alone London store is in the works.(edited)
3 March 2018
This past January, Rachel Wilder-Hill came away from her first trip to Mexico City with enough inspiration from the burgeoning art scene and vibrant street life to kick-start this latest Joie collection. By phone from L.A., the brand’s vice president of design explained how the clothes on display in the Paris showroom reflected some of her most salient observations; the Casa Luis Barragán’s rosy walls informed the soft pink suit that she considers her favorite look in the lineup, while artisanal embroideries were incorporated into everyday cotton blouses. The suit, she elaborated, gives every indication that the brand best known for its boho-chic vibe realizes there’s visual value in offsetting those softer silhouettes with a little structure (and for those who feel limited by the pink, the same style is offered in black). A little further on, had the model in the motorcycle jacket been photographed with her back to us, you would have seen the words¡Viva la femme!hand-painted with flowers. But even those buds on her shirt signaled Spring’s craftsmanship message. A pair of bicolored jeans was a reminder that Joie doesn’t propose anything basic without treating it to a twist; the sporty pieces, for instance, boasted a ruffle-front yolk in addition to the standard stripes.Given her point of departure—or perhaps just as a reflection of the moment—Wilder-Hill ended up with a more dimensional portrait of the Joie woman this season. From the bananas slogan tee to the breezy yellow sundress, the pieces read unfussy and fresh. She actually singled out the latter as a positive, personal souvenir of Mexico City before the devastation caused by the recent earthquake. “I can’t believe the timing,” she said, adamant that she would return. “Who knew this would become somewhat of an homage; because, for me, it was such an uplifting experience.” For now, if nothing more, her collection keeps the city top of mind.
3 October 2017
If Marianne Faithfull circa 1960s and Yves Saint Laurent via Morocco were the latest headline references cited by Rachel Wilder-Hill, Joie’s VP of design, her own backstory was woven into the mix as well. “I would be digging around souks and medinas with my parents as a kid,” she said, noting how this collection’s rich pattern and textile references were often a reflection of her lifelong wanderlust. Being based in L.A., meanwhile, provides her with the ideal breezy constant. But Paris, she insisted, still remains at the heart of the brand: “She’s always a French girl, no matter where she is.” Thus, a collection that served up a bounty of mix-and-match pieces that, despite their cultural past, belonged very much in the present.Like other designers this season, Wilder-Hill has gravitated toward dusty pink, and her unstructured sweater robe coat will no doubt appear on many market pages once magazines begin prepping for Fall. Tied for second were the camel duffel with ruffled trim and a plaid caban that appeared pre-faded. But because the brand doesn’t propose pieces to exist in isolation, the lookbook offers a solid sense of how a men’s blazer and Victorian collar blouse match surprisingly well with a Moroccan blanket–inspired miniskirt. Or how an army shirt with deliberate signs of distress benefits from a boho pleated skirt pairing. Wilder-Hill drew attention to developing knit jackets in lieu of the traditional woven, granting that customers will likely intuit an enhanced ease without knowing why. Conversely, silk velvet pajama suiting holds no mystery and would be well received quite soon after heading out into the night.
5 March 2017
There is a certain look that’s prevalent among the urban-centered, young(ish), freewheeling females of coastal America and Western Europe, especially on the weekends. You could probably call it boho-lite: There’s usually an army jacket involved, a vintage-looking blouse or sundress, maybe a boy fit jean or something tighter and cooler that alludes to great legs and a past propensity for nightlife. It’s the elder sister of the “model off-duty,” who doesn’t look out of place picking up the kids from school or going on a brunch date. It is a comfortable look, one that ensures you will never look like you are trying too hard. In fact, the only real risk involved is running into someone else wearing the same thing. Sound familiar? It should. This is aJoiegirl, they are everywhere, and thanks to VP of design Rachel Wilder-Hill, they should be very happy come spring.“We always have one foot in California, one foot in Paris,” said Wilder-Hill, by which, of course, she meant they stand astride the very idea of “cool girl.” Wilder-Hill sourced vintage prints from flea markets, her own personal photographs, and wallpaper samples for filmy blouses and tiered sundresses. The prettiest of these was a pale watercolor floral that “came to me in a vision,” she said. Other items (patchworked Indian block prints,vyshyvanka-style embroidery) were more traditionally the stuff of travels abroad and inherited hauls; though as Wilder-Hill pointed out, the Joie girls do “not want to look like they’ve just escaped from their grandmother’s attic.” Reliable best-sellers for the brand like eyelet, crochet, and lace turned up in easy shifts and trapeze tops (all the better to pair with those high-waisted jeans), and the only real challenge, said Wilder-Hill, is finding something new to do with them. Have faith, though: The Joie girl will figure it out.
30 September 2016
The aesthetic leap fromJoie’s bohemian attitude to the Victorian influence seducing fashion right now is not a huge one; all those floaty shirts and ruffle accents overlap both domains and, more important, appeal to the same type of woman. With this collection, the L.A.-based brand has not performed any sort of alchemy to arrive at its romantic proposal, yet the latest print dresses and fringed sweaters and flounced jacket produced a look that felt a little Arts and Crafts, a little Anita Pallenberg. Brett Ramey, who is the vice president of creative services, name-dropped the enviable rock muse, suggesting an eyelet blouse and a flattering flared jean can inspire “girl you want to date” allure. Perhaps those suede gym shorts would be a good place to start.Ultimately, the period pieces came secondary to the range of hippie-inflected peasant dresses, nonchalantly topped with a faux-fur cropped caban or a rabbit fur–lined parka. Ramey signaled to an in-house developed print interpreted from a Moroccan carpet as evidence that Joie’s creative approach isn’t as obvious as it seems. She also noted that feminine accents underlie every look, just to varying degrees. Spot the spiked desert boots or fitted cargo pants, and you’ll likely agree.
4 March 2016
“We like to think of ourselves as a coastal brand,” saysRachel Wilder-Hill, the vintage-obsessed designer behind Joie’s easy, breezy designs—pieces she says balance L.A.’s laid-back bohemian side with a touch of Parisian chic. As the great divide between high fashion and real women remains very present, collections like Joie are becoming more relevant than ever, thanks to their ability to tap into the little comfortable luxuries that women of all ages want to wear, without the forage of vintage shopping nor the conceptual trappings that can often plague runway brands.“It’s the little details that set us apart,” continues Wilder-Hill, explaining the floral print on a braided silk slip dress. “This motif came from a scrap of wallpaper I found at a Paris flea market and had repainted by our incredible in-house artist.” While Joie began as a jeans brand in 2001, it’s evident that denim has taken a backseat to the expansive range of sundresses, floaty shirting, and peasant blouses that emphasize soft cotton fabrications for Spring—as gauzy voiles, topstitched embroideries, and broderie anglaise details instill a sense of decorative nostalgia in the dolman-sleeve silhouettes cinched with drawstrings, and skinny plaited belts. Some of the prettiest looks within the Spring lineup feature inserts of Victorian-inspired lacework, their delicacy balanced by stonewashed denim or light suede, keeping their historical leanings within Joie’s contemporary, feminine frame.
6 October 2015
Counterculture from Joie? Who'd have thunk it? At a presentation of the decidedly classic, often conservative brand's Fall offering, designer and Chief Creative Officer Serge Azria name-checked the beloved hippie rock operaHairand the social unrest of its era. But if this season's Joie woman is a product of all that, she's a nice Ivy Leaguer flirting with flower power on the weekends. Models lounged across ottomans and Persian rugs in muted paisley dresses, suede A-line skirts, and peacoats. Many pieces were moreLove Storythan Summer of Love, such as matching cream ribbed turtlenecks and high-waisted flares, a dark denim trench, and some standout tall suede boots. In addition to the season's more luxe footwear offering, Joie also upped the ante where fabrications were concerned, sending out a plush black shearling moto jacket.
13 February 2015
This season, Joie—a brand synonymous with femininity—changed things up a bit. "This time, I wanted to do things I've never done before," said creative director and CEO Serge Azria. That meant suits. Instead of borrowed-from-the-boys silhouettes and fabrics, though, Azria opted for tennis-stripe white linen with an easy, casual fit. Paired with basic tees, the softly structured blazers and cropped pants felt right at home alongside Joie's more familiar breezy dresses and looked effortlessly chic with strappy sandals and low-top sneakers alike.Tennis was a major influence throughout the collection, but not the kind we've seen at the U.S. Open this week. "I was thinking about Palm Springs in the 1950s and '60s," Azria said, pointing to a chiffon dress in a pastel watercolor print, a pleated white skort (inspired by the classic tennis mini), and a flared dress in polo-shirt piqué. "It's sporty, but still feminine." The Joie customer keeps up with trends, so Azria paired sneakers and chunky sandals with everything from an ice blue suede dress (one of the collection's standout pieces) to a beachy eyelet tunic. His take on the Birkenstock—a leather X-strap sandal in metallic silver—made even the slinkiest cutout frock feel a little more relaxed.
4 September 2014
For Fall, Joie creative director and CEO Serge Azria dialed down the flirt factor and gave us a twenty-first-century gamine. "Usually, my inspirations come from traveling or a place, but this time it was more of a script," Azria said during the brand's presentation. Spurred by the vision of a moody girl wandering Paris' most picturesque streets (no doubt a lost Godard great there), he sent out a handsome and neatly edited new offering. "She's not from the couture world; she's just beautiful, effortless. She wears whatever she likes," Azria said. It's a familiar enough refrain from designers evoking their muse; in the case of this one, she likes things a bità la garçonne, and quietly luxe. Perhaps it was a stroke of marketing genius to show the collection a stone's throw from the Hudson, with strong winds coming in off the water as one departed to hammer home the looks' smartly cozy appeal. There were plenty of camel and cream, substantial knits and unfussy cashmere (the latter in one particularly standout, slightly oversize, charcoal biker jacket). Lots of deft proportion play, too, like long flannel menswear coats, and even a modestly cropped sweater or two. Sportier elements included a classic anorak and a parka, which paired nicely with chunky brogues. Azria put it thus: "For Joie, it is a little more American casual." Make no mistake, the molds here are still more or less intact, but Joie's latest is full of elegant, eminently wearable offerings. All told, Azria's mercurial Parisian seems to be good for the brand.
12 February 2014
According to Serge Azria, Joie's Spring '14 collection was all about celebrating—and elevating—white. "I wanted to make white not so simple," said the contemporary label's creative director and CEO during the presentation, which marked the twelve-year-old brand's second New York fashion week effort. Joie's new lineup was a palette cleanser, offering a host of easy separates and frocks in every tint of Azria's chosen hue. He contrasted a stark white elongated blazer with a romantic pleated silk skirt in soft eggshell. Similarly, a sporty bright white sailing jacket popped against an oatmeal and black striped sweater.Elsewhere, Azria enriched the shade with varying textures, like eyelet—used for a high-waisted cotton pencil skirt—or slick leather, which looked best as a pair of cropped, flair-calf trousers. The concept was applied to accessories, too—for instance, pointed cream and tan leather flats were laser-treated, causing them to look like they were made from stingray.Inspired by a recent trip to Ponza, an island off the Amalfi Coast, Azria injected his Spring range with an air of vintageItaliana. One linen dress with a fitted skirt and blousy bodice that revealed just enough of the model's décolleté was simultaneously effortless and va-va-voom. The Mediterranean inspiration also moved Azria to include pops of cerulean and navy. "All of the houses in Ponza were white and the doors were all blue. It looked like a painting!" he recalled. The scene was re-created in his Chelsea show space. He worked indigo into bold stripes, which ran down a three-quarter-length skirt, a billowing short-sleeved blouse, and a structured workwear jacket. An azure brushstroke print on a flippy little jupe was lovely, and a navy drawstring skirt—which was basically a silk, feminine alternative to sweatpants—looked particularly comfortable. Most of the spaghetti-strap and short-sleeved crop tops—while sweet on the models—will be near impossible to wear if you're of normal human proportions. But a bouncy, open-back A-line frock had summer classic written all over it.
10 September 2013
This season, Joie joined the growing pack of contemporary fashion brands to show during New York fashion week (J Brand and J.Crew among them; lots of J's, come to think of it). But creative director and CEO Serge Azria did it reluctantly. "I don't like fashion shows," he said. "But we've been getting a lot more international interest, and I thought one way to up international business would be to present to the press that comes to New York." His presentation was a success in that respect, as he ended up shaking hands (or exchangingbisous) with more than a handful of international editors—not a bad result for a freshman NYFW try.Joie has had a big year. Azria opened five new stand-alone stores (two in New York, three in California), and there's another on the way. He noted that he has no further plans for expansion ("We want to stay limited. I don't want to be a big retailer all over the place.") but that sales are on a steady incline. After viewing his Fall range, it wasn't hard to see why. Inspired by a "Sunday girl" and a rich dinner at a château (which he evoked with crystal chandeliers, candles, and a long banquet table), Joie offered cozy sweatpants in silk or cashmere that could be paired with kitten heels for a dinner party, or thrown on with the label's flat and pointy black ankle boots for an easy day look. The pants were a nice reminder that one can be simultaneously comfortable and chic. The palette was unfussy and monochromatic—black and white with pops of red (the show notes reported a mod influence). And though Azria's hues were simple, he did a lot with them. A leopard print was digitized on one sweater and also appeared on a bowed blouse that peeked out from beneath a giant herringbone knit. Black blazers and leather jackets were clean and easy, and some richer fabrics—like a black, gold, and burgundy velvet brocade that was used for a pair of tapered pants—were a nice touch. If there were any criticisms, it might be that the black lace skater dress and a blouse in the same material didn't quite fit in with the cool, youthful range. Nor did a black ribbed sweater dress, which felt a bit dowdy. But hey, seventeen out of twenty ain't bad. And those seventeen looks were each comprised of modern basics that any woman could (and probably will) enjoy.
12 February 2013