Nicole Farhi returns with a wardrobe its new creative director could step straight into. Richard Biedul brings his well-documented appetite for tailoring to Chapter One, where long coats and wide trousers give everyday dressing a certain gravity. Brown, beige, and charcoal set the tone, with texture doing much of the talking.
The collection proposes a modular wardrobe for men and women, but the campaign’s more appealing suggestion is that good clothes can find their way across generations, too.
Nicole Farhi Chapter One Campaign
Photographed by Jonathan Daniel Pryce, with style direction by Ben Schofield, Didier Vinson and Marianne Schrøder meet in herringbone overcoats, while Aaron Shandel brings a younger face to the same restrained world. The casting gives the label’s promise of clothes to live in and pass on a persuasive starting point.
For all the formality of the presentation, the clothes allow movement. A trench’s length gives it sweep, while broad trousers loosen the stance of a dark suit. Up close, a narrow scarf tucked into an open shirt turns a sober combination into something personal. These are small decisions, but they suggest a wardrobe that becomes more interesting through use.
Biedul calls the philosophy “Less But Better.” Chapter One gives that idea a precise visual identity, though the scarf offers the most useful clue to making it your own. Even a tightly edited wardrobe benefits from the occasional individual flourish.
