Sébastien Meunier is a French fashion designer. He was the creative director of
Ann Demeulemeester's label from 2010 until 2020.
Biography
Sébastien Meunier was born in
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
in 1974.
He graduated from
ESMOD, the Paris-based fashion school, in 1997. The next year, he presented his first collection at the in
Hyères
Hyères (), Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (département), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Al ...
. The collection, that drew inspiration from fetichism and body transformations, was awarded with the first fashion prize from the jury presided by
Martine Sitbon,
Hussein Chalayan and Jean Colonna - the later offering him immediately his first position. Sébastien Meunier assisted Jean Colonna until he decided to launch his own menswear label in 1999.
Through his eponymous brand, highly autobiographical, Sébastien Meunier would explore for 7 years new fields of masculinity, questioning identities and his own individuality and would eventually become a precursor of the hyper-sexualization of the male body in fashion.
As early as 2000, Sébastien Meunier's work caught the attention of
Martin Margiela, inaugurating a decade-long collaboration with the revered designer, first as head of design for
MM6, then as creative director for all men's lines of
Maison Margiela.
Ann Demeulemeester asked him to join her in Antwerp in 2010 to look after her menswear collections, cementing Sébastien Meunier's affinity with Belgian fashion. Following her decision to retire from the fashion industry in 2013, the Belgian designer chose him as her successor at the helm of the brand she founded in 1985. While staying true to the DNA of the Nineties romantic designer, Sébastien Meunier made the brand evolve toward a more inclusive, gender(s) free(d) aesthetic, reaching a fresh audience. In July 2020, Sébastien Meunier left the company shortly before the relocation of the brand in Italy.
In parallel to his designer's work, Sébastien Meunier is particularly interested in the arts of performance, having staged or participated to several performances throughout his career, including
EAT (°2008) which he co-created with the late choreographer
Alain Buffard and is now part of the collection of the
Centre Pompidou
The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...
.
References
"Sébastien Meunier, l’Anvers d’un styliste français" Télérama. Published on October 6, 2016.
Büro 24/7. Published on February 21, 2016.
Le Monde. Published on May 8, 2015.
"Martin Margiela Influences Young Designers" WWD. Published on April 13, 2015.
L'Express Styles. Published on October 27, 2014.
"Interview post-show avec Sébastien Meunier au défilé Ann Demeulemeester" Vogue.fr. Published on September 26, 2014.
Le Vif Weekend. Published on September 12, 2014.
#
MAN OH MAN: Ann Demeulemeester. WWD. Published on November 5, 2010.
External links
Ann Demeulemeester Official SiteAnn Demeulemeester coverage on Vogue RunwayVilla Noailles Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meunier, Sébastien
1974 births
Living people
French fashion designers
People from Versailles
High fashion brands