To label ECCO.kollektive, the experimental offshoot of the eponymous Danish footwear brand, as a sort of fashion oriented think tank wouldn’t be too far off. Launched in 2022, the collective has engaged with an impressive roster of contributing designersーranging from stints with Helmut Lang’s former creative director Peter Do and celebrated shoe designer Nine Christen, and the acquisition of Natacha Ramsay-Levi, former creative director of Chloé, as creative partnerーand its most recent alliance with French designer Louis-Gabriel Nouchi is a contemporary kick in the ass to conventional masculine codes. The line revolves around an array of high shine and polished leather pieces in a strictly black, oxblood and pearlescent white palette, and Nouchi’s signature details posit a fluent articulation of sartorial eroticism. 

The collection presents a particular paradox. Its reveal-and-conceal details, seen on shoes, bags (the Tote and Crossbody) and ready-to-wear, strive to harness one’s inherent sensuality. The slit motif, a Nouchi emblem, is incorporated throughout the entire collection, including the footwear, as a chic demonstration of our innate carnal spirit. Louis-Gabriel Nouchi, known for toying with the outlines of the human form, famously constructs architecturally risqué pieces that titillate and provoke. Some accentuate, while others obscure. Most precise tailoring counters other flowing, fluid portrayals of the modern suit. While some pieces verge on the erotic, others unabashedly bask in it, and his truly unique silhouettes resemble a yassified Patrick Bateman in the best way possible. 

Yet, the line also encourages a break, specifically a break from the conventional gender norms permeating the fashion world today. Nouchi is keen to explore, and subsequently destroy, traditional forms of masculinity through his silhouettes. Before forming his namesake brand, Nouchi worked under Raf Simmons, spending years honing his tailoring craft. The sharp contours so characteristic of Nouchi’s silhouettes are cut with such exactitude that even his pieces pour l’homme are imbued with a strikingly feminine trace. 

Thanks to ECCO’s technical prowess, the collection’s leather pieces are unexpectedly lightweight. Once again, the textures of the human body inform the line’s creation, molding supple leather around single-breasted blazers and long-line shorts and pants. Each piece is a component of the tailored ensemble crafted genderless, a nod to Nouchi’s fluidity, and is made of fine nappa leather with a waxy finish for a collision of classy with casual. More robust pieces dichotomize with the fine, and the collection’s fluid tank and column dress serve as counterpoint to the shift dress and pencil skirt composed of leather strips embroidered onto bi-stretch tulle. 

The line’s footwear offers another standout. The Unisex Derby shoes and Helsinki loafer retain the minimalist 90s sensibility of squared toes and thickened soles, while the Truck Lace loafers (featuring a platform especially developed for Nouchi) gather momentum from the sleek lines of futuristic design and polished metallic cars. In creating the footwear, Nouchi, a self-proclaimed maniac for materials, capitalized on ECCO’s leather expertise, its capabilities just about limitless. 

ECCO.kollektive x Louis-Gabriel Nouchi is now available.