Simon Says

Simon Porte Jacquemus, much like his label, resonates with the sunny, breezy French South-but behind the good life, as Nathan Heller discovers, is a laser focus and a shoulder-to-the-wheel work ethic.

At a friend’s birthday dinner in Paris not long ago—a long banquette in a small neighborhood restaurant—I arrived late, sat, and was questioned by my tablemates about what brought me to France, where I don’t live. With the dismissive vagueness that writers learn to cultivate for work in progress, I told them I was working on a piece about a fashion designer. “I hope it’s Jacquemus,” someone across the table cut in. “Yeah, Jacquemus,” another guest agreed. From there, to my surprise, the sentiment echoed around. The guests at this table mostly weren’t fashion people; they were movie people, business people, people with kids, lawyers. But they had views about the brand. “Jacquemus is really exciting,” someone insisted to me. “You have the sense they’re doing something new.”