Paris Fashion Week: Sphere promotes craftsmanship with Matthieu Ruiz, La Cage, and LAD

What other surprises does the fashion world have in store for us? To find out, the Sphere showroom is a must-visit during Fashion Week. Located on one of the lower levels of the Palais de Tokyo (in Paris’s 16th arrondissement), this seasonal event hosted several designers with original concepts this week, whom FashionNetwork.com went to meet. 

At the showroom entrance, Matthieu Ruiz chats with visitors in front of colourful garments and number-shaped pretzels hanging on a wall. This striking spatial arrangement perfectly encapsulates the world of the creator, designer, and artisan who specialises in plant-based dyeing. Here, he is presenting his first collection aimed at buyers, following a debut collection unveiled to the press and made available for online purchase last March. Featuring around 20 styles, the young label’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection is titled “Le flou du village” and embodies a strange summer in the designer’s childhood village in northeastern France, where he encounters alter egos of those who shaped him as a person. Thus, Matthieu Ruiz’s wardrobe features thick grey jackets, lightweight shorts, and stained sweaters- embodying the expression “mouiller le maillot” (to give it your all), so dear to the residents of villages and small towns- as well as ties that are part-Cerberus, part-stained napkin.

Matthieu Ruiz, a pioneer of natural dyeing in French fashion

As for women’s pieces, Matthieu Ruiz offers pink skirts and sweatshirts, as well as T-shirts dyed with crushed flowers, which leave splashes of yellow on the cotton. Matthieu Ruiz acquired this mastery of dyeing during and after the Covid pandemic. After working as a visual merchandiser at Printemps in Strasbourg and then in Paris, the young man launched his first brand, which ran out of steam in 2019. After discovering natural dyeing by chance at a wedding, the lockdown gave him the time to train with the organisation Colore ton monde. 

In 2023, he launched a project to produce white garments dyed on demand using plant extracts, and supplies custom fabric to several brands including Figaret, De Bonne Facture, Béton Ciré, and Lacoste, sometimes even for set design for LVMH. When it comes to these textile pieces, the designer is adamant: his name must appear on them, much like Gore-Tex or Vibram. Today, he hopes to raise the profile of this “highly niche craft,” particularly by offering brands the opportunity to experiment with it in limited runs. While it entails an additional cost, natural dyeing justifies this expense through its artisanal quality and transparency, according to Matthieu Ruiz, whose ready-to-wear collection has caught the attention of several Asian retailers.

La Cage, a Burgundy-based brand with a passion for history

Just a stone’s throw away, the La Cage brand’s booth showcases an equally sophisticated concept. Founded in 2022 by the Burgundian duo Victoria Baia and Victor Koehler, the brand draws inspiration from the adventures of historical figures. For the Spring/Summer 2027 season, La Cage focuses on Albert Dadas, an amnesiac traveller from the late 19th century, and imagines the wardrobe of this character, who is as real as he is enigmatic. All produced in France- notably in the label’s Parisian workshop- the pieces gradually show signs of wear as the collection progresses.

The collection opens with a long khaki trench coat and a large black buttoned coat, the shoulders of which are draped with a beige scarf, evoking a certain social status from the late 19th century. The coats then give way to a white shirt with yellowed panels across the chest, a jaunty beige vest with a pocket full of flowers, a purple tank top faded by the Burgundy sun, and a fuchsia pink shirt with streaks of colour bleached away by steam. 

“We work by subtraction, without adding any chemical components,” explains Victor Koehler. As Albert Dadas’s journey comes to an end, the pieces become completely worn out: a pair of torn pants was buried underground, and a small, hand-woven straw hat was reshaped after being submerged in water. Still inspired by vintage uniforms and outfits- which the young designers studied repeatedly during their studies- the garments in this collection create a tension between the speed of production: some pieces are factory-made and hand-altered, while others are made in-house. 

To accompany this collection, Victoria Baia and Victor Koehler are presenting a short film, “Le fou voyageur,” directed by Max Delagrave, which is set to screen at several film festivals soon. La Cage is sold in Paris, Taiwan, and Mexico City, and will soon be available in China and Macau, as the Asian market is particularly interested in its artisanal approach.

LAD presents an elegant and casual wardrobe

The latest label discovered on this hot June day, LAD- founded in 2024 by Ladislas Mande- positions itself as an international fashion designer, blending Congolese inspirations with Japanese craftsmanship. With its first collection unveiled to the press last January, LAD now enjoys the support of the creators at Art Comes First and already has significant media exposure. Ladislas Mande, a former American retailer, founded the brand following his father’s death. After returning to his Congolese roots, the designer decided to create a high-quality clothing brand using scraps of Japanese and Italian fabric. While LAD’s suits and eyewear are produced in Japan, the young label’s shoes are manufactured in Italy.

For this first commercial collection, Ladislas Mande collaborated with denim manufacturer Edwin on a line of jeans. At the same time, LAD offers a myriad of classic pieces with original details, such as a square-tipped tie, a brown Prince of Wales check suit jacket with frayed edges, whose sleeves and collar are covered in gold-coloured embroidery, a blue-and-white striped hooded shirt layered under an anthracite grey denim jacket with a stand-up collar, and a few touches of orange scattered here and there- on a miniature crossbody bag or a striped shirt. 

A few suits in yellow, orange, green, or gold add the final touches to the collection’s classic, relaxed, and elegant vibe, alongside a khaki leather jacket with a military look adorned with an orange-patterned tie on a blue background and brown-striped pleated pants. With a fashion show held on Sunday, LAD has successfully piqued the interest of Asian buyers, particularly thanks to its commitment to craftsmanship.