Koché unveils the collaboration with Nike during PFW

You've probably never heard of her, but Christelle Kocher has been working behind the scenes of the fashion industry for years, shaping the identity and the image of the biggest European brands, along with the one of her own label, Koché. During Paris Fashion Week Kocher has just unveiled her FW19 collection, featuring a pretty exciting surprise, a collaboration with Nike. 

After her degree at London Central Saint Martins, Christelle started working for the biggest European fashion houses: Giorgio Armani, Martine Sitbon, Chloé, before joining the creative team of Dries Van Noten. Kocher was a close collaborator of Tomas Maier during his years at Bottega Veneta. At the same time, Kocher was asked by the brand new Chanel creative director Virginie Viard, to resurrect the feather workers Lemarié, one of the Chanel Maisons d’Art, prestigious French artisan craftsmen. Without interrupting her collaboration with Coco's Maison, in 2015 Christelle founded her brand Koché. 

The work of Christelle reflects the mixture of her background, her past experiences and the influence of different inspirations and aesthetics. Kocher grew up playing football in a Paris suburb, in an environment where she used to wear only tracksuits and sneakers. Her ultimate goal is to create a crafted, casual, wearable and democratic fashion. She doesn't identify herself in that Parisian effortless chic style, exactly because sports play a major role within her world, but at the same time, she doesn't fit completely in the category of pure streetwear. For her SS18 collection, Koché collaborated with the Paris Saint Germain football team, splicing together their jerseys with Chantilly lace to create patchwork dresses. The result was sports couture hybrids, one of the most memorable creations of the last few years. 

During the FW19 show, Koché brought on the catwalk 11 outfits created in collaboration with Nike. The famous Swoosh first appeared on a pair of classic black bike shorts, worn with a sequin blazer. The show continued with basic black sports bra, wide pants inspired by the tracksuits paired with feather tops or multi-layer tops with a long train. The stand out piece was definitely the final dress, a kind of patchwork design made of a series of different fabrics and colourways. Nike according to Christelle Kocher is ultra feminine, often romantic, without renouncing more sporty looks. 

I see sport as a platform for positive change. My work with Nike has been inspired by community through the lens of sport. I played a lot of different sports growing up and learned about teamwork, unity, and of being stronger together in the pursuit of common goals. Christelle Kocher

The collaboration is timed to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which is being hosted by France this June. After Martine Rose, Yoon Ahn of AMBUSH and Rei Kawakubo of COMME des GARÇONS, Christelle is the latest woman designer to collaborate with Nike on a capsule collection.