Patrick Norguet, design the flagship store of Marithé+François Girbaud in Paris. The basic concept was inspired by the place, and more particularly the connection between two spaces: the historical shop at Etienne Marcel (open in 1985) and the former Vespa store-workshop in rue Montmartre that was acquired in 2008. The two spaces are geographically connected and make a passage between rue Etienne Marcel and rue Montmartre: rue Montmarcel was created and will be part of the neighborhood. It is a rupture with the historical verticality of Etienne Marcel with a new architectural signature that emphasizes the horizontal aspect of the passage from one entrance to the other.
Patrick Norguet was inspired by François Girbaud’s idea of burning Etienne Marcel’s skin. Beginning with a pile of matches, the concept of consumption formed in his mind. A certain notion of destruction without becoming trash that the architect felt was part of the brand’s bold creativity. With this in mind, he worked on shading materials until fire took over areas of the shop. “Therefore, we find charred, black wood that is almost burned to ashes, leaving very little of the original material as well as natural wood that lends credibility to the “luxury work garment”.
Marithé François Girbaud is an international French based clothing company founded in 1964 by husband and wife, François and Marithé Girbaud. In the US, the brand gained popularity in suburban and urban communities, mostly Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and San Francisco. The company releases different styles of jeans through out the world, and has specialized jeans made for Japan.
They have knee and ankle adjustable Velcro straps that come in a large variety of colors to match outfits. Girbaud also has “Brand X,” “Skinny Cowboy,” stonewashed and taped para shuttle jeans which have double Velcro straps at the knee. Girbaud has recently introduced the 3-Strap para shuttle jeans, which has double Velcro straps at the knee and one Velcro strap at the ankle. Juvenile, an artist from New Orleans, Louisiana mentions the brand of jeans due to their extreme popularity in the city as the jeans of choice long after they lost favor in other cities.
Today, New Orleans as well as Jackson, MS area department stores are among the few places “Girbaud” jeans can still be purchased. Most popular of the styles was the Brand X jean with the signature “beeper” pocket along the right thigh. These jeans are considered by many among the first to be designed for mainstream purchase with wider thigh and crotch space making for the “baggy” urban look. In New Orleans, as well as other locales, the jeans went by the slang term “African Cut” Girbaud’s, in reference to the extra leg and crotch room desired by men of African descent with wider hips, buttocks and thighs than the typical European model.
The “baggy” pants style went through many iterations and designs reaching extremes in the late 90’s and early turn of the century. Recently, however, the baggy look is being challenged by the revival of the early 80’s “skinny pants” style making continuing popularity of Girbaud jeans even among the diehard of New Orleans somewhat debatable. For more information we invite you to visit the links below too.