PARIS, France — It's not usual for designers to give an intimate speech to their audience, explaining the reasons and ethos behind a collection. That's what Sebastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant did at Courréges today. Despite the electronic screen and the sci-fi, glaring whiteness of the space, not to mention the resolute futurism of the clothes — which, at Courregés, is a given — it felt like a warm, inclusive gathering.

Andrè Courréges debuted his eponymous collection exactly fifty years ago, in the very same place. He immediately became couture's foremost purveyor of young, bright new things. Apropos "Optimism" was the keyword for Meyer and Vaillant. Their approach to the label, wisely, is focused on the product: a series of well edited, and ingeniously rethought Courreges staples, served as such, not as looks. The colorful and sporty pieces from the collection were handed down to friends, who mixed them with their own stuff. Photographed by Reto Schmid, the resulting portraits were exposed in the room, closing the circle of this progressive show format. Welldone.