The Moon Over Marine Serre

A just-out-of school designer captivates fashion’s toughest crowd.

- Cathy Horyn

THE CORNERSTONE of Marine Serre’s 2016 graduation collection from La Cambre, the Belgian design school, was a print of a tiny crescent moon. Although the celestial symbol has links to a number of cultures and religions, it is most commonly associated with Islam, and it was in that context that Serre used it in her collection, which she named “Radical Call for Love.” Born in 1991, Serre is French, part of a generation that has grown up fearing terrorism but also the reaction to terrorism. The attacks in Paris in November 2015 and in Brussels four months later occurred during her final year at La Cambre. Her collection, which included references to 19th-century dress and contemporary sportswear, was a response to those events, although Serre stopped short of calling it a political statement.