'If you're on trend, you are in trouble'

Patou creative head Guillaume Henry discusses the essence of couture and why simple is best

- Pooja Singh

One of the highlights of 2025 has been the entry of more niche fashion and luxury brands into India. Whether it's crystal maker Baccarat or elevated ready-to-wear COS, shopping options for the Indian consumer have grown widely this year.

French brand Patou is among the most recent to open a space inside the new luxury department store Galeries Lafayette in Mumbai. The clothes, from coats to T-shirts, are chic and effortless, but they are far more colourful and playful than one would expect from a Parisian brand.

That wasn't the case when Jean Patou founded it in 1914. At the time, it offered haute couture with freer silhouettes, unlike its competitors such as Chanel, which were influenced more by traditional styles. After Patou's death, the house saw some of the greatest names of fashion at its helm: Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Paul Gaultier and Christian Lacroix. After Lacroix left in 1986 to start his own brand, the Patou house ceased its activity, till the French conglomerate LVMH acquired it in 2018. "I still call it a project," says Guillaume Henry, the Patou creative director since its relaunch. “It’s been a sleeping beauty for a long time.”

In an interview, Henry tells Lounge about Patou's entry into the Indian market and why he doesn't try to please cool people. Edited excerpts:

What makes you so interested in India?

This is not my first time in India; Patou’s embroidery is done here. From a design perspective, it’s always been a place full of enthusiasm, joy and fantasy. That's what also drives my work as a creative director. So, when I work for a brand, I first want to seduce the people that I know can be connected to the work I do. I also have a long relationship with Galeries Lafayette, so that was another reason.

How long an association is that?