Before graduating from Atelier Chardon Savard in 2015 with his beautiful and widely celebrated graduate collection called “The Feast of Trimalchio”, Arthur Avellano earned his stripes at the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Toulouse, where he began developing his aesthetic, playing with print motifs, and cultivating a passion for a peculiar material often imbued with sexual connotations: latex. Transposing the material from its background in fetishism, Arthur Avellano aims to craft wearable everyday garments in latex, as versatile as a trench coat in cotton gabardine. To reach that goal, he treats latex in the same way as he would any more traditional fabric, while constantly seeking out new ways to master the material and achieve a stunning drape and wear. It’s this focus on innovation that has turned his project into so much more than a mere gimmick: it has ushered in a veritable revolution in men’s ready-to-wear. His first runway show in June 2017 set the tone: ultra-fluid silhouettes, pieces that dance with magnificent liquid reflections, and proof that latex can rhyme with lightness and movement. “Runway show” is not the most apt word for a designer who prefers to orchestrate a massive event, or performance in which several disciplines come together to produce a cohesive artistic idea. To this end, the playlist comes courtesy of his friends Raven or Majeur Mineur, the choreography is entrusted to House of Drama member Aymeric Bergada du Cadet, and the breathtaking set design is the work of Atelier de Paname. At Avellano’s latest show called “Excalibur”, held at the legendary Stade Bauer in Saint-Ouen, audiences marveled at a range of multicolored mountains spread across the turf like melted chewing gum. The pitch hosted a sportswear-oriented collection pairing latex with more familiar summer materials.