Vincent Frederic-Colombo is many things, in many different worlds, at many different moments: A Parisian, fashion designer, creative director, casting director, DJ, co-founder of a beloved Paris party collective and a music curator. His fashion line, C.R.
E.O.L.
E. is also one part of a larger artistic universe. C.
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L.E.’s roots trace back to Creole Soul, a fashion and visual research manifesto and subsequent photography project co-founded with photographer Fanny Viguier that centered on and celebrated the Creole diaspora.
(It would also give birth to La Creole, Frederic-Colombo and Viguier’s beloved party series “born from interculturality.”) With the brand, Frederic-Colombo has been able to “reframe Creole identity” through designs that serve as a connection point between the past and the future — utilizing elements like the Pan-African flag, and queering classic silhouettes like workwear into something that feels unique to Frédéric-Colombo’s story. His latest show, during men’s Paris fashion week, was inspired by the 1976 eruption of the La Soufrière volcano in the archipelago of Guadeloupe, where Frederic-Colombo is from.
Called MAGMA 76, the show featured designs, score and energy inspired by the resilience that comes after destruction. Frederic-Colombo also participated in a fashion show during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, walking his own designs down the runway that featured the work of other Parisian designers as well. For Frederic-Co.