An Earnest and Accessible Debut for Kai Nesselrath at Carven Spring 2027

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It’s a new day at Carven. After parting ways with designer Mark Thomas after just one year, the brand just showed it’s first collection under the leadership of new designer Kai Nesselrath and, if you as us, it bodes well for the future and saleability of the brand. Not that we didn’t love a lot of what Thomas was doing — he’s a very talented designer — but what Nesselrath presented this Paris Fashion Week felt altogether younger, more wearable, and, simply, more Carven.

Perhaps that’s because Nesselrath — who worked at Chanel under Karl Lagerfeld before moving to Saint Laurent, where he spent the last decade working alongside Anthony Vaccarello — threw himself so thoroughly into exploring the brand’s archives. “As I joined Carven, I immersed myself in the archives, collecting every image and drawing I could find, studying Madame Carven’s lines and silhouettes, listening to her interviews and the way she spoke about her work,” he wrote in the show’s notes. “More than honouring the House alone, I wanted to awaken the energy of Madame Carven. What spoke to me most was Marie-Louise herself: this idea of a doer… a woman who works with her hands. The gesture and movement of the hands are very important to me. I wanted the collection to feel like this sense of work in progress, a certain undone quality, an imperfection almost.”

The effect was, by and large, very successful. The clothes felt wearable — simple and beautiful and not overly precious — with subtle references to the late 1950s and ’60s. The cotton and silk Panama dresses, skirts, and trousers were great. As were the backless maxi dresses that walked later in the show. And speaking of maxi dresses, there was a fantastic blue cotton one with some really fabulous draping that came second to last in the order and looked almost like a bed sheet that had been wrapped around the model’s body and pinned in place. It could have looked messy, but it didn’t. Which is a testament to Nesselrath’s skill as a tailor and the sculptural approach he took to designing the collection collection.

Of course, not every look was a roaring success. The empty belt loops Nesselrath popped on some of the tops and skirts at the beginning of the show were distracting and unnecessary. He meant for them to evoke a sense of memory “a certain good nostalgia” he said, but, really, it just looked like someone forgot to bring them to the show.

There was a green skirt suit that felt unrelated to anything, an oversized navy trench that came off more frumpy rather than louche, and a pair of pants that looked like they were made of used tissues.

Still, the collection felt like a genuine success overall. Nesselrath is clearly very skilled and it will be wonderful to see what he is able to come up with as he settles into his new role.

Check out the rest of the Carven Spring Summer 2027 collection below.