PARIS — Antik Batik has been creating boho chic ready-to-wear for ladies for the past three many years. Pieces equivalent to airy linen shirts and ’70s-inspired embellished vests proved popular enough that men were snapping them up for their very own closets.

Now, following the brand’s thirtieth anniversary and just in time for Paris Men’s Fashion Week, founder and designer Gabriella Cortese is presenting the brand’s first men’s collection for spring 2024.

“We had numerous men who were buying the ladies’s pieces, so I made a decision to make a dedicated collection for men,” Cortese said. “It just felt like the fitting time.”

Enter Paris Opera Ballet principal dancer Germain Louvet. The 2 were introduced by a mutual friend, and he became a little bit of a muse for the road. He also serves because the face of the primary campaign.

“He spoke a lot about movement, how he desires to move and feel completely comfortable,” she said. Louvet is steeped in culture, music, art and literature and people notes coloured her ideas about what a set must be. Louvet desired to cultivate a way of freedom for men’s clothing.

Thus Cortese worked with light, airy materials and reinterpreted the normal trouser shape, which resulted in a patterned, legging-style pant coordinate in soft jersey that bridges the gap between traditional trousers and athleisure.

The boys’s collection maintains a lot of Antik Batik’s core codes equivalent to embroidery and handmade block prints in loose linens and organic cotton, translated into generous, boxier cuts for men. “We adjusted the shapes and proportions — sleeve lengths, shoulders — for the fit.”

Cortese used traditional Indian Khadi, the hand-spun woven cloth championed by Gandhi to advertise native handicraft and self-sufficiency, for several pieces. She spent a month in India working with the stable of local artisans she has cultivated over the past 30 years. Block prints come from Jaipur, while specialty weaving is sourced from Kolkata.

She reinterpreted tuxedo shirting in longer, kurta tunic shapes, with contrasting stitching and traditional buttons fabricated from metal and intricately webbed thread, for key elevated touches throughout the gathering. Other shirts boast coconut shell buttons.

She also pulls global inspirations along with Hungarian-inspired embroidery on Cuban-collared shirts which have a relaxed, French Riviera feel, while cargo coordinates in quilted paisley work together as a contemporary suit.

Shapes are loose and breezy, in plaids and patchwork coordinates. Shirts are deceptively light. One key piece is a purple floral shirt with appliqués on organza. It reads daring print from afar; up close it’s transparent and gauzy.

“The shapes are quite acceptable for men, but you might have transparency and a few fantasy with the Lurex threads and every little thing may be very light, very colourful,” she said. “Every man that’s dressed up in winter with very stiff clothing likes to wear these sorts of things in the summertime.”

Accessories include a woven belts and a cylindrical bucket bag in brown or black leather, with cutout detailing.

Cortese began with the intention of doing a capsule, but as ideas sprouted it grew right into a full line. “I began with a really small collection but then once I began, I desired to do increasingly more,” she said. “It looks very [extensive], but there are core shapes in numerous colours and you’ll be able to wear pieces day to nighttime. It’s a extremely cool way of dressing.”

For Cortese, entering this latest category comes at a time when there’s an increasing concentrate on menswear. “What is occurring now with men’s collections may be very necessary,” she said. “The category is growing increasingly more every 12 months, so that is the fitting time.”

Antik Batik continues to expand as a way of life brand in several categories, including homewares. The designer can be celebrating summer with a pop-up in Saint-Tropez, as a part of her retail growth strategy in key vacation markets.

The boys’s collection will launch in February 2024 at Le Bon Marché in Paris, rolling out to chose retailers in key locations including Italy, Germany and the U.S.

Cortese is obvious the gathering isn’t a one-off or a capsule. She intends to present two men’s collections a 12 months to buyers going forward, along with the style calendar.