Simon Porte Jacquemus Is Your Favorite Tabloid Star’s Favorite Designer

Why the creator of the viral tiny bag is grabbing matcha with Kourtney Kardashian.
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Simon Porte Jacquemus, 29, is having the kind of summer young fashion designers only dream of. In late May, WWD reported that sales of his label were expected to hit 25-35 million euros this year, leading us to declare the official era of French Guy Style. A month later, he staged one of the standout fashion shows of the year, sending his hunky guys and insouciant women down a Provençal lavender field paved with a lipstick-pink runway. His tiny bags, which seem to grow tinier with every collection, are a hit far beyond the fashion world, with tabloids and morning news shows celebrating their unusual appeal.

And this week, he grabbed matcha lattes in Los Angeles with Kourtney Kardashian, wearing a tiny corncob keyring from his most recent collection.

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Commercial hit? Check. Critical darling? Check. Friend of celebrities, with a paparazzi-handsome mug to boot? Check, check, check.

The Daily Mail at first did not recognize him, instead describing him conspiratorially as a “Scott Disick lookalike,” but the internet was quick to identify him. This is neither the first nor the last time the designer will pal around with celebrities. His purposefully naive approach to design—like botanical prints and baggy cargos—and his uncanny understanding of fashion’s relationship with the internet—meme-like big hats and tiny bags—make his clothes feel cerebral in their quirky simplicity. (Rei Kawakubo was an early supporter of the brand: he worked in a Comme des Garcons store when he first launched his label, and Dover Street Market was one of the first places to carry his line.) Plus he’s charming: when he announced he was launching menswear, at his Autumn 2018 womenswear show, he simply explained to reporters backstage, “I’m in love!” Kardashian was notably carrying a tiny bag—only it was Hermes, not Jacquemus’s design. But you can imagine he probably just thought that was fabulous.

The Kardashians have a habit of bringing designers into their fold and making them household names. They were early devotees of Riccardo Tisci, serving as cornerstones of his Givenchy Gang. Then they set their sights on pout master Olivier Rousteing and his Balmain Army. Jacquemus may be their next golden boy. (At the very least, we’ll find out in four to six months, when the present moment runs as an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.) Who wouldn’t want to hang out with a good-looking fashion designer with a sense of humor?