COURANT: FRENCH CHIC: French designer Franck Lada started the label Courant in 2015 between his homes in Bordeaux and London. With a keen passion for retro clothes and underground art he fuses these together to make a casual collection that is fresh and fun. Although a relative newcomer as a designer his first collection is already gaining fans…
What is your background in design and fashion?
I grew my experience in London learning the fashion business as an assistant in development and craft for creative direction at Tatty Devine (jewellery) and Ashley Marc Hovelle (British designer now in Berlin) but I’m still learning every day.
What is the inspiration behind your designs?
I’m keen on searching for rare vintage clothing. My aim is to re-adapt vintage gems I find in flea markets or carefully hand-picked vintage stores. You can see by the look of the Denim jacket, which is a re-adapted version of a worker jacket and biker jacket. The new sweatshirt is an 80s inspired deadstock sweatshirt I found in a vintage shop; I re-adapted my logo in a super futuristic Prism style. I thrive to make my designs modern, timeless, affordable and well-fitted. Finally, I take my inspiration in pop art and various sub cultures in general.
What / where are you hoping to take Courant in the future?
I wish to open Courant within unique department and concept stores. For now I have very limited numbers from my exclusive art collaboration. This Autumn I decided to add a new substance with a high quality and limited UK made sweatshirt. Hopefully 2017 will brings more opportunity for Courant to make polos and amazing jackets that I have imagined in my book.
Who do you feel is the ideal Courant customer?
Anyone who has good taste and interest in general. I think Courant is for open minded people with a cool lifestyle dedicated to culture and art: music, book, movies…
Most of my current customers are gigs goers, mods, rockers, punks, eclectic music listeners and people working in fashion. I am very pleased to count Jono from Jagwar Ma as a regular Courant aficionado wearing our heart shaped sunglasses dog t-shirt on regular basis.
What brands to you aspire to be like?
There’s not many… I’ve always been inspired by the creativity and personality of the Paul Smith label. The label represents similar universe to Courant; dedicated to design and lifestyle and original tastes through music, art and culture.
