Marine Serre

If you want a piece with both a recognisable signature and a genuine conscience behind it, it earns its place. The crescent moon is the motif that has become the brand's emblem, and it sits on top of a design practice built around real upcycling rather than marketing. You are buying a logo with meaning and a process that backs it up.

Because the upcycling is real, and real upcycling is slow. A minimum of 50% of each collection is made from upcycled material such as old lace tablecloths and vintage silk scarves, which have to be sourced, sorted and reworked piece by piece. To support that supply chain Serre employs over 70 people just to source and rework deadstock, and that labour is reflected in the price.

The signature jersey moon top is designed to be worn close to the body, so it reads as deliberately form-fitting rather than relaxed. If you prefer a little more room or are between sizes, sizing up is the safer call. As a general rule with stretch pieces like this, try it on before committing if you can.

It debuted at the very start of her career. The crescent moon first appeared in her 2016 graduation show, "Radical Call For Love," at La Cambre, and it has been the signature of her brand ever since. So the symbol everyone now recognises was there from her first collection.

She is a French fashion designer and sustainability advocate, born on 13 December 1991 in Brive-la-Gaillarde, near Corrèze. She studied in Marseille before moving to Belgium to attend La Cambre, graduating with high honours in 2016. The next year she won the prestigious LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers.

She trained inside some of fashion's most demanding houses. Serre held internships under Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, Matthieu Blazy at Maison Margiela and Raf Simons at Dior, and worked for a year as a designer at Balenciaga while developing her own line. That pedigree is part of why her debut landed with such authority.

It is built into the business rather than bolted on. At least 50% of each collection is upcycled from existing materials, and in 2019 she became the first designer to collaborate with an air-filtration mask company to produce branded air-purifying masks. Her work is often cited as a leading example of eco-futurist thinking in fashion.

Very much so, which helped propel the brand. Wearers include Kylie Jenner, A$AP Rocky, Yung Miami and Beyoncé, who wore a catsuit from the line in her 2020 Black is King project and later commissioned a custom catsuit for her 2023 Renaissance World Tour. That kind of visibility cemented the crescent moon as a recognisable symbol.

The brand is stocked internationally at well-known luxury retailers. You will find it at Dover Street Market, Nordstrom and SSENSE, among others. Buying through established stockists like these is the surest way to know a piece is authentic.

It is, and she credits it for her discipline. Serre trained for over thirteen years and nearly qualified for the French Open before deciding to pursue fashion full-time. At the 2017 LVMH Prize, jury member Karl Lagerfeld memorably described her as "one-meter-fifty, but a will of steel."