My grasp on fashion has always been tenuous at best, but over the last few years, I’ve felt a creeping sense of commonality with that world. It’s an oft-repeated truth that wine brings people together, and in this case, it was natural wine that was intriguing both me and legions of models and designers at the same time.
When I first saw Vivanterre wine, with its swoopy, organic shapes on the label—on Vogue, no less—the relationship between fashion and natural wine really crystalized for me. The aesthetic was defined.
The line was started by Rosie Assoulin, whose voluminous and colorful evening wear and jewelry won her a 2015 award for Emerging Womenswear Designer from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), and her husband, Max, the CEO and president of Vivanterre. They work with Patrick Bouju and Justine Loiseau of Domaine La Bohème in France’s Auvergne region.
It was Max who explained how the two worlds relate.
“It’s something that’s new and old at the same time,” he says. “I think that there was a big allure to connecting with something, drinking something that is both ancestral and also very aligned with today. And I’m not saying that from a trend perspective.”
For him and Rosie, he says, the fashion and wine labels are separate. And the wine, a project born out of their passion for drinking and sharing natural wine over dinner parties and even at fashion shows, certainly stands on its own.
Some things continue to change with the season, the year, the decade, yet they’re still eternal. Whether it’s a skin-contact blend of Sylvaner, Gewürztraminer and Ugni Blanc, a Gamay, or a blousy floral-print sundress, the notes and tones will change over time, and that’s exactly the point.
Published: April 16, 2021
