Few French labels are as closely associated with a single category as Sézane is with knitwear. A decade on from the brand’s early following, and following a rebrand towards a more sophisticated and structured identity, knitwear remains the thread that ties the label’s story together.
The most visible sign of the new chapter is The Knitwear Gallery, a floor-to-ceiling installation at Sézane’s Appartements stores that presents knits as a visual study of texture, colour and shape. The display gives year-round pieces such as the Gaspard cardigan, the label’s long-standing signature, and the Othello a setting closer to an exhibition than a shop floor.
Materials at the centre
The rebrand has come with a stronger emphasis on material, and the new knitwear generation shows it. The Selene jumper, at £138, is spun from merino wool soft enough to be worn without a layer beneath, yet firm enough to hold its shape over repeated wear, which makes for easy styling.
The Faustine jumper, at £126, is made from baby alpaca and wool, delicate in appearance but not in construction. The Mina jumper, at £101, completes the core of the range, with each piece built around the same priorities: material quality, a considered fit and a silhouette that behaves.
Cuts with expressive volume
Beyond the fitted pieces, the new generation explores volume and drape. The Georges cape, at £187, is a one-size double-faced knit that is structured yet drapes on the body without the belting or fussing that capes often demand. It is the piece most clearly carrying the collection’s ambition.
The broader range moves between fitted knits and generous silhouettes, draped pieces and shaped collars, with an architectural quality to the construction that has become part of the label’s more grown-up identity.
Pieces that stay
What distinguishes the collection is its orientation away from seasonal turnover. The gallery presentation emphasises pieces available year-round, which suits how the label’s customers actually wear knitwear: as a staple rather than a trend.
For a brand maturing alongside its first generation of customers, the new knitwear chapter reads as a quiet statement of intent. The colours are considered, the materials are central and the cuts are built to last, which is precisely what a decade-long following has come to expect.
The Appartements concept itself deserves a mention. By presenting knitwear as an installation rather than a stock rail, the label is signalling where it sees itself: closer to the European fashion houses it once positioned itself against than to the online-only start-up it began as.
Whether the gallery format travels beyond the flagship locations remains to be seen, but as a statement of intent it is hard to miss: knitwear is not a category within the label, it is the label.
For customers, the practical effect is a collection that is easier to buy well: a small, clear range of knits with an emphasis on wearing beautifully rather than wearing out.
The broader range moves between fitted knits and generous silhouettes, draped pieces and shaped collars, with an architectural quality to the construction that has become part of the more grown-up identity.