CARTE BLANCHE - KYOTO

For its new collection, A.P.C. handed over the reins to a group of photographers, inviting them to offer their own take on the collection. No creative brief, no fixed location, no styling guideline: just complete freedom.
Each photographer chose their own destination, their own light, their own mood. The idea was to see what the collection could become when placed in another context, through another lens. The result is a series of distinct, often surprising images - sometimes personal, always free - that let the clothes speak for themselves. It’s a way for A.P.C. to open up new conversations, explore unfamiliar ground, and stay true to a clear, consistent vision: trust the eye, and trust the pieces.
For this new Carte Blanche, A.P.C. invited French photographer Emma Le Doyen to bring a selection of accessories from the Fall Winter collection into focus. Her work, which moves between fashion, documentary, and the study of everyday life, found a vivid setting in Kyoto, a city that feels like a living painting where nearly everything begs to be captured.
What struck her first was the texture of things. Wood, sheet metal, tile, aged materials blending with the tones of the city, echoing the structure and colors of the bags and shoes. Even the light seems to shift through time. “What hit me immediately were the textures of Kyoto. The city is weathered. Wood, metal, tile… every surface makes you want to take a picture because the materials are so rich. Kyoto feels like a mix of eras. You can’t really tell the time or the year. It’s the same with the light: it’s the start of the rainy season, and in a single day the sun can burn your head, then disappear behind heavy gray clouds.”
Trained at École Duperré in Paris, Emma Le Doyen has spent the past several years developing a visual language that is both instinctive and sensitive. In this series, she wanted the A.P.C. Fall Winter accessories to be part of a free, inspired reading of the imperial city.















