Joie's Serge Azria on This Season's '60s, Romantic Vibe

Joie's New York Fashion Week presentation is one we look forward to every season. Be it the dreamy fabrics to the femme, chic silhouettes, we at MC are self-proclaimed Joie girls both in and out of the office. Joie's Spring 2014 collection, featuring high-waisted denim, stripes galore, and even hand-painted watercolor motifs are a nod to a warm summer day in the height of '60s glamour. With colors in varying shades of whites and blues, this season was all about upping that classic Joie style with what's fresh, new, and romantic. We spoke to Serge Azria, Joie's sole owner and creative director, about why this season is his favorite collection yet.

Marie Claire: From what I've seen so far, the collection has almost been like cotton candy — just so light and effortless. Can you tell me a little bit about your inspiration this season?

Serge Azria: With white, there has be a secondary color. This season I wanted to emphasize the color blue as a major color for the collection. The accent color had to work the most with white without going into conflict, which was shade of blues and blue stripes — like nautical stripes.

MC: So is there a definite nautical influence?

SA: We've always did nautical stripes. It's part of our DNA. This time I tried to size it into the presentation of the collection. With the white, it gave the stripes a much more important position. When you see white, it could be on anything. It could be a t-shirt, and there's nothing wrong with that. I love that. At the same time, it's not just one white fabric. There's a lot of different volume and texture of the whites.

MC: This season I've also been seeing a lot of sheer. Is that something that's been incorporated, as well?

SA: Totally. There's one of the pieces I like very much — a pleated sheer skirt and the blazer. It's casual, but at the same time it's very casual, '60s chic.

MC: It's especially great for spring and summer. I also saw a graphic tee as I was going into the elevator earlier! Is that something you've started to do this season?

SA: That's a wink to the California line. We are always saying Joie is like Paris meets Los Angeles, or France meets California. We're not going into graphic tee or a lot of messages on t-shirts. It's quality, and it says, "Oui oui."

MC: If you had to place this collection in one place in the world during one point in time, what would it be?

SA: Yes, on the Amalfi Coast or in Ponza. These are the two places that make me think about this collection. And that girl is sitting on the sailboat on a hot afternoon. When I was in Ponza, everything was white because of the sun, and all the door frames are different shades of blues. For the presentation, we reconstructed a wall with a blue door as the backdrop. I'm just very happy with the line!