Jeanne Friot’s fashion activism played with fluidity this season, in more ways than one. With a cast of entirely trans and nonbinary models and a collection that was softer and played on pastel hues, she sought to subvert stereotypes and show her support to the transgender community.

“I needed to do this for my community, with everything going on at the moment, especially in the U.S., with trans people,” said the designer, who is a finalist for the Pierre Bergé prize for French creatives at this year’s ANDAM Fashion Awards, the winners of which will be revealed next Monday. “It’s a moment of joy for this community that’s suffering, having their rights taken away,” she said.

Friot reinterpreted the French Tricolore flag in criss-crossing pastel stripes and tartans, with the pastel theme accentuated by the models’ colorful false eyelashes and painted hair styles.

Alongside the softer silhouettes, like volatile slipdresses fastened with her signature belt strap details, and satin shorts and bombers with buckles, straps and rivet details, she built on her belt signature with an expanded lexicon of armor-like metallic leather designs that protected and highlighted the body, a mark of her growing expertise with the material. These pieces ran the gamut from a striking bodysuit to a full-length open-skirted dress. 

Statement T-shirts read “trans lives matter” and “bombing for peace is like f****** for humanity,” while Friot’s version of a twinset came in royal blue tweed with an ultra-cropped skirt. There were ultra-slinky mesh slipdresses and bodysuits done in monochrome or print, alongside sporty, boxier and padded looks that wrapped the silhouette like a streetwise protective layer, including a short version of the designer’s signature feathered jeans.

Strapped boots stomped down the runway once more, from the now familiar over-the-knee version offered in the colorways of the season to a new calf-height interpretation more suited to everyday wear.