WHAT IS C.R.E.O.L.E ?
C.R.E.O.L.E. is a cultural manifesto shaped by the heritage of creole communities and the futures they continue to imagine. Inspired by Édouard Glissant’s concept of creolization—a dynamic field of exchanges, encounters and fertile hybridizations—the brand embraces a constellation of territories shaped by movement and relation: the Caribbean, the Americas, Atlantic African regions, the Indian Ocean, South and Southeast Asia, and Levantine lineages such as Syro-Lebanese diasporas.
These connections link places like Cape Verde, Suriname, Haiti, Trinidad, Martinique, Jamaica, Panama, Colombia, Mauritius, La Réunion, Louisiana, and numerous creole communities across Europe and the Americas.
Rejecting exoticism and reductive narratives, C.R.E.O.L.E. champions an inclusive, genderless approach that modernizes and celebrates cultural expressions often overlooked, making them visible, valued and honoured. The brand’s aesthetic emerges from the dialogue between contemporary workwear, diasporic streetwear, and sportswear shaped by territories where movement and collective pride are central, enriched by a swimwear sensibility born from coastal environments and the luminous intimacy of island life.
Its visual language draws from artisan traditions—embroidery, weaving, dyeing, crochet—rooted in Caribbean, African, Asian, European and Levantine craftsmanship.
C.R.E.O.L.E. imagines clothing as a space of narration and transformation, where hybrid silhouettes and sensitive materials embody the plural stories and diasporic circulations of the creole world. Through bold creative gestures, the brand explores new modes of expression that reflect how creole cultures continuously reinvent themselves and expand within the global contemporary landscape.
Its ambition is to reshape how creole territories and their diasporas are represented in fashion, proposing a narrative where aesthetics, engagement, sensuality, memory, hybridity and cultural elevation coexist. C.R.E.O.L.E. positions itself as a bridge between multiple heritages and modern creation, offering a global language capable of revealing the richness, complexity and creative power of creole identities on the international stage.
VINCENT FREDERIC-COLOMBO
Born in Paris and raised in Guadeloupe, Vincent Frédéric-Colombo developed an early sensitivity to island cultures, transmitted narratives, and the hybrid identities that shape creole societies. With a multidisciplinary background in applied arts, product design and socio-anthropology, he refined his approach to fashion as research and storytelling at HEAD – Geneva.
After moving to Paris in 2012, he worked at KOKON TO ZAI while initiating the visual research project CREOLE SOUL, developed in collaboration with Fanny Viguier. Together, they later co-founded the cultural collective LA CREOLE, now a key voice in the Parisian nightlife scene.
The fashion label C.R.E.O.L.E, however, is Vincent’s independent project, extending the manifesto he began in 2013 and fully shaped by his artistic vision.
In 2024, he contributed to the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, confirming the cultural resonance of his work. Since 2023, he has presented his collections on the Menswear Calendar of Paris Fashion Week, asserting a singular creative voice rooted in creole identities, diasporic narratives, plural masculinities and cultural circulations linking islands and continents.