When I reach Julia Davis around midday, she’s two flutes of fizz down, though not without good reason. She’s in Paris, fresh from attending her very first fashion show: Drew Henry’s debut collection for Courrèges. While the debut was, in and of itself, one of the week’s most anticipated moments – marking the redirection of the slinky, party-hardy template that Nicolas Di Felice had set over the past five years – for members of the British press section, it was Davis’s presence at the show that was the real coup.
After all, Davis is a true national treasure, a legendary British comedian known for writing and starring in the cultishly adored ’00s black comedy playing Jill Tyrell, a magnetically unhinged suburban hairdresser – not to mention her regular turn in , and the deliciously un-PC podcast Dear Joan and Jerica. It was at Henry’s personal invitation (the designer being a longstanding fan), that Davis hopped on the train to Paris, thought that wasn’t without a degree of trepidation. “I guess that fashion isn’t really my world,” she says, with a warm, matter-of-fact humility. “Mine is much more comedy focused and hiding behind these grotesque characters , so to see and mix with a whole different industry, I was kind of like, ‘What‘s that going to be like?’”
Photography Pip Bourdillon. Courtesy Courrèges
Photography Pip Bourdillon. Courtesy Courrèges
After a fitting at the Courrèges studio – where she met Henry for the first time on the eve of his big debut – an overnight at the Four Seasons on Avenue George V, and a morning spent in the glam chair, she was well prepared to face whatever blue steel glares and diva tantrums the frow would throw her way. Mercifully, Davis’s anxieties swiftly dissipated on realising that “everyone was really friendly, excited and chatty.”
After a series of warm greetings from the many fans present, she took her pride-of-place seat between Ellis Howard and Hannah Jones, stars of the BBC’s runaway hit show What It Feels Like for a Girl, and François-Henri Pinault, Kering’s chairman. No biggie, mind! “It had been said that I should make sure to charm him, since he’s the head of, well, everything,” Davis says. “And I was like, “How do I do that?!” The responsibility to deliver the sort of pithy icebreaker you’d expect of a career comedian was taken out of her hands when, “halfway through the show, he turned to me and asked, ‘Do you like it?’ And I was like, ‘I fucking love it!’”
Photography Pip Bourdillon. Courtesy Courrèges
Photography Pip Bourdillon. Courtesy Courrèges
Among that looks that stood out to Davis were a classically Courrèges A-line dress with a distressed trim as well as Henry’s confident deployment of colour. “It had a very distinctive feel to it, and a real excitement,” she says. “You really could sense that he was putting his stamp on things. It just felt incredibly cool.”
The same goes for the outfit she wore to the show, with Davis among the select few chosen to sport Henry’s very first designs for the house for the occasion. Opting for a navy chequerboard silk jacquard tunic, white jacquard trousers and statement logo jewellery, “it was a really relaxed look,” she explains. “And I was also really glad that I wasn’t having to wear something too revealing!”
Photography Pip Bourdillon. Courtesy Courrèges
Photography Pip Bourdillon. Courtesy Courrèges
That wouldn’t necessarily have been the case had she chosen to show up in character, though. What if it was Jill attending her first show, I wonder? “If we’re talking about Jill of old, it would definitely be hot pant chaps, maybe with just a little bra top,” she says, a choice that would have landed her right on trend according to the spring/summer 2027 runways. “There’d be some chiffon involved… probably a fascinator, and high heels.” And Joan’s advice for an aspiring front-row debutante? “Well, first of all, it would depend on how attractive you are as to whether you could attend in the first place,” she says, slipping into the character’s disarmingly warm Edinburgh lilt. “And secondly, I would say you need to look good for the guys that you might potentially pick up. I would be looking at a kilt with a busty top. It’s not a million miles away from Jill, but do you get your hair styled and make sure you smell good.”
While Davis won’t necessarily be following this guidance for her next show attendance – not on the dressing front, at least – she’s certainly manifesting more show experiences to come. “Attending a fashion show was always something I wanted to do, but I’ve never delved into it or tried to make it happen,” she says. “That’s always the best thing in life though, when something falls into your lap. But the experience has made me want to see more now!” See you on the frow, Julia!
Photography Pip Bourdillon. Courtesy Courrèges
Photography Pip Bourdillon. Courtesy Courrèges
Photography Pip Bourdillon. Courtesy Courrèges