Vitals

Patrick Bauchau as Adrien, art gallery owner

French Riviera, Summer 1966

Film: The Collector
(French title: La Collectionneuse)
Release Date: March 2, 1967
Director: Éric Rohmer

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Bastille Day feels like a fitting occasion to celebrate French director Éric Rohmer’s first color film, the 1967 drama La Collectionneuse, which has recently resurfaced across summer mood boards. No surprise, given its sun-drenched palette courtesy of cinematographer Néstor Almendros, a frequent Rohmer collaborator who also shot aesthetically satisfying masterpieces like Days of Heaven.

Considered the fourth entry in Rohmer’s “Six Moral Tales”, La Collectionneuse was made with extreme efficiency while the director waited for Jean-Louis Trintignant’s availability to shoot My Night at Maud’s. Rohmer and Almendros worked with a minimal crew, relying on natural light and long takes to ground the characters in their idyllic—and quietly volatile—setting.

La Collectionneuse was also the first starring role for Belgian actor Patrick Bauchau, who had appeared uncredited in Rohmer’s La Carrière de Suzanne four years earlier and would later be known to 007 fans as the henchman Scarpine in Roger Moore’s final James Bond film, A View to a Kill. Here, he plays the narcissistic gallery owner Adrien, who intends to take advantage of the monastic conditions at his rich friend Rodolphe’s rented villa near Saint-Tropez to enjoy “a real vacation” in peace and solitude:

I even tried not to think. I was face-to-face alone with the sea, far from cruises and beaches, fulfilling a childhood dream put off year after year. I lost myself completely in the play of shadow and light, sinking into a lethargy heightened by the water. That state of passivity, of complete availability, promised to last much longer than the euphoria of one’s first summer dip into the ocean. I could easily see myself spending a whole month this summer this way.

However, this peace and solitude are threatened by the feisty young Haydée (Haydée Politoff), unexpectedly staying at the villa. Adrien and his friend Daniel (Daniel Pommereulle) are initially distrustful of the girl who brings a different lover to the villa every night, but he gradually comes to appreciate her company when she joins him on his early morning swims.

“My greatest defect is trying to confirm my first impressions,” Adrien confesses to Haydée after realizing his growing fondness for her has rectified one of his weaknesses, though this fondness devolves into resentment when he denounces her as the titular collectionneuse:

I’ve found a label for Haydee—the collector. Haydee, if you sleep around with no plan at all, you’re on the lowest rung of the human ladder: the revolting ingenue.

She doesn’t seem to care.

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What’d He Wear?

The limited production team working on La Collectionneuse resulted in no credited costume designer, so I haven’t found a record of how the cast’s clothing was selected or sourced, though the characters’ clothing is still very significant through the story—from the men ironically donning dramatic loungewear to Haydée’s skimpy swimwear. After he’s introduced to us wearing a dark suit colorfully mated to a bright teal knitted tie and a striped shirt with contrast collar and cocktail cuffs, Adrien’s sartorial rotation at the villa adds a lived-in verisimilitude for a man anticipating a month of quiet, easy summer living.

One of Adrien’s most frequently worn pieces is a slate-blue sweater made from a rakishly pilling wool, frequently pulled on as a comfortable top half when venturing out to his early-morning swims. Wide but not quite wide enough to qualify as a boat-neck, the sweater’s round crew-neck is widely ribbed, echoing the ribbed cuffs and waist hem.

Adrien cycles between two pairs of cotton jeans in cream and black—never wearing the traditional blue denim. He exclusively wears the black jeans with this sweater, whether he’s lounging around the villa or striding down to the beach for a swim. Configured with the usual arrangement of five pockets—two patch back pockets, two curved front pockets, and a small watch/coin pocket inset in the right-front pocket—these jeans are cut straight through the legs. He holds them up with a black leather belt that closes through a unique white buckle of twin concentric rings, framed in black enamel to present like a psychedelic sideways “8”.

Although Adrien is barefoot in the above screenshots, he’s almost always seen wearing dark-blue canvas espadrilles with this outfit. These simple yet sophisticated summer slip-ons typically feature cotton or canvas uppers and flexible rope soles—traditionally made of Mediterranean esparto, though more commonly crafted today from less expensive jute and reinforced with vulcanized rubber for added durability.

Originating among 14th century Catalan peasants, espadrilles evolved from workwear to resort shoes among men and women, predominant in Europe though with waves of popularity in North America.

For one brief vignette, Adrien layers the sweater over a blue chambray work-shirt, which he styles intentionally with the collar flat over the sweater’s neck-hole and the tails hanging below the hem.

Adrien’s shirt is made from a blue-and-white chambray cotton that presents a rich sky-blue finish, tailored in the traditional work-shirt style with a button-up front placket, button cuffs, and twin button-through patch pockets—all fastened with contrasting white plastic buttons.

Chambray’s deep historical roots originated in 16th-century France—specifically in the northern commune of Cambrai, known for its fine textiles. The lightweight yet hardy fabric became a popular export to England and then the United States, where it was initially known as “cambric”. By the early 19th century, the “chambray” nomenclature became more common, particularly as the weave expanded from linen to cotton. Its breathable durability and denim-like appearance made it ideal for workwear, such as the U.S. Nav’s “dungarees” working uniform, introduced in 1913 and worn for decades after.

Given the villa’s proximity to the sea, Adrien almost always wears the black jeans over his swimwear—a set of squared dark-navy briefs with strips of orange terry-cloth trimming the waist hem and leg openings.

Not quite part of his wardrobe but worth mentioning (and visible in some of the above screenshots), Adrien fiddles with a gold filigree ring that swells out to a pearl setting, alternately wearing it on his left pinky and left ring finger.

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What to Imbibe

“The worst thing around here is the wine,” Adrien complains to Haydée. “It’s disgusting.”

Fine then. No wine for you.

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How to Get the Look

Adrien keeps a flattering but unfussy wardrobe during his long, languid days at the Saint-Tropez villa, often ambling down to the beach in a comfortably pilled sweater, black jeans, and espadrilles—slipping out of all three for a swim in his funky, Euro-cool trunks. It’s a look rooted in the late ’60s, but with a relaxed timelessness that still feels fresh today.

• Slate-blue pilled wool long-sleeved sweater with wide crew-neck and ribbed cuffs and hem
• Sky-blue chambray cotton work-shirt with front placket, two button-through patch-style chest pockets, and button cuffs
• Black cotton five-pocket jeans
• Black leather belt with black enamel-framed white “sideways 8” buckle
• Navy canvas espadrilles
• Dark-navy square-cut swimming briefs with orange terry edges

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, included among Rohmer’s “Six Moral Tales”.

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The Quote

My real work had always begun when others’ stopped.