Nora Baldenweg Portfolio 2010

studio photographed by rachael woodson. portrait by karl lagerfeld. look book illustration courtesy of maison michel.

insider:

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full house

I FIRST MET LAETITIA Crahay at a small soirée in Paris three years ago. She looked effortlessly cool in a sharp black dress and towering heels; a whimsical chain-band was woven into her hair and she held a clutch emblazoned with sleek, interlocking Cs. Introduced to me by the host of the party as the accessories designer at Chanel, Crahay told me about another venture she was working on: She had just been appointed as head of the small hat company Maison Michel.

Since then, the Belgian-born Crahay has not only been churning out amazing accessories under the direction of Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld, but also making headpieces relevant to young tastemakers. “You know, that really wasn’t the easiest challenge. I had to find a way to make hats cool again,” she says, sitting in her office at the famous Chanel

headquarters in Paris. Her workspace is filled with little trinkets and books she has collected on her many travels. “Maison Michel was known for making big, volu-minous, made-to-measure creations for weddings and things like that and, at the time, hats really weren’t that fashionable,” she says. So Crahay came up with everyday versions of classic Michel headwear: minia-ture boaters, petite trilbies, tiny top hats, a slew of cheeky accessories such as cat and bunny ears, and her now signature head-band (“le ed-bohnd,” as she calls it in her French accented English), embellished with lace, pearls, chains, and feathers.

Enlisting Lagerfeld to photograph the pieces on the heads of Crahay’s cohorts was just another step toward turning Maison Michel into a covetable accessory brand. “I’m really just lucky to have friends who are cool and famous,” she says while going through her look book, which reads like a who’s who of the hip and beautiful. The wall behind her desk is covered in little thank you notes and cherished pictures of pals—such as Jeremy Scott, Vanessa Paradis, and Madonna—wearing her accessories. “I guess I kind of started a phenomenon,” she says while twisting her hair into a chignon and securing it with a pencil. “I mean, personally, I still don’t wear a lot of hats. I do wear my little rain hats with plastic ears in the winter because I don’t have an umbrella, and I often wear my headbands. But actually, I’m starting to be a little over those now, they’ve been copied so much.” Maison Michel-inspired accessories really have popped up everywhere. “I don’t mind being copied by Zara and all that—that’s actually quite flattering and I understand that girls can’t always buy expensive stuff,” she says. “It’s more annoying when young designers copy my things. They’d be better off creating something of their own.”

Crahay herself is more than used to dreaming up new ideas. “We do nine collections a year with Chanel alone, so you have to be able to come up with new stuff all the time, and switching over to Maison Michel is actually quite refreshing,” she says. “I’m always working, observing, thinking, and looking. I try and juggle both jobs all the time. I’m always here and there and constantly running all over the place. It’s tiring, but I love it.”

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: crahay’s inspiration board; the accessory designer in one of her creations; the hat making studio; an illustration from her maison michel look book; tools of the trade.

as accessories and jewelry designer at chanel and artistic

director for french milliner maison michel, laetitia crahay wears

many hats. by nora baldenweg

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#$%#&'()&*(#$+,*$-&&Nora Baldenweg

./(*012&0314(&)*31&5'&0$1$(6&)'&7*0#&8/&-*+9:*31&*..$+&'(#$+-$;0&666&Ja, etwas zu oft vielleicht. Ich verbringe sogar mehr Zeit unterwegs als zu Hause in Indien. Dort bin ich nur in den zwei bis drei Monaten vor den Schauen, um an den Kollektionen zu arbeiten.

($70#&)$*($+&9:/00*031$(&/+7$*#&/:0&.<)$=)$0*;($+&./310#&)'&8/&/'31&'(;:/'7:*31&,*$:$&9<::/7<+/#*<($(&.*#&)$(&'(#$+=031*$):*310#$(&7+/()0>&(*,$/2&($0?+$00<2&0-/#312&+$$7<92&/70<:'#2&./3&666&Ja, das ist ein großer Teil meiner Arbeit. Ich glaube es kommt daher, dass ich als Inder eine frische, et-was andere Perspektive auf Mode und Trends habe.

0*$10#&)'&)*31&)$((&$1$+&/:0&9@(0#:$+&<)$+&/:0&.<)$)$0*;($+AIch würde sagen, ich bin einfach ein kreativer Mensch, der die Mode als Werkzeug nutzt, seine Kreativität auszudrücken und dabei die Möglich-keit hat, mit einer ganzen Menge anderer Brands zusammen zu arbeiten.

'()&-*$0<&1/0#&)'&)*31&$(#031*$)$(&)$*($&7/0*0&*(&*()*$(&5'&7$1/:#$(AWeil hier mein Studio und meine 200 Angestellten sind.

Knallbunte Stickereien, psychedelische Muster und explosive Farbkombi-nationen: Willkommen auf einem Trip in der Welt von Manish Arora. Spätestens seit Katy Perry damals bei den MTV Awards in einem seiner fantastischen Karus-sellkleidern auftauchte, ist er bekannt für seine extra-vaganten Kreationen. Und auch im Modezirkus Paris gilt der indische Designer als wunderbar exotischer Stern der Fashion Week.

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!"#$%&&'(")"#'*+$(,$-..$("#$/"+-'0#"+#'1$!"#$/,**$/-)$*"23$(#)$#)+*+#3,)4*5'&6#**$#")#'$%&..#%+"&)$7&'*+#..#)1Ich entscheide mich für ein Thema, eine Grund-idee, irgendwas. Dann wird recherchiert, wir suchen Bildreferenzen, mehr Informationen, so viele Infos wie möglich. Währenddessen arbeiten die einen an Silhouetten und andere an Verzie-rungen. Und wenn dann alles irgendwie zusam-menkommt, versuchen wir die ganzen Kleider herzustellen.

!-*$!-'$("#$")*5"'-+"&)$89'$(#")#$)#,#*+#$%&..#%+"&)1Die Kollektion war inspiriert von der Art Deco Bewegung – die Haare, die Farben, der Stil – aber gleichzeitig war sie sehr futuristisch, so eine aktu-elle 90er oder 2000er Version davon. Man könnte fast von Art Deco Kriegern sprechen. Aber viel mehr kann ich dazu nicht sagen, denn in meinen Kollektionen passiert immer so viel, dass ich gar nicht viel erzählen muss.

("#$/&(#.*$+',4#)$.#,23+#)(#$*5-2#:%&583;'#'<$!-*$3-+$#*$(-/"+$-,8$*"231Na ja, die Kollektion war so Art Deco, dass ich mir überlegt habe, wie ich ihr etwas mehr Witz oder Humor verleihen könnte. Wie ich auf die Idee gekommen bin – keine Ahnung!

#)+*23#"(#*+$(,$&8+$*&$!"..%9'."231Ja, immer!

4"0+$#*$(#))&23$+3#/#)$&(#'$#.#/#)+#=$("#$(,$"//#'$!"#(#'$-,80'")4*+1Mein Logo ist ein Herz, und irgendwie hab ich es bisher in jeder Kollektion geschafft, ein kleines Herz einzubauen, sei’s als Print, als Teil einer Stickerei oder im Logo ... Als Inder ist die Stickerei bei mir natürlich ein grosses Thema. Und ich glau-be auch, dass ich bisher in jeder Kollektion pink verwendet habe.

8-'0."23$*+#23#)$(#")#$%&..#%+"&)#)$")/"++#)$(#'$5-'"*#'$*23-,#)$"//#'$*#3'$3#'-,*<$"*+$("#$-'0#"+$/"+$%)-.."4#)$8-'0#)$+>5"*23$89'$")("*23#$(#*"4)#'1Der einzige Eindruck, den ich von typisch indischer Mode habe, ist der von traditioneller Hochzeitskleidung. Hochzeiten sind hier sehr wichtig und die meisten indischen Designer leben von dieser Familientradition. Ich glaube aber schon, dass wir uns grundsätzlich wohler fühlen im Umgang mit Farben und ethnischen Mustern. Aber es wäre doch auch für andere endlich an der Zeit, sich an mehr Farbe zu gewöhnen. Schwarz ist ja schon seit einer ganzen Weile Mode.

(,$3-*+$(#")#$%&..#%+"&)#)$6,#'*+$-)$(#'$")("*23#)=$(-))$-)$(#'$.&)(&)$8-*3"&)$!##%$4#6#"4+<$),)$(#8"."#'*+$(,$*#"+$#")$5--'$?-3:'#)$")$5-'"*<$3-+$(-*$(#")#)$*+".$7#'@)(#'+1Ja, sehr. Aber das passiert wahrscheinlich jedem, der aus einem anderen Land nach Paris kommt. Man lernt soviel in dieser Stadt. Und mit jeder Show wird man besser. Paris ist eine globale Bühne und das ist auch der Grund weshalb ich dort zeige. In Paris zu präsentieren ist ein Traum.

AB

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#$%&'$()&*+&%$,%-).$/0&*12+&,%3455%-&54*%*%($,-%6&2+&#%6*%-7Als 17-jähriger Student in Mumbai habe ich von ei-ner School of Fashion Technology in Delhi gelesen. Ich habe sofort angerufen, den Test gemacht und wurde kurz darauf auf ein Interview eingeladen und dann ausgewählt. Es war nie wirklich mein Plan, aber sobald ich dort war, wusste ich, dass es das war, was ich machen wollte.

#1(&#16&*%$-&%6()%6&81(0$4-&545%-)9&1-&*%-&*+&*$/0&-4/0&0%+)%&%6$--%6()7Soll ich lügen oder dir die Wahrheit erzählen ... Als etwa 15-Jähriger trug ich gelbe Hosen und knallrote T-Shirts mit irgendwelchen Logos drauf. Jedes Mal, wenn ich an meinen ersten Fashion-Moment zurückdenke, kommt mir dieses Bild. Ich schäme mich wahnsinnig dafür, obwohl ja gerade ich Mode mag, die etwas mutiger ist, als nur beige zu tragen.

#$%&($%0)&*%--&*1(&):;$(/0%&51-$(0&16461&5<*/0%-&1+(7Sie ist abenteuerlich, spontan und sehr international.

#1(&#=6*%()&*+&0%+)%&)+-9&#%--&*+&*$/0&*151.(&-$/0)&%-)(/0$%*%-&0<))%()&54*%>*%($,-%6&2+&#%6*%-7Ich glaube ich würde Filme machen. Ich wollte schon immer Regie führen.

+-*&#1(&8=6&8$.5%&#=6*%()&*+&51/0%-7Etwas mit Humor. Etwas, das die Leute glücklich macht, sie zum Lachen bringt und dennoch eine tiefgründige Botschaft hat.

8$.5%&1.(49&*$%&;%68%3)&2+&*%$-%5&.1'%.&;1((%-&#=6*%-?Genau! Wenn man meine Kleider trägt, soll man lachen und wissen, dass das Leben toll ist. Das ist die ganze Idee hinter meiner Brand. h

Photography Roman GoebelStyling Bodo Ernle, / nina-klein.comHair and make-up Christiane BuchholzModels Darryl Sharp / d1 models Eddie Ness / vivamodels

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TEXT AND INTERVIEW Nora Baldenweg DRIES VAN NOTEN

Dries van Noten

ELEGANTSKINDries Van Noten is known for beautiful prints, subtle colour combinations and deeply romantic shows. That’s why his last mens-wear collection was quite a depar-ture. Beneath a graffiti-clad tunnel right beside the Parisian river Seine he sent out tough-looking guys in bleached denim jackets, splattered shirts and black combat boots. INDIE finds out about the Belgian fashion designer’s new take on elegance and why he is mixing tailored jackets with rough pieces reminiscent of the English street culture of the 70s.

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You are often referred to as a very cerebral designer. Would you say so yourself?I guess it’s kind of a combination of things. On the one hand, it’s true, I do not draw a collec-tion. It’s really about the things that work in my head. I always start from something: a song, a sentence, a movie, an artwork, an exhibition, it can be anything really, and from that on I start to create a woman or a man around that image. So in that way yes, but on the other hand, the moment the fabrics come in, that is really my starting point. I’m not a designer who could make a collection out of black or white poplin

like other designers. I need my fabrics, my co-lours, the different drapes. In the end that’s my language, that’s my material, that’s my paint to make my paintings.

Your last men’s collection was quite diffe-rent to what we’re used to seeing from you. What happened?I think people were a little surprised to see something concrete and very industrial. I’m a little bored of seeing conceptual fashion shows which are maybe very nice to see on the cat-walk, but you say: in fact, this, who is going

to buy or wear this? I really wanted to give the whole thing a sense of reality. A real guy doesn’t have a summer and a winter wardrobe. He’s just always mixing everything. I wanted to use things that men know, typical masculine garments, and combine them in a new way. I wanted to play with garments, take complete-ly different elements and put them together to make a new silhouette. I just wanted to create a new kind of elegance by mixing, as usual for me, a lot of elements: English street culture, going from the 70s, Ska, Mods, Skins, Punk, all that, with some very elegant jackets and tailo-ring. Really for me this was like a new take on wearable menswear.

Do you design with yourself in mind?No, it’s already a while ago that I stopped designing for myself because otherwise you risk that your client ages together with you. It would be a little bit dangerous to design with myself in mind because now that I’m older than fifty, I would make collections for the middle-aged man, which is not really the ideal fashionable guy (laughs).

How do you come up with a direction then?I think about who the person is that I want to dress, I start to give him more characteristics, like: is the person travelling to Barcelona or to Scotland, or is he just visiting the village beside his city, where he lives? Is he drinking tea or cof-fee or a cocktail? I gather all these things, which really define a character. And then my team adds even more layers and information. They will be like: Ok, he drives an automatic car and he drinks cocktails, so in that case he would be the type to wear these kinds of shoes.

What kind of a person is the guy you crea-ted in this collection?This guy is really kind of tough. He just wants to be himself. He’s definitely somebody who lives in the city and has different lives, a lot of different lives.

What kind of lives?That’s up to you to fill in. I often think that too much information blocks creativity. I don’t communicate on our mood boards. It’s always nice to tell a story and then get another inter-pretation of it.

Since starting your brand in 1985, you have never done advertising. Is that some-thing you want to continue?

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Well, in fact it was never intended like that. When I started I really didn’t have the budget to advertise. I had to work as a commercial desi-gner during the day to earn money to be able to design my own collection in the evenings. Once I did have a little bit of budget, I realised that you should either advertise in a lot of magazines or better not do it at all, so I decided to invest in doing fashion shows instead. And then when the company became bigger again, the moment when I really had the possibility to advertise, I felt it would maybe hurt the company. People were really starting to buy the clothes for the clothes and not for the label inside. Now a lot of my clients see themselves as the client I’m de-signing for. So maybe if I was to choose a model

for my advertisement, I would surprise people and they would be like oh, I thought that the Dries Van Noten man was this type of man or this type of woman and they would be surpri-sed to see someone younger or older or bigger or taller or smaller or softer or more aggressive than themselves.

What do all Dries Van Noten clients have in common?My clients really care for clothes. They are not too into fashion, but use clothes to express who they are. They buy garments and make them a part of their own wardrobe. They wear them in their own specific way, not in the way that we show them in the fashion show.

„ICH FINDE DEN GEDANKEN, DASS ICH DIE WELT MITVERÄN-DERN KANN, SPEZIELL FÜR JUNGE LEUTE SEHR WICHTIG. ICH BIN TEIL DER

“A REAL GUY DOESN’T HAVE A SUM-MER AND A WINTER WARDROBE. HE’S JUST ALWAYS MI-XING EVERY-THING.”

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Yet, do you think there is a piece that every guy should have in his wardrobe? A great suit, something that fits perfectly, which is well made in a nice material. Personally I like English Wool in classic colours like navy, black, grey and camel. But luckily enough beauty is so-mething very personal and there are no rules. I think men just have to be themselves and be very comfortable and confident about who they are. Being real, no fakeness, to me that’s what is important.

After all these years of showing in Paris, why have you decided to keep your base in Antwerp?I could never work in Paris, for me it would be too much. I like the fact that we can take a healthy distance to look to the whole fashion world and to live our quiet life in the city of Antwerp. I think big cities ask for a lot of en-ergy, just taking the metro or the taxi can be challenging. You automatically create your own little village, you stay in your neighbourhood, frequent the same restaurants, meet people of your own trade. In Antwerp you’re forced to meet people who have a lot of other interests, people who are busy with other things, you can walk through the whole city and everything is kind of relaxed. I like that.

What is typical of Antwerp fashion?We have a strong sense of reality. And most of us design piece by piece, so even when the style is different you can easily mix them with other collections. That’s not always the case for other designers. Many create with a total look in mind and their separate pieces don’t really have a value. Our fashion is easy to mix and match. That’s also why a lot of multi-label stores sell so many Belgian labels.

As a child, you went to a Jesuit school. How did that shape you?I think I’m quite severe with myself. I always want to do better and better and I am very cri-tical of my own work. Automatically, education is always part of your personality. Like it or not, it always appears in one way or another.

But it was always quite clear that you would end up in fashion. You pretty much grew into it.Yes, I literally grew up in stores. My grand-father had the first prêt-à-porter men’s store in Antwerp, and my father started his own luxury prêt-à-porter stores for men and women in the 1970’s, so in fact, when I had to make a choice

to continue my studies, for me fashion was quite logical. Fashion was always what I liked. But, you never know … Maybe I am still young enough to decide whether it is the right thing for me for the moment or if I should be doing something else … (laughs)

Any dreams or plans?I have many dreams, but I’ve never really wor-ked with a business plan. It’s not like I say, ok,

this year I’ll do this and then next year I want to do that. In everything I do, I just wait for nice opportunities.

What are other things you’re moved by?Gardening. After the fashion world and the fa-shion craziness, being in the garden keeps me perfectly in balance. Shoving my two feet and my two hands in the ground keeps me balanced as a person and I need that kind of reality check.

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A mind-blowing fusion of old-world tailoring, surf and skate references and an array of tropical underwater prints in

green, turquoise, yellow, purple and Nemo blue - Proenza Schouler’s Spring/Summer 2010 collection was simply beautiful. Dividing their time between their studio (a big Soho loft), their New York apartment (a little brownstone) and their big country house (an old colonial cottage from the 1700s: “tackling the kitchen is our next plan, it’s a disaster”), Jack and Lazaro love rocking different worlds. Take a look at their “schizophrenic” iPod: “Sonic Youth, The Cure, Joy Division, The Smiths, Public Image Ltd. and a whole lot of classical music”. On a personal level? “We’re pretty mellow. We just like hanging out in the country with our dogs [Jojo and Buster].” Recently adding killer shoes and the must-have PS1 bags to their high-end line of women’s apparel, these guys don’t look like they’re about to slow down any time soon.

Russh: Guys, I’m still in awe. Your last show was so knock-out beautiful. What were you driven by?Lazaro Hernandez: Thanks! We wanted to go back to a lot of the influences that we had as teenagers growing up. We were looking at

skateboards, skateboard graphics and these beautiful images by Glen Friedman, who documented the Californian skate culture scene in the 70s and 80s.

Jack McCollough: In combination with that we were inspired by a trip we took to Bora Bora in Tahiti – all those fish, colours, textures and this hazy underwater natural world – it was such a sparkling trip. We developed fabrics based on repeated and reflected tropical fish prints and then we had them chintzed so they became all glossy. At the same time there was a real slouch and ease to everything.

LH: It was a mix of skate culture, surfing, waves, beach, fish and underwater stuff. Our collections are always the accumulation of a half a year of personal experiences. If you want to know anything about us, have a look at our collections and you’ll know what we’ve been doing for the past six months [laughs].

What are you up to right now?LH: Well, we’re out here in our country house in Massachusetts – a cool old farm with cows, sheep, chickens and goats. It’s our drawing week – our favourite part of the season. We come up here and draw for eight days straight. We have all our inspiration and research laid out and then we just jam it all out.

JM: After that we go back to New York and

things start to evolve. It’s nice because certain parts of our job allow us not to be in an office. This is a good place to just turn the phones off and concentrate and…

And do interviews with people like me…LH: Yeah exactly [laughs]. But in the city it’s just non-stop phone ringing and e-mails and people asking us a million questions. Here, we’re kind of in our own world. We were just in the woods taking a walk and then we looked at the time and we were like, ‘crap we have to run back to the house to talk to you’. We’re just hanging around, exploring, dreaming...

What are some of the things you’re dreaming of right now?LH: It’s really preliminary. We just started drawing two days ago. But it’s going to be a continuation from the last season. We’re playing with codes of Americana, the sport influence might continue and the silhouette maybe.

JM: But, it’s going to completely change by the time you see it on the runway. We always start off with a couple of basic feelings and ideas. We try not to research too much in that one direction and just let our imagination go.

Do you always work together?LH: We do everything together. It’s definitely a 50/50 collaboration.

WORDS Nora Baldenweg PHOTOGRAPHY Blossom Berkofsky FASHION EDITOR Aya T. Kanai

Vibrant fluoro skivvies with loose board shorts; heavily beaded shimmy dresses, perforated leather tank tops and an awesome pair of anorak sleeves to tie around our waists: This season the power duo behind PROENZA SCHOULER has us trolling the streets as pretty damn cool and sexy surfer girls. Russh catches up with designers LAZARO HERNANDEZ and JACK MCCOLLOUGH to find out about the art of hanging around, the beauty of floating men and the impossibility of convincing someone to like a colour they may just not like.

FASHION

TROPICAL GRUNGE

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FASHION

Is there anything that drives you nuts about each other?LH: Sometimes it gets frustrating that we always have to agree on every little thing to get something done.

JM: We’re constantly in dialogue, we make every single decision together. They’re not decisions you can assume or back up. They’re all subjective, there’s no right, no wrong. Sometimes it’s hard to convince someone to like a certain colour, if they might just not like the colour.

Could you imagine doing your own thing without each other?JM: We have very different aesthetics, but it’s the combination of our two worlds that make Proenza Schouler what it is. The label wouldn’t exist without one of us. But to be honest, when we graduated we thought we were going to go out and just get a job somewhere. It was never really our plan to start a label. But then we got introduced to Julie Gilhart from Barney’s and they ended up buying our senior collection. So we were just kind of letting things happen.

What actually got both of you into fashion in the first place?LH: I grew up in Miami and instead of going to sports after school, I would go to my mom’s beauty salon with all the ladies. Out of boredom I’d pick up Vogue, Bazaar, Elle and all that and just stare at these images of a world I thought existed only in magazines. It was a bit like when you see a movie and you’re like, ‘It’s a movie, it doesn’t really exist.’ You know, growing up in Miami, you don’t dream of becoming a designer. It’s not one of the options [laughs]. When I was 17 after high school I went to New York for two days and realised that fashion was actually something that existed. I was studying pre-medicine at the University of Miami to go to medical school and then I applied for Parson’s. I got accepted, dropped everything, went to New

York, met Jack and here I am today.JM: I never wanted to be like a doctor or

a veterinarian [laughs]. I went to an art high school in Massachusetts, outside of Boston. It was painting and sculpture every day from one ‘til six pm. Then I went to college at the San Francisco Art Institute to do a glass blowing major [laughs] and then I transferred to Parson’s in New York because I wanted to move back to the east coast and I somehow ended up in the fashion department, where Lazaro and I literally sat down next to each other on the first day of class.

When did you realize you worked well together?JM: We were put into the same section, so we immediately had every single class together. We started hanging out and doing our homework at each other’s places. He’d be doing his projects and I’d be doing mine, but we’d always feel like talking about our work and asking each other for advice. We just became good friends.

LH: When we commenced college, all the downtown people were deconstructing and ripping up clothes. We found the idea of construction and tailoring interesting – constructing things as opposed to deconstructing things. We’ve always been interested in this old world opulence and designers that were really constructing clothes, making beautiful tailored shapes. The Dior’s and the Balenciaga’s were big inspirations to us. But through our eyes, having grown up in the 90s and the generation of grunge, there was always a kind of nonchalance and something a bit rough around the edges to our attitude.

Is there a specific woman you have in mind when designing?JM: We don’t have a muse we look to for inspiration. It’s a little more abstract than that. We take bits and pieces from our friends and things we see. Maybe it’s not even a

person, maybe it’s just a feeling or a painting or the combination of everything that comes together and creates what it is. We always say: ‘if we were to wear the clothes, what would we want to wear?’

Have you ever thought about doing a men’s line?JM: Not really. It’s such a fine line. We enjoy some men’s fashion, but being guys, maybe it just becomes too personal. With women’s, we’re separated from it enough to see it in a more fantastical kind of way. I mean, it’s something we’d be open to, but we wear T-shirts, jeans and corduroys every day. So surely it would just be more geared towards practical basics and less about fashion.

What kind of stuff do you like to spend your money on, if not on fashion?JM: [Laughs] Well, we have this house up here and all our money disappears into this house. It’s like owning a money pet… But we’re collecting art.

LH: We’re really into contemporary art. It sounds kind of cheesy. But we’re much more interested in the art world than in the fashion world. We just came from Robert Longo’s studio last week. He does all these pictures of guys in suits in black and white and they’re kind of in the air floating. He’s incredible. And the archives at the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation are so beautiful and inspiring. We’re into that early 80s, late 70s kind of downtown New York art.

What are some next plans for your label?JM: Our next dream is definitely to open our own flagship store in the next couple of years so we can really express what the brand is about.

Great! Good luck with all your future endeavours and thanks so much for your time! LH: Thank you! It was nice to talk to you.

JM: Yeah, it was good chatting with you. We’re going to get back to drawing now.

“We’ve always been interested in this OLD WORLD OPULENCE and

designers that were really constructing clothes, making BEAUTIFUL

TAILORED SHAPES...”

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Photographer Blossom BerkofskyStylist Aya T. KanaiModel Martha S @ SupremeHair Martin-Christopher Harper @kate ryanMakeup Stevie Hyunh @ thewallgroup

PHOTOGRAPHY Philipp MuellerFASHION René Gloor

DRESS33 Green feather earings.ART/C IFRACH Jacket made of golden zips.HEAL Blue sleevles overall.

EBONYBones

J.C. DE CASTELBAJAC Black bast skirt wearing as hat, HEAVEN Big round crystal-pendant, DRESS33 Green feather earings and short dress with transparent sleeves, JANTAMINIAU big metal necklace.

JULIEN FOURNIE Black knitted rubber jacket,J.C. DE CASTELBAJAC Black/blue bast dress,DANIEL HERMAN Red rubber leggins.

JANTAMINIAU Big metal butterfly-top. J.C DE CASTELBAJAC band-top with scull.Ebony own’s multicolour necklace.HEAVEN big round crystal-pendant on cane.

CR

AS

H 5

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JUDGING BY OUR PICTURES, YOU MAY WELL THINK THAT EBONYBONES! LOOKS A LITTLE MAD. WELL, LET US ASSURE YOU, SHE IS A WHOLELOT MADDER THAN YOU MAY THINK. INSPIRED BY CLOWNS AND DRIVEN BYTHE URGE TO ENTERTAIN AND CONNECT, THIS GIRL SURE KNOWS HOW TOROCK A PARTY. DURING OUR SHOOTING SHE WAS WHIZZING AROUND THESTUDIO TRYING ON SKIRTS AS HEADPIECES, GENUINELY LOVING THESPOTLIGHT AND SQUEELING WITH JOY ABOUT HER MAKE-UP FOR THE DAY.IN BETWEEN JUMPING INTO DIFFERENT ROLES FOR THE CAMERA, WELITERALLY TIED HER TO THE CHAIR TO FIND OUT ABOUT HERBACKGROUND AND WHAT IT IS THAT KEEPS HER GOING AND GOING ANDGOING. ENJOY THE WILD AND WONDERFUL POST-TRIBAL-PUNKSONGSTRESS FROM SOUTHWEST LONDON. THIS IS EBONY BONES! INTERVIEW NORA BALDENWEG

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR NAME. Well, Ebony is my real name, actually. I was named Ebony by my parents because of that awful song by PaulMcCartney and Stevie Wonder: ‘Ebony and Ivory’ - I shouldn’t really admit to that, but it’s one of their favourites. And Bones is a realreflection of my music: it’s quite raw, it’s stripped down and it’s the fundamental basis of the music. When someone says ‘show me yourbones’, it means ‘show me the real you’.THE REAL YOU - IS THAT WHY YOU RECORDED THE WHOLE ALBUM BY YOURSELF? Sometimes I find working with other people quite annoying. Youknow that feeling when you start to compromise or water down your ideas to compensate other people’s feelings, that’s never good forcreativity. Once the track’s down, it becomes something else, but in the studio it’s very much me, myself and my silly little faults.YOU WERE RECENTLY NAMED ONE OF THE “40 MEN & WOMEN WHO MAKE LONDON” BY TIME OUT. DO YOU FEEL LIKE A LONDON GIRL? Ironically I’ve always feltlike I’m so not London. My parents were born in Jamaica. My mum’s got Irish blood and my dad’s got Asian blood in him. But there’s nosuch thing as a London girl really. London is a cosmopolitan city so it’s a melting pot of anything goes. I guess it’s always been a magnetfor the eccentric. There’s something about the energy. I think we’re not afraid to break the rules and we’re able to switch things up a littlewhich makes it fun.WHAT WERE YOU LIKE WHEN YOU WERE A LITTLE CHILD? I was very much a tomboy. I wasn’t interested in dainty things and if a boy picked on meI’d go and slap him back. I didn’t want anyone to help me, I could do my laces myself, thank you very much. But at the same time I couldbe very shy. I had a really huge imagination and I’d get sudden bursts of energy and just jump up and down like a mad cat runningaround the room. I think that part of my child is still very much alive and I’m able to kind of embrace that when I’m up on stage.BEFORE GETTING INTO MUSIC YOU WERE ACTUALLY QUITE KNOWN AS AN ACTRESS. DID YOU GET BORED OF ACTING? I started off in Shakespeare doingMcBeth at the age of 12 and then from there moved on to this British soap named Family Affairs. My character owned a hair salon andsort of thought she could dress well. I loved acting, but after a while I did get bored of it because I realized there’s not a lot you can do toconnect with people playing a bimbo in a miniskirt. I was always looking for ways to vent my creativity. I would take costumes home andcustomize them, but I was starting to feel stagnant creatively and I really didn’t want to be stuck in a glasshouse. I’d forgotten what it waslike to be scared of not having an income and I wanted to challenge myself.HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC? Well, my album is really just a soundtrack to somebody with ADD (attention deficit disorder). It’salmost like a compilation or iTunes playlist of random thoughts. It’s very much split up into these kind of dark political-like tracks andthen like fun or kind of pop-like sing-along songs to deflect from that. In the end it’s all about juxtaposition and subversiveness. YOU DESIGN A LOT OF YOUR OWN STAGE COSTUMES. Yeah, I do. But I also work with Timothy James Andrews and Alison Gaukroger, two reallygood and talented designer friends. I’m into silhouette and shape and colour and I like things that put fun back into the heart ofcreativity. I think there’s no beauty without strangeness. That’s why I’m sitting here right now with clay on my face while I conduct aninterview (laughs).WHAT DID YOUR PARENTS DO? My mother, at the time, was working in fashion for Yves Saint Laurent, Missoni and Moschino. She was constantlyin Italy and Paris, so I spent a lot of time in London with my dad and my sister, who was 15 years older than me. My dad had a small recordstore in Brixton Markets selling punk music to black folks. After school I would stand on a little stool and dance and just hear so manyvarieties of music. I think having a mother on the fashion end and my dad in music really inspired me in what I’m doing now.WHO HAVE BEEN OTHER IMPORTANT INSPIRATIONS TO YOU? I’m a fan of anybody who can have the audacity to step outside the circumference ofwhat they’re expected to be. You know, growing up I always felt like I didn’t really fit in. I had this uncomfortable feeling about being agirl. I felt girls were weak and annoying and it wasn’t until I saw artists like Patti Smith, Suzie Sioux, Grace Jones and Annie Lennox,these women, who redefined femininity in music in their own way, that I realized that being female was also very strong. So those womenwere definitely big inspirations. I also vividly remember this lady I used to see on my way to school. She was always riding this bike witha basket. She had the craziest redhead and wore eccentric clothes. I had no idea who she was but I used to sit and watch and wait for her.It wasn’t until years later my dad told me it was Vivienne Westwood. I met her recently when I was at a photo shoot with Jean BaptisteMondino with the New York Times. I remember thinking wow, the queen’s arrived.DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER PASSIONS BESIDES MUSIC? Many, yes. I’ve just learnt how to swim, so I’m really proud about that. And I’m really into a lotof politics. Without sounding like Bono, I like to know what’s going on in the world and I’m disturbed by a lot of what I read or see. I mean,you can tell when something just doesn’t feel right or doesn’t make sense and you go: hang on, don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining.IF YOU COULD BE SOMEONE ELSE FOR A DAY, WHO WOULD IT BE? I’d love to be a fly on an MI5 or FBI government headquarters wall to find outlots of secrets and put them all on twitter.

FELIPE OLIVEIRA BAPTISTA Black feather headdressand black leather shoes,JANTAMINIAU Big metal necklace, KENZO Gold/silver necklace with red stone, JULIEN FOURNIE Black bast “samurai” coat with fur,DANIEL HERMAN Black rubber leggins.

MANISH ARORA White/grey sequins corset, RAD HOURANI Silver/black top.

HAIR Kazue Tanya Bagency. MAKE UP Eny Whitehead Calliste, STYLIST ASSISTANT Azadeh Zoraghi.

SPECIAL THANKS TO www.lepetitoiseauvasortir.com

J.C. DE CASTELBAJAC Black bast skirt wearing as hat, HEAVEN Big round crystal-pendant, DRESS33 Green feather earings and short dress with transparent sleeves, JANTAMINIAU big metal necklace.

JULIEN FOURNIE Black knitted rubber jacket,J.C. DE CASTELBAJAC Black/blue bast dress,DANIEL HERMAN Red rubber leggins.

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RUSSH talks CREATIVE PROCESSES, fragrance clichés and the mysterious MARTIN

MARGIELA with GIVAUDAN’S DANIELA ANDRIER.

DANIELA ANDRIER IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S TOP ‘NOSES’. The award-winning perfumer has created signature fragrances for fashion brands like Gucci, Valentino, Prada, Lancôme, Kenzo, Armani and Calvin Klein. Her latest creation is Maison Martin Margiela’s debut perfume, named (untitled). True to the brand’s tradition of rewriting codes in new and unexpected ways, the olfactory creation explores a ‘green trail’, reinterpreting the forgotten green notes often used in the 70s. Its lovely, earthy smell is fresh, subtle and intriguing.

Entering the Paris offices of Givaudan is like entering a parallel world. Walking along the delicately scented corridors of the world’s largest fragrance company, you can’t help but peek into all those little offices where people are sniffing away at narrow strips of scented paper, their desks overflowing with miniature bottles filled with essences. Daniela Andrier’s desk looks just the same. “My desk is a huge mess,” she says. “I haven’t been here for ages.” At the very back of the premises there is an enormous lab lined with rows of neatly labelled vials and glass accessories. But that is not where Daniela Andrier spends her time mixing together new concoctions. “I usually work from home,” she explains. All she really needs to create a scent, is her laptop – to write down the formulas she creates in her head.

SCENT MEMORY

WORDS Nora Baldenweg

142 143

RUSSH: What was Margiela’s brief for (untitled)? Daniela Andrier: A flash of green, something very intense and powerful… That’s it? How did you get working on it? Creating a perfume is something very intuitive. There’s an inspiration, a fantasy, a certain poetry... I really love Margiela’s world, so it was like sending back an echo or responding to something I’ve been inspired by with a smell. It’s about the right moment and it comes by itself and very quickly. There’s no long research or that I would ask myself a thousand questions. I just have something in my head that I translate into a formula. That sounds so mathematic. Don’t you try mixing together different scents from different bottles?No, making perfumes is a profession, a trade that is learnt over many years. If it was about mixing together potions in test tubes like kids in a sand pit, everyone could do it. Perfumery involves a lot of thinking. But I can’t tell you what goes on in my head. It’s like with every creative process. If you ask a musician how he composes his music, he will tell you he writes music. Of course I don’t consider perfumery an art, but it’s the closest parallel I can think of. There’s an abstraction in the head of a perfumer. We imagine smells in our head. Once I’ve written my formula, I send it to the lab, where the different ingredients are weighed and mixed together by a robot.Are you ever surprised with how they turn out?Not really. After twenty years in the business, you rarely experience surprises.You studied philosophy. Does that come into play in your job?It doesn’t really. It’s just part of who I am and everything that is a part of me is part of my work and what I create.So how did the collaboration with Maison Martin Margiela come about?It started with that brief, which L’Oréal sent out to a couple of maisons back in the summer of 2007. At the time I was pregnant and just about to go on maternity leave, so I didn’t participate. I was actually quite sad because I love fashion and Margiela’s world in particular. But then, eight months later, when I was back at work, they contacted me again. Apparently Martin Margiela had gone to all the companies and hadn’t found what he was looking for. They gave me two weeks to prepare about ten new perfumes. When I met up with them to present what I had done, Martin Margiela smelled the third one and said: “This is it. I found it!”

So you actually made this perfume in less than two weeks?Actually, I made it in about 20 minutes. But after that, we worked on it for about a year to really finetune it. Refining and reworking takes most of the time and it’s also the most boring and difficult part about making a perfume because that’s where you can lose vision of the direction you’re working on. The fun part is making it; it’s not every day that you are in the state of creation, of making something new and exciting. There are very prosperous periods, when you have lots of ideas. You get into a real state of enthusiasm and joie de vivre.What’s the hardest part about being a perfumer?The moments of doubt… But it isn’t a job that makes me suffer. Although having said that, it can be hard when you win a perfume and it just doesn’t have the success it deserves. At the same time, I imagine it being just as annoying if a perfume works too well, when every dork runs around wearing it…Well, it has never happened to any of my perfumes, but you’re right, that is horrible – although, I would prefer for everyone to be wearing very nice scents. Today the perfumes worn by everyone are not the good ones. They’re always very commercial, simple and clichéd. Perfume clichés sell well.What’s a perfume cliché?It’s something very evident and banal. A stereotype of what a woman or man should smell like. It’s a scent that has nothing more to say than that it smells. For example, it can be bad for a perfume to be too feminine or too masculine. When a scent is clichéd, it is too stereotyped, there’s no fantasy, no originality, no personality. How would you describe (untitled)?I would say it is, of course, very green; it’s very raw but also extremely refined and elaborate, it’s very dense, very natural and, at the same time, very surprising and strong, it is close to nature and has a very reassuring side…It really does smell green. Why is that?It’s not surprising that you think it smells green. When perfumers say green, they make reference to nature with vegetal smells like crushed leaves, freshly cut grass or when you roll a leaf between your fingers… You think of green because it reminds you of natural smells.Maison Martin Margiela’s artistic identity is based on the reinterpretation of basic codes. Did you try and take that aspect into account as well?I didn’t expressly try to, but reinterpreting

things from the past is something that is very present in my work too. I have a strong connection to the past, I’m nurtured by my memories and I’m really interested in the tradition of perfumery, so that aspect just came in very naturally. It’s not always about being modern and now.Why didn’t you use patchouli? It has been Maison Margiela’s signature scent in their boutiques and offices for years.I decided to use galbanum instead. I think it has a lot of similar qualities to patchouli, which has a very hard and cold head note. It’s very fresh, and then while it gets older on your skin, it becomes warm and very mysterious and sensual. Galbanum doesn’t smell the same at all, but it has similar cold/warm aspects. What’s your favourite smell?Oh, there are so many… I really do like galbanum… But having favourites is a very childish thing to do. My kids always ask me about my favourites: ‘Do you prefer strawberries of raspberries?’ As if you have to have favourites for everything in life. There are things I like infinitely, but I also know that my list is not finished and as time goes by I realise what other things I love. Are there smells you don’t like at all?I hate synthetic fruit scents like peach, or anything that smells really fake. But I don’t think there are any natural smells I don’t like.Do you wear perfume yourself?Oh yes, of course! I’ve been wearing (untitled) all the time ever since it came out. And I also love and wear Infusion d’Iris by Prada. Those are the two I wear the most. Those are both perfumes you created. Are there also perfumes you’ve made, that you don’t wear yourself?Nowadays, I wouldn’t make a perfume that I wouldn’t want to wear myself. But I don’t wear them all. I’ve made so many, it would be absurd to want to wear them all. Do you live life through your nose?I am not a nose before everything else. Smells are very important in my life. They’re important in how I perceive everything around me, but so is what people tell me. I love smells and they help me think of the past, but more important than my nose is my memory. If I had to say what I’m touched by most in life, it would be everything that serves our memory. Perfumes help us remember. I’d be very sad, if I lost my sense of smelling, but I can imagine smells in my head, so if I had to choose, I would prefer to keep my sight.

RUSSH talks CREATIVE PROCESSES, fragrance clichés and the mysterious MARTIN

MARGIELA with GIVAUDAN’S DANIELA ANDRIER.

DANIELA ANDRIER IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S TOP ‘NOSES’. The award-winning perfumer has created signature fragrances for fashion brands like Gucci, Valentino, Prada, Lancôme, Kenzo, Armani and Calvin Klein. Her latest creation is Maison Martin Margiela’s debut perfume, named (untitled). True to the brand’s tradition of rewriting codes in new and unexpected ways, the olfactory creation explores a ‘green trail’, reinterpreting the forgotten green notes often used in the 70s. Its lovely, earthy smell is fresh, subtle and intriguing.

Entering the Paris offices of Givaudan is like entering a parallel world. Walking along the delicately scented corridors of the world’s largest fragrance company, you can’t help but peek into all those little offices where people are sniffing away at narrow strips of scented paper, their desks overflowing with miniature bottles filled with essences. Daniela Andrier’s desk looks just the same. “My desk is a huge mess,” she says. “I haven’t been here for ages.” At the very back of the premises there is an enormous lab lined with rows of neatly labelled vials and glass accessories. But that is not where Daniela Andrier spends her time mixing together new concoctions. “I usually work from home,” she explains. All she really needs to create a scent, is her laptop – to write down the formulas she creates in her head.

SCENT MEMORY


Tim Hamilton's mum at age 18

ZOO MAGAZINE–2009 NO.2439

Since he started his eponymous label in 2007, there has been a buzz about the American fashion designer Tim Hamilton. Having been nominated for the CFDA Swarovski Award for Menswear three times consecutively, Hamilton fi nally walked off with the coveted industry award this year.

Brought up in the American Midwest, and trained by all-American fashion brands such as Ralph Lauren and J. Crew, Hamilton’s casual but streamlined designs have become synonymous with preppy New York Cool. But the 38-year-old is also one for surprises. Last fall, he quietly introduced his fi rst womenswear line in Paris. It was a striking departure from his signature sleek and sportswear-inspired menswear.

Last June, Hamilton’s menswear made its runway debut in Paris with a surprising opener. Twisting his classic background into a more polished direction, the Spring/Summer 2010 collection was all about new shapes, proportions and deconstructed suiting. “Think a well-suited New York man who travels through space and lands in Paris,” says Hamilton.

Soft cotton button-downs with singular parts tailing down the front, deep collarless tops with adjustable waists, diaphanous raincoats worn upside down with super short boy pants… Fabrics were hand-dipped in a variety of industrial materials such as wax and vinyl to create a shiny, crackled and coated look. Breaking down his streamlined silhouettes into intricate parts, this was a layered and somewhat dressier take on formal clothing. Overall, the look was less New York Cool, but still strikingly modern and urban chic.

A few days after his runway debut, I met Tim Hamilton at his quiet Paris hotel, just off Place des Vosges, where he told me about his design aesthetic and his ultimate desire to build a ‘Tim Hamilton World.’

Nora Baldenweg: Tim, I really love your glasses. Through your eyes, what really makes a man and a woman beautiful? Tim Hamilton: Oh, thanks! I think real beauty comes from within. Confi dence is key: what you’ve seen in life, hard work, and yes, also how you’re put together to a degree, absolutely...

NB: You’ve completely reinvented the Tim Hamilton man for your fi rst runway show here in Paris. What has happened to the New York Cool you’re known for? Has showing here changed your design approach?TH: I would have presented the same collection in New York, but doing a runway show has defi nitely changed my approach. I wanted to have directional highlights stand out next to my more classic pieces. Obviously, you want your collection to sell, but you can’t just show basic items on the runway. The coated outerwear, the leathers, the shirtings—I’ve played with new shapes and proportions and I feel like now my product is much more polished than it was in my beginning stages.

NB: The collection was extremely fabric-driven. TH: Fabrics are my starting point. I go to all the fabric shows, develop different coatings, prints and treatments. The whole theme was based on a well-suited New York man who travels through the toxic layers in space and then lands in Paris all coated and deconstructed. I wanted to translate the message of that theme, but still keep a minimal, sort of cold feel.

NB: I must confess that at times your men sort of reminded me of priests. Kind of like space priests, maybe?TH: [Laughs] Wow. That was not the intention. So you’ve just changed the whole theme. Ok, I can see what you mean, the dark color palette, and the length of the coats, they could be perceived as robes, yeah, and the collars. But that wasn’t the intention. Priests in space, ha ha ha!

NB: What was it about Paris? How would you compare the Parisian to the New York market? TH: To me, Paris just feels 100 percent right. In New York, people are a lot more fast-paced and they shop in the moment. In Paris, however, I feel like they have to have an understanding of the brand, its history, its quality and they ‘invest’ in products. It was sort of a natural progression for me to show here. It’s where I do my sales and I mostly produce in Italy. I’m really thrilled that I had this opportunity. I’d love to be transatlantic and spend a lot more time in Paris. Plus, in New York they don’t separate men’s and women’s.

NB: You also debuted your fi rst womenswear collection here last fall. Your woman was mysterious, dramatic and strong—quite the opposite of your preppy American boys. I remember you saying at the time that you were showing it in Paris because people weren’t as preconceived about what you do in men’s.TH: Well, I think the two worlds are becoming closer and closer now. But initially I didn’t want to be one of those designers who just does a feminine version of his men’s collection. Women shop differently. If they’re going to buy a masculine piece, they’re going to buy the masculine piece, not a masculine-looking one. I wanted it to be different, very feminine. My fi rst women’s collection was a tribute to my late mother. She was Lebanese and she always stood out exotically in Iowa, where I grew up. She was into theater and dancing and she would wear crazy black dresses and a lot of black eye liner. My fi rst men’s collection, on the other hand, was infl uenced by my father, typically American. There are still some of those elements in there, but he wouldn’t be wearing the stuff I’m doing now. I guess in the end, I just really want to start building my brand. I like the idea of creating a whole lifestyle, a real ‘Tim Hamilton World.’ So men’s and women’s should probably be in the same place after all.

by nora baldenweg/all images courtesy of tim hamilton

An American in ParisTim Hamilton is the fi rst American designer to show

his menswear collection in ParisTim Hamilton is the fi rst American designer to show

his menswear collection in ParisTim Hamilton is the fi rst American designer to show

interview—Tim Hamilton

Tim Hamilton at age 10

ZOO MAGAZINE–2009 NO.24 40

NB: Is that brand awareness something you picked up at Ralph Lauren?TH: Oh yeah, defi nitely. It was kind of crazy at the time to be part of this whole lifestyle that he creates. I always felt iffy about not really fi tting into it, but I did learn that you can create a brand image, a world within a store, within your advertising and everything you do. His whole world was so opposite of how I grew up. Throughout my childhood, I had fantasized about being in New York, about working in fashion, art or acting. I grew up in a big household, seven kids, but not with a lot of money and, you know, you always dream. I really wanted to do something different. I just wanted to get out of this massive house and do something better.

NB: What are your brothers and sisters doing now?TH: They all stayed in Iowa and are kind of set in their ways. One works in furniture, one works for a printing company, one of them is a hairdresser, one of them is in sales, another one does landscaping—he changes his career every three months—and my sister does all the shipping and receipting for me.

NB: How old were you when you left home?TH: I left when I was 19. I went to acting school and lived just outside of where I grew up. After that I went on a crazy backpacking trip through Florida for a year before fi nally moving to New York at the age of 21. I had no money, so a friend told me to apply at Ralph Lauren, where I landed my fi rst job in sales. Eventually, I told them I was interested in fashion design and they gave me an internship and paid for classes for me to go to Parsons [School of Design.] Then they picked

me for this new concept they had and I ended up staying there for seven years.

NB: What’s your very fi rst fashion memory? TH: I clearly remember a trip to London when I was 11, in the early 80s. I was totally fascinated by seeing all these punk rock guys on the street at Piccadilly Circus. It was then that I realized that people can have the confi dence to really step out and dress in a certain way to match their personality. I never knew that this existed and from then on I started fantasizing about being part of the fashion world.

NB: So what actually made you create your own brand?TH: I think I got burned out with corporate and there weren’t a lot of other options for fashion designers in New York at the time. I was heading up this whole new division, a big job with a big team, but it just wasn’t profound. When I was 33, one of my best friends passed away and I realized how fast life goes by. I had always wanted to do something on my own, so I just got to the point where I had to give it a try.

NB: And now you’re showing in Paris. There was a huge buzz preceding your fi rst runway show. How was the pressure level? TH: Apart from constantly hearing from my Parisian press agent that I was the only American ever to show menswear in Paris, I was really quite okay. I mean, at a certain point, the clothes were done and from then it really is up to the editors and buyers.

NB: So what’s next for you?TH: I want to keep moving forward and start spreading what I do. Maybe kids, shoes, furniture… I’d love to have my own store and progress into a real brand.

www.timhamilton.com

Tim Hamilton, Spring/Summer 2010

Tim Hamilton at age 20, when he left for Florida

Tim Hamilton, Fall/Winter 2009-2010

interview—Tim Hamilton

Die schöne Belgierin Laetitia Crahay ist Schmuck- und Accessoiredesignerin bei Chanel sowie Kreativdirektorin beim hippen Hutmacherhaus Maison Michel. Uns öffnet sie ganz exklusiv die Türen zu ihren persönlichen Arbeits- räumen im Herzen von Paris.

!"#$%&'#()# Nora Baldenweg

*+#+,-%*.($Rachael Woodson

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Words | Nora BaldenwegPortrait | Tommaso Mei

Head Office | Angela Missoni

Despite never having formerly planned to step into her parent’s shoes, ever since taking the helm of Missoni in 1997 as the brand’s creative director, Angela Missoni has successfully led her family’s legacy into the 21st century, securing its position as one of the world’s most recognizable Italian fashion brands. By maintaining the house’s iconic zigzag patterns, characteristic multi-coloured stripes and vivid patchworks, and adding a distinctively con-temporary twist to the designs and silhouettes, the Missoni heiress has con-fidently updated the company’s image to a fresh and desirable look. “It was all about cleaning out, focusing on new ideas and redefining what the brand’s icons were. I wanted to wear Missoni. I wanted Missoni to be modern. I remember people telling me: This is not Missoni enough, it only has four colours”, she says. Today, under her reign, the company has ex-panded to a 360-degree lifestyle enterprise. Along the main men’s and women’s lines and the less pricier and younger M Missoni collection, the brand has successfully licensed accessories, sunglasses, swimwear, fra-grances, a home collection and even the design identity of a hotel chain.

Effortlessly juggling work and family life, the passionate and down-to-earth designer looks back at over half a century of unique prints, patterns, tex-tures, technical innovation and durable design: “I like that people get at-tached to our products and keep them forever.” Just like the collections, the Missoni headquarters in Sumirago near Milan, reflect a joyful, harmonious and colourful atmosphere. “My parents built this factory in the late 60s. They knew that work was going to be a big part of their lives, so they decided to build it in this beautiful place, on a hill amidst woods with great views over the Alps.” The women’s, men’s and accessory ateliers are all located in the same building, housing vast working spaces with full window fronts, a few high desks overlooking the forest, an inspiration board, mirrors for fittings and a big round table with wheeled baskets filled with bits of fabric. For Gatsby, Angela Missoni opens the doors to her “head office”:

Angela Missoni | Head Office

Angela, what does your workplace look like?(Laughs.) Well, actually, I don’t have my own office yet. But that is about to change very soon! Finally! My personal assistant has an office, my assistants all have their own desks, but I move around. I go to the different ateliers and sit at the big communal tables in the middle of each room. Actually, come to think of it, I never had my own private working spot.

So tell us about this future work station. What will it be like?It will be great, the kind of office I have always wanted and dreamed of. It’s going to be on the roof of our headquarters. I am finally going to have my own corner with my very own views.

How will you decorate it?At the moment I don’t have anything specific in mind. Our work is already so full of colour. Even if you clean up at the end of the season, every-thing seems to be decorated with pieces of co-lourful fabrics. I did recently come across some beautiful antique desks though. Maybe I could put one of them in my office. To be honest, I don’t yet really know what I will be doing with the space. Needless to say, you will surely still catch me touring our various ateliers… Perhaps I should just get a big oval table, able to accom-modate at least ten, so when I want to see the people I’m working with I can invite them to my office.

When and where are you most inspired?It can be anywhere and anytime, but the reality of the matter is that inspiration is only the beginning

of a very long process. Of course you start with drawings and fabrics, but the moment you actu-ally see the first pieces of clothing come out, is when you realize how many other things you can do with it. When I see the model fitting the first samples, that’s when I really start changing lengths, proportions and silhouettes, bringing the piece to life!

What’s on your mind when you are not designing?Well, that would have to be my family. Margherita (25), Cesco (23) and Teresa (20), who call up every five minutes. “Ciao Mamma!” About whatever…

Are you good at multi-tasking?Yes, of course! You have to be good at multi-tasking in this job. Making clothes is one thing, but that’s only about 25% of the workload. The rest is about creating an identity, taking care of this image, looking after your shops, visiting in-dependent retail spaces to see how they sell your brand etc. You have to know how to host parties and how to entertain. I’m a solution-finder and my job is to work in every field: design, PR, music, lighting – everything! The good thing is I really don’t have any time to get bored.

Are you rather organized or would you descri-be yourself as a more chaotic personality?I’m organized in my work, very organized in my mind and chaotic in my personal space. But I always know exactly where everything is. I accumulate things because I always think there might be a spark of inspiration in everything. That’s why I think archives are so important.

Everything should be archived, there are so many different things and different ways I feel about these objects…

What drives you crazy?People who are always in a bad mood and peo-ple who don’t have a sense of humour. I’m al-ways ready for a good laugh. It also drives me crazy when people touch my hair. And when the office is messy for no apparent reason. How do you relax before and after work?I wake up kind of early and just love being at home, reading newspapers, enjoying breakfast, no phone calls, no nothing. I try to spend at least two hours at home before arriving at the office around 10am. In the evenings I like to stay home with my partner or going out to see friends. Milan is only half an hour away, but usually I am so tired that I prefer to just stay on my sofa watching a movie.

Could you imagine designing for a company other than Missoni? Probably yes. But if it weren’t for Missoni, I would most likely be doing another job. I could see my-self as an architect…

What’s your most important office utensil? The pencil. Oh, and a rubber!

www.missoni.com

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SANDRA BACKLUND FOTO Carl Bengtsson

TEXT UND INTERVIEW Nora Baldenweg RODARTE

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RODARTE

to what we do. Of course, when I say we’re doing a collection about some-one that burns alive it may seem dark, but to us it’s more about the beauty of the idea of ruined decay in general. We’re not interested in just making something that looks pretty on the surface. We want some kind of interplay, a viewpoint, a context. Without that, it’s just not interesting to us.

Why don’t you wear your own designs?It’s an interesting conception people have about designers wearing their own clothes. Of course there are the ones like Coco Chanel for example, who was an embodiment of what she did and so essentially she designed the perfect clothes for herself. But you also have others, and a lot of men are like this, that don’t necessarily design for a specific woman. In a lot of ways we design for ourselves and there is a personal connection, but it’s not for ourselves in terms of being the clothes that we want to wear every day. The reason we’re driven to do collections is for the creative process. I don’t think we would make the clothes that we make if we were running around wearing them every day. If we were doing that, we would just travel and read and go to museums (laughs).

How did you actually get into fashion?We started sketching when we were really young but we never had any technical fashion training. We had become interested in other things by the time we were in high school. I did art history and thought I wanted to be a writer, and Laura thought she was going to be a doctor and did pre-med at Berkeley for a while. But for some reason we always knew that we wanted to be designers.

anzkörper-Tätowierungen, schwarze Lippen, verwun-schenes Setting: Als Rodartes Tribal-Gothic-Schönheiten während der letzten New York Fashion Week aus einem Meer von gelbem Rauch empor traten, gingen die Bilder ihrer verschrobenen Vision für Frühling 2010 sofort um

die Welt. Die Kollektion: eine wunderbar delikate Parade von kurzen, de-konstruierten Kleidern in erdigen Brauntönen, verbranntem Orange und bemalten Plaids. Obwohl sie sich selbst als Außenseiterinnen der Modewelt bezeichnen, präsentierten Kate und Laura Mulleavy, die zwei Schwestern hinter dem jungen Label, eine der meist bejubelten Shows der NYFW. 2005 mit einer Mini-Kollektion von 10 Stück gegründet, heimsten sie für ihr La-bel inzwischen nicht nur eine Reihe von Auszeichnungen ein, sie kollabo-rieren mittlerweile auch mit Verkaufsriesen wie Target, Gap und Opening Ceremony. Aber abgesehen davon, dass sie etwas ‚anders‘ sind, machen sie wohl auch noch ein, zwei andere Dinge richtig. Mit INDIE sprachen Kate und Laura über ihre Anfänge im Modebusiness, brennende Mädchen, Pilz-festivals und warum es so wichtig ist, seine eigene Stimme zu finden.

Is it actually true that you watched horror movies for a year after college?Yeah, it is true. We became really obsessed. And we only realized how strange it was later. We just felt like it was something we had to be doing. We’ve always been firm believers in following our momentary interests.

Are you still inspired by them now?We use movies as a reference when talking to each other. They’re like a tool for us to interact and communicate. If I were to tell Laura I want the red to be like the red from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, she would know exactly what I mean. Our last collection, for example, was about the idea of a girl burning alive in some kind of wasteland and transforming into a condor. Between us, we would just talk about The Hills Have Eyes, a film made in the 70s.

Is the starting point for your collections always a story like that?Yes it is, and we’re not afraid of telling stories that are a little bit weird. People often make the mistake of assuming that our collections are dark or Gothic. The funny thing is, we don’t find them dark at all. Everything just has a story behind it and that might be the reason there is a darker element

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WHAT WE DO IS A LITTLE OUTSIDE

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Why didn’t you go to a fashion school? We did think about it, but we’ve never really seen schools as a fast track to reaching your dream career. Everything we’ve done, we’ve just done because it seemed right. It all makes sense to me now. What we did was more like creative training. We had very open-minded parents who just thought it was important to be exposed to things and do whatever we were interested in. We always sketched when we were bored in class and by the time we got out of school we had developed a very natural and personal style. We have a lot of interns now and I’ve realized that they all have the same technique because they’ve been taught how to do it. Our sketches are a lot more emotional and they involve us working hand in hand with the collection. Maybe if we had gone to school, we wouldn’t be doing what we do now. It’s so important to have your own voice. It’s all you really have to set yourself apart from the rest.

Tell me about your parents.Our mum used to do these large-scale Navajo weavings, she’s an amazing painter and she can draw whatever she wants. We have hundreds of sket-chbooks from that time, not just family photos. It all came so naturally to her. She had a huge influence on us.

And your father?In a way his job was very similar to ours. It’s always hard to explain what we do to someone who doesn’t really know much about the fa-shion world. And I never really understood what my dad did either. Gro-wing up as kids, we would go to these mushroom festivals. Everyone I knew would build their own greenhouses and we would spend our time in rooms filled with hundreds of racks filled with soil where they were growing mushrooms. We were around people with a specific knowledge, people obsessed with small things. It was a weird environment. I never really asked much about it, it was just something I absorbed and it wasn’t until later that I processed it as being a little different.

Being different has kind of been the key to your own success.It was hard when we started out. We were not prototype designers, we had no technical training, we weren’t from New York and we didn’t know anything about how the fashion world works. I guess that also partly ex-plains our obsession with horror films: it must come from identifying with people that feel like outsiders in an industry. We had a lot of things that were stacked against us when we started out, but those very things ended up being so intrinsic in the way we create today.

You first collection was an instant success. Two weeks after laun-ching your label, you were on the cover of Women’s Wear Daily. At the time we thought our first trip to New York was completely doomed. We didn’t know what we were doing, we were staying at a friend’s house in the East Village together with ten dogs, no one was calling us back, no one wanted to see us, I was freaking out. I was like: ‘this is not going to work, what are we doing?’ and then all of a sudden we had this thing happen with WWD. They don’t even remember why they called us, they said they never see people before fashion week. It was just this amazing and weird thing. We wouldn’t be anything if it weren’t for WWD giving us that cover two weeks after making our first 10 pieces of clothes. Someone must have loo-ked at it and thought there was some possibility for it to go somewhere.

How do you want your label to evolve?I think the important thing for us is to always keep the integrity of what we’re doing. Every season we understand more what we want and what our viewpoint is. Once you become comfortable with what your specific vision is, your interest in growing and broadening it becomes relevant. Right now a lot of the collection is close to being couture. That’s part of the heart of our work, but there’s definitely room to grow a more ready-to-wear component about it. Our collaboration with Target was really fun and exciting and it allowed us to stretch our ideas and kind of stretch ourselves as designers.

Could you imagine going your own separate ways? No. Being together is what makes what we do. The reason we work well together is because we allow each other to be different and to take on diffe-rent roles. We’re very connected. There’s a great line in that movie Margot at the Wedding, where she says, ‘It’s hard to find people that you love more than your family.’ I always felt that was really true. We wouldn’t be the one without the other.

“MAYBE IF WE HAD GONE TO SCHOOL, WE WOULDN’T BE DOING WHAT WE DO NOW. IT’S SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE YOUR OWN VOICE. IT’S ALL YOU REALLY HAVE TO SET YOURSELF APART FROM THE REST.”

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SANDRA BACKLUND FOTO Carl Bengtsson TEXT UND INTERVIEW Philipp L’Heritier ZOOT WOMAN

TEXT Nora Baldenweg FOTOS Romeo Mori

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ie Adresse von Maison Massaro, Chanels Schuhmacher, ist, wie zu erwarten „très, très chic“. Der Showroom liegt an der prestigeträchtigen Rue de la Paix gleich neben dem Place Vendôme im Herzen

von Paris. Fährt man mit dem kleinen Lift jedoch zum Empfang im ersten Stock, taucht man ein in eine Welt, die ganz anders ist als erwartet. Hinter einem einfachen Showroom verstecken sich zwei kleine Werkstätten. Es riecht ganz normal nach Schuhmacherei, und begrüßt wird man vom Chef persönlich: „Kennen Sie die Geschichte von Maison Massaro?“, fragt Philippe Atienza, Geschäftsführer seit 2008, und lädt in sein Reich. Überall Schuhe: Pumps, Loafers, Sandaletten, Ballerinas, Thigh-Highs, Clogs ... „Herr Massaro hat die Firma vor über hundert Jahren hier in Paris gegründet. Die Tradition und das Know-how wurden über drei Ge-nerationen hinweg weitergegeben und gepflegt.“

Chanels Haute Couture Show für Frühling/Sommer 2010 war ein zuckersüßer Traum aus romantischen Tüll-Kleidchen in pudrigen Pastelltönen, die an Marshmallows, süße Vanille, Sahne, Mint und Lavendel er-innern ließen. Der perfekte Kontrast dazu waren die Accessoires und Schuhe in spiegelndem Hochglanzsilber. Kurz vor der gran-diosen Modeschau haben wir bei Chanels Schuhmacher angeklopft, um zu erfahren, was es eigentlich alles braucht, bis wir schlussendlich die schönen Treter auf dem Laufsteg bewundern können.

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ersten Prototypen, aber meistens bringen sie ihn auf neue Ideen, und er fragt nach Modifikationen, um das Modell zu komplettieren. Es ist immer eine Evolution. Das endgültige Design entsteht auf dem Holzleisten.“

„Kommen Sie, ich zeige Ihnen das Lederatelier!“ Dieses liegt versteckt hinter einer unscheinbaren Tür auf der anderen Seite des Showrooms. Aus einem kleinen Radio ertönen die Nachrichten, an verschiedenen Tischen wird Leder geschnit-ten, gemessen, geformt, zusammengenäht und an gewissen Stellen mit einem Skalpell verdünnt. Der Bearbeitung der Knöchelriemchen alleine könnte man stundenlang zusehen: Dünne Lederstreifen werden vorsichtig aus einem Leimtopf gezogen und dann minutiös mit weichem, silbernem Kalbsleder überzogen.

Sind die verschiedenen Lederteile einmal zu einem Schuh zusammengenäht, werden sie zum Trocknen auf die vorbereiteten Leisten gezogen. „Eigentlich sollte der Leisten ein paar Tage im Schuh bleiben, aber vor den Schauen reicht es manchmal nur für ein paar Minuten,“ sagt Atienza. „Bei Chanel muss immer alles sehr schnell gehen. Das gespiegelte Leder für diese Kollektion ist erst heute Morgen eingetroffen. Nun können wir mit der Lederarbeit loslegen, die in etwa einer Woche geliefert werden muss.“ Für die Show wurden fast 100 Paar Schuhe in drei verschiedenen Modellen bestellt und ein komplettes Paar braucht etwa 20-30 Stunden bis zur Fertigstellung.

Ob es denn auch mal Schuhwünsche gäbe, von denen er als erfahrener Schuhmacher von Anfang an wisse, dass sie kaum funktionieren können? „Unsere Arbeit ist es, die ausgefallensten Träume und Wünsche unserer Kunden zu erfüllen. Unsere Kreativität liegt einzig und allein darin, Lösungen zu finden. Wir geben den Ideen der Kreateure ein Leben. Wir sind Lieferanten, Ausführer. Aber das ist es auch, was so spannend ist. Wir müssen die größ-ten technischen Grenzen in kürzester Zeit kreativ überwinden können.“

Das bekannteste Modell aus dem Hause Massaro ist wohl die Ikone aller Schuhe überhaupt – der welt-bekannte zweifarbige Chanel-Pump. „Der ist 1957 entstanden, als Mademoiselle Chanel zum ersten Mal ins Geschäft kam, um hier ihren Traumschuh kreieren zu lassen. Der Schuh wurde mit einer schwarzen Kappe und einem schwarzen Absatz gemacht, um den Fuß weniger lang aussehen zu lassen“, erklärt Atienza. „Außerdem liebte sie beige,

aber sie wollte verhindern, dass ihre Schuhe schnell schmutzig aussahen, deshalb ließ sie die delikaten Teile mit schwarzem Satin überziehen.“

Der Unterschied zwischen einem perfekt sitzenden Massenschuh und einem perfekten Schuh auf Maß? „Das ist etwas ganz anderes! Ein maßgefertigter Schuh sitzt schon mal viel enger, wie angegossen. Einen Billigschuh hingegen kauft man immer lie-ber etwas zu groß, damit er ja nirgends drückt. Hat

man mal einen maßgefertigten Schuh getragen, will man kaum mehr zurück. Und natürlich sieht man den Unterschied auch“, sagt er. „Aber man kann auch billige Schuhe mit Würde tragen. Es ist ein bisschen wie mit Autos. Es gibt die, die ihr Auto gut pflegen, und solche, die sich weniger darum küm-mern. Wie man seine Schuhe trägt und unterhält, sagt so viel über den Charakter und den Lebensstil eines Menschen aus.“

„Ich liebe es, passionierte Leute zu treffen, und ich liebe es, wenn mein Tag rappelvoll ist mit Termi-nen“, sagt Atienza über die Freuden seines Alltags. „Ein Schuhmacher muss einen ausgeprägten Sinn für Perfektion und Qualität haben und alle Facet-ten seiner Arbeit lieben. Meine Aufgaben sind so vielseitig: die Führung der Firma, die sozialen As-pekte, die Produktion, die Kreativität, der Kontakt mit den Kunden ...“

Auf welche all seiner Schuhkreationen der Meister denn am meisten stolz sei? „Das ist immer das neu-este Modell. Jeder neue Schuh ist immer eine neue und noch größere Herausforderung.“

WIE MAN SEINE SCHUHE TRÄGT UND UNTERHÄLT, SAGT SO VIEL ÜBER DEN CHARAKTER UND DEN LEBENSSTIL EINES MEN-SCHEN AUS. “

Im Jahr 2002 wurde Maison Massaro von Chanel aufgekauft, um das traditionelle Handwerk des ‚maître bottier’ zu bewahren. „Wir sind eins von sieben Maisons, die seit mehreren Jahrzehnten Hand in Hand mit Chanel für die Couture-Schauen zusammenarbeiten“, sagt Atienza. „Chanel ist unser Hauptkunde: Wir kreieren deren Laufstegmodelle für die Kollektionen der Haute Couture, der Mé-tiers d’Art und zum Teil auch für die Prêt-à-Porter-Schauen. Aber wir sind spezialisiert auf Maßanferti-gungen. Die Chanel-Läden beispielsweise beliefern wir nicht. Außerdem haben wir viele Privatkunden. Wir bewahren die ‚Holzfüße’ aller unserer Kunden im Keller auf. Wir haben fast 4000 individuelle Lei-stenpaare im Lager. Das heißt nicht, dass alle unsere Kunden wie früher jedes Jahr mehrere Schuhe bestellen, aber selbst wenn sie nur alle drei bis vier Jahre kommen, sind sie für uns sehr wichtig.“

Der Prozess des Schuhmachens ist seit der Gründung des Hauses im Jahre 1894 unverändert geblieben. In einer kleinen Werkstatt hinter dem Showroom arbeitet konzentriert ein kleines Team von Handwerkern. Filigrane Lederstreifen werden zusammengehämmert, vorgeformte Harzabsätze mit Silberfarbe bestrichen und dann von Hand mit Reihen von Perlen besetzt. „Der erste Schritt ist es, einen Holzleisten zu kreieren, auf dem dann der Schuh Schritt für Schritt entworfen wird. Sobald die Proportionen richtig und von Karl (Lagerfeld) genehmigt sind, konstruieren wir denselben Leisten in verschiedenen Größen,“ sagt Atienza.

An der Wand, zwischen verschiedenen Werkzeugen, hängt der Ausdruck einer Skizze vom Chefdesigner selbst. „Karls allererste Skizzen und Ideen flattern etwa einen Monat vor der Schau in Faxform rein.“ Der etwas zerknitterte Ausdruck ist mit verschie-denen Randnotizen von Lagerfelds Assistenten versehen. „Wir reden nicht direkt mit Karl“, erklärt er. „Natürlich habe ich ihn auch schon getroffen, aber er hat Angestellte, die uns als ‚Zwischenleute’ sagen, was zu tun ist, bis es seinen Wünschen ent-spricht. Karl hat Spezialisten für jedes Gebiet. Bei Chanel hat jeder eine klar bestimmte Rolle.“

„Wir kriegen von ihm die ersten Elemente – zum Beispiel die Skizze einer offenen Sandalette mit einem neo-barock-inspirierten Stuckabsatz –, der Rest passiert direkt während der Arbeit im Atelier. Für dieses Modell haben wir versucht, diese Blatt-bewegungen einzufangen und zu reproduzieren. Wir haben ähnliche Formen recherchiert und daraus erste Prototypen aus Harz realisiert“, beschreibt Atienza. „Manchmal genehmigt er bereits unsere

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FASHION

ON EDUCATION“We had very open-minded parents and they just thought it was important to be exposed to things. I would just pick a certain class and take it. It wasn’t about picking the fast-track of what I had to do to get to my career. Everything we’ve done, we’ve just done. We never had any technical training. We build collections with personal [references], but I also feel that’s really important – all the girls I know that are really cool can literally create their entire wardrobes from the Salvation Army. !at’s just the truth and they’re always the coolest girls. Laura and I always knew that we wanted to be designers. I think you sometimes just know. I can remember being in art history classes, Northern Renaissance or something, and I would sketch just when I’d get bored in class. When I got out of school I just had a natural way of sketching. Now we have a lot of interns, everyone has the same way of doing it because you’re taught how to do it. My sketching is more emotional. It’s the kind of sketching that involves me working hand-in-hand with the collection. But I like that, I feel like the hand behind it is what translates. It looks like the way we make our clothes, it’s more free…”The ROMANCE

in RODARTESPELLBOUND. When Rodarte’s Mexican sleepwalking beauties stepped out wrapped in swaths of tulle, frayed silk chi"ons, interlacing #orals, chunky knits, plaids and delicate layers of vintage lace and crochet work, for a few minutes we were lost for words. Maybe it was the dreamy setting, the hazy shades of cinnamon, warm oatmeal, dried mushroom, crème anglaise and splashes of spilled merlot. Or maybe it was because of those perfect glow-in-the-dark booties that looked as if wax was dripping down their spines. A few weeks before the label’s heavenly romantic yet melancholy Autumn/Winter 2010 show, Rodarte’s Kate Mulleavy sat down with RUSSH for a long and lovely breakfast in a weird Swiss business hotel somewhere in the industrial part of Zurich. Here, she opened up about the incredible craftsmanship that goes into making almost couture-like pieces, the importance of doing things your own way and about being an outsider in your own industry.


FASHION

ON BLOOD, GORE AND DESTRUCTION“I would be lying if I said horror movies weren’t a big inspiration. Laura and I use them as a reference for each other to interact and communicate. Laura and I have a way of talking, like if I told her I want the red to be like red from !e Texas Chainsaw Massacre versus like red from Christopher Dorion Lewis or Dario Argento, she would know all the di"erent ones… We get a lot of fabrics but we tend to be very dissatis$ed with them, so we physically age them. You wouldn’t know that just from seeing the collections on style.com, but up close you can see where we burned the holes, where we sandpapered or where it was all painted.”

ON BEING OUTSIDERS“In the beginning, people put such an emphasis on the fact that we never went to fashion school and that we weren’t from New York. We were from LA, we were really laid-back, we didn’t know anything about the fashion world and we didn’t $t a prototype. People were surprised by that, and technically we were outsiders. Our obsession with horror $lms comes from identifying with people that feel like outsiders in an industry. We had a lot of things that were stacked against us, but those were the very things that also were so intrinsic in the way we create.”

ON CREATING A WORLD AND TELLING A STORY“Technically, what we are doing is building an idea. We’re building something that people can understand as our voice. It takes a lot of sacri$ce because in order to build a voice you have to really be strong conceptually and not water it down. I think the job of a fashion designer is to have some kind of artistic viewpoint, otherwise you’re just making clothes. I’m not interested in just making something that looks pretty. To me, it’s about the idea; the context, parallels, complicated viewpoints and things with an interesting interplay. Everything has a story and we’re not afraid of telling stories that are a little bit weirder. Right now a lot of the collection is really close to being couture. It’s really piece-by-piece and I think that’s part of the heart of what we do. It’s not something we want to change, but at the same time there’s de$nitely room to grow a more ready-to-wear component around it.”

ON DISAGREEMENTS“Laura says I always try and put pink in every collection when apparently it doesn’t even make sense in our palette. We $ght about weird things. I feel like we’re di"erent, but the reason we work well together is because we allow each other to transform and to take on di"erent roles. We’re not rigid in who we are. But because we’re sisters, honestly, it’s so mundane what would drive us crazy about each other. It could just be the way I’m doing something that irritates her, like ‘don’t chew your gum that way’. But we don’t really have huge life-altering $ghts, we’re pretty respectful of each other.”

ON NOT WEARING THEIR OWN CLOTHES“It’s an interesting conception people have about designers. You have someone like Coco Chanel who was an embodiment of what she did and essentially she designed the perfect clothes for herself, but then you have people that weren’t necessarily running around in their own clothes. I don’t think we would make the clothes that we make if we were running around wearing them every day. If we were doing that we would just read, go to museums and travel [laughs]. We don’t design for a speci$c woman, we design in a lot of ways for ourselves, but it’s not for ourselves in terms of being the clothes that Laura and I would want to wear every day. !ere is a personal connection because it is coming from us and the reason we do every collection is because we’re driven to do it, to create artistically.”

ON KEEPING THINGS IN THE FAMILY“We still live at home. I’m sure that makes us eccentric to other people but I like having my parents around, they’re fun and Laura and I have an unexplainable connectedness. !ere’s a great line in that movie Margo At !e Wedding, where she says it’s hard to $nd people that you love more than your family and I always felt that was really true. I don’t think I would do it without Laura, it just wouldn’t be the same for me. We wouldn’t create the collections that we do. My mum makes little necklaces for us, and my dad has had to come and really do a lot of the leg work and most of our accounting. It just wasn’t possible for us, because every season it just becomes more than we thought it would be.”

EIN MÄDCHEN WIE WIR

Garance Doré ist wohl die erfolgreichste Modebloggerin der Welt. Täglich schauen

sich über 60.000 Leute ihre wunderschönen Fotos, Illustrationen und tagebuchartigen

Texte an. Uns verrät sie das Geheimnis von coolen Girls, was sie antreibt, täglich über sich selbst zu schreiben, und warum sie es

trotz allem schafft, auf dem Boden zu bleiben.

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WIE SIEHT EIGENTLICH EIN TYPISCHER TAG IN DEINEM LEBEN AUS? Meistens wache ich früh auf, so um halb sieben oder acht, und poste als erstes meinen neuesten Blogeintrag. Dann beantworte ich meine E-Mails, was immer sehr, sehr lange dauert. Manchmal schreibe ich einen Artikel, und dann gehe ich Mittag essen, entweder geschäftlich oder mit Freunden. Meine Kamera habe ich immer mit dabei. Man weiß ja nie, was einem über den Weg läuft. Zurück zu Hause arbeite ich bis spät in die Nacht. Ich bereite meinen nächsten Eintrag vor, damit mein Übersetzer Zeit hat, bis zum Morgen daran zu arbeiten.

DAS KLINGT NACH VIEL ARBEIT. VERDIENST DU DAMIT GELD? Mit Blogs macht man kein Geld. Ich habe etwas Werbung darauf, aber mein Geld verdiene ich mit meinen Jobs als Illustratorin und als Fotografin. Ich arbeite für Modebrands, mache Shootings für Kataloge, ab und zu schreibe ich Artikel. Aber der Blog ist mein Herz und meine Seele. Dort bin ich glücklich und frei. Ich kann mich damit ausdrücken und das tun, was mich inspiriert. Die Freiheit, die ich dabei habe, gibt mir kein anderer Job. Ich schreibe auch nur, wenn ich Lust dazu habe. Ich sehe mich damit ein wenig wie eine Künstlerin.

NACH WELCHEN PRINZIPIEN WÄHLST DU DIE LEUTE AUS, DIE DU FOTOGRAFIERST? Ich lebe einfach mein Leben, und plötzlich sehe ich ein Mädchen, bin total fasziniert und denke: „Wow, ist die schön. Ich muss sie fotografieren! So wär ich auch gern!“ Ich mache nicht Fotos von schönen Outfits. Ich shoote Frauen, die cool aussehen, die Charme haben. Es geht darum, ihr Geheimnis herauszukriegen.

UND HAST DU DAS SCHON GEKNACKT? Das Geheimnis ist, dass es kein Geheimnis gibt. Es geht darum, sich selbst zu mögen und sich in seinem Körper wohl zu fühlen. Man wird immer Leute fin-den, die mehr Talent haben oder mehr Mut. Mode ist ein Spiel, es gibt keine Regeln. Man kann alles anziehen, ausprobieren, sogar nachmachen, denn nur so findet man heraus, was einem steht. Und es ist auch nicht schlimm, einmal schlecht angezogen zu sein. Ich kenne nur sehr wenige, die immer perfekt sind.

TEXT UND INTERVIEW Nora Baldenweg

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WER ZUM BEISPIEL? Giovanna Battaglia von Vogue Pelle ist unglaublich. Ich finde, sie ist immer cool, perfekt und makellos. Sie hat einen tollen Körper, eine tolle Haltung. Sie fühlt sich gut, und sie hat einen tollen Geschmack. Sie ist Stylistin, das hilft natürlich.

SPÜRST DU MIT ÜBER 60.000 LESERN NICHT MANCHMAL EINEN DRUCK BEIM SCHREIBEN DEINES BLOGS? Ich stelle mir immer vor, ich würde einer sehr guten Freundin schreiben. Das hilft. Aber ich weiß auch, dass ich es nicht jedem recht machen kann. Mein Blog geht um meine Vision. Ich habe einfach meinen Stil und meine Art, übers Leben nachzudenken. Mein Geschmack ist weder gut noch schlecht, der ist einfach meiner. Zum Glück sind meine Leser mir gegenüber sehr positiv eingestellt. Ich kriege fast nie böse Kommentare.

DAS STIMMT. DU HAST TÄGLICH HUNDERTE VON NETTEN KOMMENTAREN. HEBT MAN DA NICHT AUCH MAL AB? Es gab schon ein paar Momente, wo ich gedacht habe: Uh, bin ich wichtig! Aber es hat etwa fünf Minuten gedauert. Dann hat mir ein Vogel aufs Gesicht geschissen, und ich habe gemerkt, dass ich eben doch nur ein Mädchen von nebenan bin, das versucht cool zu sein.

WIE BIST DU EIGENTLICH AUF DIE IDEE GEKOM-MEN, EINEN BLOG ZU STARTEN? Ich habe meinen Blog vor fast vier Jahren angefangen, als ich noch in Marseilles lebte. Damals war ich freischaffende Illustratorin für Magazine. Eigentlich war es immer mein Traum, ein Künstlerleben zu führen, aber dann hab ich gemerkt, dass dieser Job superlang-weilig und frustrierend ist. Man ist ständig alleine zu Hause am Computer. Man hat mit niemandem Kontakt, und man muss seine Zeichnungen so oft abändern, bis man sie selber gar nicht mehr erkennt. Und werden sie einmal publiziert, kriegt

man nicht mal eine Reaktion. Ich wollte ein Feedback, nicht nur das von meiner Mutter und ein paar Freunden. Ich wollte besser und schneller werden. Und ich habe gedacht, ein Blog würde mich zwingen, jeden Tag eine neue Zeichnung zu publizieren.

UND WIE IST ER SO SCHNELL SO ERFOLGREICH GEWORDEN? Er ist sehr organisch gewachsen. Am Anfang habe ich nur Illustrationen publiziert. Aber dann habe ich gemerkt, dass es für Leute schwierig war, darauf zu reagieren. So habe ich nach einer Woche angefangen, einen kleinen Satz dazu zu schreiben, und auf einmal hatte ich erste Kommen-tare. Dadurch habe ich meine Freude am Schreiben wiederentdeckt, und meine Texte wurden immer länger. Bereits nach einem Monat hatte ich viele regelmäßige Leser. Ich glaube, die Leute fanden meinen Blog spannend, weil er anders war: Illustra-tion, Mode, mein Leben als Mädchen, und dass ich mich über mich selbst lustig gemacht habe. Und dann wurde plötzlich die Presse auf mich aufmerk-sam. Ich musste mich schnell entscheiden. Wenn man in Marseilles lebt, vergessen einen die Leute. Ich habe sehr viele Anrufe gekriegt: „Wir möch-ten dich für dies treffen ...“ „Wir möchten mit dir das tun ...“. Und so bin ich kurzerhand nach Paris gezogen.

UND DANN HAST DU ANGEFANGEN BILDER ZU POSTEN. Ja, am Anfang hab ich total Scott (Schu-man) kopiert. Ich war ein riesiger Fan von seinem Blog (The Sartorialist) und hab davon geträumt, wie er zu sein. Also habe ich auch angefangen,

„ICH MACHE NICHT FOTOS VON SCHÖNEN OUTFITS.“

„ MEIN GESCHMACK IST WEDER GUT NOCH SCHLECHT. DER IST EINFACH MEINER.“

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21

Fotos zu posten. Und dann habe ich gemerkt, dass meine Leser auf einmal anfingen, meine Vision zu begreifen. Plötzlich verstanden sie, was mir an der Mode gefällt und was mich definiert. Der Blog wur-de schlagartig viel internationaler. Und als ich vor ein paar Monaten angefangen habe, meine Posts zu übersetzen, ist er wirklich explodiert.

INZWISCHEN SEID IHR ZWEI JA EIN PAAR. WIE HABT IHR EUCH EIGENTLICH KENNEN GELERNT? Jemand hat uns vor drei Jahren bei den Shows vor-gestellt. Ich war ein großer Fan von ihm, und er hat weder mich noch meinen Blog gekannt. Also hab ich kurz hallo gesagt und bin abgezischt. Ich treffe nicht gerne meine Idole. Wenn man jemanden verehrt, ist es meistens besser, die Person nicht kennen zu lernen. Aber irgendwie sind wir Freunde geworden. Wir hatten denselben Humor, und dann haben wir uns verliebt.

ARBEITET IHR OFT ZUSAMMEN? Wir diskutieren oft über unsere Arbeit und sind immer mehr in die gleichen Projekte involviert. Es macht Spaß, weil wir uns dadurch besser kennen lernen, während wir versuchen, unsere Arbeit zu verbessern. Je mehr

man zusammenarbeitet, desto mehr sieht man auch seine Unterschiede. Das Gleiche tun ist toll, und es ist immer auch spannend, mehr über sich selbst zu erfahren.

WIE SIEHT FÜR DICH DIE ZUKUNFT AUS?Ich weiß nicht, ob ich den Blog gleich regelmäßig weiterziehen kann, da er sehr viel Arbeit bedeutet. Gerne würde ich mehr Kollaborationen eingehen. Aber ich bin sehr wählerisch, weil ich finde, dass man sich am besten über die Sachen definiert, die man nicht tut oder weglässt. Ich versuche einfach mit Menschen zu arbeiten, die ich mag, und das zu tun, woran ich glaube. Ich schreibe immer noch meine Geschichte und muss zeigen, wer ich bin.

GANZ HERZLICHEN DANK FÜR DAS INTERVIEW. Nein, ich danke dir! Ich liebe es doch, über mich selbst zu quatschen.

GARANCE DORÉ

65

Wetter, wunderbare Strände und immer

gut gelaunte Menschen. Wir haben uns auf nach Australien gemacht, um herauszufinden, ob wir den schier perfekten Kontinent auch in modischer Hinsicht beneiden sollten. Fazit: aber ja doch! Entdeckt haben wir jede Menge selbstbewusste Mädels, kübelweise positive Lebensenergie und eine optimistische und frische Mode, die genau zum lockeren australischen Lifestyle passt.

Es ist diese selbstbewusste und unver-krampfte Art der Australier, die sie so besonders macht. Das trifft auch zweifelsohne auf die Mo-dedesigner aus Down Under zu: Sie sind relaxed, machen das, worauf sie gerade Lust haben und versuchen nicht ständig „the next big thing“ zu kreieren. Gerade diese Einstellung aber führt dazu, dass ihnen doch immer mal wieder einfach so Welthits gelingen. Vielleicht sind es aber auch bloß die unendlichen Sommer. Selten haben wir auf offener Straße so viele gut angezogene Ladys gesehen. Getragen wird, was süß, sexy, fun und bequem ist. Man zerbricht sich nicht den Kopf über die neuesten Trends oder Dresscodes aus den großen Modemetropolen. Australien hat

seinen ganz eigenen Modemarkt. Hier geht’s ein-zig und allein darum, sich in seiner eigenen Haut wohlzufühlen und zu zeigen, was man hat. Das heißt aber nicht, dass man nicht weiß, was auf der anderen Halbkugel modisch abgeht. Im Gegenteil. Man ist bestens informiert und die Designer bieten Prêt-à-porter im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes. Dass man hier kaum Fashion- Victims antrifft, bestätigt nur zu gut, dass Frauen hier ein gesundes Körperbewusstsein und eine tolle Einstellung zum Leben haben. Australische Girls lieben das Leben, gutes Essen, Drinks am Strand, Sport, gemütliche Nachmittage mit Freunden. Und sie lieben Mode. Ihr lebensbe-jahender Lifestyle ist in ihrer Kleiderwahl ganz klar ersichtlich. Als absolute Spezialisten in luftig-leichter Sommerkleidung und aufwendiger Swimwear machen australische Labels in letzter Zeit auch im Ausland immer mehr auf sich auf-merksam. Dazu beigetragen hat sicher auch die Australische Fashion Week, die seit nunmehr 14 Jahren die einheimischen Labels fördert und ihre Namen in die Welt hinausträgt. Hier stellen wir euch die drei spannendsten Labels von Down Under vor.

THERESE RAWSTHORNE Nach ihrer Ausbildung zur Modedesignerin an der University of Technology in Sydney zog es Therese Rawsthorne nach London, wo sie bei Issey Miyake erste Arbeitserfahrungen sammelte. Vor gut drei Jahren kehrte sie nach Australien zurück, um in Sydney ihr eigenes Label zu gründen. Make it happen! Gute Idee, sagen wir. Daraus entstanden ist einer unserer allerliebsten Fashion-Brands von Down Under. Luftig-leichte Hängekleidchen, transparente Blusen mit voluminösen Schulter-partien, übergroße Strickpullis, raffinierte Hemden, sexy Jumpsuits – Therese Rawsthornes Mode ist wunderbar tragbar, unglaublich feminin, sexy, unverblümt lasziv und frisch.

„Frauen sind meine Inspiration,“ verrät sie uns, „ihre vordergründige Coolness, ihre Kom-plexe, ihre einzigartigen Charaktere, ihre verletz-lichen Seiten, ihre Stärken und Schwächen faszi-nieren mich.“ In ihrer neuesten Kollektion „The Temptress“ spielt sie einmal mehr mit dem Gegensatz von hart und weich. Sie kontrastiert starke männliche Silhouetten mit weichen und romantischen Formen. Dabei verwendet sie aus-schließlich natürliche Materialien wie Baumwolle,

DIE SCHÖNSTEN STERNE AM AUSTRALISCHEN MODEHIMMEL.TEXT NORA BALDENWEG

BEIDE OUTFITS VON THERESE RAWSTHORNE BEIDE OUTFITS VON DION LEE

OUTFIT VON THERESE RAWSTHORNE

ALLE OUTFITS VON SASS&BIDE

Leinen, Seide und Wolle und kombiniert Farben wie Sand, Khaki, Koralle und Flieder mit viel Weiß und etwas Schwarz. Unter feinstrukturierten Kleidern entdecken wir hautfarbene BH-Ver-schlüsse, Korsette, Mieder und Strumpfsäume. Gepolsterte halbtransparente Punkte-Bodysuits hüllen den Körper förmlich in eine zweite Haut ein. „Man soll meine Teile lieben und sich darin gut fühlen“, sagt sie. „Meine Kollektionen haben einen geschliffenen Sinn für die Imperfektion. Sie sind elegant, aber haben den notwendigen Schuss ‚Unordnung‘. Echte Schönheit muss im-mer auch Fehler haben, denn das ist es, was als interessant und charaktervoll empfunden wird.“ Easy, chic, unkompliziert, sinnlich, fun – eigent-lich das perfekte Label für selbstbewusste Modemädchen. Ein echtes Label von Frau zu Frau! Wir freuen uns jetzt schon auf ihre nächste Kollektion.www.thereserawsthorne.com

DION LEE Dion Lee war das Stand-out-Talent der diesjäh-rigen Fashion Week in Sydney. Sein Stil ist inspi-riert von Architektur, Mechanik und Geometrie. Seine modernen Silhouetten sind hart, progres-siv und skulpturell.

Mit nur 23 Jahren gilt er als einer der vielver-sprechenden Jungdesigner Australiens. Seine Ausbildung in Fashiondesign schloss er am Syd-ney Institute of Technology ab, und bereits mit seiner Diplomkollektion wurde er von IMG einge-laden, sein Können an der Fashion Week zu prä-sentieren. Kurze Röcke mit strukturierten Jacken, weiße Doktorhemden und scharf geschnittene Blazer. Bei Dion Lee wird gedreht, gefaltet, ver-woben und kombiniert was das Zeug hält. Sein Markenzeichen: sichtbare Reißverschlüsse, betonte Schultern, Schlitze und eingearbeitete

Löcher, die ungewohnte Körperstellen – Ellbogen und Kniekehle zum Beispiel – offenbaren.

Er experimentiert mit Stoff, Form und Schnitt, und die Basis seiner Kollektionen sind seine auf-wendigen Schnittmuster: „Ich versuche Elemente unseres relaxten Lifestyles, mit der herkömm-lichen Schneiderkunst zu vereinigen. Meine Kleider sind immer auch bequem, zugänglich und tragbar. Ich bin auf der Suche nach dem Gleich-gewicht zwischen Innovation und Tragbarkeit.“ Inspiriert von zerdrückten Autoskulpturen und Bauhaus-Schmuck, finden sich in seiner neues-ten Kollektion auch weichfließende Seiden-kleider, Tops und drapierte Hosen – gepaart mit messerscharfen Killer-Heels, versteht sich. Er vermischt natürliche und synthetische Materia-lien – Baumwolle, Wolle und Seidenorganza mit industriellem Leder, Latex und Plastik – spielt mit transparenten Schichten, metallischen Einsätzen und stetoskopartigen Glas-Accessoires und schafft es so, trotz einer pastelligen Farbpalette, eine harte Ästhetik zu behalten.

Trotz seines kometenhaften Erfolgs in Aus-tralien, bleibt er erfrischend bescheiden. „Es ist so surreal zu hören, dass meine Kollektion An-klang findet. Aber meine Mutter macht sich noch immer Sorgen, dass ich mit 23 nicht richtig Kohle verdiene.“ Wenn er so weitermacht, sollte das bald kein Problem mehr sein.www.dionlee.com

SASS&BIDE Nietenbesetzte Westen, fließende Hängerkleid-chen, bestickte Baumwollshirts, raffinierte Cut-out-Kleider, taillierte Lederjacken und luftig leich-te Rüschenjupes – die Basisgarderobe einer jeden trendigen Australierin. Sass & Bide ist Aus-tralischer Lifestyle pur: unglaublich tragbar, sexy, frisch, feminin und verspielt. Hinter dem Er-

folgslabel stecken Sarah-Jane Clarke (Sass) und Heidi Middleton (Bide), zwei Freundinnen, die sich vor Jahren durch ihre damaligen Dates in Brisbane kennen gelernt hatten und seitdem gemeinsam ihren Traum verwirklichen. Ihre Ge-schichte liest sich wie aus einem Kioskroman. Angefangen hat alles vor 13 Jahren. Zusammen zogen sie nach London, teilten sich eine Woh-nung und verkauften, neben ihren richtigen Jobs, am Portobello Road Market ihre ersten Jeans- Kreationen. Das lief so gut, dass sie sich bald entschieden, ein richtiges Denim-Label zu lancie-ren. Zurück in Australien landeten sie bereits nach zwei Jahren ihren ersten Hit, die inzwischen ikonische East Village Jeans, mit der sie weltwei-te Aufmerksamkeit erlangten. 2001 folgte eine Prêt-à-Porter-Linie und etwas später eine güns-tigere Linie namens S&BVIE. „Alles ist sehr naiv und organisch gewachsen. Wir haben einfach unseren Traum gelebt.“ Inzwischen sind sie das wohl erfolgreichste australische Label, haben weltweit eine große Fangemeinde, und feiern bereits ihr zehnjähriges Bestehen. Absolutes Must, kombiniert zu einem Oversize-Shirt, sind ihre „Rats“, verschiedenfarbig bedruckte Leggins mit einem coolen mehrbahnigen Seitenelastik-band. Sass & Bide ist australische Attitüde par excellence. „Uns inspiriert die Welt und was um uns herum passiert. Wir reisen viel und saugen alles auf: Musik, Märkte, Leute, Kunst. Alles ist so inspirierend.“www.sassandbide.com

ZUR AUTORIN:Nora Baldenweg mag Schirm, Charme und Melonen. Sie lebt als freie Journalistin in Paris. Aufgewachsen ist die gebürtige Schweizerin in Australien. Ihre zahlreichen Artikel und Kolumnen erscheinen in internationalen Magazinen wie „Zoo“, „Plastique“, „Russh“, „Indie“ und natürlich in der BLONDE.

20

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Hemdkragen, Fliegenkrawatten und Manschettenknöpfe – typisch männliche Modeelemente und zugleich Inspiration für Delfina

Delettrez’ neueste Schmuck-Kollektion bestehend aus reizenden Broschen, Ketten und Kleideraccessoires für starke Mädchen. Uns

erzählt die 23-jährige Designerin aus der vierten Fendi-Generation ihr erstes Horrorerlebnis in der Modewelt, wie es war, im Fendi-

Clan aufzuwachsen und wieso sie von Nonnen so besessen ist.

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Indeed, there were positive and negative things about it. When you are the daughter of ‘someone’, you have to work so much more to show people that you haven’t just inherited a great family name. You really have to prove that you can express yourself in your own way. I think when I started people didn’t really believe in me and thought that for me this was all just a game. But, you know, on the other hand, being a Fendi was also a very positive thing because I got to know the fashion world from a very young age.

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Oh, I was about three and my six-year-old brother and I were walking down a catwalk with a model at a Fendi show. I was so scared. It was a strange place, all dark and fires everywhere. I cried during the whole run. But I also remember all my after-noons spent in my mum’s office. After school I used to go there to study and watch her work.

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She just taught me to really work hard every day and never give up. Because today you might have everything, but tomorrow it could all be gone. But there are so many things I learnt from my parents. They used to always tell me: “You have to do what you want to do. You really don’t have to be pushed to continue our work. You can become anything you want!” I guess that was the best advice they gave me.

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You know, when you have a baby, all of a sudden you realize you’re actually not the centre of the world. That gives you a lot of strength to get up in the morning and just do your thing. But I had to find a way to juggle both and this year I feel like I’m finally getting there. Now my daughter is three and goes to school so I have more time and don’t feel guilty for leaving early in the mornings to go to the office. And I have a nanny who helps me, other-wise I could never do it. But I’m still a very present mum, I take her to the zoo, bring her to school and pick her up. I would like to have two or three kids more. I would love to have a little boy.

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Yes, it was inspired by all these strong women with strong characters, who used to play with their feminine and masculine sides by dressing like men: Virginia Woolf, Colette, George Sand ... I made diamond-encrusted cuffs, collars, bow-ties and cufflinks. It’s a collection of menswear-inspired accessories for women.

!"#$%&'$()*$%+',($(+-*$.&/$!0,&$-!#*$#'*,,*,$!"#$,)+'(,111Yes, they are very, very simple black silk dresses and white button-downs, almost like uniforms. I just made them to show the people how to wear my jewels. But I don’t want to do fashion. I wanted the focus to be on the jewellery. I’m obsessed with masculinity and uniforms.

2).$/"+%&'-,3I don’t know. It’s an obsession. There’s this place where I find nun’s uniforms, very simple blue dresses, and I actually wear them in the daytime. Because now, you know, you see all these naked women and it seems to me like they’re losing their femininity in a way. I think the sexiest woman is the one who is dressed. And in a masculine way as well. It gives a lot of character to the women, no?

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I wanted to use this masculinity and mix it up with pearls, which I think are the most feminine thing you can find. And I also came up with some new animals ...

2)!($;+"#$&%$!"+-!0,3Well, I’ve always used animals, but so far I only did animals I was scared of like spiders or snakes, but now I wanted to do a collection with innocent animals. I call them the animals you can kill. Flies, snails, ants... I did a line of ants that look like they’re crawling up your arm and some of them look like they have been squashed to death on your shoulder. There’s also a snail with a shell made of stone.

2)!($-!#*$.&/$,(!'($.&/'$&2"$<*2*00*'.$0+"*$+"$()*$%+',($50!8*3 Well, I was always attracted to fashion and crea-tivity. But I discovered my passion through my dad,

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who has been a jeweller for 30 years. When I was little I used to follow him to his studio and watch him work. Gradually I wanted to create my own pieces for myself. I had ideas in my head, necklaces I couldn’t find anywhere. So one day I made my first piece and I’ve just kept going ever since.

#$%&'()&*+,--&.$(/)0,12&3,+4&4,56Yes, yes, of course. He is my teacher. He gives me a lot of technical advice. It’s like going to school because I learn a new thing every day. But in the meantime we’re a team of about 15 artisans. Every piece is handmade in our studio in Rome.

34#+&#$%&'()$&/$%#5*&7($&+4%&-#8%-6&To continue like this with the same passion and to grow and keep learning. I love to experiment with new stones and new materials and I hope to always keep this freedom and passion that comes with having a very small company. And I would love to open a boutique in Paris. I love Paris, I’m half French, I love the people, I love the city. That would be my next dream.

#.#$+&7$(5&/%*,21,129&34#+&#$%&'()$&(+4%$&.#**,(1*6I go to the cinema and I do sport, you know, like gymnastics, aerobics, that kind of stuff. I have a lot of fun because I do it with a bunch of friends and then, what else, I love to stay home and relax. A lot. I’m not a shopping addict, so I don’t spend all my afternoons shopping.

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gatsbyWinter 2008 | 2009The supercilious assumption that on Sunday afternoon you have nothing better to do

Gat

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ISSN 1864-8150

VIVE LA

FÊTE

TRAVEL ANTARCTICA ART OLAFUR ELIASSONGROOMING STAR STYLINGSTYLE SIZZLING WINTER LOOKS INTERIORS ST. MORITZ ESCAPADEARCHITECTURE BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL

Dita vonTeeseHAUTE HOLIDAY COUTURE

46 | Gatsby Magazine Gatsby Magazine | 47

Head Office | Jérôme DreyfussHead Office | Style

Words | Mimi S. KurtPortrait | Romina Shama

Tell us about your office…It is my room, my own little secret garden. It is where I feel at home and where I keep all my personal objects. It’s located in a beautiful industrial building right by the Canal St. Martin with a great view onto the boats below. It’s bright and pleasant and not really Parisian at all. It feels more like a loft in New York.

What are your favourite objects in your office?Definitively the photographs of my son. And I have shelves full of books. I love staying there in the evenings to read, reread and re-reread books I actually already know by heart. Anything that has to do with art, architecture, photography, painting or sculpture is inspiring to me - and Marguerite Duras. I also nur-ture a healthy addiction to financial daily papers. I often only understand every second sentence but reading them makes me feel quite smart.

What made you decide to move your headquarters to this location?In Paris it is always a bit of a coincidence where you end up. The funny story about this place is, that when I came to Paris 15 years ago, I used to live just around the corner and have always been completely in love with this building. I visited it twice when it was available to rent, but of course it was far too expensive for me. I didn’t have a penny at the time, so it was to stay a dream. Ten years later I was working for a couture house that was going through financial difficulties. I heard about a stock they had at Bastille and told them to show it to me. As luck would have it, it was in this building, and actually the exact same office they had snatched away from me years ago when I couldn’t afford it. Because they no longer had the means to pay me, they offered me their stock. My dream came true!

What made you come to Paris in the first place?The dream of Paris. I was so bored in Nancy – a beautiful but tiny town in the Eastern part of France – that I felt I had to leave. I am in love with this special city. It sounds like a cliché, but it is so romantic. Also it is undeniably the world’s fashion capital. There are various fashion hubs, but Paris is where it all started and where it all comes together; the creative, commercial, cul-tural and historical aspects of this most exciting industry.

Do you have any patterns in your daily routine?Every morning at eight o’clock I visit my leather dealer to choose the skins that I want to work with. It is the highlight of my day! At the office I’m extremely organized, I file everything in folders and cover my walls with inspirations and research. My design process happens in a very spontaneous way, it all starts with a pencil stroke on a piece of paper, I have every-thing around me, cut leather on the floor, sew on the sewing machine and I always listen to music. Mozart, Edi Mitchell, Coldplay, Henri Salvador. I listen to everything. And I’ll even sing and dance if I feel like it.

Why don’t you make bags for men?Actually I do. Every season I make one model for myself and my male friends. But I get bored with it after a few weeks. Bags are just not part of masculine mannerisms. I don’t need a bag. My phone and wallet fit into my pants just fine.

www.jerome-dreyfuss.com

“There’s Chanel, there’s Rykiel and there’s Isabel. Isabel is one of those designers who designs for real women.” Despite talk-ing about Isabel Marant in an admiringly laudatory way, Jérôme Dreyfuss dislikes giving interviews together with her “because it has nothing to do with our work and who cares about our private life anyway”. Just like his life partner, Dreyfuss is very well aware of the needs and wants of real women. The former enfant terrible of French fashion, who once dressed the likes of Michael Jackson and Britney Spears, has become the docile darling of chic and dapper urban nomads.

Ever since his decision to dedicate his time exclusively to handbags, his refined designs have been seducing women across the world. Maybe the secret lays in the fact that all of

his creations have male names: There’s soft and slouchy Franky, sweet and functional Momo, there’s strappy Hubert, stylish Nino, there are Boris, Paul, Yves and Antoine. They’re creative, irresistible, sensual, casual, sleek and smooth - the kind of “men” women could actually see themselves getting old with. Furthermore, his designs are cleverly equipped with little zips, buckles, plenty of compartments and even a tiny integrated torch. Taking responsibility for social, ecological and aesthetic values alike, he has won female hearts over with his soft and cushy organic leather handbags. This year Drey-fuss opened his first standalone boutique on the swish Pari-sian Rive Gauche. It’s beautiful, bright and rather private, much like his lofty office space on the other side of the river Seine.

Style | Head Office

46 | Gatsby Magazine

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very much in our own worlds. I love being with him because he understands what I am going through. We have a quick working rhythm — we’re like athletes, and producing new collec-tions every six months is hard work. I don’t have to explain this sort of thing to him — we both know why some nights we can’t be home. But because our work is so consuming and stressful for us during the day, we prefer not to talk about it at home. We are more interested in what to do on the weekend, who to invite, what exhibitions to see and what our son is doing at school.

What got you into fashion in the first place?When I was little, I wasn’t interested in fashion at all. I was, however, very stubborn and I knew ex-actly what kind of clothes I wanted to wear. My parents had dreamt of a sweet, nice, blonde little girl. But unfortunately what they got was a little tomboy. My father called me his toothbrush. They would dress me up in clothes I hated—little navy blue shoes and white collars. But as soon as they were gone, I would go through their cupboard and take what I liked. They had beautiful Charvet blouses and printed silk robes from Bergdorf Goodman that I customized, adjusted and trans-formed with scissors and needles. I left the house

looking like a doll to please my father, but in my little bag I had the clothes I really wanted to show up at school with. That’s when I was 11 years old. Gradually, I really did start making my own clothes.

And what happened next?At the age of 15, I founded my first brand togeth-er with my friend Christophe Lemaire (he is the designer of Lacoste today). We grew up together in the chic Parisian suburb of Neuilly and started making grunge-inspired sweaters out of old mops and dish cloths. Up until then I wanted to study economics, but having made money at such an early stage made me rethink that. Why study business, if I’m already making money and having fun? Instead, I enrolled at Studio Berçot, where I studied fashion for two years. Luckily, I have evolved a lot, but my style and approach have always remained the same.

What are your plans for the future?First and foremost, to continue developing bou-tiques abroad – in New York, Los Angeles and maybe in Belgium. And sometimes I fantasize about quitting my work in fashion all together. Sometimes my job really sickens me. All this ex-

travagance, the pace, the waste and the overall absurdity. I have always been touched by people who manage to do a lot with hardly anything. Old craftsmanship, recycling, reusing. I think if I of-fered my energy to people who haven’t had the opportunity or facility like I did, I could move mountains. I love the world and could live in thou-sands of places. Maybe that would be very ego-tistical, but I would feel a lot better than having made clothes all my life.

Are you still surprised when you see people on the street wearing your clothes? It always makes me very happy and proud, but in all honesty, I am not surprised anymore. Espe-cially here in Paris, a lot of people do wear my clothes now. What I find really interesting is that my clothes can be worn by many different types of people, and that is something I love!

www.isabelmarant.com

With her warm smile, palpable charisma and calm, positive energy, designer Isabel Marant is the kind of woman you instantly want to be friends with. Not to mention the fact that her laid-back Bohemian style has become synonymous with Parisian cool. Marant creates comfortable, easy-to-wear garments that are distinctively feminine – loose blouses, breezy little dresses, slouchy pants, soft cashmere knits and embroidered goat-hair vests. Yet despite the feminine edge of her designs, this icon of effortless French chic ad-mits that she was once a strong-willed tomboy who wanted to study economics and hated being named Isabelle like all the other girls. (She ulti-mately dropped the last two letters of her name to set herself apart.)

Marant’s French father, German mother and Ca-ribbean stepmother played a major role in her cosmopolitan upbringing. Her frequent childhood travels to countries like Africa, India, Asia and the Caribbean gave her a sensitivity to, and aware-ness of, cultural diversity that’s evident in her de-signs. Drawing on ethnic craftsmanship as well as a sophisticated street and sportswear sensi-bilities, Marant’s attitude is a bit like a chef’s, mix-ing together different ingredients to create pre-

cise, personal, signature-taste. And although she sometimes questions the necessity of generating a new collection every season after 20 years in the business, a simple love of clothing always keeps her going: “We live in a superficial world. New clothes make us feel confident, strong and happy. I prefer to buy myself new clothes than seeing a therapist.“

Today, Marant’s easy-to-wear, chic, body-con-scious créations are sold in boutiques around the world, and, in addition to her signature collection and her less pricey diffusion line Etoile, she also offers accessory lines and a children’s range. We visited her spacious showroom tucked away in a tiny alleyway in Paris’ 11th Arrondissement to talk about two decades of design and style.

You have been designing a new collection eve-ry six months for a long time now. Does it feel like hard work or is it still just a pure pleasure?Luckily, it is starting to be a pleasure again. Up until last year I designed everything by myself. I was super-stressed, and seeing the amounts of clothes I had to finish all by myself made me feel like I was drowning. My signature line, Etoile, in-cludes 40 different stories, plus bags, accesso-

ries, shoes and jewellery. It was too much. Now I actually have three stylists who work with me. It’s still not a lot, but that has always been one of my big faults. Because I learned everything by my-self, I’m really bad at delegating. The only things I managed to let go of a long time ago were the tasks that bored me: bookkeeping, business management and operational procedures.

Apart from your busy life at work, you also have a family. How do you manage to juggle it all?Having a little boy has forced me to be a lot more organised. My five-year-old son Tal is fantastic. Thanks to him I now have a life outside of my work. I never work on weekends. Instead, I spend time with family and friends at our little house in the woods in Fontainebleau, just outside of Paris. It’s really simple, no water, no electricity, no noth-ing. During the week, every second evening either me or my partner, Jérôme, stays home with our son. It’s not a lot, but it’s okay.

Your partner is the well-known handbag de-signer Jérôme Dreyfuss. Do you two try to keep the businesses separate or do you sometimes work together?We both have very strong characters and live

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MICKY GREEN TEXT AND INTERVIEW Nora Baldenweg

She thinks she’s half boy, half girl. We think she is full-on girl, but the kind with a healthy, cool and laid-back attitude: Meet Micky Green, the Paris-based pop singer from Down Under.

ctually, there aren’t many tunes that you would be able to recognise within just a few beats, but Micky Green’s fabu-lous hit song ‘Oh!’ is definitely one of them. Shortly after moving to Paris, the Australian singer landed a top ten hit in

her newly adopted country. It’s the first few finger snips followed by her warm and sensual voice that instantly put a smile on everybody’s face and got people happily snipping and singing along. Released with the help of über-producer Renaud Letang in August 2007, Micky Green’s first album ‘White T-Shirt’ was a runaway summer success. But music is not what made this green-eyed Sydney girl leave home in the first place. It was her modeling that took her on a worldwide voyage of discovery at the young age of 17. Micky’s cutting-edge, but delicately romantic, beachy blonde angelic looks turned heads and soon graced the covers of many a maga-zine. While her debut album is currently being released in Japan, she is already working on her second one, constantly jotting down ideas into the little songbook that she keeps at hand wherever she goes. For INDIE she popped back into her old role as a model, leaving us gobs-macked by her assured sense of style and eloquent fashion talk: ‘Too much going on there, don’t you think? Let’s try the Margielas!’ In between play-fully changing into different outfits, Micky Green also took some time out to tell us about making quiche, spending Christmas in Wagga Wagga and jumping around to Roxette in front of the TV. Enter Micky Green.

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Dress Chanel, head piece Chanel

Photography Philipp MuellerStyling Yoko Miyake

Hair Sebastien Le Corroller / Airport using Bumble&BumbleMake-up Marie Lanne / Calliste

Photo assistants Cedric Mayoute and Florent BrunelStylist assistants Farrah Hammadou and Moe Tsukamoto

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You don’t mind if I smoke, do you?

No, of course not. If you don’t mind me asking about other habits while

you’re at it?

I have a really bad habit, actually. I’m the biggest yeah-it’s-good-enough kind of girl. I’m always like next, next, next. You know, let’s move and groove.

How else would you describe yourself as a person?

I’m a pretty homely person. I can be quite a housewife, but at the same time I still like going out. I just like having fun and I hate being bored.

What makes you so housewife-y?

I love cooking and I like being at home.

What’s your favourite food?

I think that would have to be my mum’s roast lamb with potatoes and pumpkin. The classic. It’s something I can’t be bothered to cook myself.

So what’s the best thing you can cook?

I’m making a killer quiche at the moment. I’m totally obsessed with spi-nach and I use three different cheeses: Comté, a bit of Chèvre and a bit of Emmental. And then I just add onions and garlic.

And what makes your apartment so homely?

I spent the last year moving through about 20 different places. I finally got my own apartment in April and I’ve never been so happy in my life. It’s very 30’s in a really gorgeous and peaceful building right near the woods in the 16th arrondissement. I love my espresso machine and my electronic drum kit. I have to play it with my headphones on though, otherwise my neighbours get angry.

Where could you imagine to live if not in Paris?

Sydney. I go back every summer because I can’t deal with winter here. I love the beach, my friends and being with my family. But it would have to be in the city centre. My parents live in Wagga Wagga. I have to go there every Christmas and it kills me. I’m also kind of fascinated by Tokyo, but I think that I would go crazy if I lived there.

So what actually brought you to Paris?

Coming from a big island, I was always curious about the world and dre-amt of seeing other places. The first place I saw was Thailand, then I stayed in London and New York a bit, but that was kind of hectic, so I moved to Hamburg where I was working as a model and then an agency made me move to Paris. I came here for modeling, met my boyfriend, and that is why I stayed. But really, out of all the cities I’ve lived in, Paris is probably the most attractive to me. There’s this laidback way of life here where you can work and enjoy life and I like the fact that it’s still really different from Sydney.

What were you like as a kid?

I was pretty boisterous, I think. I used to play water polo, but I loved

Dress Paule Ka, head piece Yoshiko Creation Paris

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“My songs are like diary entries that rhyme”

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dressing up too. I put on concerts for my family with my cousins and star-ted playing the drums at school when I was 11. At the age of 15 I started a little rock band with a girlfriend. She played the guitar and I was drum-ming and singing. Just stupid stuff for fun, nothing serious. Growing up in complete suburbia is a bit boring, but it also inspired me.

Did you always want to become a singer?

Well, I was always obsessed with music. At a young age I would watch music videos religiously: Martika, Womack & Womack, Roxette, Eurhyth-mics, Huey Lewis & The News. I think it’s those 80ies pop hits that sort of made me. I used to dance and sing along to them in my room when I was a little girl and today they still manage to be my favourite bands.

Are you the kind of girl that plays the same song over and over

again?

Oh yeah. I can definitely be addicted to songs. Like Space Cowboy from Jamiroquai – I’ve probably heard it about 40 million times.

What else are you listening to right now?

Fleetwood Mac, Erykah Badu. Snoop. It’s a big mix.

What inspires you to write your own songs?

My songs are like diary entries that rhyme. I don’t have a diary, but I do keep heaps of songbooks. I write a lot about relationships.

What about the music aspect?

Sometimes I write the words and music together, other times I’ll think of a melody or a harmony then go back through my books to see what could go with it, or sometimes I’ll just start with a drum beat. It’s a random process.

Renaud Letang is one of France’s most sought-after producers, known

for lending his hand to artists like Feist, Peaches, Manu Chao, Gonza-

les and Jane Birkin. How did you meet him?

It was through a good friend of mine, who knew that I was singing and writing. At the time I was just modeling and playing guitar at parties and stuff. She introduced me to some guys from an indie label and they asked me if I wrote songs, so I was like: uuhm, not really, I don’t know, sort of. I had never really recorded anything, so I immediately started making my demos. When I was done I called them. They had the idea to make the album with Renaud Letang. We met, he liked it and that was it.

Your album ‘White T-Shirt’ came out quite a while ago. What is it like

for you to listen to it now?

It’s exactly like reading an old diary. I liked how I was feeling when I made it. Now I feel like I’m beyond even judging it. I’m ready to move on and make my next album.

What will your next album be like?

It’s going to be a bit more complex and full. In the same style, but with horns and all that. When I wrote my first album I didn’t really know how to use the programme I was using. I think I’ve figured it out now.

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Anybody you’d like to collaborate with?

Damon Albarn or Jamiroquai.

Your music is often described as colourful vocal pop. How would you

describe it?

I hate the word fusion, because in Australia everything is fusion. But I think it would have to be a mix. A bit of this, a bit of that, and hopefully it works. It’s like my cooking and my personal style.

How else would you describe your personal style?

Half boy, half girl.

What do you do to stay up-to-date with fashion?

I like reading magazines. I’m pretty loyal to French Elle. I love that it’s a weekly magazine. French Vogue always has all the killer things. When I look through it, I’m like: I want that, I want that, I want that. And I also go to fashion shows. My favourite labels are Sonia Rykiel, Vivienne West-wood, Chanel, Isabel Marant and H&M. I really love clothes.

As an ex-model, I’m sure you would have some beauty tips to share?

You mean like washing your face? And if it’s really bad, just squeeze it.

Anything else you swear by?

Uuuuuuuhm, have fun! I think people restrict themselves from having fun. That’s not right.

What’s something you never leave the house without?

A lighter.

That’s it?

And hopefully cigarettes.

What would be a perfect night out?

It would be a hot night for one, definitely over 25 degrees. Good food, good champagne, good people and good music. And well, a good place as well.

Where have you had your best concert so far?

I think that would have to be the one at La Cigale early this year. Ever since I’ve been in Paris, I have always wanted to play there. It’s one of my favou-rite venues. And also, I can’t wait to play in Sydney, my hometown.

One last thing, how did you come up with your artistic pseudonym?

My initials are M.G. (Michaela Gehrmann), but my name is really long and German-sounding, so I thought I would make it easier. The first part was simple because my sisters have always called me Micky, and then I was like g, g, gr, gr, green! I probably should have thought about it more, since I am often interrogated about it, but I don’t really have a good story to tell you for that one.

Top Sonia Rykiel, necklace as head piece Chanel

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Nora Baldenweg Portfolio 2010

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Transcript of Nora Baldenweg Portfolio 2010