FINANCIAL TIMES – JULY 2009

JULY 2009

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BEFORE YOU STARTED WORKING IN FASHION, HOW DID YOU VIEW LEATHER IN FASHION? WHAT WERE ITS CONNOTATIONS FOR YOU? 

OBVIOUSLY MANY PEOPLE GO BACK TO BRANDO, BUT THERE'S SO MUCH MORE FROM SUBCULTURE AND COSTUME HISTORY. I STARTED OUT WITH FETISH GLAMAZONS FROM ERIC STANTON ILLUSTRATIONS AND ENDED UP IN LEATHER BARS. SERIOUSLY. ALTHOUGH IT DIDN'T REALLY GIVE ME A BONER, I LOVED THE THEATRICAL MENACE OF IT. 

COULD YOU THINK OF A FEW IMAGES THAT STICK IN THE MIND AND INSPIRE WHEN YOU WORK IN LEATHER? PERHAPS FROM MUSIC AND FILM? 

PORN STAR PETER BERLIN, KISS, TURA SATANA FROM RUSS MEYER MOVIES. I COMBINED THAT CAMP FETISHISM WITH THE MINIMAL LANGUOR OF MADAME GRES AND MARIANO FORTUNY AND MADE MY LEATHER DRAPE. 

TAILORING IN LEATHER WOULD SEEM A DIAMETRIC OPPOSITE FROM THE BULK OF THE MORE FLUID/DRAPED PIECES YOU DO. WHAT ARE THE KEY CHALLENGES OF WORKING IN LEATHER? HOW DO YOU GET THE DISTINCTIVE 'WASHED' PATINA AND TEXTURE WITH SO MANY OF YOUR GARMENTS? AND WHY IS TEXTURE SO IMPORTANT? SOMETHING LIKE LEWIS LEATHERS COMES ROCK HARD AND NEEDS MONTHS OF WEARING IN. 

DO YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD GIVE YOU MY RECIPE? IN A NEWSPAPER? 

IT IS OBVIOUSLY PART OF A HOLISTIC RICK OWENS STYLE, BUT IS THE LEATHER IN YOUR COLLECTIONS FOR ALL OF YOUR CUSTOMERS, OR IS IT AN INHERENTLY 'YOUNG' TEXTILE? 

WELL, CONSIDERING OUR GENERATION IS IN THEIR SIXTIES--THE GENERATION THAT WAS AT ALTAMONT, THAT SAW PUNK ROCK AND GRUNGE, I'M SURPRISED THAT YOUNG PEOPLE DON'T REJECT LEATHER AS BEING AN 'OLD' TEXTILE. 

DOES LEATHER RETAIN ITS POWER IF YOU WORK WITH IT IN ANYTHING OTHER THAN BLACK, OR A SHADE OF BLACK? 

IT DIMINISHES AND BECOMES SOMETHING ELSE. FOR INSTANCE, THE POWDER PINK LAMBSKIN GLACE GLOVE OF THE COMTESSE DE GREFFULHE. 

WHAT DOES LEATHER MEAN TO YOUR MEN'S COLLECTION? 

IT'S PROBABLY THE MATERIAL THAT DEFINES MY LABEL THE MOST. 

HOW DO YOU EXPRESS YOUR ORIGINALITY, SINCE LEATHER HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST BASIC FABRICS FOR MEN? 

I'VE TRIED TO CREATE MY OWN CONSTRUCTION VOCABULARY. 

IN THE PROCESS OF DESIGNING LEATHER PIECES, WHAT POINT DO YOU EMPHASIZE THE MOST? SILHOUETTE? SEWING? COMFORT? MATERIAL? OR CHOOSING A TANNERY? 

AFTER HAVING ESTABLISHED A LIBRARY OF SILHOUETTES THAT I'M SATISFIED WITH, I LOOK AT TEXTURES MORE NOW. 

IS THERE A PARTICULAR TANNER YOU WORK WITH EVERY SEASON? 

A FEW. 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE KIND OF LEATHER? ALSO, WHAT KIND OF LEATHER DO YOU MOST COMMONLY USE IN YOUR COLLECTION? 

I LIKE THE MODESTY, INTEGRITY AND CRUDENESS OF COWHIDE, PERSONALLY--ALTHOUGH MY WASHED GOATSKINS ARE PROBABLY MORE POPULAR. 

DO YOU OFTEN WEAR LEATHER IN YOUR PRIVATE TIME? AND IF YOU DO, PLEASE TELL US YOUR FAVORITE LEATHER PIECE. 

I USED TO WEAR A PAIR OF CUSTOM-MADE CHROME HEARTS PANTS EVERY DAY FOR YEARS IN MY YOUNGER DAYS. NOW I JUST WEAR SWEATPANTS, T-SHIRTS AND A MINK JACKET. 

ARE THERE ANY OF YOUR OWN EXPECTATIONS FOR A ROLE OR PERFORMANCE THAT LEATHER PIECES SHOULD HAVE? 

MY MAIN CONCEPT WAS TO DO LEATHER THAT DRAPED. 

PLEASE TELL US ANY DISCOVERIES IN THE PROCESS OF DESIGNING LEATHER PIECES. 

I CERTAINLY DIDN'T INVENT THE IDEA OF WASHING LEATHER, BUT I'M PLEASED AT MY PERSONAL SYTEM AND ITS RESULTS. 

DO YOU USUALLY START WORKING OUT FROM LEATHER ITSELF? OR DECIDE ON THE ITEM FIRST AND THEN CHOOSE THE APPROPRIATE LEATHER FOR IT? 

IF I FALL IN LOVE WITH A LEATHER, I LET THE SHAPE FOLLOW. 

WHAT IS THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF LEATHER FOR YOU? 

I LIKE THE PRIMAL AND FETISH ASSOCIATIONS TO IT. 

WHICH DETAILED PART OF LEATHERWEAR ARE YOU VERY PARTICULAR ABOUT? 

I LOVE FITTED LONG SLEEVES. 

PLEASE TELL US ANY RECOMMENDED WAYS TO WEAR LEATHER. 

I WOULD AVOID WHITE LEATHER BOOTS. 

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE DIRECTIONS OF LEATHER FOR THE FUTURE? 

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT ANYONE ELSE, BUT I INTEND TO PURSUE MORE REFINED DRAPING. 

PLEASE NAME ANY KEYWORDS FOR YOUR LEATHER PIECE. 

ERIC STANTON. 

ARE YOU ANY PARTICULAR ABOUT LEATHER MAINTENANCE? 

THE MORE ABUSED THE BETTER. 

WHO WOULD BE THE LEATHER ICON? 

PETER BERLIN. 

ARE THERE ANY PARTICULAR LEATHER PIECES YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE FOR THE FUTURE?