IL SOLE 24 ORE – NOVEMBER 2009

NOVEMBER 2009

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GREY, DUST: WHAT DOES THIS COLOR REPRESENT TO YOU, AND HOW MUCH DOES IT DEFINE, NOT ONLY VISUALLY, BUT ALSO CONCEPTUALLY, YOUR AESTHETIC? 

I'D ALWAYS REGRETTED THAT RUNWAY FLAMBOYANCE WAS RESERVED FOR THE RUNWAY AND CONSIDERED INAPPROPRIATE FOR DAILY LIFE. MY ORIGINAL INTENTION WAS TO NEUTRALIZE EXPERIMENTAL SILHOUETTES BY DOING THEM IN WASHED GREYS. I WANTED TO CREATE GENTLE AND CONTROLLED EXAGGERATION. GREY REPRESENTS STILLNESS, AMBIGUITY, TRANSITION AND SUSPENSE TO ME; DAWN OR DUSK? 

IS GOTHIC AN APT WORD TO DEFINE YOUR WORLD? 

I ACCEPT IT AS AN EASY WAY FOR ME TO BE CATEGORIZED IN A BUSY WORLD. I WOULDN'T USE IT MYSELF. 

JUDGING FROM YOUR FURNITURE AND THE CLOTHING YOU DESIGN, YOU HAVE A PRECISE VISION OF AN IDEAL WORLD: WHAT DEFINES IT? 

IT'S AN IDEALISM THAT ACCEPTS FLAWS AND IMPERFECTIONS. AN IDEALISM THAT DOESN'T JUDGE OR CONDEMN. AND AN IDEALISM THAT SENSES THAT CORRUPTION IS INEVITABLE. 

WHAT IS THE FUTURE GOING TO BE LIKE? IS THERE A WAY TO ESCAPE FASHION'S OBSESSION WITH THE PAST? 

I WONDER IF THE PAST IS A CONSOLING DIRECTION TO TAKE WHEN OVERWHELMED WITH TOO MANY OPTIONS. MAYBE AFTER THE INITIAL SHOCK OF THE INTERNET ON OUR GENERATION SOFTENS, I'D LIKE TO SEE FASHION BECOME MORE ABOUT CALCULATED FLAMBOYANCE. I SEE FLAMBOYANCE AS A SIMPLE EXPRESSION OF JOY. LIKE DANCING. 

WHAT IS BEAUTY TO YOU? DO YOU LOOK FOR BEAUTY IN YOUR WORK? 

I LOOK FOR BEAUTY ALL DAY LONG. FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, THE CLOTHES I PRESENT ARE MY PERSONAL INTERPRETATION OF BEAUTY. 

YOUR CLOTHES ARE BOTH SHARPLY DEFINED IN TERMS OF SHAPES AS THEY ARE UNDEFINED: THERE IS NO REFERENCE TO THE PAST, NOT EVEN TO A SPECIFIC BODY SHAPE OR AGE. DO YOU HAVE SOMEONE IN MIND, A MAN AND A WOMAN, WHILE YOU DESIGN, OR IS THIS FOGGINESS INTENTIONAL? 

I HAVEN'T FIGURED THIS OUT YET. I TRY NOT TO ANALYZE OR DEFINE TOO MUCH. THERE NEEDS TO BE A BIT OF MYSTERY, EVEN FOR MYSELF. I KNOW THAT I WANT TO PRESENT AN INCLUSIVE WORLD RATHER THAN AN EXCLUSIVE ONE, AND THAT I WANT TO MIX THE PRIMAL WITH THE FUTURISTIC. 

DO YOU AGREE THAT THE LINE BETWEEN THE TWO GENDERS ARE BEING BLURRED THESE DAYS? ARE GENDERLESSNESS AND ANDROGYNY CONCEPTS YOU ARE INTERESTED IN? 

I'M PERSONALLY VERY ATTRACTED TO ANDROGYNY. AND IN MY FASHION NICHE, I ENJOY PROPOSING IT. BUT IN THE WORLD IN GENERAL, I SEE A LOT OF PEOPLE CELEBRATING AND EMPHASIZING THEIR GENDER. I DON'T SEE THAT CHANGING A LOT. NOR SHOULD IT. 

YOUR WORLD IS ALL ABOUT CONTRASTS: HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR AND DECAY, TOUGHNESS AND GRACE. IS IT THAT MAKES IT SO STRIKINGLY CONTEMPORARY? 

I THINK IT'S JUST THAT I'M MIXING CODES THAT PEOPLE OF MY GENERATION RELATE TO. 

WHAT IS MODERN, TO YOU? ARE YOU INTERESTED IN THE LANGUAGE OF MODERNISM? 

I LOVE THE WORDS MODERNISM AND FUTURISM. THEY'RE ASPIRATIONAL (ANOTHER WORD I LOVE). THERE'S A POIGNANCY TO THESE URGES IN THAT IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO REACH THE HEIGHT THAT WAS INTENDED. MODERNISM TO ME IS A GRACEFUL, UNCOMPLICATED LINE FROM POINT A TO POINT B. 

WHAT IS CLASSIC, ON THE OTHER HAND? ARE YOU INTERESTED IN TIMELESSNESS AS A QUALITY? 

YES. IT'S ALWAYS REASSURING TO SEE THE CROWD IN THE HERMES STORE IN PARIS. 

IS IT THE STREET THAT INFLUENCES FASHION, OR THE OTHER WAY ROUND? 

IT SEEMS TO RICOCHET BACK AND FORTH THESE DAYS, DOESN'T IT? WHICH CAME FIRST, THE EGG OR THE CHICKEN? 

CREATIVELY, DO YOU FEEL PART OF ANY SCHOOL, EVEN AN IDEAL ONE? 

I WOULD LOVE TO BE CALLED A MODERNIST. BUT I'LL PROBABLY ALWAYS BE CALLED A GOTH. 

YOUR WORK IS MORE ABOUT SUBTRACTION THAN ADDITION. DO YOU AGREE THAT LESS IS MORE? 

MAYBE IT'S NOT FOR EVERYONE, BUT IT'S WHAT I'M INTERESTED IN. I WOULD NEVER DICTATE IT. I SUPPOSE I LIKE THE IDEA OF THE FEWEST RESPONSIBILITIES AND ATTACHMENTS POSSIBLE. UNCLUTTERED FREEDOM. 

DO YOU AGREE THAT ETHICS HAS TO MATCH AN AESTHETIC? LESS IS MORE, FOR EXAMPLE, IS AS MUCH ABOUT SHARP LINES AS IT IS ABOUT GETTING RID OF ALL THAT'S NOT NECESSARY. 

I LIKE THE MODESTY AND RESTRAINT IN REDUCTIVISM. AND I LIKE THE IDEA OF PRODUCING MORE THAN YOU CONSUME. AND I LIKE THE IDEA OF ACTION INSTEAD OF WORDS. 

HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE AS PATTERN CUTTER INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU SEE CLOTHES IN RELATION TO THE BODY, AND THE WAY YOU DESIGN THEM, AND YOUR SILHOUETTE? 

I BECAME A PATTERN CUTTER SO I COULD CREATE IN 3D. AS I GET OLDER, I APPRECIATE MORE THAT THAT MIGHT HAVE COME EASIER FOR ME THAN SOME OTHERS. 

HOW DO YOU BALANCE ART AND COMMERCE? YOUR WORK IS CONSISTENTLY EXPERIMENTAL, BUT ALSO VERY SUCCESSFUL COMMERCIALLY, WHICH IS RARE. IT IS SOMETHING PEOPLE REACT DEEPLY TO. DO YOU HAVE AN EXPLANATION FOR THIS? 

I'M TOO PRACTICAL TO SUCCUMB TO FUNCTIONLESS BEAUTY. THIS CAN BE A STRENGTH OR A CURSE SOMETIMES. AND I TRY TO BE HONEST ABOUT WHAT I BELIEVE IN. I LIKE TO THINK THAT PEOPLE SENSE THAT ATTEMPT. 

WHAT INTERESTS AND INSPIRES YOU? 

LOOKING AT ARCHITECTURE IS ALWAYS VERY SATISFYING. WHEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING, LOOKING AT LE CORBUSIER, NIEMEYER OR MORETTI ALWAYS GIVES ME DIRECTION. THEIR KIND OF CONSISTENT, CONFIDENT VISION ALWAYS FEEDS ME. 

THE CULT-LIKE AURA THAT SURROUNDS YOUR WORK: IS IT INTENTIONAL OR ACCIDENTAL? 

BELIEVE ME, I'M AS SURPRISED AS YOU ARE THAT I GOT THIS FAR. 

WHAT IS YOUR MAIN MOTIVATION, AS A DESIGNER? 

TO PROPOSE MY VERSION OF BEAUTY TO THOSE WHO WANT IT, IN AN EFFORT TO ENGAGE WITH THE WORLD AROUND ME. 

IN FASHION, IS THERE STILL ROOM LEFT FOR INNOVATION? 

THERE'S ALWAYS ROOM FOR INNOVATION. THE URGE FOR PROGRESS IS THE HUMAN CONDITION. 

WHO IS RICK OWENS? HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOURSELF? 

A FLAWED MAN WHO FORGIVES HIMSELF AND IS TRYING HIS BEST. 

WHAT AMUSES YOU? 

I WOULDN'T KNOW WHERE TO START. I WOULD BE TOO EMBARRASED TO BE A BROODING, TORTURED ARTIST. I FIND ENJOYMENT EVERYWHERE. 

HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP YOUR WORK IN A FORMULA? 

BROKEN IDEALISM. 

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OR MORE FROM NOW, HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED?