NEW ORDER – APRIL 2009

APRIL 2009

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WAS FASHION ALWAYS YOUR GOAL? WHAT TOOK YOU DOWN THIS PATH IN LIFE? 

I ALWAYS LIKED THE IDEA OF COMPLETE ABANDON. THROWING EVERYTHING AWAY FOR AN IDEAL. LIKE JOINING AN ORDER OR BECOMING A JUNKIE. WHAT LEADS PEOPLE WHO ARE PERFECTLY INTELLIGENT TO THROW IT ALL AWAY? TO COMMIT TO ONE PURSUIT? I DIDN'T THINK I HAD THE INTELLECTUAL STAMINA TO DO IT AS AN ARTIST SO I DID IT AS A DESIGNER. WITH FAR BETTER RESULTS THAN I IMAGINED. I HAD FULLY INTENDED TO BE A TRAGIC FAILURE. 

WERE THERE PARTICULAR PEOPLE THROUGHOUT YOUR EARLIER CAREER WHO INSPIRED YOU? 

APART FROM ADMIRING BANDS AND ARTISTS FROM AFAR, I HAD A GROUP OF FRIENDS FROM ART SCHOOL THAT HAD A VERY ATTRACTIVE SENSE OF KNOWING THEMSELVES. LATER WE DRIFTED APART AND I'M AFRAID I'LL PROBABLY NEVER MAKE AN EFFORT TO HOOK UP WITH THEM AGAIN. 

WHAT INSPIRES YOU? 

WHEN I WAS A KID, I WAS VERY IMPRESSED BY JAPANESE AESTHETICS; SLOW, GREY, RAKU TEA CEREMONIES AND EMPTY ROOMS WITH PAPER WALLS, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, CRAZY-ASS KABUKI AND NOH THEATRE. I LOVE DISCIPLINE CAMOUFLAGED IN ARTIFICE. 

THE FASHION WORLD HAS AN ONGOING DEBATE OVER CONCEPTUAL DESIGN AND FUNCTIONAL FASHION, AND BRIDGING THE GAP TO FIND INNOVATION. DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION OVER THE DEBATE? 

WHEN I FIRST STARTED OUT, I ALWAYS RESENTED HOW RADICAL OR EXTREME FASHION WAS PRESENTED ON THE RUNWAY AS AN EXPERIMENT THAT WOULD NEVER BE AVAILABLE IN A STORE. OR HOW A DESIGNER WOULD PRESENT WOMEN AS WEDDING CAKES AND THEN TAKE A BOW IN JEANS AND TRAINERS. I HATED JEANS AND TRAINERS. I WANTED TO CORRUPT CONVENTION BY DISTORTING AND ALTERING THE BODY, BUT IN A SOFT, WORN, GREY WAY, TO MAKE IT EASY TO DIGEST. I THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS A STEALTHIER METHOD OF TRANSGRESSION AND ULTIMATELY MORE HARDCORE. NOW I LOOK BACK AFFECTIONATELY AT THAT EARLY ATTITUDE AS ADOLESCENTLY MILITANT, BUT THE BASIC URGE IS STILL THERE. PEOPLE TELL ME THAT I'VE BEEN INFLUENTIAL, BUT I HAVE A SUSPICION THAT IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN ANYWAY. MAYBE I HELPED. AND I ENDED UP MAKING JEANS AND TRAINERS, BUT MY WAY. 

DO YOU HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT REINTERPRETING THE PAST AND FINDING THE NEW? 

WELL, NO ONE LIVES IN A VACUUM. EVERYTHING I DO IS MY PERSONAL BLEND OF EVERYTHING I'VE EVER SEEN AND FELT. THIS MUST APPLY TO EVERY OTHER CREATOR IN HISTORY. THIS IS WHAT BINDS THE CREATOR TO THE SPECTATOR: SHARED REFERENCES. OF COURSE SOME CREATORS EXPRESS THEIR REFERENCES MORE LITERALLY THAN OTHERS. 

TELL US ABOUT THE MOVE TO PARIS AND THE CHANGES TO YOUR WORK AND LIFE SINCE THE MOVE?

IT ALL FELT LIKE A NATURAL EVOLUTION. OF COURSE I'D BEEN SELLING CLOTHES FOR 6 YEARS AND HAD A LITTLE ENDORSEMENT FROM AMERICAN VOGUE, SO I DIDN'T COME COLD. AND THE JURY WAS OUT FOR A WHILE ON WHETHER MY STORY WORKED HERE OR NOT. IT'S ONLY FAIRLY RECENTLY THAT I FEEL LIKE THEY'LL LET ME STAY. 

I FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE HERE ALTHOUGH I'VE LIVED HERE FOR 6 YEARS NOW AND DON'T SPEAK A WORD OF FRENCH. I TELL MYSELF THAT THIS WAS A DELIBERATE DEVICE TO PROTECT MY PERSONAL SPACE BUT I SUSPECT THAT I WAS JUST PROBABLY DUMBER THAN I THOUGHT. 

DO YOU DESIGN FOR ANYONE OR ANYTHING? IS THERE A VISION IN MIND OF WHERE YOU WANT YOUR GARMENTS TO LIVE? 

OF COURSE. BUT IF I TRIED DEFINING AND CATEGORIZING IT TO YOU, OR EVEN MYSELF, IT WOULD LOSE SOMETHING. TOO MUCH ANALYSIS DEFLATES THE SOUFFLE. 

DOES THE DESIGN PROCESS EVOLVE? EACH GARMENT HAS A DECONSTRUCTED, LIVED-IN FEEL. CAN YOU EXPLAIN YOUR PHILOSOPHY BEHIND THIS? 

MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS RESTRAINT AND MODESTY. MY SECOND THOUGHT WAS QUIET EXAGGERATION. MY THIRD THOUGHT WAS DISSIPATION. 

YOUR DESIGNS SEEM VERY FUNCTIONAL IN TERMS OF THE WAY THEY FIT THE BODY AND ARE CREATED FOR MOVEMENT. IS THIS SOMETHING YOU ARE CONSCIOUS OF WHEN DESIGINING, A PART OF YOUR PHILOSOPHY? 

I ADMIRE EXTREMELY CONSTRUCTED CLOTHES ARCHITECTURALLY, BUT PERSONALLY BALK A LITTLE AT DOING RESTRICTIVE THINGS TO PEOPLE THAT ARE GOING TO MAKE A LITTLE EXCESS FLESH SPILL OVER OR PUSH THINGS AROUND IN AN UNKIND WAY. OR BE SO CLINICALLY PERFECT THAT A HUMAN BEING WOULD ONLY DISTRACT FROM IT. I JUST THINK THAT EVERYONE'S BODY LOOKS BETTER WHEN FABRIC JUST GLIDES OVER IT. WHEN YOU SEE HOW FORTUNY DID HIS COTHES AFTER THE BELLE EPOQUE CORSETS, IT'S LIKE A WAVE OF FRESH AIR. 

WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH STYLIST PANOS YIAPANIS? HOW DOES THIS RELATIONSHIP WORK? 

I THINK HE SAW SOMETHING THERE BEFORE THERE WAS ANYTHING REALLY THERE. HE SHOWED UP AT THE VERY BEGINNING AND JUST TOOK UP HIS POSITION NEXT TO ME AT THE FIRST SHOW AND THAT WAS THAT. HE'S SO MUCH SMARTER THAN I AM. I'M PRETTY SPECIFIC IN WHAT I WANT TO SAY IN A SHOW BUT HE THREADS EVERYTHING TOGETHER AND TELLS THE STORY IN A WAY THAT MAKES ME BREATHE A SIGH OF RELIEF AT ITS PRECISION AND POLISH. AND THEN HE'S GONE UNTIL THE NEXT SHOW. I'M SURE HE SHARES THIS KIND OF INTIMATE CONNECTION WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE BUT I'VE DECIDED IN MY HEAD THAT I'M HIS FAVORITE. 

RECENT TIMES HAVE SEEN THE FASHION WORLD HERALD A REVIVAL OF U.S. FASHION. YOU ARE OF COURSE FROM THE U.S. (THOUGH BASED IN PARIS), AND YOUR NAME IS AMONGST THOSE MENTIONED. ANY THOUGHTS ON THIS? 

FRANKLY, I DON'T SEE A HALSTON OR A CALVIN KLEIN OR A GEOFFREY BEENE. AND I'M NOT REFERRING JUST TO A DESIGN VISION, BUT A MYSTIQUE. MAYBE THAT'S BECAUSE THERE'S JUST SO SO MANY DESIGNERS AND DESIGNER INFORMATION NOW THAT IT'S HARD TO SEE THROUGH THE CLUTTER. MAYBE I'M JUST NOT LOOKING AS CAREFULLY AS I USED TO. MAYBE I JUST DON'T KNOW MY ASS FROM A HOLE IN THE GROUND. 

YOU'VE BEEN COMPARED WITH NUMEROUS DESIGNERS, THOUGH I IMAGINE THIS IS AN EFFORT MAINLY BY FASHION WRITERS TRYING TO BEST DESCRIBE YOUR UNIQUE AESTHETIC. DID YOU FIND ANY GENUINE INFLUENCE FROM THE LIKES OF MARTIN MARGIELA, ANNE DEMEULEMEESTER, STEPHEN SPROUSE? THERE ARE SMALL ASPECTS OF YOUR WORK WHICH COULD BE COMPARED TO THESE ICONIC DESIGNERS, BUT BY NO MEANS IS THERE ANY OBVIOUS INFLUENCE. 

WELL, BEFORE I WAS A DESIGNER, I WAS A FAN OF THOSE DESIGNERS YOU MENTIONED AND MORE. OF COURSE I WAS INFLUENCED BY THEM. THEY MADE ME POSSIBLE. WE ALL LISTENED TO THE SAME BANDS AND WERE INTERESTED IN THE SAME ARTISTS AND THERE'S A MILLION VERSIONS OF ALL OF US THAT ARE PROBABLY JUST AS GOOD. BUT SOMEWHERE, WE HOOKED UP WITH A TEAM THAT BALANCED US OUT AND GOT US TO A CLEAR SPOT WHERE WE COULD SHINE A LITTLE. AND FINDING THAT TEAM BALANCE IS A DELICATE, MYSTERIOUS THING THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN VERY OFTEN. 

TELL US ABOUT DRKSHDW. HOW DID THIS LINE COME ABOUT AND WHAT IS ITS PHILOSOPHY? 

DRKSHDW IS VERY LEATHER BAR DESIGNED BY EILEEN GREY. WITH A MURAL BY ANSELM KIEFER. AND MUSIC BY LED ZEPPELIN REMIXED BY AUTECHRE. 

DO YOU HAVE OPINIONS OF HOW A MAN SHOULD DRESS? 

NONE WHATSOEVER. I OFFER SOME OPTIONS BUT TRY NOT TO LET MYSELF THINK I CAN MAKE ANY PROCLAMATIONS. FOR MYSELF, I'M NOT REALLY INTO CLOTHES. I JUST HAVE MULTIPLES OF ONE OUTFIT. I LIKE A UNIFORM. 

YOU ARE A BIG ART FAN. CAN YOU TELL US SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE ARTISTS? 

BRANCUSI
BEUYS
IRWIN COLLECTIVE
ANDREI MOLODKIN
PERRINO
AND ABOUT ELEVENTY BILLION MORE.

WHAT KIND OF EXPERIENCE DO YOU HOPE YOUR CUSTOMER HAS WHEN THEY ENTER YOUR STORES?

I WANT THEM TO FEEL MY CONVICTION. I WANT THEM TO FEEL A HARDCORE COMMITMENT FROM ME. 

YOU HAVE SO MUCH GOING ON, NUMEROUS COLLECTIONS, STORES AND SO MUCH MORE. WHEN YOU GET TIME AWAY FROM THE WORKROOM, WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE PASTIMES? 

SWIMMING AND READING IN THE SUN, WITH MONTSERRAT CABALLE ON THE IPOD AND A VERY DISTANT DEADLINE. I'VE LOOKED AROUND AND HAVEN'T FOUND ANYTHING THAT MAKES ME AS HAPPY. 

WHILE I'M SURE EVERYONE IS SICK OF THIS QUESTION BY NOW, I'M KEEN TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS ON HOW THE RECESSION MAY AFFECT THE FASHION WORLD?