TEXTE ZUR KUNST – FEBRUARY 2010

FEBRUARY 2010

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YOUR ELABORATE CUTS EMANATE AN AURA OF COUTURE AND REVEAL YOUR VERY OWN TERMS AND PERCEPTION OF TIME AND TEMPORALITY. DOESN'T THAT CONTRADICT FASHION'S DICTUM OF CONSTANT CHANGE? 

I DON'T RECOGNIZE THAT DICTUM. AND IF ANYONE RESPONDS TO MY CLOTHES, IT SEEMS THAT THERE MIGHT BE A SMALL AUDIENCE FOR ME AND MY PACE. BELIEVE ME, I'M AS SURPRISED AS YOU ARE THAT I FOUND THAT AUDIENCE. AND A SMALL AUDIENCE IS ALL I NEED. 

YOUR WORK IS REGULARLY COMPARED WITH ART. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN YOUR ACTIVITY AND THAT OF AN ARTIST? 

I ORIGINALLY WENT TO ART SCHOOL TO BECOME A PAINTER BUT WAS TOO INTIMIDATED BY WHAT I CONSIDERED ITS INTELLECTUAL RESPONSIBILITY. SO I WENT TO FASHION. I NOW WONDER IF FASHION MIGHT HAVE SURPASSED ART. IT'S A COMMUNICATION THAT HAS TO HAVE MAGIC BUT ALSO BE SHARP, PRECISE AND MORE IMMEDIATE THAN EVER BEFORE. I STILL HAVE TOO MUCH RESPECT FOR ARTISTS TO CONSIDER MYSELF ONE, BUT I WONDER IF ON MY DEATH BED, I MIGHT LOOK BACK ON MY BODY OF WORK AND FEEL THAT COLLECTIVELY, IT WAS A WORK OF ART. I MIGHT. 

AFTER YOUR READY-TO-WEAR SHOW FOR SPRING 2010, MICHAEL STIPE SAID THAT YOUR WORK MAKES 'THE VISION OF THE FUTURE THAT HE HAD AS A CHILD COME TRUE.' IN FACT, EXPRESSIONS SUCH AS 'FUTURISTIC' AND 'VISIONARY' ARE OFTEN USED REGARDING YOUR DESIGNS. HOW DO YOU IMAGINE THE FUTURE OF FASHION? 

I LIKE THE WORD 'FUTURISM' FOR ITS IDEALISM AND 'ASPIRATION' FOR ITS HEROISM. I ALSO LIKE THE POIGNANCY OF THE INEVITABILITY OF FALLING SHORT OF THOSE GOALS. THAT STORY IS ALWAYS SOMEWHERE IN EVERYTHING I DO. I WOULDN'T PRESUME TO PREDICT THE FUTURE OF FASHION. THERE ARE TOO MANY UNSEEN CULTURAL VARIABLES WHICH WILL INFLUENCE IT. BUT IT'S THAT UNPREDICTABILITY THAT GIVES IT ALL ITS ALLURE. 

DO YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR PERSON IN MIND WHEN YOU DESIGN A PIECE OF CLOTHING? WHAT'S THAT PERSON LIKE? 

I SUPPOSE I'M SPEAKING TO MYSELF AND MY GENERATION. I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A LONER, AND MAKING CLOTHES WAS THE ONLY WAY I FELT I COULD CONNECT AND COMMUNICATE IN A GENUINE WAY WITH THE WORLD. I EXCLUDE NO ONE. 

CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE PROCESS OF YOUR DESIGNING? IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONCEIVING GARMENTS AND FURNITURE? 

NOW THAT I THINK OF IT, I ACTUALLY DON'T THINK THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. IT'S ABOUT TRYING TO FIND RATIONAL GRACE IN RESPECT TO THE HUMAN FORM. IT'S ABOUT COMBINING EVERYTHING I'VE EVER LEARNED INTO A NEW CONFIGURATION. 

THROUGHOUT THE LAST DECADE, THE FASHION SECTOR HAS TRANSFORMED FROM MANUFACTURING TO INDUSTRIALIZED PRODUCTION AND IS DOMINATED BY TWO OR THREE CONGLOMERATES. YOU ARE ONE OF THE FEW DESIGNERS LEFT WHO HAS NOT SOLD THEIR LABEL TO A CONGLOMERATE AND YOU SEEM TO STICK TO A MORE TRADITIONAL WAY OF PRODUCTION. HOW DOES THAT AFFECT YOUR DESIGNS? WHERE IS YOUR MANUFACTURER LOCATED? HOW DO YOU GET FUNDING FOR IT? 

I MADE CLOTHES MYSELF AT THE BEGINNING AND SOLD THEM TO A FEW OF THE BEST RETAILERS I COULD FIND. CONSEQUENTLY I WAS APPROACHED BY ITALIAN SALES AGENTS WHO INTRODUCED ME TO A MANUFACTURER WHO WAS WILLING TO MANUFACTURE MY CLOTHES. EVERYONE TOOK A SMALL CHANCE, AND WE GREW A BUSINESS TOGETHER. IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT SOMETHING SO INNOCENT WORKED. BUT IT TOOK TEACHING EACH OTHER AND LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER. 

IN 2003, YOU HAVE MOVED FROM THE UNITED STATES TO PARIS. DO YOU FIND THAT THERE'S A FREEDOM FOR FASHION DESIGN IN PARIS OR DO YOU ENCOUNTER THE SAME COMMERCIAL RESTRICTIONS THERE AS IN THE U.S.? 

I NEVER REALLY ENCOUNTERED COMMERCIAL RESTRICTIONS BECAUSE I NEVER REALLY RESISTED THEM. I WANT TO MAKE CLOTHES THAT PEOPLE WILL WEAR. 

IF FASHION IS A SOCIAL FORM THAT FUNCTIONS AS A PRECURSOR OF SOCIAL CHANGE, WHICH CHANGES WOULD HAPPEN ACCORDING TO YOUR FASHION?