BITE Magazine Issue 08 | Synergy

S P R ING 2014

B

S

Y

I

N

T

E

R

ISSUE VIII

E

G

Y

Nadirah Nazaraly Editor-in-Chief

Michael Brambila Fashion & Art Director

Daniel Griffiths Featured Editor

Contributing Photographers Benjamin Mallek Brent Chua Emma Pilkington Gilad Sasporta Jorge Perez Ortiz Mariona Vilar贸s Nikola Lamburov Sascha Heintze Sasha Hitchcock Scandebergs Sevda Albers Valentin Hennequin

Jason Judd Art Editor

Laurie @ Supa Model Management & Charles @ Premier Model Management Photographed by Jorge Perez Ortiz

Contributing Artists Lucio Vanotti Jennifer Gustavson Jeffrey Michael Austin PUTPUT Contributing Writers Erich Kessel Jr. Hung Tran Jacob Mallinson Bird

Marion Roussignol @ Nathalie Models Paris Photographed by Sascha Heintze

Image by Valentin Hennequin

CONTENTS

JEFFREY MICHAEL AUSTIN 06 Interview by Jason Judd STEPPING TOWARDS THE NEW 12 Text by Erich Kessel Jr. MENODERNO 16 Photography by Jorge Perez Ortiz Styling by Tomas C. Toth DER DRUCK STEIGT 24 Photography by Sevda Albers Styling by Stefanie Klopf BEGIN THE END 30 Photography by Sasha Hitchcock Styling by Katherine Whyte PUTPUT 40 Interview by Daniel Griffiths GRAPHIC HARMONY 44 Photography by Sascha Heintze Styling by Florie Viste CONSCIOUS(UN)CONSCIOUS 52 Photography by Scandebergs Styling by Nicola Baratto DRESS TO DIGRESS 64 Photography by Benjamin Mallek Styling by Miguel Santos

JENNIFER GUSTAVSON 68 Interview by Jason Judd CURIOUS WISHES 72 FEATHERED THE AIR Photography & Styling by Brent Chua WALDEN 80 Photography by Valentin Hennequin Styling by Daisy Marlow AGNETE 88 Photography by Emma Pilkington Styling by Sophie Benson LUCIO VANOTTI 96 Interview by Jacob Mallinson Bird ENFANTS SOLDATS 100 Photography by Gilad Sasporta Styling by Lu Phillipe Guillemette ROSE WATER 112 Photography by Nikola Lamburov Styling by Emelie Hultqvist & Stelios Stylianou HIDDEN PLACES 122 Photography by Mariona Vilar贸s Styling by Gianfranco Colla SYNERGY 130 Text by Hung Tran

EDITORS’ LETTER

Over the past three years, we have collaborated with some of the brightest young minds of the creative industry. From commissioned editorials to profiles of rising talents, the ever-present geographical distance and linguistic boundaries have been the least of our concerns in defining a streamlined vision of the magazine.

The production of each thematic issue requires a concerted effort from both the contributors and the BITE team - the most crucial foundation in materialising our respective ideas. As a result, we have come to realise a stronger sense of understanding and commonality across our work ethic as well as creative outlook.

The multi-dimensional perspectives from all parties confront and eventually coalesce to create original content in line with the identity of each issue: this issue, SYNERGY, celebrates the unity of mind and body.

From PUTPUT’s witty installations to Jeffrey Michael Austin’s precarious sculptures, the artists in this issue revel in contrasts by aligning them together to form new, powerful work. It is this positive and redemptive potential that is recurrent throughout the following pages.

As always, we extend our greatest gratitude to those involved and to others who have provided their unconditional support to the publication.

Image by Valentin Hennequin

J E FFREY M ICHAE L AUSTI N

6

BITE SYNERGY

Interview by Jason Judd All artwork by Jeffrey Michael Austin

7

JJ: Jeff, to me your work evokes the idea of composition as narrative. Is this something that you deal with in your work while stepping between disciplines?

JMA: I don’t personally tend to think of my work as narrative, in the sense that my interest with any one piece is not to pres-

ent a cohesive sequence of events or tell a complete story. I think my work deals more in frozen moments – still frames that may hint at the possibility of a broader storyline, but never quite define it. In a way, I suppose I can have a certain narrative sensibility when it comes to choosing the material and form of a piece – generating as careful and alluring of a scene as possible in the hopes of drawing you into that exact moment, but leaving the ultimate responsibility of the narrative’s authorship in your hands.

JJ: In the series A Language Older Than You I find a play between dependence and independence. The actual installations and titles I’m Not Worried About You, You Think Too Much, and You Never Know put the audience in the place of a character—to freely choose to be a participant in the text (“you” as the audience and “I” as the artist) or to merely witness the statement as a disconnected, perhaps casual, observer. Could you explain your thoughts on these pieces and the role of the audience?

JMA: A Language Older Than You stems from my ongoing curiosity toward casual vernacular expressions and the sort of hazy social air that tends to surround them. I’m talking specifically about those deep-seated

Always And Ever Is Never Enough idioms that Flies on wall; 12 x 12’ we all seem Burren College of Art 2013 to successfully absorb opposite and work BurrenBalance_No6_01 into speech offhandedly like muscle memory, without much of a clue as to the time or place that we picked them up. The series began with I’m Not Worried About You. When I first heard this turn of phrase voiced – a casual affirmation of one’s skills and promising future – I felt a certain incongruity between the sentiment of the words themselves and that of the message they were meant to deliver. When I spelled the phrase out in text, removing it from its verbal context, the incongruity became even more apparent – the words became somewhat cold and dismissive, directly opposing their intended effect when spoken. I’m interested in those moments – when language seems to collapse in on itself, exposing the vague inertia of words themselves, and making clear the way in which any language depends so vitally on the insightfulness of its participants to make accurate inferences about what the hell any one of us is truthfully trying to communicate. When I encounter those moments myself, it usually comes SYNERGY BITE

Jeffrey Michael Austin’s work is precariously situated between reflections. His own skills and philosophies are met with his instincts and intuition, leaving a moment of communication to materialize. In this way he is constantly challenging himself, learning, and reacting.

Austin talks about his temporary move to the outskirts of a small harbor village in Ireland known as Ballyvaughan, with a population just over 200 and the state of mind that occurs with such an abrupt change.

Austin’s work walks a fine existential line—never falling into cliché, though always accessible through a sincere use of wit and gesture.

BITE SYNERGY

JJ: The static as a time scale is an interesting thought when considering your Eternally Composed series. Are these interior compositions, or in other words, compositions to be played internally within me, the viewer?

JMA: Yes, exactly. When the series began, I was mostly interested in what it would take to design a gesture that holds a negligible physical presence while producing an implied action or reaction that is immeasurable in scale. In this case, each movement in the series comprises two short bars of music drawn discreetly within a couple square inches of ink on paper, yet, if they are to be performed properly according to their notation, the movements repeat eternally. I really enjoy the sort of problem that this sets up for the “performer”. By taking on one of these movements, the performer is agreeing to engage with this particular tune until

death do they part – or, on the other hand, by growing tired of the piece and walking away, the performer is consciously disobeying the intentions of the composer. This sort of recurring inner negotiation reminded me of the affirmations or mantras that we tend to echo internally to keep ourselves in check with our own ideals and principles.

So, I decided to approach each movement as an opportunity to embody a sort of ideal attainment of those personal states of being, while at the same time emphasizing the near-impossibility of that feat. The series began with Movement for Infinite Stillness, a response to the general anxiety that one often faces regarding who they were, who they are and who they are becoming. I figured that if I were able to accept and reaffirm the notion that “I am becoming what I am becoming…” indefinitely, it would come with a certain stillness of mind. So, in this way, the piece of music becomes a potential opportunity to reach that place.

Alternatively, the movements in the series may also embody states of mind one would rather escape. For instance, in Movement for Infinite Passivity, the performer is asked to recite a single “It’s alright” followed by infinite silence. In this case, the movement becomes a sort of nagging representation of the passivity one may battle with internally, and the desire to abandon the piece of music begins to parallel the desire to break one’s own habit of indifference.

JJ: Always and Ever is Never Enough exhibits a tension of organization where the desire is, perhaps, the end point but unfulfilling— reminiscent of some ideas from Franz Kafka.

Could you talk about how this piece functions

You Think Too Much both formally and conceptu- Thread, nails, local plant life, earth; 8 x 8 x 6’ ally?

Chicago Art Department JMA: Well, 2013 it’s often opposite referred to Composure by others as 10 x 3’ “the flies” or “the bug piece,” so, at the very least, Kafka and I can share that. The piece draws from a number of ideas that I’ve been working through for quite some time. Formally, the installation uses a pattern that I’ve been reiterating in my work for years – concentric, or radial, symmetry – a sort of universal configuration that seems to appear in every corner of the cosmos. The form suggests happenings of life on the atomic scale as much as those on the cosmic scale. It describes the motion of a vacuum as much as that of an explosion. It draws from that innate and transcendent geometry that seems to underlie the growth and behavior of all living systems – a cluster of stars, a particle of a virus, the seed head of a sunflower, or, in this case, a swarm of flies. I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that this pattern, in all its forms, is undeniably attractive to the human eye. So, while I was working this past fall at the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan, Ireland, and observing the cloud of flies fleeing into the warmth of the studios as the season turned, dropping just as quickly to carpet the floor by the thousands, I saw an opportunity to activate this pattern in a new way. At the time, I was interested in the idea that a single object or image had the potential to be just as alluring from one perspective as it was repellent from another.

8

with a feeling of confrontation – a pressure to choose from the many layers of possible readings that stem from a given assemblage of words. With each of the installations in this series, I’ve chosen bits of vernacular that involve the very pointed “You” in an attempt to place the viewer suddenly on the receiving end of that confrontation.

The sculptural event that inhabits the floor space is meant to act as a sort of inexplicit embodiment of the recognizable text that’s been stamped onto the adjacent walls with hundreds of hand-driven nails, forming a new association and challenging the typical interpretation of that vernacular. In this way, I’m hoping each installation in the series will conjure in the viewer a moment of curiosity and skepticism toward the scaffold of language.

9

JJ: Could you talk about your idea of balance as a creative individual—personally or in your practice?

JMA: The idea of balance, in some form or another, seems to find its way into every corner of my work. Whether I’m literally balancing physical material, plotting a composition or searching for equilibrium between the two polarities of a given thought

– it’s always present. It’s the sort of concern that blurs the boundary between “personally” and “in your practice” – a force that is both essential and paradoxical, posing as the holy grail of our personal lives while simultaneously defining and sustaining every aspect of the universe we inhabit. I feel I’m most captivated by the tipping point – that gray and fleeting point of inflection that sits nervously between stability and instability. Everything that’s truly exciting in life seems to happen at that point – all those rare and charged moments that sort of dance uneasily on the razor edge between two different planes of possibility. It’s an energy that I try to draw from as both a personal motivation and as a functional tool in my work. I do my best to place each piece right on that slim line – between push and pull, warm wit and cold distance, resolution and irresolution – as precariously as possible. It keeps things alive.

JJ: What are your thoughts on collaboration and how does it function in your music project with artists EJ Hill and Matt Austin (The Mountain Was A Gift)?

JMA: The Mountain Was A Gift was and continues to be my first real introduction to working collaboratively, and it’s been an enormously rewarding and educational experience. There is something really unusual and beautiful that comes with the decision to work toward one aim with other artists that you love and trust. By connecting several imaginative and critical minds, you’re expanding on the available bank of personal histories and philosophies and consequently crafting something that is more thoroughly considered and purpose-

driven than anything you could ever come up with on your own. There is a sense of heightened drive and encouragement, as well as a sort of tense pressure to keep the family’s baby alive and healthy. Over time, The Mountain Was A Gift has found a strong balance between those two energies: intuitive invention and deliberate intention. The project began with a series of participatory events known as Home School. We coordinated gatherings of experimental pedagogy all over the United States in settings ranging from the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago to a bonfire deep in the woods of Maine, each time fashioning an unusual but comfortable forum for the general public to open up and become vulnerable together. The lessons and exercises for each “class” would typically revolve around open conversations on what it means to be a living, learning, loving thing, and the premeditated curriculums were injected with a fluid and spontaneous atmosphere of improvised music. The decision to keep our musical scores improvisational allowed for a sense of pure and reciprocal energy to unfold in the room. Each session would become a multi-layered collaboration: the members of The Mountain Was A Gift with each other, the session’s participants with each other, and the group as a whole. I can say with confidence that the risks I’ve faced in collaboration with my brothers Matt Austin and EJ Hill have been some of the most fulfilling in my life, and I look forward to the many to come.

JJ: Do you find your studio practice or creative process responsive to your environment?

Are there any significant differences you have SYNERGY BITE

So, the realization of Always and Ever is Never Enough aimed to be just that – an arrangement that played, somewhat cruelly, with the instinctual reactions of the viewer. When approaching the wall from a distance, it first presents a display that feels attractive and welcoming, reminiscent of the decorative mandala designs that you might find scattered across the walls of a yoga studio. However, upon stepping near enough to the wall to discern that the form is composed of thousands of motionless, once-living creatures, the image that was pleasurable just a moment ago has suddenly become somewhat of a vile tragedy.

By facing each and every fly inward toward the void at the center of the design, I was hoping in some ways to personify the swarm and provide an entry point for the viewer to empathize, rather than addressing the image of a dead fly from a cold distance as one usually would. As you’ve pointed out, this arrangement implies a desire for a particular end – a yearning for something essential – left unresolved by the vacant space at the heart. I saw the composition as a means of offering just enough information to stir a relatable metaphor, leaving the more detailed narrative elements to be shaped by the viewer’s own history.

10

BITE SYNERGY

left to right

BurrenBalance_No7_01 BurrenBalance_No5_01 BurrenBalance_No3_01

vaughan, nested remotely at the heart of The Burren, you are undoubtedly sacrificing the accessibility to resources that comes with life in a big city – simply acquiring groceries or a box of nails could require a full day of travel. However, when the backdrop of your daily life features 360 degrees of ancient, uninhabited, glacially striated limestone hills and a silence so intense that you feel like you ought to apologize for the sound of your footsteps, that buzzing mindset fades and is replaced by a sort of clarity and quiet concentration that I had never known prior to my time there. I was drawing connections within my work that I could never see before, and materializing these new ideas with an ease and confidence that had been hard to muster in Chicago. It’s like that poet W. H. Auden said, “A culture is no better than its woods.” I think there’s a real truth to that – your creative energy originates from and reflects the elements of your surroundings. Anyway, as much as I’m kind of in love with that place and hope to return as soon as I can manage, I’m also excited to be back in the electric air and looking forward to facing the coming months with a little bit of that Burren quiet running through my veins.

JJ: Your work appears to find a tension between intuition and process. How do you feel these two modes exist together in your practice?

JMA: Yeah, this is the tension I was trying to describe earlier regarding The Mountain Was A Gift, and it definitely shows up in my own practice as well. I am always trying to work from intuition, driven by the energy of learning – new skill sets, philosophies, attitudes – and allowing that air of openness and vulnerability to bridge the two. By trusting that open instinct, I can allow my work to drift around through a cloud of potential forms and functions – from painting to music composition to installation to furniture design, one form motivating the next until I get caught up in a sort of expanding feedback loop, most often without a clue as to where exactly I’m headed, but with all these scattered bits of matter showing where I’ve been and what I’ve learned. It can be a sort of intimidating process, but if I can manage to sustain a life that involves feeling consistently vulnerable while paying full attention to my creative impulses, I’ll consider it a successful one. www.jeffreymichaelaustin.com SYNERGY BITE

11

noticed between working in Chicago and working in Ballyvaughan, Ireland?

JMA: Absolutely. It’s hard to imagine how such a radical shift in environment could not come with significant changes. If you’ve grown accustomed to Chicago – or any highly industrialized, densely populated city – it’s not difficult to grasp how the decision to move abruptly to the outskirts of a small harbor village in Ireland known as Ballyvaughan, with a population just over 200, might profoundly alter your routine and overall state of mind. Each location holds its own scale of advantages and disadvantages, and provides its own energy that, if you’re immersed in it long enough, will inevitably come through in the things you create. In Chicago, the actions of millions of other busy folks buzz around you at all times, giving the place a sort of electric atmosphere and providing you with seemingly limitless resources. However, with that amount of information pushing through your senses day after day, and without much of a visible natural landscape to find solace in, the mind has a tendency to become cluttered and restless. That kind of disposition will, for better or worse, inherently shape the focus and aesthetic of the work that comes out in the studio. In a place like Bally-

STE PPI NG TOWARDS TH E N EW Text by Erich Kessel Jr.

BITE SYNERGY

Naomi Campbell, cofounder of Hardison’s Diversity Coalition, sat for numerous television interviews on the subject. One of these, with Channel 4 News, resulted in

a pointed exchange between the journalist and Campbell. “It’s very upsetting to me— it’s heartbreaking—to be sitting here in 2013 even having this interview.”

Campbell echoed the impatience of many fashion onlookers who waited to immerse themselves in the season’s collections.

Models of color had been largely excluded from the season’s shows. This further problematized an already problematic fashion environment for anyone with an interest in better representation: namely, any person of color. The lack of diversity on runways added to a rising pile of related discomforts, including, but never limited to, the perennial return of blackface on European magazine pages and the colonial iconographies that permeated much of fashion’s aesthetic discourse. And, on a basic level, one must ask: how tiring might it have been to look, as a person of color, to the runway and see oneself never reflected? By extension, how might it have felt to be consistently

excluded from the industry that sourced inspiration, ambition, life-long love, and income?

The Diversity Coalition’s call for designers to step up did not go unanswered. Calvin Klein, one of the most notable listed names in Hardison’s letter, included six black models in its Spring 2014 collection; Prada used among many others, Malaika Firth who would later become one of the brand’s campaign stars. Designers showed a commitment to blending new faces into the traditional runway format. But arguably the most significant moment last season was one collection that, in the swirl of the Diversity Coalition’s demand for change, instantiated a radical break away from the industry’s conventions around model behavior, race, and the body. That collection was the Rick Owens presentation, a series of intense looks organized around the designer’s thematic interest in power.

12

What set the tone during this most recent fashion month were not reports about trends, the transforming industry, or controversies surrounding designer politics.

Instead, a series of memos to the heads of major national fashion syndicates were the topic on everyone’s lips. The opening sentence of each letter, written by veteran Bethann Hardison, was concise and impactful, a direct appeal to those in charge: “Eyes are on an industry that season after season watches fashion design houses consistently use of one or no models of color.” She went further, stating, “No matter the intention, the result is racism.” Curt in its style, the letter listed in plain sight the designers who had left out models of color. Her strategy was diplomatic but unyielding. The situation necessitated change.

Almost every detail, from the show’s start, was atypical. Two marching queues of step-team members from the States stomped down towards the set from a high platform. What erupted on the sparse stage was not so much a défilé (the French word for “march,” which is used to characterize the martial procession of bodies we call a fashion show) and more a performative declaration. Their aggressive demeanor heralded a shift in mood from the swinging struts of every other collection; their body language was the opposite of the transient 20-minute procession that has been made of most fashion shows. The firmness of their positioning on the ground-level stage commanded respect and attention. Transience became intransigence; percussive step usurped sanguine glide.

The step team girls and their dance also effected a shift in the way we think of the body in clothes. The normative relationship between the body and the clothes has a lot to do with extremes: garments that hang and drape, opposed by garments that tighten and constrict. The clothes were not so much on the dancers as they were worn by the dancers.

Their athletic, robust physiques changed the way the clothes looked.

Owens’ play with wrapped silhouettes and billowing fabrics was elevated, in that it was seen in rare action on bodies rarely seen.

Moreover, the step crew was predominantly black, a composition of incredible poignancy given the tone set by the Diversity Coalition. Aside from the all black casting at Milan’s Phillip Plein show, the Rick Owens show was the least

“white” of all the presentations that month.

Also, the significations of their dance were entrenched in American black culture.

Step crews form a large part of many black fraternities and sororities; in fact, one of the step crews originated from Howard University, one of America’s historically black colleges (HBCs). Owens even recognized step as way to state, “We’re beautiful in our own way.”

On a semantic level, therefore, the black cast and the percussive, noisy dance they performed was about interrupting the

uniformity of the runway format. It also upheaved standards of runway decorum. The spatial arrangement of the show amplified the message transmitted by Owens and the American step groups. The stage was broad, pushing the audience to its extremities. This consecrated the set as a special theatre of sorts: it was a space in which a meaningful message would be manufactured; only actors were the focus. But, unlike a narrow runway, it seemed limitless. The dancers activated the space, moving all the way to its extremes, occasionally conquering the domain of the audience. The way in which they oscillated between the edge and the center of their space gave the performance a pulsating, energetic quality.

This energy is one that is maintained even through the mediation of video recording: the more one watches it, the more magnetic and indubitable its power.

Reactions, in the aftermath of the show, were generally positive. However, some expressed concerns that the collection’s presentation upheld systems of dominant oppression. In “Why Fashion Should Stop Trying to be Diverse,” writer Minh-Ha T. Pham argues, “To pass muster as real change would require the racial dynamics of power that structure fashion’s visual cultures and practices be disassembled.”1 Pham articulates the position that the mainly black dancers were essentially summoned to perform for a mainly white audience; the black dancers, she argues, were as objects subjected to the white gaze.

To the contrary, it was the power of the dancers that was the point of the show. They peered

1 Pham, Minh-Ha T. “Why Fashion Should Stop Trying to Be Diverse.” Weblog post. Thread Bared. N.p., 30 Sept.

SYNERGY BITE

13

2013. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.

14

BITE SYNERGY

straight into the camera, scowling and groaning; their gaze is commanding even when viewed on Internet photos. It was not a display or an exhibition, unlike the vast majority of instances of white control over the racialized body. We cannot deny the efforts of the step team, nor the work they put in, nor the spectacle they created; Pham’s argument does this, inattentive to the agency and power that the models brought to the Paris presentation.

Pham’s argument, furthermore, assumes that a durational intent motivated Rick Owen’s choices in casting dancers with non-normative body types. But this presentation was not a manifesto to be implemented in the future. The collection lays no claim to such permanence. Instead, it is best analogized to a protest memorialized in a digital format. The incredible energy of the presentation was more like the collective effervescence one might see at rally in a city street. The broad span of the stage is, in many ways, akin to an expansive boulevard.

The sidewalk is to the street as the seating space is to the stage; the dancers are to the collection as activists are to the short-lived flame of a counterdemonstration.

The Rick Owens show was an exemplar, as a moment in which a designer manipulated a theme into a source of great beauty. It also showed us possibility. In shunning rigidity, Owens and the step dancers he hired demonstrated the opportunity for a new fashion performance, as well as a new space for race. Did the show effect a new racial dynamic? No. In that, Pham is justified in her critique. But is also never set out to do that.

SYNERGY BITE

15

Whether designers continue to explore beyond the boundaries of Owens’ provocations remains to be seen. But what we know is that the black American dancers were part of a short-lived spark of unique relevance to the conversation reignited by the Diversity Coalition.

M ENODE RNO Photography by Jorge Perez Ortiz Styling by Tomas C.Toth Hair & Make Upby Daisy Harris D’Andel Photography Assistance by Maria de la Riva.

Models Laurie @ SUPA Model Management Charles @ Premier Model Management

16

BITE SYNERGY

Jacket (worn reverse) by MOHSIN, shorts by ASHER LEVINE, socks by AMERICAN APPAREL, shoes by PURIFIED

SYNERGY BITE

17

Vest by HAIZHEN WANG, long shirt by PERIDOT, nylon skirt by JAMES HOCK, socks by AMERICAN APPAREL, shoes by PURIFIED

18

BITE SYNERGY

Jumper by BEAU HOMME, shirt by PERIDOT

SYNERGY BITE

19

Vest by HAIZHEN WANG, long shirt by PERIDOT, nylon skirt by JAMES HOCK, socks by AMERICAN APPAREL, shoes by PURIFIED

20

BITE SYNERGY

Laurie wears: Shirt by MARTINE ROSE, long shorts by MOHSIN Charles wears: Shirt by MARTINE ROSE, trousers by OSCAR QUIROZ

SYNERGY BITE

21

Vest by HAIZHEN WANG, long shirt by ASHER LEVINE, wide sheer trousers by BLACKBLESSED, shoes by PURIFIED

22

BITE SYNERGY

Laurie wears: Vest by LIAM HODGES, transparent jacket by COTTWEILER Charles wears: T-shirt by LIAM HODGES

SYNERGY BITE

23

Vest by HAIZHEN WANG, long shirt by PERIDOT, nylon skirt by JAMES HOCK

DE R DRUCK STE IGT Photography by Sevda Albers Styling by Stefanie Klopf Hair & Make Up by Linda Sigg @ Nina Klein

24

BITE SYNERGY

Model Vita @ M4

SYNERGY BITE

25

Shirt by FRENCH CONNECTION, trousers by MUUBAA

26

BITE SYNERGY

Jacket by MUUBAA, dress by FRENCH CONNECTION

SYNERGY BITE

27

Shirt by KILIAN KERNER, trousers by PAUL & JOE, shoes by ACNE

28

BITE SYNERGY

Dress by DSTM

SYNERGY BITE

29

Jacket by WOOD WOOD, skirt by MUUBAA

B EG I N TH E EN D Photography by Sasha Hitchcock Styling by Katherine Whyte MODELS Charles M @ Premier Model Management Sebastian A @ FM Agency

30

BITE SYNERGY

Jacket by SHRIREKHA PATEL, shirt by MARC BY MARC JACOBS

SYNERGY BITE

31

Jacket by SHRIREKHA PATEL, top by NEIL BARRETT, shirt by OLIVER SPENCER, trousers by ACNE

32

BITE SYNERGY

Earrings MODEL’S OWN (worn throughout), top by AVA CATHERSIDE, waistcoat by LUCY SEABROOK

SYNERGY BITE

33

Charles: Roll Neck by JOHN SMEDLEY, jumpsuit by LUCY SEABROOK, shoes by GRENSON Sebastian: Top by AVA CATHERSIDE, waistcoat by LUCY SEABROOK, trousers by LUCY SEABROOK, shoes by UNDERGROUND

34

BITE SYNERGY

Roll Neck by JOHN SMEDLEY, top by AVA CATHERSIDE, shorts and leggings by RICK OWENS

SYNERGY BITE

35

Jacket and trousers by SHRIREKHA PATEL, shirt by MARC BY MARC JACOBS

36

BITE SYNERGY

Charles: Roll neck by JOHN SMEDLEY, top by AVA CATHERSIDE Sebastian: Jacket by SHRIREKHA PATEL, top by NEIL BARRETT, shirt by OLIVER SPENCER

SYNERGY BITE

37

Coat and trousers by SHRIREKHA PATEL, roll neck by LORO PIANA

38

BITE SYNERGY

Coat by CHELSEA GOSLING

SYNERGY BITE

39

Jacket, top and trousers by AVA CATHERSIDE

Interview by Daniel Giffiths

Having established PUTPUT in 2011, Swiss/Danish artist duo Stefan Friedli and Ulrik Martin Larsen’s multivalent approach spans photography, book publishing, sculpture and installation design.

Characterised by a sense of humour and consisting of unfamiliar juxtapositions, PUTPUT’s various interdisciplinary projects manage to twist the viewer’s perception by confounding and complicating seemingly simple ideas.

BITE SYNERGY

DG: Could you tell us a little bit about PUTPUT and how it was conceived?

PUTPUT: We come from backgrounds in graphic design and fashion design and have always been attracted to conceptual and experimental approaches in image-making and design. We founded PUTPUT with the

intention of creating a free space where we could realise ideas visually without having to compromise or conform to the wishes of clients. At the moment we enjoy floating between genres and are quite happy to be associated with both art and design, as in our view the categorisation is redundant anyways.

DG: Your mission statement reads: “a Swiss/ Danish artist group seeking to occupy the space between input and output” In what ways does the contrast between input andoutput drive your work – be it photography or printed media?

PUTPUT: This refers more to the fact that we wish to remain in complete control of both input and output. There might not be that much of a contrast between input and output; in our case we see it more as a natural consequence of each other. We are very interested in the processes that happen when we feel “inspired”, when something is intriguing to such an extent that we simply can not ignore it, and that it sparks our curiosity so much that we have to realise the ideas that derive from this influence. We are also fascinated with the concept of ideas and the hierarchy of ideas that cause most thoughts – be it big or small – to stay on

the drawing board. We try to actively use this condition to force ourselves to realise all ideas and concepts, and to have a total disregard for the “quality” of the idea.

DG: Your work is characterised by the conjoining of various components together in new ways; what is your aim behind these juxtaposition and its desired affect on the viewer?

PUTPUT: These new compositions or constellations are made to convey new ways of seeing a well-known object. We see it as an interrogation of what things may become and, in questioning and examining these objects, we hope to challenge norms of perception. In our work we are always looking for ways of engaging the viewer and our highest hope is to make people look twice, to discover something new about a familiar object or a well-known situation.

DG: Many of the objects that you create, such as popsicles and flowers made from kitchen items, become humorous in their new forms.

How important is humour to your work? Is this an intentional undercurrent of the work or, rather, a result of our changing associations with familiar objects?

PUTPUT: The humour is inherent in our

40

PUTPUT

SYNERGY BITE

41

42

BITE SYNERGY

work – it runs as a undercurrent in everything we do. Maybe it’s because we have fun doing the projects but just because the sense of humour is present does not mean that it is just a funny image. Everything is based on meticulous research and we go through extreme measures to achieve the expression we are looking for.

We like the fact that some people might react with a “I could have done that”-type comment, when we know that most of the images took months of preparation and a lot ofattention to detail. We hope that our images look effortless, uncomplicated, approachable and direct on the surface but we also hope that some people will discover what lies beyond – and humour is an important aspect in this quest. In this way, humour represents an easier way into the content of the work and acts as a tool to remove any initial resistance in seeing.

DG: How do you approach each new series or project?

PUTPUT: They are quite often continuations and further elaborations of a theme so it’s more or less a case of “rinse and repeat”… Generally we approach all new ideas in the same manner: we research and begin gathering materials and references, then we move on to finding the objects needed and preparing the shoot.

When it comes to shooting the images we quite often repeat the shoot several times until we get the desired light and composition. We do our best to avoid post-production and would rather spend our time getting it right in the first place.

DG: What do you have planned next for PUTPUT? Given the interdisciplinary nature of the approach, do you see yourself branching out into working with new forms?

PUTPUT: We are always working on 3–5 projects at all times and, in some cases, the process is very long, which means that we have actually started working on projects outside the realm of photography a long time ago. These projects are based in sculpture and we are working with some extremely skilled craftsmen in realising those projects. We would also love to expand our publishing activities and have a new illustration-based publication coming out soon. We will probably always have a hand in photography, even as a means of documenting sculptural work which in turn could just as easily end up as a photography-based series.

SYNERGY BITE

43

http://www.putput.dk/

G R APH IC HARMONY Photography by Sascha Heintze Styling by Florie Vitse Hair by Nori Takabayashi Make Up by Min Kim @ Airport Agency Paris Model Marion Roussignol @ Nathalie Models Paris Photography Assistance by Laurent Gloor

44

BITE SYNERGY

Set Design by Maureen Coleman

SYNERGY BITE

45

Shirt by MM6 MARTIN MARGIELA opposite Jacket by LIMI FEU, trousers by GIVENCHY, crop top by MARTIN GRANT, socks by FALKE, boots by PRADA

46

BITE SYNERGY

SYNERGY BITE

47

Top by ACNE, trousers by MARTIN GRANT, shoes by YOHJI YAMAMOTO

48

BITE SYNERGY

Jacket and skirt by YOHJI YAMAMOTO, socks by FALKE, boots MODEL’S OWN

SYNERGY BITE

49

Trousers by MARTIN GRANT

50

BITE SYNERGY

Top and shoes by YOHJI YAMAMOTO, trousers by AUDRA

SYNERGY BITE

51

Shirt by ACNE, trousers by GIVENCHY

CONSCIOUS ( UN ) CONSCIOUS Photography by Scandebergs Fashion by Nicola Baratto Photo & Styling Assistance by Ilenia Arosio, Michela Paoletti Models Duco @ 2Morrow Models, Milan and Bohdan S.

52

BITE SYNERGY

Special Thanks to DeadCoutureIconsArchive and Riccardo Grassi Showroom, Milan.

SYNERGY BITE

53

Parka by CARUSO, trousers by NONOLENI

54

BITE SYNERGY

Jacket by Y-3 ARCHIVE Sweater by COMEFORBREAKFAST

SYNERGY BITE

55

Tent-Jacket by RAF SIMONS ARCHIVE Duco: sweater by COMEFORBREAKFAST, trousers by NONOLENI Bohdan: tshirt by JEREMY SCOTT, trousers NONOLENI

56

BITE SYNERGY

Duco: bomber by NONOLENI, sweater by JEREMY SCOTT ARCHIVE, trousers by NONOLENI, shoes by NIKE ARCHIVE, Bohdan: sweater by COMME DES GARÇONS ARCHIVE, t-shirt by JEREMY SCOTT, skirt by WORLDS END ARCHIVE, shoes by NIKE BY JUNYA WATANABE ARCHIVE

SYNERGY BITE

57

58

BITE SYNERGY

Sweater STYLIST’S OWN, shorts by HENRIK VIBSKOV

SYNERGY BITE

59

Duco: parka by CARUSO Bohdan: jacket by JULIAN KEEN BY ALESSANDRO D’AMICO

60

BITE SYNERGY

Duco: sweater by COMME DES GARÇONS SHIRT ARCHIVE, white shirt by PRADA ARCHIVE, black shirt by COMEFORBREAKFAST, skirt by NONOLENI, shoes by NIKE ARCHIVE Bodhan: jacket by COMME DES GARÇONS ARCHIVE, shirt by KSUBI, shorts by NONOLENI, shoes by NIKE BY JUNYA WATANABEARCHIVE

SYNERGY BITE

61

62

BITE SYNERGY

Bomber by NONOLENI, panel t-shirt by COMME DES GARÇONS SHIRT ARCHIVE, skirt by NONOLENI, shoes by NIKE ARCHIVE

SYNERGY BITE

63

Bomber by NONOLENI

DRESS TO DIG RESS Photography by Benjamin Mallek Styling by Miguel Santos Make Up by Sian Duke Model Lydia Graham @ Models1

64

BITE SYNERGY

Top by JAMIE WEI HUANG, skirt by AVA CATHERSIDE

SYNERGY BITE

65

Jacket and skirt by SILVINA MAESTRO, cropped top by JAMIE WEI HUANG right Top by & OTHER STORIES

Dress by SIMON EKRELIUS

66

BITE SYNERGY

right Top by THIS IS THE UNIFORM, skirt by SILVINA MAESTRO

SYNERGY BITE

67

Cropped top and shirt by THIS IS THE UNIFORM right Top by COS, skirt by JAMIE WEI HUANG, cap by THIS IS THE UNIFORM

Interview by Jason Judd All artwork by Jennifer Gustavson

Jennifer Gustavson collects, makes, or more often than not, finds herself surrounded by objects. She investigates, what she describes as, the struggle between the burden and the attachment to objects. In this interview Gustavson discusses how her idiosyncrasies become sculpture, through ordering and organizing. Her formal decisions with objects of commodity and sentimentality questions what is important in hierarchy. Perhaps her sculptures reach a sense of poignancy when she states, “There is something complicated and unscientific about the hierarchy of sentimentality.”

BITE SYNERGY

JJ: When I approach your work, I find it easy to overlook the first thought that presents itself: Purpose. Though most art is inherently purposeful, it does not use everyday objects that I may own. When I move or adjust a table it is for a purpose or reason, either to vacuum, move, or because I did not like the placement.

The latter is less practical and more about my personal preference and taste. Are you using purpose as a tool or does it exist inherently in your work?

JG: I think I have to first describe my work environment. A large part of my practice involves collecting. I surround myself with various objects; some I make and some are found. I like the extreme range of things, small things to big things, meaningful next to vapid things, etcetera. Part of this involves having to move it around so I can navigate through my space. So stacking and arranging has a basic utilitarian purpose, but it does

serve a deeper artistic purpose too. It always amazes me to how many narratives I can get out of just simply moving stuff around.

JJ: There is also a sense of intervention.

Perhaps how culture had taught us how to understand these objects are being dismissed in a formal manner. Can you discuss the formal aspects and if there is any intervening happening?

JG: Getting the opportunity to exhibit a sculpture is the ultimate intervention and the context of the site can be a crucial element when it comes to placement or even in the specificity of the objects I choose. Many of the pieces I make can’t really be remade.

Things get broken, lost or recycled into new pieces. When something gets exhibited, it can only come together in one time and one place.

68

J EN N I FE R GUSTAVSON

69

JJ: What is your idea of correctness? Is there a correct way of organizing or ordering, are there correct pieces and what then is inadequate?

JG: I don’t really think about the ordering or materials in terms of correctness or incorrectness. I keep the materials and objects as open as possible. I try not to over think the

collection phases. I’m definitely attracted to objects that have a history with me or people close to me but this isn’t necessarily a prerequisite. I’d rather be in a room with as much stuff as possible rather than the other way around. Anything at any point can become a sculpture. I might spend hours on one component of a sculpture and then again I might add something a split second before an opening without really thinking about why or even if it should be there. I think those extremities are fundamental in my work. As an artist, I never want to make the same thing twice. But that is also probably because I get bored and distracted pretty easily. I definitely have more unfinished work than finished work.

But then again what is “finished” supposed to look like?

JJ: How do you achieve order?

JG: Mostly through the physical properties of objects like color, size, shape, etc. The way objects get categorized is fascinating to me. A while ago, I made a piece called, Junk Drawer, 2010 where I removed all the contents of my actual junk drawer at home and placed them methodically on a table for display.

JJ: What are your thoughts on the tension

Domestic Landscape, 2011 between the 10 altered Coors Light bottles sentimental and 8x24x3 inches commodity?

JG: My father opposite chewed the Everything Upsidedown brand Extra, Everything in studio Spearmint gum for as long as I had known him. There is no way I can see, taste or smell that gum without associating it with him. Mass produced objects and advertising are utilized in my work all the time. I would never expect someone to totally get what a pack of gum could mean to me in its entirety, but I hope that is obvious that there is some kind of sentiment there.

I also collect any kind of packaging that uses personal pronouns- I, you or me in particular. I love when advertising attempts at targeting the individual. I use found text like book covers and packaging a lot in pretty subtle ways, but those moments are important and even though they are found text, they are the most lyrical part of the piece.

JJ: In what way do you utilize your studio?

JG: The studio is very important to me conceptually. I’ve made work in the past where I have used the studio as a medium. I SYNERGY BITE

JJ: To me organizing reveals a very real desire for control. A desire that is ever unfulfilled, leaving the act comforting or meditative.

In your stacking, organizing, or placing are you questioning the usefulness of organizing chaos using the everyday as context or medium?

JG: I think a lot about the struggle between the burden yet my attachment to things. I feel out of control most of the time. I get overwhelmed easily and am actually a really indecisive person. I think that is really why I started arranging things based on their physical properties, it sort of made the final decision for me. Many things end up from shortest to tallest and formally this is a paradox because that ordering is suggestive of hierarchy even though there is none. It becomes a question about what is actually important. There is something complicated and unscientific about the hierarchy of sentimentality.

made a piece where I had turned everything upside-down in my studio, (2008). Every single object, big or tiny, I had flipped over.

Initially I just thought it would be interesting to reveal the bottom of every object and that act also reminded me of the art school trick where you turn a painting upsidedown to get a different look at it, but it had some surprising results that eventually lead me to other things. For one, it wasn’t all that noticeable with the exception of maybe the desk or a chair flipped over. I thought it was going to be this glaring intervention, but no one who came through my studio even noticed until I said something. That piece couldn’t have existed anywhere but my studio. Having to touch everything individually and turn it over was an intimate act for me. It was kind of like therapy or something where I was looking at myself through my objects. A drawing can be just as revealing as a half-empty bottle of generic aspirin.

JJ: Is your practice hard to separate from a daily way of being? In other words, is your work a natural extension of your idiosyncrasies or is it something you need to reflect upon in order for it to materialize?

JG: I think of my live space and my workspace as separate, however there is definitely crossover and similar behaviors that take place within them that I try to pay attention to. I sometimes take elements from my living space and use them in sculptural installations. The removal or void in my apartment or studio is something that I often think is as much an act of sculpture as the placement of display. www.jennifergustavson.com

6’6” One Day This Will All Be Yours. Lease Agreement. Baltimore, Maryland, 2013 Micheal Jordan card, raw alabaster, towel, plaster, book, studio pants, pvc pipe, 5 beer bottles, plate glass, step stool, mirror, google eye, ½ cast resin soda bottle and milk crate 82x23x23 inches opposite

Studio Pests, 2011

70

BITE SYNERGY

Found dead pests in resin. (ongoing)

SYNERGY BITE

71

CU RIOUS WISH ES FEATH E RE D TH E AI R Photography & Styling by Brent Chua Model Dmitry Brylev @ DNA

72

BITE SYNERGY

All Clothes by PRADA

SYNERGY BITE

73

74

BITE SYNERGY

SYNERGY BITE

75

76

BITE SYNERGY

SYNERGY BITE

77

78

BITE SYNERGY

SYNERGY BITE

79

WALDEN Photography by Valentin Hennequin Styling by Daisy Marlow Hair & Make Up by Alice Howlett Model Daniel Stowe @ Elite Model Management

80

BITE SYNERGY

Cap by BROOKLYN WE GO HARD, camo jacket by ALBAM

SYNERGY BITE

81

Jeans by A.P.C, cap by BROOKLYN WE GO HARD, camo jacket by ALBAM

82

BITE SYNERGY

SYNERGY BITE

83

Parka by ALBAM, trousers by PAUL SMITH, cap by ACNE

84

BITE SYNERGY

Knit top by ACNE

SYNERGY BITE

85

Parka by ALBAM, trousers by PAUL SMITH, cap by ACNE

86

BITE SYNERGY

Parka by ALBAM, cap by ACNE

SYNERGY BITE

87

Shirt by COMME DES GARÇONS, Jeans by ACNE, pullover via OKI-NI

AG N E TE Photography by Emma Pilkington Styling by Sophie Benson Hair & Make-Up by Dominique Desveaux

88

BITE SYNERGY

Models Kate @ Boss Charlotte @ Industry Vera @ Nemesis

SYNERGY BITE

89

Shirt and trousers by LAUREN DUTTON, crop top by H&M Tee by LAUREN DUTTON, turtle neck MODEL’S OWN, skirt by JOHN EARNSHAW Wool coat by PAUL SMITH, turtle neck by AMERICAN APPAREL, crop top by JOHN EARNSHAW, trousers by LAUREN DUTTON

90

BITE SYNERGY

Bomber jacket by WE ARE COW, jumper by ZARA, skirt by LAUREN DUTTON Sweater VINTAGE (stylist’s own), turtle neck by AMERICAN APPAREL, skirt by H&M

SYNERGY BITE

91

Wool coat by TOPSHOP Knit dress by EMILY SHAW, turtle neck by AMERICAN APPAREL

92

BITE SYNERGY

Bomber jacket by WE ARE COW, jumper by ZARA, skirt by LAUREN DUTTON Turtle neck by ZARA, silver skirt by JOHN EARNSHAW

SYNERGY BITE

93

Shirt and trousers by LAUREN DUTTON, crop top by H&M Tee by LAUREN DUTTON, turtle neck MODEL’S OWN, skirt by JOHN EARNSHAW Wool coat by PAUL SMITH, turtle neck by AMERICAN APPAREL, crop top by JOHN EARNSHAW, trousers by LAUREN DUTTON

94

BITE SYNERGY

Bomber jacket by WE ARE COW, jumper by ZARA, skirt by LAUREN DUTTON Turtle neck by ZARA, silver skirt by JOHN EARNSHAW Sweater VINTAGE (stylist’s own), turtle neck by AMERICAN APPAREL, skirt by H&M

SYNERGY BITE

95

Interview by Jacob Mallinson Bird

Considering fashion as more than visual two-dimensions, Lucio Vanotti invites us to look deeper into his garments. Vanotti finds art and beauty nestled in the satisfaction of creating pieces that also serve a purpose – the beauty inside craft and utility. Viewing fashion as an ongoing process, Vanotti reminds us as consumers to take these factors into consideration, and to take pride in the craftsmanship of pieces rather than their price tag.

BITE SYNERGY

JMB: What is the first stage in your process designing a collection?

LV: For me, there are two factors that contribute to the basics of creating a collection: the aesthetic idea and the practical necessity.

These two shape an intricate dialogue within the process and allow for reflection and creation.

JMB: Where do you view the line between art and utility?

LV: For me there is no such thing as a clear-cut

line. Meaning, personally I do not see this line, because the art as a concept itself is useful, and the utility can also be the art.

JMB: You’ve cited Martin Margiela as one of the designers you most admire; would you ever consider creating a couture collection in the same vein, or would this contradict ideas of fashion and utility?

LV: Well, the work Martin Margiela did serves as an example of the union of art and utility. Each garment had poetry, but it was useful at the same time. Therefore, in my own designs, I also focus on this unity between form and function, which to me is definitely attainable.

JMB: How important is the artisanship in terms of your own artistic creation?

LV: It is indeed very important because I believe in the fair value of the objects.

Therefore I like to work with those who perform craftsmanship, people who take the time it takes to create and profoundly love what they do. It is not easy to respect these values, but I always try with each collection.

To me it is important that we should be more aware of the work that exists encapsulated in every item we buy.

96

LUCIO VANOTTI

SYNERGY BITE

97

98

BITE SYNERGY

JMB: Do you ever feel a contradiction between the strict seasonal changes of the fashion industry and your own creative freedom and aesthetic?

LV: Personally, I do not feel this contradiction, because there are no large seasonal changes in fashion, perhaps seemingly those that are announced, but in reality, fashion is a process of slow change. In these years, where the proposals are endless, I do not see a real change, but the existence of multiple points of view. And this is indeed very positive. In fact, when I hear someone talking about the colour of the year or of this or that length, I simply do not understand, as for me it much more about the process and pensive innovation. Perhaps I am not the most accurate follower of “fashion trends”.

JMB: You’ve said before that you would like to see a society in which we consume “less but better”; what issues do you find when marrying your own ethical viewpoints with the fashion industry, an industry in which brilliance so often equates with excess and ephemerality?

LV: Well, I think that it should be enough to buy a wonderful item at the right price and the right quality. We live in a society where we buy so many things at low prices and throw a lot away, which is very wasteful and leading to the gain of a few and the exploitation of so many people. To me, it is rather ridiculous that a rich person feels cool because he paid a little price for a product that was worth more - this is the problem. We should remunerate designers for their craftsmanship. Normally, people talk about the price first, and then the product. It is sad to see the fashion advertising with economic prices in the foreground...

Now, is this beauty?

SYNERGY BITE

99

www.luciovanotti.com

EN FANTS SOLDATS Photography by Gilad Sasporta Styling by Lu Philippe Guilmette Hair & Make Up by Olivier Baille Models Francis Villalva @ Success Alima Fofana @ Women & Dealer Photography Assistance by Daniel Assayag

100

BITE SYNERGY

Styling Assistance by Marc Brisebois

SYNERGY BITE

101

Dress by SERKAN KURA

102

BITE SYNERGY

Shirt by JEAN-PAUL LESPAGNARD, trousers by AINUR TURISBEK, boots by TSOLO MUNKH, cap by NIELS PEERAER

SYNERGY BITE

103

Top and leggings by ALEXIS REYNA, crown made by STYLIST

104

BITE SYNERGY

SYNERGY BITE

105

Shirt by JEAN-PAUL LESPAGNARD, coat STYLIST’S OWN, cap by NIELS PEERAER

106

BITE SYNERGY

Crown made by STYLIST

SYNERGY BITE

107

Scarf by LES CINQ

108

BITE SYNERGY

Headpiece by URIEL SALAS, necklace by SASKIA DIEZ

SYNERGY BITE

109

110

BITE SYNERGY

Bomber by JEAN-PAUL LESPAGNARD, shorts by NIKE, scarf by LES CINQ

SYNERGY BITE

111

Vest by AURELIE DEMEL, shorts by YOHJI YAMAMOTO, boots STYLIST’S OWN

ROSE WATE R Photography by Nikola Lamburov Styling by Emelie Hultqvist & Stelios Stylianou @ Un-Categorized Hair by Maki Tanaka using BUMBLE and BUMBLE Make Up by Joanna Banach @ Untitled Artists London using MAC Cosmetics Set Design by Aaro Murphy Model Kitty @ Premier Model Management Photography Assistance by Federico Radaelli

112

BITE SYNERGY

Set Design Assistance by Yuko Endo

SYNERGY BITE

113

Skirt and top by YIFANG WAN

114

BITE SYNERGY

Top by HELEN LAWRENCE, skirt by BACK

SYNERGY BITE

115

Jacket and trousers by FAUSTINE STEINMETZ, shoes by HELEN LAWRENCE

116

BITE SYNERGY

Top and skirt by SHAO YEN

SYNERGY BITE

117

118

BITE SYNERGY

Top by BACK, trousers by HELEN LAWRENCE

SYNERGY BITE

119

Dress by BACK, earrings by MAWI

120

BITE SYNERGY

Top by YIFANG WAN, trousers by BACK, shoes by FILIPPA K

SYNERGY BITE

121

Top by KENZO

H I DDEN PLACES Photography by Mariona Vilar贸s Styling by Gianfranco Colla Hair by Ami Fujita Make Up by Mai Kodama Models Megan and Cameron Manocheo @ Models1

122

BITE SYNERGY

Top by TOMOKO ONIMARU, shorts by JH ZANE

SYNERGY BITE

123

Top by AVA CATHERSIDE, waistcoat by TOMOKO ONIMARU

124

BITE SYNERGY

Top by JH ZANE

SYNERGY BITE

125

Top and skirt by JH ZANE Turtle neck, waistcoat and shorts by BENJAMIN BERTRAM, shoes by CHEAP MONDAY

126

BITE SYNERGY

Coat by ALEXIS HOUSDEN Turtle neck by BENJAMIN BERTRAM, coat by AVA CATHERSIDE

SYNERGY BITE

127

Top by ALEXIS HOUSDEN, trousers by AVA CATHERSIDE

128

BITE SYNERGY

Shirt and skirt by JH ZANE

SYNERGY BITE

129

Turtle neck and skirt by BENJAMIN BERTRAM, top by AVA CATHERSIDE

DE S I R E, N ECE SSIT Y AN D SUSTAI NAB I LIT Y Text by Hung Tran

I began writing this article in late January, in the midst of a fashion-charged stupor from which there seemed to be no relief. The menswear and haute couture collections had just finished in Paris, and New York was about to kick off another month of fashion shows. As my mind drifted off to the long, long list of designers who were finalising their collections, I started thinking about the clothes hanging in my own closet. Then I thought about my upcoming deadline and how I was going to approach the theme of synergy.

BITE SYNERGY

It suddenly hit me. The theme of synergy— as broad and cryptic as it seemed when I read the editor’s first email—was perfect for a discussion about fashion. Synergy describes the close, cooperative interaction between two or more moving parts.

Money and creativity are the two primary gears that turn the fashion wheel. But

what is it that compels people to spend so much money on clothes? The answer is something even more basic: what we need versus what we want. If this industry were based on products that people truly needed, marketing departments that spend millions of dollars a year on advertising would be nearly obsolete. Luxury would be undermined by necessity. Designer names would lose their allure. In other words, the fashion industry would look completely different.

To understand the current culture of desire we must take a step back in time. In the glory days of haute couture, some designers would sell their patterns to American department stores for limited reproduction rights. These designers understood that Americans wanted to wear their clothes, but very few could travel to Paris, let alone afford the high prices. Christian

Dior, precocious on every level, went a step further and explored the potential of licensing. It was the perfect way for Dior to widen his luxury business without incurring any major costs or management responsibilities, and soon “Dior” appeared on everything from scarves to sunglasses.

To this day, a licensing program is necessary when a designer wishes to diversify their product range, but lacks the expertise or resources to make those products. Italy’s Luxottica, for example, manufactures highquality sunglasses for almost all the major designer labels.

One by one, designers departed from the couture club and their legacies receded into memory. Only a handful of them survive today. Still, in the 1980s and 1990s, luxury tycoons like Bernard Arnault knew that the future of fashion needed big names with historical significance, and thus began collecting and trading brands like baseball cards. He knew how to reinvent and remarket these brands. He emphasised history and origin—dates now synonymous with authenticity—and used that to propel a logo-infested era in fashion. Arnault’s LVMH currently controls a majority stake in Louis Vuitton, Dior and Givenchy; his main competitor, Kering’s Francois-Henri

130

SYN E RGY:

If the demand for luxury is high, the demand for luxury ideas seems to be even higher. Mega retailer Zara has become phenomenally successful by appropriating designers’ ideas and bringing them to the selling floor within 14 days of being sent down the runway, whereas the luxury version typically takes 4-6 months to produce. Zara also delivers new stock twice a week, which creates an accelerated shopping experience: buy this now or it won’t be here next week. The company has been able to reconcile the consumer’s desire to purchase well-designed, trendy clothes with our desire to be frugal (bonus for us), in conjunction with short production and distribution lead times (bonus for them).

The trend has continued among other retailers in what is now collectively known as “fast fashion.” It all sounds innocuous enough, but is there any danger in going too fast?

Words like “sustainable” and “ethical” and “green” have been thrown around for years, and it’s something the fashion industry likes to pretend to be working on. However, recent events have made it clear that the supply and demand chains have reached a point of teetering instability.

131

Make more, sell more, buy more; more, more, more—perhaps that is a more accurate summary.

In April 2013 the deadly collapse of the eight-storey Rana Plaza building in Savar, Bangladesh, resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1,133 garment workers and injured more than 2,500. According to a number of reports by The New York Times, The Guardian, and TIME, authorities did not respond to initial concerns over the cracks in the walls as they were, according to building owner Sohel Rana, “nothing serious.” Following the catastrophe, Bangladeshi human rights activist William Gomes accused authorities of not only ignoring the excessive number of heavyweight sewing machines that had been installed, but also suggested that the building had been illegally extended from five storeys to eight. In December 2013 four international retailers—Primark, El Corte Ingles, Loblaw and Bonmarche—agreed to set up a $40 million compensation package for the victims, with over a hundred European and US retailers pledging to improve sourcing and safety policies. That plan has yet to come to fruition.

Horror stories are scariest when they’re based on true events, and nothing is more confronting than having to acknowledge that in our closets are cheap t-shirts and sweaters that could have come from the Rana Plaza building, if not a similar establishment. According to the Water and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the UK throws out 350,000 tonnes of clothing into landfill every year; conversely, the UK consumes 1.72 million tonnes of clothing in the same amount of time, according

to social and environmental writer Lucy Siegle.

This ratio is consistent across the developed world. Basic math tells us that there is more clothing entering our closets than there is leaving, that the demand for clothing is intensifying.

Most importantly, at this rate, if we consume more than we throw out then it’s only a matter of time before the supply chains snap in half while trying to keep up.

Clearly, the global fashion industry could do much more to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability. But does it really come down to corporate greed? Or could it be the fact that “sustainable” is simply a balloon filled with promises and good intentions, the string tied to all designers’ mood boards, but ultimately going nowhere?

Vanessa Friedman, fashion editor of the Financial Times, wrote in 2010 that the sustainability movement is rife with “lexicographical fuzziness.” She interviewed a number of major designers on the topic: •

Gucci’s creative director Frida Giannini believes in a kind of heirloom sustainability, in which there are “quality items that stand the test of time…Symbolised by a timeless handbag that you wear again and again, and can pass on.”

•

Oscar de la Renta focuses more on technique than product: “Sustainable fashion implies a commitment to the traditional techniques…We need to ensure that the next generation of seamstresses and tailors have the skills necessary to develop clothes that are not only beautiful but extremely well-made.”

SYNERGY BITE

Pinault, controls Balenciaga, Gucci and Saint Laurent. These tycoons have spent years managing and manipulating brand identity trying to get you and I—the ever-growing, ever-powerful middle market consumers—to spend our money on things that we don’t need, but have been conditioned to want.

132

BITE SYNERGY

EDUN S/S14 campaign photographed by Danielle Sherman

Lastly, Anya Hindmarch, designer, brand founder, and brains behind the “I am not a plastic bag” campaign, opts for a more traditional environment-focused definition: “I would define the ideal as locally sourced materials that don’t pollute in their creation or demise (preferably recycled) and with limited transportation to achieve the completed product.”

Without a clear definition of what “sustainable fashion” actually is, fashion industry professionals are wont to throw blame and point fingers at each other.

This is a pointless, ineffectual game.

There needs to be conversation—indeed, synergy—surrounding the oxymoronic idea of sustainable fashion, what its targets are, and whether it is truly achievable.

Otherwise, it will remain another pipe dream or fall to the bottom of fashion’s todo list.

A 2013 Ipsos poll conducted on 18,500 people across 16 countries indicated that 40 per cent of shoppers were indifferent to how their clothes were produced, while 70 per cent claimed that they would be willing to pay extra (to cover higher labour costs) for ethically sourced apparel. And yet, this nascent part of the industry has experienced discouragingly slow growth.

Indeed, only two major names come up in conversation about sustainable fashion: Stella McCartney and Edun.

133

Stella McCartney, whose brand is partly owned by Kering, is universally celebrated for refusing to use animal skins in her designs. She also uses organic cotton and low-impact dyes. Likewise, Edun’s commitment to fair trade in Africa saw LVMH make a 49 per cent investment in the company in 2009. As exemplary as these designers may be, it’s important to remember that they entered the fashion game already rich—McCartney is the daughter of a Beatle, and Edun was founded by Bono and his wife Ali Hewson— and could therefore afford to fail. In such a volatile economy, most designers, especially those who are just emerging on the international market, are hesitant to test the waters without any kind of financial cushioning. Furthermore, as evidenced by McCartney’s use of petrochemicals in faux leather, as well as the sweatshop allegations arising from her collaboration with Adidas,

it appears that nobody can ever claim to be 100 per cent ethical.

Compromise is an inescapable part of the equation. However, if sustainable fashion is to really gain momentum then there needs to be a global plan, not only for prosperity but also posterity. “If a business wants to future-proof itself, it has to be have a sustainability plan,” says Nina Marenzi, founder of The Sustainable Angle.

So what’s the plan for the fashion industry?

As it always was: To make sure it actually sells.

There is no point in making a commitment to ethical sourcing if nobody wants to buy the clothes. You could do all the good in the world, fill the racks with good intentions, but if there are no sales then there is no future. Julie Gilhart, formerly fashion director at Barneys New York, and an early supporter of sustainable fashion, states: “Consumers respond to good design. Design and desirability must come first.” Good intentions must be met with good product.

The fashion industry needs to discuss the synergy between supply and demand, how sustainability can lead to prosperity, and that even the smallest business decisions can have a huge ripple effect. Perhaps what’s most important is figuring out what we are trying to sustain: technique, resource, product, or profit? Perhaps it’s all of the above. This conversation is urgent because retreating into our bubble of denial is clearly not working.

And then there’s the little steps that you and I can make to be more conscientious consumers. It doesn’t make sense to stop buying cheap clothes completely as that would sever garment workers’ only source of income. On the other hand, when we buy cheap clothing at such an alarming rate we only increase the demand, leading to overexhausted garment workers, over-crowded factories, and, in the most desperate cases, another building collapse.

Buy local. Buy less. Buy slower. The next time you’re shopping for a shirt or a dress think about why you’re making that purchase: is it because you want it, or do you truly need it? Is there something already hanging in your closet that never sees the light of day? Why not wear that instead?

SYNERGY BITE

•

STOCKISTS & OTHER STORIES ACNE ADIDAS A.F. VANDEVORST AINUR TURISBEK ALEXIS HOUSDEN ALEXIS REYNA AMERICAN APPAREL A.P.C. ASHER LEVINE ASOS AUDRA AURELIE DEMEL AVA CATHERSIDE AZEDE JEAN-PIERRE BACK BEAU HOMME BENJAMIN BERTRAM BIRKENSTOCK BLACKBLESSED CALVIN KLEIN CAMILLA SCOVGAARD CARUSO CHARLIE MAY CHEAP MONDAY CLAUDIA LIGARI COS COMEFORBREAKFAST COMME DES GARÇONS COTTWEILER DSTM FALKE FAUSTINE STEINMETZ FILIPPA K FRENCH CONNECTION GIVENCHY H&M HAIZHEN WANG HELEN LAWRENCE HENRIK VIBSKOV HEOHWAN SIMULATION HUGO BOSS ISSEY MIYAKE JAMES HOCK JAMIE WEI HUANG JEAN PAUL GAULTIER JEAN-PAUL LESPAGNARD JEREMY SCOTT JH ZANE JOHN EARNSHAW JULIAN KEEN BY ALESSANDRO D’AMICO

JUNYA WATANABY KENZO KILIAN KERNER KSUBI LAUREN DUTTON LES CINQ LEVI’S LIAM HODGES LIMI FEU LINDA FARROW LUCIO VANOTTI MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA MM6 MARTIN MARGIELA MARIA ESCOTÉ MARTIN GRANT MARTINE ROSE MAWI MOHSIN MUUBAA NIELS PEERAER NIKE NONOLENI OLIVER SPENCER OPENING CEREMONY OSCAR QUIROZ PAUL & JOE PAUL SMITH PERIDOT PRADA PURIFIED RAF SIMONS RELIGION ROBERT GELLER SASKIA DIEZ SERKAN KURA SHAO YEN SILVINA MAESTRO SIMON EKRELIUS THIMISTER THIS IS THE UNIFORM TIABER TOMOKO ONIMARU TOPSHOP TSOLO MUNKH URIEL SALAS WE ARE COW WOOD WOOD Y-3 YIFANG WAN YOHJI YAMAMOTO ZARA

Image by Valentin Hennequin

S

Y

N

More Maim / In Here 01 Boddika & Joy Orbison Harmony in Blue 02 Halls Jerk Ribs (Mount Kimbie Remix) 03 Kelis Go In 04 Warpaint

E

R

G

Y

05 Before Your Very Eyes Atoms for Peace 06 Dream Ache Lone 07 Out Getting Ribs King Krule 08 Would You Be My Love Ty Segall www.BITE-ZINE.com Image by Valentin Hennequin

S P R ING 2014

B

S

Y

I

N

T

E

R

ISSUE VIII

E

G

Y