DTOURS[paper] Paris+ by Felix Kobzev

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PART OF SPEACH

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INDIRECT COURSE

SYNONYMS

ALTERNATE ROUTE - BACK ROADS - BRANCH - BYPASS BYPATH - BYWAY - CIRCUIT - CIRCUMBENDIBUS CIRCUMVENTION - CROTCH - DEVIATION DIVERGENCE DIVERSION - FORK - ROUND ABOUT WAY - RUNAWAY SECONDARY HIGHWAY - SUBSTITUTE 1

INTRO I HAVE EXPLORED PARIS WITH MY EYES AND ESPECIALLY BY MY FEET. NOW I LET THEM GUIDE ME, WITHOUT A DOUBT, THROUGH THE COBWEB OF THIS CITY. ANY DIRECTION I TAKE IS THE RIGHT ONE. THIS CITY IS LIKE A BLANK PIECE OF PAPER; IT IS EXCITING TO WRITE A NEW STORY EACH TIME YOU GET IN. TODAY YOU FALL IN LOVE IN THE METRO, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN “PLACE D’ITALIE” AND “CHATELET“, THE NEXT NIGHT YOU GET MUGGED IN THE NEW YORK AVENUE. YOU STAY IN A SQUAT AT “RUE DE LA BANQUE” AND BEGIN YOUR DAYS THERE WITH THE COLDEST SHOWER YOU CAN IMAGINE. YOU ATTEND A PARTY ON THE RIVER BANK, GET DRUNK TO THE EMBARRASSING CONDITION, ENTERTAIN YOUR FRIENDS FOR FOR SOME TIME AND THEN GIVE THEM A BUSY NIGHT OF HOSPITAL VISITS. YOU FALL IN LOVE IN THE BAGATELLE GARDEN NEXT TIME AND THE SAME EVENING SHARE A PLATE OF BOILED LENTILS WITH A TALENTED AND QUITE ATTRACTIVE FRIEND IN MONTMARTRE. YOU MAKE ONE OF THE BEST PHOTOGRAPH SO FAR OF THE ESPLANADE OF ANDRE CHAMSON OR WRITE YOUR BEST PIECE OF POETRY IN THE MONTSOURIS PARK. THE NEXT DAY DAY YOU MEET A VERY DESCENT PERSON, BUT YOU HAVE TO CATCH A PLANE IN A FEW HOURS. BUT YOU WILL BE BACK FOR SURE.. PARIS IS OF PERFECT DIMENSIONS; STEP BY STEP YOU EXPLORE THE CITY AND FIT YOURSELF IN; AND YOU DO IT WITH PLEASURE.

DTOURS[PAPER] TEAM

CMR TYZ FOR DTOURS[PAPER] www.cmrtyz.com

DTOURS[PAPER]

www.tabaramunien.com Art by Tabaramunien for DTOURS[paper]

TABARAMOUNIEN x Le studio Tabaramounien est un atelier de conception graphique créé par Yasmine Madec et Damien Arnaud, directeurs artistiques et graphistes créatifs. Nous offrons un graphisme de qualité à tous : PME, Multinationales, Institutions, Associations… Notre travail de conseil et de création s’attache autant au sens qu’à l’image. Petite structure, nous sommes proches de nos clients. À l’écoute de leurs besoins, nous répondons avec exigence et rapidité à leurs attentes.

DTOURS[PAPER]

DTOURS[PAPER] PRESENTS:

MINORITY REPORT

GEOFFREY B. SMALL «SOME THOUGHTS ON PARIS» Geoffrey B. Small’s personal relationship with the City of Light spans over 47 years. Here he looks back and forward on this relationship both as a designer and a person, in a special exclusive story for Minority Report AS I start to write this, yesterday was Bastille Day 14 July. A day that marked a revolution that shook the world and changed all of Europe. When I think about Paris, I think about many things.

Moonman. Art by Alejandro Chavetta for DTOURS[paper] www.cargocollective.com/chavetta

I spent some years here when I was a very little boy. It is a beautiful place, but also very hard sometimes. It is a place that once ruled the world. A place where battles have always been and are still fought. Brutally. Perhaps today not actually in the city, but in the minds of people here, to be executed in places far away. But real battles nonetheless. So much of the city bears the mark of Napoleon and the Revolution, so many buildings, and street names, Austerlitz, Aboukir, Rivoli, Republique, Bastille, Iena. When I was a little boy here, I had to learn to defend myself early on. Paris is a very tough town, and you better respect her, and know your friends, and your foes, very well. She is beautiful, there isn’t a corner your eye can travel where you will not find a beautiful image to see. A photograph worthy of hanging in a gallery. In good weather or bad. At day or at night. Even in her ugliest states, she carries a beauty that is unmistakable hers. She is also a fortress. Where tradition, establishment and centralized power are the norm. But she is also a place of revolution. Where ideas and ideals can be challenged, promoted, accepted, and then imposed on the rest of the nation, or the continent, and still in some cases, the world. People who know Paris well enough, understand the meaning of the place and its role in much of things. The Hexagon is the center of decision-making, power, and influence. Conquer her and you conquer all. As such, if you know Paris, you know and respect “La politesse parisienne” -- Parls politeness, and its fundamental importance in how people within the city must trust and deal with each other, or fail because they did not do so. You understand the importance of politics, and perspective...who you are, and where you are, in the general scheme of things. You reach neither too high, nor stoop too low, at any one given moment. If you want to climb up, you take your steps intelligently, one step at a time, in the right order. This I have found is especially true in my game. My game is fashion design. And in this game, Paris still very much rules the world. It is here where the very idea of the fashion designer was invented by Charles Frederick Worth in the 1850’s. It is here where just about every major design trend in the last century was initiated and launched. And it is here, even today, where any serious creator from any corner of the planet needs to come to show his or her work, if they intend work and stay at the top level of the game in the world. I came for this about 17 years ago. Since then, I have shown more collections in Paris than any American designer, and indeed, many designers from any country. Back then, an American showing in Paris instead of New York was a wild and radical idea, especially if he wanted to show avant-garde work, which was virtually non-existent in America at the time. It took everything we had to make it over each and every time, and it still does today. But I do this because Paris is the most challenging place in the world for presenting new ideas in fashion design and it forces you to keep reinventing yourself. Showing your work in Paris, makes your work better. It’s like forging steel in a fire. Paris tests you to the limit every time, and as a result, your limit gets higher each time. Many designers are afraid of the intense and huge competition of Paris. But I like it. It makes me work harder and it makes my work continue to change and get better. That’s why I still believe if you want to be one of the best in the world, there’s no other arena in the world to play in other than Paris. Designers who think otherwise, are kidding themselves. Sure, you can be a big star in your home city wherever you are, that’s nice and comfortable maybe. But it is not the same. And a Paris-level designer should never be treated or looked at the same way as any other designer, especially if the designer is not from Paris originally. Paris is the World Cup, the Formula 1, the Yankee Stadium of fashion. It’s the best active working players in the world coming together all at the same time to one single place in the world to show their newest and most ambitious creative ideas and work--each one aiming to take and lead the direction of the entire world industry and audience in his or her direction. In terms of what you have to face and achieve artistically, creatively, logistically, financially, and physically, nothing else even comes close. So now I am starting a new revolution. A worldwide movement to stop nuclear power. To shut down every single nuclear reactor on the planet before one of them or all of them destroys our entire human race and civilisation. And the revolution will start in fashion. And it will start in Paris...Capital of the french nuclear industry that is trying to sell and build another 400 new nuclear reactor power plants all over the world, as well as Capital of fashion and its freedom of expression around the world. Please join me. It’s going to be an interesting story....

www.geoffreybsmall.net

DTOURS[PAPER]

MAGAZINE

MAGAZINE 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6 6. Cecilia Dean and Jacques Shu on the phone, after Alexis Mabille Haute Couture show, Paris. 7. Kris Van Assche arrives for the Christian Dior Haute Couture show, Avenue Montaigne. 8. Hamis Bowles. 9. Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld and Giovanna Battaglia after the Armani Privé Haute Couture show. 10. Lara Stone walking for Givenchy Haute Couture by Riccardo Tisci. 11. MariaCarla Boscono walking for Givenchy Haute Couture by Riccardo Tisci. 12. Invitation John Galliano. 13. Rick Owens Spring / Summer 2010 Womenswear Show, Paris. 14. Watch Your Head 15. Juun J. Menswear Fall / Winter 2010, Paris.

Baptiste Giabiconi and Karl Lagerfeld at Dior Homme, Spring / Summer 2010. When architecture and construction meet fashion. Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring / Summer 2010. Francisco Van Benthum at the Cité de la Mode & du Design – Docks en Seine, Paris. At the Givenchy Menswear afterparty, Club ChaCha, Paris. Avec Karl Lagerfeld, Pont des Arts, Paris.

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Photography by Jamie Richards & Rodolphe Nantas of Monochrome Magazine www.monochromemagazine.com

MONO CHRO ME

DTOURS[PAPER]

FASHION

BORIS BIDJAN SABERI

HIS FULL NAME IS BORIS BIDJAN SABERI MOHADDAM TEHERANI - HE IS HALF GERMAN, HALF PERSIAN, WAS BORN ON SEPTEMBER 11, 1978 IN MUNICH. HIS CREATIONS SHOW INFLUENCE OF STREET AND HIS FAVOURITE ACTIVITIES OF EXTREME NATURE - SKATEBOARDING, SNOWBOARDING, ROCK CLIMBING, PLUS A MIXTURE OF IRANIAN-GERMAN CULTURE AND HIP-HOP. THE FIRST TIME HE WAS IMPRESSED BY CLOTHES WAS AT THE THE AGE OF 6 WHEN HE SAW A GROUP OF PUNKS ON THE STREETS OF MUNICH. LATER ON HE MASTERED THE SEWING MACHINE THAT WAS IN THE HOUSE, AND AT AGE OF 13 HE CREATED HIS FIRST GARMENTS. BY THAT TIME HIS PARENTS HAD ESTABLISHED A SMALL BRAND - HER MOTHER WORKED AS A DESIGNER, AND HIS FATHER - A PRODUCER.

DTOURS[PAPER]

Сan you claim invention of any new types of materials’ treatment or inventions of new materials in general? Yes, I invented a new type of black and red transparent leather after hours, weeks and months of experimenting. If you had tattoos, you could see it through. It’s looks a bit surreal, like your second skin. Tell us about the way treat leather (did you wash it with sand or oil?)? Please tell more about your accessories line. I always treat and wash the leathers, either with sand, oil or wax or with high temperature and weights. This is where I probably carry the biggest passion inside of me concerning my design/working process. I love getting dirty and experiment with fabrics. I’m feeling sometimes more of a mechanic than a fashion designer...:) Which kind of development of fashion in general you can see in future? What brands are worth mentioning nowadays? Is there anything that doesn’t suit you (makes you angry/ unhappy) in the fashion world and how does it affect you? Honestly, I don’t really think and care so much about the world of fashion. As simple as it sounds, all I want is to make interesting clothes - not related to any trends. I am happy that people understand more and more my clothing and thats what makes me really happy and satisfied. I can only advise - try to be authentic and yourself. What advice can you give to younger generation of designers (not only in Russia)? Love what you do!

www.borisbidjansaberi.com

DTOURS: Could you tell us about your background? Have you ever had something to sacrifice in order to become who you are now? BORIS: I am half Persian and half German and I grew up in the southern part of Bavaria in Germany. So, the German part of me is the more logical clothes maker and the other Persian part we can say its the more playful and experimenting side of mine. I studied in Barcelona and built up step by step my own business, already while studying. Never worked for other designers or did any internships. So, I was always on my own. I never had a masterplan for becoming someone or to get there where I am now. It was all very natural and organic the way it happened. In one article about your garments we found a definition of your style as “dark hip-hop”. Why did you choose such (dark) esthetics in general (as you had been interested in snow-/skateboarding & etc.)? For me, the color is the last question I ask myself, after I have worked on the cut and the fabric choices. And I experiment so much with fitting and draping fabrics to fit the body, the color is the element of understatement, the constant. Most people think Hip Hop is all about ostentation, color and “bling”. My interpretation of it is a different and a very personal one. It’s a more undertstandable style of Hip-Hop that reflects in my fashion. The skate/ streetwear elements you can still find sometimes in the loose, low waist cut pants or in general in the functionality of the clothes. In your collections it is easy to see the Persian side of your identity. What can you say about it nowadays? How do you feel it? Did you ever live (or visit) Persian provinces? No, I never lived there and either visited Iran ever. It’s still a little dream of mine that I need to realize. Maybe that’s why I fantasize a lot with it and you can find it in the clothes. I am still discovering my persian sides...

FASHION

AVIA TIC

Do you use any innovative techniques of leather treatment? We try to give worn look and Life to the fabrics and leather... Often to reproduce one it s quit easy but 10 hard... Innovation is sometime dangerous for business. You have collaboration with La Cause agency, how did you begin to work together? Young guys in research like us we looking for together some crazy things .We have a common friend… Did the financial crisis reflect on your work? A lot. To grow at that time was really difficult because each step you must have been the best and when you started you must have the best partners, and it is not easy to have power in the fashion world with small quantities. What are your plans for the next decade? Take a place on the international market and to have more power inside the industry. What music do you prefer and whether it is displayed in your collections? It’s a mix between electronic music, blues, funk and jazz... it’s something about a body much more than about a head. Tell us about your source of inspiration. 1930’s suit, work and army clothes. Not a secret that musicians often take alcohol and drugs for inspiration, do you also use some kind of stimulators? For me it is everything between past and future and we don’t take any substances today. Do you know some Russian designers? Sorry no. Can you name some designers to keep an eye on? Rick Owens, Carol Christian Poell. If we have only one weekend at Paris what shops, clubs , whatever we must visit? Restaurants: le Derriere, le Premier, le MamaShelter, Tokyo eat, Costes, Hotel Amour, Glou... Shops: l’Eclaireur (rue d’ Argout), L’Espionne, Maria Luisa, Bon Marché... Clubs : Le Baron, Le Montana, le VIP Room, le Kong, le Cercle, la Fleche d’or, Regine, Scopitone, Showcase, Social club...

www.aviatic.net

EVERY TIME YOU LOOK AT THE GLOOMY AND COMPLEX TEXTURAL CLOTHING YOU EXPECT TO LEARN A BRAND NEW JAPANESE NAME BUT IN THE CASE WITH AVIATIC SUCH A FORMULA DOES NOT WORK. TWO FRENCHMEN THIERRY LE LANN AND THOMAS MONET - HIDE BEHIND THE UNUSUAL TITLE. BOTH HAD WORKED FOR A SERIOUS BRANDS BEFORE GETTING READY TO START THEIR OWN INDEPENDENT COMPANIES. DTOURS: How did your career in fashion design start? Tll: It s long trip between haute couture and denim world. Tm: A pen & paper 5 years ago! What is the main philosophy of Aviatic? Someone on the Road after Iron bird. To be handsome! The winter collection 2011 reminds work of AITOR THROUP and something from CP company, and summer collection 2011 resembles Japanese brands, in what vector do you plan to develop? Exactly, something from CP for army spirit with French touch and japanese Urban style for fabrics and washes.

DTOURS[PAPER]

JEWELLERY

TOBIAS WIST ISE N

www.tobiaswistisen.com

DTOURS: Did you have any teachers or any orienteer? Tobias Wistisen: Not really, but working for John Galliano really opened my eyes for a lot of things and different way to work. Understanding that there are no limits for what you can make but that it has to look cool and not just be crazy for the sake of it, really helped me to mature my style. What are your plans for the future? To start doing women’s jewelry line as well. I will be a great new challenge, and there are even less limits for what you do, when it’s for women. Where to go, what to do in Paris (your list of proper places)? Take a few hours in the catacombs of Paris to see some truly spectacular «artwork» done with skulls and bones (I particularly like the heart shape made of 7-8 skulls in a wall of bones it’s hilarious). Then have dinner at Chez Paul, which is a great typical French restaurant with fantastic atmosphere near Bastille. And when you’re done - go to the other side of the street to the bar Entre Pots, that has a spiral staircase and a little office under the sealing inside the bar.

I’VE STARTED WORKING WITH THE SHOWROOM, VALERY DEMURE IN LONDON, WHO IS NOW DOING THE PRESS FOR MY BRAND. BUT I NEVER WANTED TO MY BRAND TO BECOME A MASS-MARKET THING. WHEN SOMEONE BUYS ONE OF MY PIECES, HE OR SHE PURCHASES A UNIQUE PIECE THAT EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE STREET ISN’T WEARING. BUT MY BRAND IS GROWING, WHICH IS OF COURSE GREAT.

DTOURS[PAPER]

What can you advise to younger designers from Russia to become great? Do the things and style you like and would wear yourself. There is no point in trying to figure out what other people want. Your style has to be personal - at least that’s what I do. If you could what will you change in the world? Besides the traditional, no more wars, hunger and more help to the poor countries of course, it would be nice if people were a bit more respectful to each other. Many places it seems that people are getting more into the attitude of every man for himself - which is a shame. Song for a day? «Prison Shoe Rump» by Sixteen Horsepower - best song ever, in my opinion!

STORE Photographs by Dave Bruel

First concept store to open in Paris, L’Eclaireur is celebrating this year its 30th birthday. As its name hints it, L’Eclaireur is always ahead, pointing the new direction to follow, having the vision of what’s next in the universe of fashion, art and design. Rue de Sévigné, opened in October 2009 was realized by Arne Quinze in a futuristic vision with more than 120 screens and sliding pannels to dissimulate the clothes…the Rue de Sévigné store is an installation where reality and illusion inter- play constantly. Arne Quinze was saying about L’Eclaireur Rue de Sévigné: "This is not just a shop, it’s an experience. The project grew as a dream fed by emotions, history and memories. It is a fantasy in which I hope everyone will find a story for themselves." Dtours team invites you to discover your story. Text from www.hipshops.com L’Eclaireur Rue de Sévigné 40, Rue de Sévigné

DTOURS[PAPER]

www.leclaireur.com

FASHION Installation by RMGB, pictures by Jurij Treskow, clothes by Kristina Gorina, www.kristinagorina.com

KR IST INA GOR INA. THE PASSENGER IN 2000 CHRISTINA GORINA RECEIVED UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN (DEPARTMENT OF TEXTILES AND CLOTHING) IN SAINT-PETERSBURG, RUSSIA. DURING STUDIES SHE PARTICIPATED IN SUCH A LOCAL CONTESTS AS "RUSSIAN SILHOUETTE", "SMIRNOFF", "THE ADMIRALTY NEEDLE" (WINNING THE SECOND PRIZE IN 2002), AND DRESS OF THE YEAR." WHILE A STUDENT SHE WAS STRONGLY IMPRESSED BY BELGIAN DESIGNERS - AF VANDEVORST, ANN DEMEULEMEESTER AND MARTIN MARGIELA. IN 2004 SHE CONTINUED HER STUDIES AT THE PARIS SCHOOL ESMOD.

DTOURS[PAPER]

She was an intern in a design bureau Anne-Valerie hash, participated in creating collection autumn-winter 2006/07 and summer 2007. then for two years she worked for lutz. at the age of 26 she founded her own brand under which she launched the first collection in autumnwinter 2009/10 which quickly found buyers especially in Japanese stores.

DTOURS: You were born in Siberia, studied in St Petersburg and Paris. What kind of aesthetics influenced you mostly? Kristina: THESE Two countries are two completely opposite, contrasting worlds. On the one hand Russia – the hard rough climate, environment, which surely influences people’s characters and relations between people. On the other hand and comes out physically as well. On the other hand France – where everything is very refined, everything is based on details. People’s character is marked by irony, they are delicate and sophisticated. And in my aesthetics one world complement the other. Do you feel closer to Paris or to Saint-Petersburg? How does it feel? I like to visit St Petersburg very much, but on the condition that I will come back soon. I’m relaxing in St.-Petersburg, this is a city for the soul, and Paris for me has more hurried, active beat of work. These two cities naturally complement each other. Is it true, that you left for Paris after you’ve been dismissed from the Institute of Technology and Design? I got a very good basis at the Institute of Technology and Design, but there was no further development. And when at one moment my professional growth stopped, I decided to make a step forward by myself. So they couldn’t drive me into the framework of the system. Why did you choose this very city? Because it’s an ideal place for work, where everything promotes the development of your business. Exactly during Paris Fashion Week all the most important names, buyers, press are concentrated. And you never stop discovering new places in this city.

You started your own brand in France. Do you feel some specifics of work abroad? Fashion in Paris is a huge, strong and highly organized system, which had been developing in detail during a long period of time. In Russia there is almost no system at all basically. Sometimes there is a feeling, that everything is organized in the way to prevent development of private industry. In what things have you already succeeded on the way to achieve your goals? During the few years I spent in Paris I finished two fashion schools, worked as a designer and constructor in several fashion houses. I also consult one Italian brand. But the mail achievement is the start of my own brand. With what new goals did you come up? After creating women’s wear collections I’m constantly requested to create a men’s wear line and line of accessories and footwear. I suppose that was the next steps in expanding «Universe» by Kristina Gorina. There was a time when you were inspired by the works by Jean-Michel Basquiat. What kind of art inspires you now? The creation of my last two collections was inspired by photos of late 19th century. These are portraits of people from Pakistan, India – wandering nomads, wrapped in a piece of cloth. The pictures from the early period of photography and they show you the full harmony of color, pose, the purity of forms and quite mystical atmosphere.

Therefore nomad (wandering people) aesthetics is close to me, these people who wear clothes based on their traditional values, but at the same time, the clothing is their protection from wind, dust and other environmental conditions. This is the philosophy of human being as a part of nature. In your style can be seen the notes of oriental philosophy. Is it close to you? The image of an Eastern person character wrapped in a soft mantle, creating perfect folds, who relies on his clothes, inspires me a lot. It is a strong-willed man, he looks very natural and spontaneous, he follows his traditions strictly. Could you give some piece of advice what to wear to look like a real Parisian? Real Parisian is worn slim jeans, vintage leather jacket, wide high heels and light make-up. A real Parisian for me is Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Your clothes are notable for multiple structural elements. (Do you deny the beauty of simplicity?) What do you think is the essence of beauty? The essence of beauty is the ideal harmony of construction with material. Construction itself must have meaning and direction.

ART

ROBERT KNO KE

www.facebook.com/pages/ROBERTKNOKE/36766656405

ROBERT KNOKE, BORN IN HANOVER, GERMANY, SPLITS HIS TIME BETWEEN NEW YORK, BERLIN AND PARIS. SINCE 1991 HE HAS BEEN DEVELOPING A MULTIMEDIA BODY OF WORK USING PERFORMANCE, PHOTO COLLAGE, VIDEO INSTALLATION AND DRAWING. SINCE 2005, KNOKE HAS GAINED WORLDWIDE RECOGNITION FOR THE PORTRAIT SERIES, AN IMPRESSIVE SERIES OF BLACK-AND-WHITE MIXED MEDIA DRAWINGS FEATURING A RANGE OF SUBJECTS FROM MUSICIANS AND ARTISTS TO WRITERS, ACTORS AND FASHION ICONS, INCLUDING A ROSTER OF SOME OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE SHAPING CONTEMPORARY CULTURE: DEBBIE HARRY, CASEY SPOONER, THE KILLS, GOSSIP, MICHAEL STIPE, PATTI SMITH, TERENCE KOH, LAWRENCE WEINER, GILBERT & GEORGE, OLIVIER ZAHM, BRET EASTON ELLIS, MATTHEW STONE, LEO FITZPATRICK, RICK OWENS, GARETH PUGH, MARC JACOBS AND NICOLA FORMICHETTI, AMONG OTHERS. (FROM THE OFFICICAL BIOGRAPHY, - ED.)

Knoke’s work has been exhibited at galleries, cultural institutions and club venues such as artnews projects and apartment gallery in Berlin, as well as ruff club, seven and NP contemporary art center in New York. he has also mounted site-specific installations at face gallery in seoul and at the new museum in New York in conjunction with the release of his first monograph titled black material.

DTOURS[PAPER]

DTOURS: Why did you start making portraits? What is the main concept of your «portraits»? ROBERT: I started to draw very young. I grew up in the studio of my father, who was a painter. Since I was a teenager I always liked to draw and also do portraits from time to time. I drew them from magazines or record covers. Later, when I decided to do art professionally, I started the series as a conceptual idea. Since then I stayed in the same technique and even using the same paper. When I started to work on this series I kept it as a “secret project”. I never showed it to the public. I wanted it to grow slowly. I did other artworks in the meantime. I did video installations and photo collages with different themes. Four years ago, I decided to only do the portraits and also show them. Although it’s classic “portraiture” at first sight, my main focus is the drawing itself. I also just like to meet people that I’m interested in. So I started to draw them. Working as an artist can be very lonely. Doing these portraits gives me the feeling that I’m not alone, that I’m somehow connected to someone. On the other side, I don’t like it when someone watches me while I’m drawing. So, that is the reason why I take photos of my subjects first and do the drawing later alone. I could also do drawings of flowers, vegetables or dogs. It’s just more entertaining for me to meet personalities that I’m interested in. Now, people start to say that my work becomes an important document of the people of our time. I like that idea but I really don’t care about that. I just care about strong lines on paper. There is not really a main concept. It’s really all about the drawing and the surface. That is basically the concept of this work: The treatment of a surface in a very direct and fast way. By what principles do you choose the person whom you wish to draw? Here, for example, you see one person and you think: ”I wish to make portrait of him”, but the second guy “is uninteresting for me”. I really don’t have favorite subjects and I gave up to think that someone is more interesting then the other. I can meet a very cool person and the drawing turns out to be trash and I meet someone you would think is pretty boring and I can produce the most exciting drawing ever! There is no rule. I’m taking more photos of people then doing an actual drawing of them. A lot of times it doesn’t work out. So, I met really exciting personalities and they will never be a part of the series, because I’m not able to do a good drawing of them. It’s terrible but that’s the way it is. I’m not a classical portraitist. I can’t promise, that I am able to do his or her drawing. So it’s not about the subjects. It’s about me and if I have a good day or not.

Are there any people in your list whom you dreamt to draw, but they have not given the consent? No. So far everything is just right. Sometimes the people agree to work with me but it’s just a matter of how to meet. I might be in a different place than the subject. For example I contacted The Kills when they were in London and I was in Germany. It took almost a year till we finally met in New York. What helps you to be adjusted for work, maybe, create under certain music, many musical directions are allocated on your MySpace? Do you have a muse? It’s not necessary that I need a certain studio or constant place to do my work. Since I’m traveling a lot, I start to work in different places. I don’t have a permanent studio. I just don’t like ugly things that start to depress me. I like rough and dirty places and I like elegant places. I just don’t like tasteless surroundings. So, when I’m thinking about a certain atmosphere to create in, I would say that I prefer an Arne Jacobsen chair instead of some Ikea furniture under my butt. I like to listen to music a lot. I have a very eclectic taste in music, so I’m not really into just one music style. But sometimes I need really aggressive music to get me going. But that is before I start to draw. When I start to draw, I prefer no music. Later on I listen to all kinds of things. I remember I was listening to No Bra when I was doing the Walter van Beirendonck drawing. I have a very good friendship with Diamanda Galas. She inspired me when I was starting to work professionally as an artist. I did a record cover for her and created her logo. She is a very strong artist and an unusual person. I can’t call her a “muse” but she had an impact on my artistic development. I did a couple of portraits of her. I love her face.

years ago. I know what you mean but I don’t see similarities. Yes, we both work in black and white but that’s about it. He is a photographer and I do drawings. That is very different. He is not even an inspiration. I love Jean-Baptiste Mondino or Nick Knight. I can look at their work forever and it’s very inspiring to me. It’s funny but I never had any interest in Cor-bijn’s work. His darkness doesn’t fascinate me. It’s a very organic representation and I like it more artificial. He is a great photographer but it’s not inspiring to me. I prefer an Image of Grace Jones by Jean-Paul Goude. Who is the main critic for you? I’m very self-critical. I hate it when a drawing doesn’t turn out the way I want it. I know that my work is walking on a very thin line of realism, gothic and expressionism. If only one of these elements becomes too much, it’s bad. It’s very hard to do what I want to do. Sometimes it takes me weeks to get to that particular drawing. Sometimes it works out right away. Although the color I’m using is black, my work should not be “dark”. It should be clear and simple.

What is the technique you are working? Fat markers, grease pencils and ball pens on paper. Sometimes I use glossy paints or glitter. I hate charcoal and pastels. They are too messy for me. A lot of people think I’m using that but I really don’t like these pencils. Tell us about some bright moments of your past works. Once upon a time I met Debbie Harry and I was working on her drawing. Later I was also working on some drawings of Casey Spooner. He is a good model because he changes his look all the time. So this became a separate project. I had a show at Apartment Gallery in Berlin. They show a very big drawing of Rick Owens. In February 2010 I was opening a show at Teapot Gallery in Cologne. Then I was working on a show in New York… What work you are proud most of all and why? I’m not proud of anything. When I’m done with one work the next is waiting already. I’m not thinking of that.

Can you name some artists-classics that are the closest to you and why? To whom from them you would entrust to draw yourself? Ha, draw myself? Francis Bacon. But he’s dead and I think he would not be interested in me. But he was a genius! A monstrous talent. I adore Joseph Beuys, Bruce Nauman and Richard Serra.

Tell us about your relations and work with Annika Berger, how the collaboration with Skyward was born. I saw her clothes at the shop Seven in New York. The owner Joseph Quartana introduced us to each other. I really like the way she uses her print work as a big part of her designs. These clothes work almost like an aura. My lines that surround the persons in my drawings have the same purpose, so it totally made sense to work together. I gave her a photo of the portrait of Walter van Beirendonck. That drawing has lots of lines and abstract elements in the background. She used these elements to produce the patterns for her new clothes. Sometimes your works remind of Anton Corbijn’s photos. What do you think of his work? Whether you notice a certain similarity? That is very funny you ask me that. I know Anton and respect his work. I did his portrait a couple of

FASHION

www.golem-emeth.com

PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE FORMALITIES WE PRESENT A FEW KNOWN FACTS ABOUT SHINSAKU MAEHAMA, DESIGNER WHO IS HIDING BEHIND THE NAME GOLEM. JAPANESE BY NATIONALITY, HE GRADUATED FROM THE PRESTIGIOUS BUNKA ACADEMY, STUDIED AT THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE SYNDICATE OF HIGH FASHION IN PARIS, WORKED AT KENZO UNTIL IN 2004 HE BEGAN WORK ON HIS OWN BRAND - THIS SHORT CV USUALLY DOES NOT ALLOW FAR-REACHING CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE DESIGNER'S PERSONALITY OR THE CHARACTER OF HIS WORK. HOWEVER, GOLEM IS THE RARE CASE WHEN BRAND’S NAME ITSELF CAN TELL MORE THAN A DESIGNER’S BIOGRAPHY OR EDUCATION.

The origin of this art can be traced quite easily. Dark and medieval legends come to mind, especially the dark novel «The Golem» by Gustav Meyrink based on the Jewish legend about a Rabbi who made a clay creature named it "golem" and animated it with a Kabbalistic spell. But the meaning of the name is not limited to just a literary analogy. To better understand main meaning of the concept we should out what the word «golem» means. We know the it is a hand-moulded clay statue that was enlivened by a spell. A monster who at first obeyed the will of his master but later got out of control heading to his death. In some legends it is also said that the Golem constantly reborn after a certain period of time. Actually the word "Golem" means «raw, raw material» and «imperfect form». Mixing hand-made, imperfections and giving rebirth to old materials Maehama creates his own style. Golem garments are created in limited quantities, by hand, from old clothes and fabrics collected by the designer.

DTOURS[PAPER]

GOLEM

Very important point is the direct contact between the maker and the material at all stages of production, so every garment is full of emotions and thoughts of the designer, in a sense, «enlivened by him». At the same time, this approach is contrary to the contemporary realities of the fashion industry where preference is given to replicate things made by modern machines. Straight stitches seams and perfectly straight edges are signs of mechanical work, which seem to be a counterweight to the traces of the human effort, «flaws», visible at a closer look at this Japanese clothing brand. A little rough hand stitching, repeatedly treated fabric, lowered suit loops, carefully chosen accessories such as vintage pearl buttons... Austere colors and the quiet elegance of the cut allow us to understand all the above subtleties that otherwise might be lost aesthetics.

MAGAZINE

SOME/ THINGS MAGAZINE

POHANG EDITORIAL STYLED & PHOTOGRAGRAPHED BY MONIKA BIELSKYTE: JAMES CHENG TAN IS WEARING RICK OWENS SILK COAT & JERSEY, GUSTAVOLINS SILK KIMONO & SILK-LINED SMOKING PANTS, TRADITIONAL KOREAN MONK’S HANDMADE LINEN BELT, MA+ SHOES SOGZIO & FLAKA JAHAJ EDITORIAL STYLED & PHOTOGRAGRAPHED BY MONIKA BIELSKYTE: MI GUAN JANG IS WEARING SONGZIO COAT THEATRE DE LA VILLE EDITORIAL STYLED & PHOTOGRAGRAPHED BY MONIKA BIELSKYTE: CAROLINE DE MAIGRET IS WEARING YOHJI YAMAMOTO ARCHIVE SS1999 DRESS & FAKE FUR STOLE WEAR IN HAT, PEACHOO+KREJBERG BELT, CHINESE MONK’S SHOES FROM X’IAN (STYLIST’S OWN), JACKET CREATED FOR SOME/THINGS BY SIKI IM, & GILDED CUFFS CREATED FOR SOME/THINGS BY AURORA MEJIA LOPEZ CHARLOTTE FLOSSAUT IS WEARING VIRIDI-ANNE JACKET & OXIDIZED METAL BELT, 19TH CENTURY SILK JACKET (STYLIST’S OWN), CHATAV ECTABIT COTTON & SILK SHIRT, YOHJI YAMAMOTO ARCHIVE FW1994 CRINOLINE IN COTTON GABARDINE & AW2000 FEATHER HAT, ANNE VALERIE HASH ARCHIVE SHOES, 4 METRES LONG BELT CREATED FOR SOME/THINGS BY TOMOAKI OKANIWA OF VIRIDI-ANNE, & GILDED CUFFS - NOW TIRED MEN THROW BACK THE SHUTTERS & STEP BLINKING INTO THE PALE HOT LIGHT – ETIOLATED FLOWERS OF AFTERNOONS SPENT IN ANGUISH, TOSSING UPON UGLY BEDS, BANDAGED BY DREAMS CREATED EXCLUSIVELY FOR SOME/THINGS BY AURORA MEJIA LOPEZ

DTOURS: What did you decide to work in fashion? Have you any professional background? MONIKA: MY BACKGROUND IS ART PHOTOGRAPHY & CINEMA. I HAD MY FIRST SOLO SHOW AT THE AGE OF 13 & STARTED WORKING IN FILMS FROM THE AGE OF 16. SOLO SHOWS IN THE LAST FEW YEARS INCLUDE A PLACE TO WASH THE HEART IN FOAM PHOTOGRAPHY MUSEUM AMSTERDAM & A JOINT EXHIBITION WITH HANS OP DE BEECK IN VARTAI GALLERY VILNIUS. I DONT HAVE ANY PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND IN FASHION & DIDNT EXPECT TO GET INVOLVED SO MUCH IN FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY, STYLING & ART DIRECTION BUT IT HAPPENED NATURALLY AS A LOT OF CLOSE FRIENDS OF MINE ARE DESIGNERS, BUYERS, PR PEOPLE ETC. THE FACT THAT I DONT HAVE A FORMAL FASHION EDUCATION & BECAUSE SOME/THINGS IS A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION NOT LIMITED TO FASHION & NOT CONTROLLED BY ADVERTISERS PERMITS ME TO BE VERY OPEN & INTEGRATE A LOT OF ARTISTIC IDEAS & NON-FASHION PEOPLE (ARTISTS, MUSICIANS ETC) IN THE PROCESS WHICH GIVES SOME VERY UNEXPECTED RESULTS THAT SEEM TO BE QUITE APPRECIATED BY FASHION PEOPLE, BRAND STRATEGISTS, ETC. FASHION HAS BECOME SOMEWHAT HERMETIC & UNIFORM LATELY & ITS NOT EASY TO PUSH THE BOUNDARIES BUT I THINK IT IS AN INTERESTING & SOMETIMES VERY EXCITING CHALLENGE Is the idea of SOME/THINGS yours? Why did you choose a paper magazine, what are your priorities in the development of paper press? What do you think about current fashion/life style/music/photo/etc. blogs (as you also have a blog)? MONIKA: SOME/THINGS WAS FOUNDED BY ME & BY JAMES CHENG TAN. I TAKE CARE MAINLY OF THE CREATIVE PART (CHOICE OF ARTISTS & DESIGNERS TO WORK WITH, CONCEPT OF EACH ISSUE, DESIGN ETC) & JAMES OF THE ‘SERIOUS’ PART (MARKETING, DISTRIBUTION, LEGAL ISSUES ETC), THOUGH OF COURSE WE DISCUSS A LOT & MOST IMPORTANT DECISIONS ARE DECIDED TOGETHER. WE STARTED THIS PROJECT JUST 2 OF US BUT NOW WORK WITH SOME ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE PEOPLE: FOR THE CONTEMPORARY ART & EDITING WITH RAINA LAMPKINS-FIELDER, FORMER CURATOR OF WHITNEY & NEW MUSEUM, FOR THE FASHION WITH CARLO ZOLLO, BUYER OF ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED FASHION STORES L’ECLAIREUR, & THEN BESIDES ALL THE ARTISTS EXTERNAL CONTRIBUTORS & COLLABORATORS SUCH AS ONE OF MOST INTERESTING JAPANESE FASHION/MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHERS MOTE SINABEL, SWEDISH PHOTOGRAPHER JOHAN SANBERG, HANNELORE KNUTS, ICONIC BELGIAN FASHION FACE, CURATOR NEVILLE WAKEFIELD WHO WROTE AN AMAZING TEXT FOR A FEATURE WE DO ON ARI MARCOPOULOS ETC, ETC, ETC. I HARDLY EVER LIKE BLOGS, ESPECIALLY THE ONES THAT FOCUS ON PEOPLE’S OWN OUTFITS, PERSONNA, PRIVATE LIFE DETAILS ETC… THERE ARE SOME THAT ARE VERY INTERESTING THOUGH, LIKE HISTORY OF OUR WORLD, ANOTHER SOMETHING ETC; FROM THE PRIVATE BLOGS A CLOSE FRIEND OF OURS, DAUL KIM, THAT HAD JUST TRAGICALLY PASSED AWAY HAD ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING, WITH LOTS OF HONEST & TOUCHING REFLECTIONS... OUR OWN BLOG IS TO KEEP OUR READERS UPDATED ON THE PROGRESS OF THE UPCOMING SOME/THINGS ISSUES & THE NEWS CONCERNING THE ARTISTS WE WORK WITH & OUR OWN ACTIVITIES (LAUNCH EVENTS, EXHIBITIONS, EXTERNAL PROJECTS ETC). Who write articles in you magazine? Only professional authors or it could be anybody who really understands the raised themes? I DONT REALLY CARE ABOUT EDUCATION, WORK EXPERIENCE, CVS ETC; IF ARTIST’S WORKS, PHOTOGRAPHER’S IMAGES, STYLIST’S/DESIGNER’S VISION, WRITER’S TEXTS SPEAK TO ME, MOVE ME EMOTIONALLY OR FASCINATE AESTHETICALLY THAT’S THE MAIN CRITERIA. NO MATTER HOW FAMOUS THE PERSON IS IF HIS/HER WORK LEAVES ME INDIFFERENT IT WILL NOT BE IN OUR MAGAZINE. I ALSO APPRECIATE LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS & WORKING WITH PEOPLE WITH WHOM MUTUAL EXCHANGE IS POSSIBLE, DIVAS MAKE ME WEARY.

DTOURS[PAPER]

www.someslashthings.com

How did you get the idea to create SOME/THINGS AGENCY? BECAUSE WE CANNOT INCLUDE EVERYTHING IN THE MAGAZINE & BECAUSE MAGAZINE & LIMITED EDITIONS ARE NOT REALLY COMMERCIAL AS SUCH. WITH SOME/THINGS AGENCY WE STILL CHOOSE CREATIVE PROJECTS TO WORK ON BUT ITS BRANDS/ARTISTS/GALLERIES THAT ASK US TO DO SOMETHING FOR THEM & THEY PAY FOR IT SO WE CAN PAY FOR THE MAGAZINE. Why did you make your magazine in such a dark esthetics? It’s more a marketing more or the original conception? IT IS NOT REALLY ‘DARK AESTHETIC’ & CERTAINLY NOT A MARKETING THING, EVEN IF SOME/THINGS ISSUE002 IS CALLED ‘THE BLACK BOOK’. AGAIN, I CHOOSE WORKS THAT SPEAK TO ME & MOST OF THEM ARE NOT THE SHINY, VULGAR, COMMERCIAL IMAGES OR SLOGANS. I AM MOVED BY COMPLEX AESTHETICS, SUBJECTIVE STORIES, & SLIGHTLY ‘CRAZY’ - & ABSOLUTELY UNIQUE - PEOPLE. WHEN YOU KNOW THE PEOPLE WE WORK WITH (LIKE RICK OWENS, RADIOHEAD, ROGER BALLEN ETC - THEY ARE NOT ‘DARK’ PEOPLE AT ALL, THEY ARE INTERESTING, COMPLEX & OPEN PEOPLE. I AM REALLY NOT INTERESTED IN ‘GOTHIC’ AESTHETIC IN A SAME WAY AS IM NOT INTERESTED IN ‘POP’, ‘ROCK’N’ROLL’, ETC, ETC. I LIKE THINGS ONE CANNOT DEFINE & A CERTAIN AUSTERITY IS NECESSARY - I BELIEVE - TO KEEP THE GOOD TASTE, & DARKNESS IS NECESSARY SO ONE CAN REALIZE HOW AMAZING THE LIGHT CAN BE. You collaborated with Masha Yakovenko. What do you think of Russian fashion scene/press/ people? MASHA IS A CLOSE FRIEND, SHE IS A LITTLE WONDER, REALLY BEAUTIFUL PERSON INSIDE & OUTSIDE. ACTUALLY, MOST OF THE MODELS WE WORK WITH ARE NOT REALLY MODELS BUT PEOPLE WE REALLY APPRECIATE. UNFORTUNATELY I DONT KNOW MUCH ABOUT CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN FASHION/ART SCENE BUT I’D BE INTERESTED TO DISCOVER MORE. Can you name any upcoming designers/artists/etc.? SOME OLDER PEOPLE WHO’S WORK I REALLY & WHO ARE NOT SO WELL KNOWN BY WIDER AUDIENCE: CAROL CHRISTIAN POELL WITH WHOM WE START A COLLABORATION THAT I HOPE WILL BE A LASTING ONE, KOREAN DESIGNER SONGZIO ON WHOM WE DID A BIG FEATURE FOR ISSUE002, TOMOAKI OKANIWA OF VIRIDI-ANNE WITH WHOM WE ALSO WORK... & FROM YOUNGER PEOPLE (WE WORK WITH ALL OF THEM) I THINK ITS HAANS NICHOLAS MOTT (HIS LINE IS CALLED SHROUD & WILL BE SHOWN IN TRANOI THIS YEAR, PREVIOUSLY WORKED FOR THOM BROWNE), FLAKA JAHAJ (WORKS AT RICK OWENS), SAYAN BENBADY (TAKES CARE OF CROCOS FOR RICK OWENS PALAIS ROYAL LINE), YANG HEE MIN (KOREAN DESIGNER, LINE VANDALIST), SANDRA BACKLUND. What is your favorite city? – private wise and fashion wise. I DONT LIKE CITIES, I LOVE NATURE. SEA & MOUNTAINS & DESERTS. I HOPE IN FUTURE TO BE ABLE NOT TO NEED TO STAY IN PARIS ALL THE TIME BUT DIVIDE MY TIME BETWEEN PARIS & SOUTH OF FRANCE (OR ITALY) & I LOVE TRAVELING IN PLACES SUCH AS PERU, BOLIVIA, CHILE, CHINA, JAPAN, LAOS, INDIA ETC, ETC, ETC. What inspires you for the last couple of days? WE WORK LIKE CRAZY ON SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE LAYOUTS. ALMOST ALL OF OUR CONTRIBUTORS & ESPECIALLY OUR INCREDIBLE EDITORS RAINA & CARLO ARE INSPIRING & HELPING US TO MOVE ON & TRY TO MAKE THINGS BETTER EACH TIME.

STORE www.bless-service.de

BLESS SHOP PARIS

ISAAC SELLAM IS A FRENCH DESIGNER WHO WORKS WITH LEATHER AND CASHMERE. IN THE FIRST COLLECTION RELEASED IN 2003 ALL OF HIS GARMENTS WERE (AND STILL ARE) HAND-CRAFTED. BY THE FACT THAT EVERY PIECE OF LEATHER IS UNIQUE ITSELF DUE TO ITS NATURE EVERY PRODUCT WITH THE LABEL "'ISAAC SELLAM'" ALSO BECOMES UNIQUE. HE OFTEN USES MULTIPLE MATERIALS IN ONE MODEL, SO A LEATHER JACKET CAN BE CONTRASTED BY BOILED SILK CHIFFON, AND A LINEN COAT - BY VINTAGE PLAID. THE COLOR SCHEME OF HIS COLLECTIONS IS USUALLY MADE OF NATURAL COLORS - GRAY, BEIGE, BLACK, BROWN, AND THE DISTINCTIVE DETAILS OF ALMOST ALL GARMENTS ARE UNCLOSED SECTIONS OF THE SLEEVES AND JOINTS TREATED WITH OVERLOCK. LEATHER GOODS FROM ISAAC SELLAM ARE IN THE WARDROBES OF SUCH SUPERSTARS AS HEIDI KLUM AND NICOLAS CAGE. DESIGNER PERSONALLY WROTE A LITTLE ESSAY FOR OUR MAGAZINE. HERE IT IS.

www.antonioli.eu/en/designers/70-isaac-sellam

I created my own brand by chance. I used to work as a stylist since I was 20 and at the age of 32 it became obvious to have my own style and brand that was the only means to feel really free and independent in my job. Since I am a teenager I have a passion for leather, maybe because I come from a very modest family, but certainly because this material is strong and fragile and can be experimented. I love playing with technique and material, if you look carefully to my garment you should see that the lining is very important to me. I have mixed leather with wool, linen, silk... In my mind, a cloth is made to feel different so I am trying, as much as I can, to create clothes that could be born for years (I hope so). I stay away from fashion world, I feel much more in tune with designers like Maurizio Amadei, Guidi or Carol Christian Poell, they are working only for pleasure not for fashion, each piece is unique and artisanal. I am “old-school” for lots of things... Of course, I keep an eye on new designers but most of the time I am on the run… To me leather is really like a second skin, I think it does

ISAAC SELL AM

not suit to everybody but nowadays anyone is wearing leather! Animal rights, of course I agree and I do respect legislation for protected species, but if you look from an ecological point of view producing garments with skins (no matter if it is a cow, pork or a crocodile) is a way to recycle and give a second life to these animals. I am inspired by all ages, I follow my intuitions. I am a great fan of the Cohen Brothers, Chaplin, Audiard. In Paris, go to Amici Mei if you want to eat the best ruccola pizza ever! For a fancy dinner - Hotel du Nord and for a fashion night - Le Baron. And of course to L’Eclaireur for shopping!

BLESS IS A PROJECT THAT PRESENTS IDEAL AND ARTISTIC VALUES BY PRODUCTS TO THE PUBLIC. TRANSFORMABLE, MULTIFUNCTIONAL, AND OPEN TO ALL POSSIBILITIES, BLESS FITS EVERY STYLE. (FROM OFFICIAL PROFILE, - ED.)

Adress • Paris, France, 14, Rue Portefoin name • BLESS contact •1993, we met as students at the “concours international des jeunes créateurs de la mode“ in paris collaboration as bless • summer 1995, BLESS debut, presented on posters placed in the cities vienna and berlin official product • autumn 1996, BLESS N° 00 furwig, advertising in i-D magazine, self service and purple fashion date of foundation • January 2, 1997, Berlin

DTOURS[PAPER]

owners

permanent collaborators

• Desiree Heiss, born 22.4.1971 in Freiburg/ Germany, austrian nationality, fashion graduation in june 1994, University of applied arts in Vienna, based in Paris • Ines Kaag, born 3.2.1970 in Fürth / Germany, german nationality, fashion graduation in march 1995, University of arts and design in Hannover, based in Berlin

• Hendrik Hellige, graphic design • Yasmine Gauster, initiator and owner of blessshopberlin, friend and consultant • David Dubois, product design • Christoph Degenhard, architecture / product design • Inga Harbeck, accounting • Eugénie Delloye, accounting, press and general assistant • Manuel Raeder, graphic design • Christine Beinemeier, architecture / product design • June alias Désirée Bühler, patterns • Charlotte Law, Shopmanagment Paris collaborating producers • Angiolani di Pasqualini Alide • Loops by Sigrid Henning • Les industries du Cuir, Mme Gueguen

JUSTIN

Photography by Justin Wu Styling by Sophie Ruthensteiner Hair by Benedicte Cazau Beyret Make Up by Hugo Villard Assistant Photographer Remi Guenaire Model Philipp Bierbaum (Nathalie Paris) All clothes by Kristina Gorina Special thanks to Laurent Desgrange www.jwuphoto.com

DTOURS[PAPER]

ART

THE

JULY ART

MANAGMENT

Photo by Karim Sadli

www.dysfashional.com

LUCA MARCHETTI AND EMANUELE QUINZ – DIRECTORS OF THE “MOSIGN” CREATIVE STUDIO - ONE DAY DECIDED TO UNITE THEIR ART/FASHION/DESIGN BACKGROUNDS AND BRING THE NEW CREATIVE AWARENESS INTO THE WORLD. AND HERE IT IS - ONE OF THEIR PROJECTS NEVER-SEEN BEFORE NAMED “DYSFASHIONAL” – THE PROJECT THAT WAS MEANT TO DISTURB THE WORLD OF PREDICTABLE FASHION CREATIONS. THE WELL-KNOWN FASHION DESIGNERS ALONG WITH ARTISTS IDENTIFY THEIR CREATIVITY THROUGH ENDLESS MEANS OF EXPRESSION SKILLFULLY BALANCING ON THE EDGE OF FASHION/ DESIGN/ ART TRIANGLE. THE PROJECT WAS BORN IN 2007, AND EVERY YEAR IT IS BEING REDISCOVERED THROUGH NEW LOCATIONS. IT ALL HAVE STARTED IN LUXEMBOURG, LATER IT TOOK PLACE IN LAUSANNE, LAST NOVEMBER IT WAS PARIS, NEXT SUMMER – BERLIN, AND IT IS PLANNING TO HEAD EAST AFTERWARDS. THROUGHOUT OUR CONVERSATION EMANUELE AND LUCA REVEALED TO ME HOW MULTI-LAYERED FASHION CAN BE, WHAT IS THE STATE OF ART TODAY AND WHAT WAS THE REAL MESSAGE BEHIND “DYSFASHIONAL” PROJECT.

The_July_16: What I want to ask you first of all is where do you actually come from, the art world or the fashion world? Luca Marchetti: Both things. Originally I come from communications for design and fashion brands and Emanuele is responsible for the art side.

DYS FAS HIONAL 34

DTOURS[PAPER]

How have you transferred from that into what you do today? L.M.: At first we had met in Paris actually, though we are both Italians. We came up with the idea to create an association to do projects on contemporary art. We decided to propose our own projects that combine strategy and communication consulting, artistic direction and art curating. You are definitely great curators. You have created this amazing idea of introducing fashion designers as artists. I think nobody has ever done it before. Emanuele Quinz: Yes, we doubt that there are any projects like this out there. There have been few individual exhibitions, but not the big collective event like “Dysfashional”. There are examples of a few fashion designers turning into artists though. Like Hedi Slimane, who left the fashion world behind at some point and dove into art photography and also turned into a curator of art exhibitions. L.M.: And don’t forget Helmut Lang, who did the same thing. But I am wondering how is it possible for a full-time fashiondesigner to find space for pure art in his life? Doesn’t fashion eat up all the time? L.M.: It is hard, though there are designers doing this. Hussein Chalayan, for example. His works are in the museums and on the market at the same time. Maybe just not everybody wants to do this. It is not because they are not interested, they just want to be designers – full stop, or curators – full stop. E.Q.: And also Raf Simons was a curator for an exhibition in Florence (note - With Francesco Bonami Raf Simons curated the exhibition ‘The Fourth Sex’in Florence, Italy (January 2003). He also curated the exhibition ‘Guides By Heroes’ in Hasselt, Belgium, later that year). And talking about Hussein Chalayan – he was even presented at the Venice Biennale and he is a full time fashion designer. It depends on what you really want to do. Talking about “Dysfashional” exhibition. When I walked inside I felt like I was put into the inside world of the fashion designers – into their heads almost. For me seeing the art objects of designers was like a chance to enter their creative world that we usually don’t get to see. We see collections as ready results, but not the process itself – where the ideas are being born. L.M.: Yes, it can be definitely seen like this. There is everything in “Dysfashional” that is behind the collection - their creativity and the product in the end.

own fashion week. It’s interesting that their fashion identity is so different from Paris. For us it was interesting to build the link between the two cities. We wanted to present not only the trashy underground side of Berlin. We wanted to present minimalism and sophistication of Berlin, like in Kostas Murkudis’s works, for example.And contrary, in Paris we presented underground side of it. Also there were designers based both in Paris and Berlin, like Bless.

Does art today have to be a compulsory mixture with design? E.Q.: It is a huge question. And even our exhibition doesn’t have a particular answer to this question. We prefer to put it on the surface of the exhibition, so every different visitor finds what he aims to see. “Dysfashioanl” is like polyphony with many different sounds playing together. But answering your question – yes, every day there is stronger connection and involvement between art and design.

Alright then. Let’s start like this. What kind of art do you prefer? E.Q.: Very conceptual... L.M.: ...which doesn’t mean abstract. I can only think of one artist at the moment. That is Carsten Nicolai. He is a musician and a sculptor. Sometimes you find his ready made projects, sometimes it’s installation, sometimes it’s sound or smell.E.Q. What is for sure is that we are not so interested in forms. Our approach is more about experiences and processes. Materials and forms are important for us when they can generate a movement, create a relationship, not just an image.

Do you think pure forms still exist? E.Q.: As Duchamp said: “The audience makes art”. So if you come to Dysfashional looking for fashion – you find fashion, if you come to it as “an art exhibition”, you’ll see art there.

So let’s try to define the message you were trying to deliver with the “Dysfashional” exhibition? Were you trying to push the design/fashion cooperation to the new level? E.Q.: We wanted to present different senses – the whole range of them that are involved in fashion. Like smell and sound. In Berlin we are going to present an installation where you touch a screen and you activate the sound of clothes and you even discover different kinds of tones. It is interesting for us, because it is the relationship between the clothes and the body. Or another example, in Luxembourg there was a performance staged by a choreographer, which shows us how the body creates the movement of the clothes. How clothes can dictate our gestures, our identity even.

So you are for no limits then? E.Q.: Yes that was one of the ideas. To enter new dimensions. For example, we would ask a choreographer to make an installation or we could ask a musician to produce not music but clothes. We were aiming to reveal new angles of the creative process. Would you say that a talented person is talented in everything? E.Q.: Yes, I could say so, but sometimes you can have few disappointing surprises.It took us almost a year to reach together with artists and designers the result that we were looking for. Coming back to fashion, what would you call the capital of fashion today? L. M.: It depends from which point you look at it: the market, the sales, the audience? I mean creativity. L.M. Paris, absolutely. Berlin is very creative, but it is not built enough yet. It doesn’t exist as a system there. And where is it going to take us in the future then? L.M.: The future will be split. It is the next big thing. There won’t be the fashion capital, there won’t be the next big country. It will be a network. E.Q.: In the art world it has happened already. Artists may leave in Berlin because it’s cheaper and it’s fun. But work in Paris or London. And have exhibitions at Art Dubai or Istanbul Biennial. And what is going to be the future of ”Dysfashional” project? L.M.: It is going to develop and modify. It might travel to Russia and Asia now adapting to the new mentalities and the state of fashion over there. It is going to grow as a live organism. ”Dysfashional” project was in Moscow at Garage Cultural Center in 2010

How did you put together the list of designers that were presented at “Dysfashional”, what was your criteria of choice? L.M.: We have chosen these particular designers, because they have a conceptual approach, a different point of view, let’s say non-standard for fashion designers. Even if they have never created the art objects – you can still sea even in their collections – the will to search for abstraction beyond the product. E.Q.: The part of it was that mostly all the works were the new productions specially made for us, for “Dysfashional”. It is a big work. And we chose those who could create that non-standard vision for us. Sometimes we would propose for a designer to work with an artist or backwards. You narrowed your choice to the designers coming mostly from Paris and Berlin? Paris is understandable. Why Berlin though? Not London, for example? E.Q.: Berlin has very peculiar fashion scene. They have their

ART

THE

JULY ART

UP TO DATE SCULPTOR – MARC TURLAN. NOT LONG AGO HE WAS A MASTER OF CLASSIC MOSAIC, TODAY HE MOULDS HIS SCULPTURES USING PAGES FROM A MAGAZINE, PACKS THEM IN LATEX AND MALES THEM HEAVIER WITH CHAINS. 2 YEARS IN A ROW HE PARTICIPATES IN THE EXHIBITION ”DYSFASHIONAL”, THE PRESENTATION OF WHICH IN PARIS WHICH IS A KIND OF BAROMETER FOR EXPERIMENTS IN FASHION. OUR FRIENDLY PARISIAN AGENCY WITH A RUSSIAN BACKGROUND “THE JULY 16” BROUGHT THIS FASHION SHOW TO MOSCOW IN SPRING-SUMMER 2010, AND AT THE SAME TIME MARС’S PERSONAL EXHIBITION TOOK PLACE. SPECIALLY FOR OUR READERS MARС TOLD US ABOUT HIS WORK, ABOUT HIS ATTITUDE TO “THE ART OF TODAY”, ABOUT HIS NEW VIDEO-WORK AND A CRAFTY WAY OF ART SIGHT-SEEING IN PARIS.

www.serial-art.com

MANAGMENT

Don’t the photos from magazines lead you to some Idea? Absolutely not. They are a clean palette for me. They are form and model for my creative aims, and all these magazines themselves don’t touch upon art at all. What or who inspires you? I consider inspiration to be the worst thing for the artist. Marc, do you admire beauty? Do you like aesthetically beautiful things? It’s hard to answer this question in a few words. Art is transforming and changing the idea of beauty all the time, and that what is interesting for me in art itself.

MARC TUR LAN

And what about your relations with the world of fashion? Do you have any favorite designers? What I really like is research. For example, I liked the works of young designers at the International Fashion Festival in Yer, it’s in the South France. It was the most interesting and pure experience in research of new ideas. Masks made of white rubber, which you use for closing faces in magazines – somebody said that with their help images return to anonymity. But this is vice versa, isn’t it? Of course. Everything is completely opposite. All these images that we can see every day in magazines are absolutely anonymous. By hiding the faces on these images I find out their true originality. As Marguerite Duras once told: “Due to absence, we find the true meaning of things.” It turns out that by imposing strange elements like chains and rubber on the pages of magazines you turn all this into art objects? I’m a sculptor and create sculptures. These objects are not images. They are real sculptures.

The_July_16: Marс, for the exhibition DYSFASHIONAL is Paris designers have prepared projects that express their feeling of fashion today. Which message did you put in your works? Marс: I didn’t try to dictate any creators meaning to the spectators. The relations between art and felling are unpredictable at some point. My works speak about “today” with the help of depiction of this “today”. To which part of the world of art do you belong? I don’t want to define any special parts in this world of art. I want to be in constant motion, moving between the worlds. Actually it’s not my goal. It’s a fact. Is it more correct to call your work a game with usual attributes of fashion? This is my work, I don’t play games with art. And by the way I’m doing something much more than game. By means of cutouts in the pages of magazines you are trying to give meaning to those mostly empty pictures or to turn dull snapshots into exciting ones, moving the accents? For me as a sculptor magazines and images are my clay and stone. In fact they don’t have any original, put into them meaning. But I’m not, even trying to discover any original meaning at all, I just hope that after I finish my interference into images, they will be able to tell you something about our time.

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Do you intend to develop your style in the future? You should have asked a designer this kind of question. Artist doesn’t think about his “style”. He just works, and if he works hard and if he is lucky, he’ll find his STYLE after many years. It seems that you’re balancing on the verges of triangle art/design/ fashion. How do you think, is it a new 3D form of state of art? It seems to be a question for critics. If an artist asks himself about this he will quit creating anything right away. Can you determine somehow what is contemporary art? And where does it lead us to? I prefer term “art today” better than “contemporary art”, in contains more character. The meaning of our time is artist’s work today and the common sense of what they are doing. Do you like Paris? Sure! Do you have any favorite secret art-places in the capital of France? Is it possible that they stop being secret for our readers? No secrets, I can advise you just to ask the owners of galleries to show you their storages, where the real action takes place.

THE

JULY ART

MANAGMENT

L'A TLA S

L’ATLAS (BORN IN 1978) IS ONE OF THE MOST DISTINCTIVE AND IMPORTANT GRAFFITI ARTISTS IN EUROPE. THOUGH LIVING IN FRANCE, HIS STYLE WAS DEVELOPED LEARNING CALLIGRAPHY IN MOROCCO, CAIRO AND SYRIA, WHICH HAS GIVEN HIS WORK A UNIQUELY ARABIC APPEARANCE.

GUIDE

SUPERFUTURE X

MARAIS www.superfuture.com

1 AZZEDINE ALAÏA Legendary atelier of one of fashion’s greatest designers. Demi-couture displayed between Julian Schnabel paintings.7 rue de Moussy 75004 2 NOIR KENNEDY Gothic metal heads unite as stuffed rats are stuck on turntables and skeletons hide behind vintage punk apparel. 22 rue du Roi de Sicile 75004 3 FINGER IN THE NOSE New french kidswear label heavy on the black, it seems to be perfect for a Pete Doherty and Kate Moss lovechild. 17 rue de Saintonge 75003 4 CALOURETTE Creative local jewelry brand and fun multibrand fashion and accessories concept-store. 27 rue du Bourg Tibourg 75004 5 TOOLS GALERIE On-the-money contemporary design gallery. 119 rue Vieille du Temple 75003

Text by Kate Van Den Booget

6 ISABEL MARANT French girls may be bitches but at least they dress well - and most of them shop here. 47 rue de Saintonge 75003 7 PETIT PAN Adorable handmade chinese-style silk and bamboo mobiles, lamps, plus cute kids and home wear too. 39 & 76 rue François Miron 75004 8 MERCI A fabulous new concept-store that will also warm the cockles of your charitable heart. 111 bvd Beaumarchais 75003 9 BLESS Fashion to think about; this is as deep as it gets kids. 14 rue Portefoin 75003 He's a master of the line, and a wizard with gaffer tape... used to mark out compasses and labyrinths on the pavement, as well as billboard sized tags & slogans. His work is so captivating that in 2008 the Centre Pompidou commissioned his multifaceted performance and installation, ‘Don’t Lose the North’ that initiated public interaction with the transient construction of a giant compass in the museum’s plaza. Unlike other street artists who paint in the public sphere, L’Atlas reinvents the process by literally taking fragments of the street with him; first he spray paints the streets with his labyrinthine style, then he silkscreens the marks on captivating black canvases. These prints, like Customs, both commemorate his performances and memorialize the enigmatic decor of the urban landscape. www.latlas.org

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10 GALERIE EMMANUEL PERROTIN One of the city’s edgier international contemporary galleries. 76 rue de Turenne 75003 11 MARCHÉ DES ENFANTS ROUGE Busy covered food market in the Northern Marais; great lunch spot. 39 rue de Bretagne 75003

THE MARAIS IS BIG. APPROXIMATELY INCORPORATING THE 3RD AND 4TH ARRONDISSEMENTS, IT STARTS AT THE SEINE AND STRETCHES RIGHT UP TO REPUBLIQUE. FOR THE LOWER HALF, THINK THE MOST GLORIOUS, RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE BLENDED WITH A SELECTION OF COOL RESTAURANTS, FURNITURE STORES, ART GALLERIES AND PICTURESQUE PARKS MIXED WITH A GOOD DOSE OF JEWISH AND GAY CULTURE. THE NORTHERN MARAIS, SITUATED AROUND THE RUE DE BRETAGNE, IS THE NEIGHBORHOOD IN PARIS CURRENTLY UNDERGOING THE MOST IMPORTANT MUTATION, AS IT TRANSFORMS FROM AN OVERLOOKED CORNER INTO THE CITY’S NEWEST FASHION AND ART DESTINATION.

PERSONA

Poell, Maurizio Amadei, Guidi, Individual Sentiments and Volga Volga. Everything started with the company Carpe Diem, which doesn’t exist unfortunately any longer. Their clothes seemed to be from another reality. The above-mentioned designers are both traditionalists and innovators. They use traditional methods in their work, a lot of hand craft is used for producing their stuff. In the meantime they produce very interesting things, experimenting with a brim, processing, coloring etc.

Photography by Scott B.White, www.stylezeitgeist.com, www.sz-mag.com

This issue is dedicated to Paris. Do you think Paris influences fashion community today, is remains the capital of fashion nowadays? I think there is nothing left but traditions in Paris.In the world of fashion it’s not Rome, but Byzantine Empire. They live in past glory, but people are still coming there from all over the world. Paris keeps on being the epicenter of fashion shows, but it’s not the epicenter of creating fashion any longer. Antwerp, Tokyo and London give birth to the most interesting designers recently. Look at the designers of traditional Parisian fashion houses, you can hardly find any French people there. The worst mistake of France is its conservatism. They think that they know everything about art, including fashion. And this is the first sign of stagnation. What do you think about the development of fashion in Russia? Does Russian fashion have any weight in the world? What kind of problems needs to be solved urgently, what is necessary to be improved and developed? I think that Russia needs time to develop. We should remember that the inflow of Western culture at grassroots level, including fashion, is a very recent phenomenon in Russia. As in any other developing country rich people are rushing to shining things to put their money in the window. As any other culture, fashion works according to the method of demand saturation. At first you eat everything, and then you choose the most delicious things. I suppose that the development of avant-garde fashion follows the development of art, which by-turn follows the material development of the society. The society produces sponsors, who support art. That’s understandable. On the other hand, prosperous artists wouldn’t like to wear the same clothes as their bourgeois customers. So they start looking for alternatives. At this very moment the inflow of another fashion occurs. It’s not accidentally that the explosion of alternative fashion happened in 80-ies, when USA and Europe faced a wave of artwork speculation. So let Mr. Abramovich buy the paintings of Russian artists, and then we’ll see. Maybe then Russia will be able to produce serious designers. Denis Simachev, unfortunately, is not the answer. By now I’m only impressed by the work of my former compatriot Lena Tsokalenko. Her clothes possess sophistication and intellectual maturity. As any other forum, SZ has a definite opinion about newly appeared brands. And this opinion is not always positive. What attitude do you have towards the work of the younger designers?

EUGENE RABKIN IS THE FOUNDER AND OWNER OF THE FORUM STYLEZEITGEIST.COM, AND FOUNDER AND EDITOR A PAPER MAGAZINE OF THE SAME NAME. HE HAS ALREADY DONE A LOT, BUT STILL HIS MAIN GOAL IS SEARCHING - SEARCHING FOR THAT O.WILD’S “ART” FROM FASHION AND OF PEOPLE WHO CREATE IT.

DTOURS: Tell us about youself. Where did you grow up, studied, what did you do generally? Eugene Rabkin: I was born in Bobruisk, which is now widely known due to Russian folklore. I went to school, joined the pioneer organization - just like the rest of good children. At the age of 15 I immigrated to the USA, New York, where I’ve been living for more than 17 years. How and when did it happen, that you moved from Russia to USA? In general this story is quite prosaic. My parents decided to move as the possibilities in Bobruisk were vey low, as you can imagine, and actually they didn’t care about my opinion much. But I didn’t resist. It was curious to see what America was like. Of course I was sorry to leave my friends and my girlfriend, but c’est la vie! We moved in 1992 right to Brooklyn. The expat community is huge here, about one million people from former USSR live in New York. I keep on living in «Russian ghetto» (it’s my comic name for the place where I live in Brooklyn) to stay close to my family, friends, grocery and book stores. Is your interest in fashion professional or isfashion a hobby for you? How long are you engaged in journalism in the field of fashion and what did you succeed in? My interest in fashion is more like mission, or passion. I can’t breathe without fashion. The same is with literature. When I came to USA I needed to choose a special subject for entering college. We lived very poor, and as I was pretty good at math I was forced to choose finance. When I was a second-year student I got a job at broker’s board. After five years I realized, that I had made a terrible mistake, and I began to think about doing something with the soul component. I was always fond of literature, read really a lot. So I decided to let it all hang out and apply to postgraduate studies in literature in New York New School University. There I realized, that I can combine my passion for literature and fashion. I started writing analytical essays, different articles about fashion, and after graduation I was invited to teach critique in Parsons The New School for Design. It was two years ago. At the same time I got acquainted with the editor of Israel newspaper Haaretz, and he offered me to write about fashion immediately. Another my great success was interview with my hero, Belgian designer Ann

DTOURS[PAPER]

Demeulemeester, it was really hard to meet her. Then I realized, that it was the right way. Since then we keep in touch, share opinions, give birthday presents to each other (we have 1 day difference!). Beside her I interviewed such designers as Rick Owens and Jun Takahashi, Undercover. In the nearest future here will be a meeting with Raf Simons. Not long ago I was offered a position of editor-in-chief in American magazine Planet, which gives plenty of new opportunities. StyleZeitgeist. How did you come across the idea of such a serious project? What is the main idea of SZ? It was accidentally as a matter of fact. Hegel wrote, that the progress in the history of mankind is the result of the conflict. I can follow something similar in my life. I’m very stubborn. Three years ago I had a big argument with some forums about fashion and finally I was kicked out of there. I shut the door with a bang and started StyleZeitgeist. I intended to make a serious forum about fashion, without stars, without models, without marketing ext. I invited precisely 20 people. By now there are already five thousands “reading” people, among them there are a lot of designers and people, who work in fashion. Frankly speaking, I couldn’t imagine that this forum would have big success. I was just looking for people to whom you could talk about fashion seriously.The main idea of SZ is anti-glamour. I hate glamour, this stupid kitsch, SZ resists the idea about fashion being half-baked, materialistic occupation for dummies with big wallets. Unfortunately it’s something not easy to achieve, as advertisement and stars are dominating in the world of fashion. And designers, to whom I give my respect, are interesting to very few people. Is it possible to hear Ann Demeulemeester’s quiet elegance behind loud shouting of Dolce & Gabbana? Explain, please, to our readers the meaning of notions “sartorial”, “artisanal”. Who works with this kind of aesthetics? What promoted this trend? “Sartorial” is about clothes, and “artisanal” is about traditional handicraft methods. Nowadays due to endemic mass production and autosourcing to China and other countries without the idea about quality production (including famous fashion houses), Europe is loosing sewing traditions and heritage. It becomes less and less masters respectful to their business and proud of what they produce. And respect for surrounding things, including clothes, is really important to me. At you can see it clearly when something has a bad quality. This is disrespect from manufacturer. What kind of feelings can this thing cause to the customer? And vice versa. I’m not an anachronist of course, I realize that handicraft is not the answer to the needs of the modern world, but I really would like that this art continued to exist.A lot of designers, whom I follow, are engaged in “artisanal” production – Carol Christian

Every person is a critic in grain. It’s nothing wrong with this. SZ adds some weight to criticism, as coming from there criticism is detailed and constructive. Of course it’s really hard when your work is being criticized. I met a young designer recently, whose work I criticized in the forums (I can only say that he is from Paris), he gave me the answer that it was really hard to hear all this, but at the same time he accepted it maturely and with respect. The problem of many other young designers is double. On one hand, they want too much at once. On the other hand, they are under enormous pressure – they have to achieve a lot in a very short time. Besides, there is always a temptation to work for a famous fashion house with a better salary. Indeed it’s easier to run the whole company, but there is a great risk of loosing creative energy and integrity. Where do you think all the innovations and the latest technological developments in fashion are concentrated now? It’s hard to say, but I think in Japan. They have a different attitude towards art in the East. In the West there is an extension between art and applied activities. In Japan it’s different – they have the same respect for paintings and objects. Unfortunately, in Japan Yohji Yamamoto and Ray Kavakubo (Comme des Garcons) ruled for a long time. I have great respect for these designers, but during some period of time their influence was just imitation. Now the new generation of Japanese designers is starting to do something different, and I watch this process carefully. Of course, the textile industry is also very important. Therein Europe and USA compete with Japan, For example, almost all collections by Undercover are made of materials, produced by Swiss company Scholler. Junia Watanbe from Comme des Garcons uses Gortex, produced by American company, which specializes in materials for winter sports. Whom of the beginning designers could you single out? I’ve been following the early work of Damir Doma. I don’t like everything in his work, but it’s nothing wrong with that. If you look at the first collections of Yuhji Yamamoto, for example, there is not much interesting in them as well. Each designer needs time to find his own style and to become mature, and I think that Damir has a great potential. I also like the work of two young Japanese brands – Julius and Individual Sentiments. I’m impressed by industrial aesthetics of Julius, it reflects something terrible, but very humane at the same time. And each garment by Individual Sentiments is an artwork and a subject of professional pride. I like the “artisanal” approach to work best of all. Again, all models successfully combine tradition and modernity. What would you recommend to visit in Paris (cafes, bars, clubs, restaurants, etc.)? Unfortunately, I can’t give the answer to this question. I’m tired of clubs, and there is a great amount of really good restaurants and cafes in Paris. As for shopping – you’re welcome! L’Eclairuer for sure and boutiques Rick Owens, Yohji Yamamoto, Y’s, Martin Margiela.

STORE www.sartorialoftla.com

SARTO RIA LOFT

DTOURS[PAPER] TALKED TO DAVID CHOI, FOUNDER OF SARTORIALOFT CONCEPT-STORE. DTOURS: How did the name of the store appear and what does the word ‘sartoria’ mean for you? David Choi: The name is a reference to Maurizio Altieri’s and Amadei’s collaborative effort, project Sartoria. It was chosen to pay homage to these key figures, who have made a tremendous impact on my perception of fashion design. I wholeheartedly embrace every facet of the highly conceptual project. It was simultaneously evolutionary and in its way revolutionary. It was clothing with subtext. This is what Sartoria has ultimately come to mean to me. You started your store as an online project but after opening it’s physical location you’ve stopped online sales. Why? We still accommodate orders placed via email and phone. We are happy to do so. However, the reason for suspending the online checkout system was to encourage communication. Our philosophy embraces the ideal of meeting the client’s needs in every detail. It grants us the opportunity to do so and make it a more personal experience, which is impossible to accomplish with the “click and buy”, checkout system. We want our clients to be thoroughly pleased with their experience with us and by communicating we are better able to, ensure the attainment of this goal. How is the development of Sartorialoft being carried out? Is there something you constantly change? As Heraclitus said, “the only constant is change”. So yes, there is a perpetual movement of progression, but the development is an organic process.

DTOURS[PAPER]

Let’s talk aboutthe design of your store. Who has developed Sartorialoft space? What’s the story behind it? The idea from inception was to strike a kind of dissonant harmony, by implementing an industrial space as a backdrop for designs with the edge of post-modern minimalism. There is a reciprocity in this concept that is heavy with inherent consonance. Once the foundation was established, it became what I view as a living space. The concept revolves around this idea and I am merely a translator of the physical factors that are introduced. There is a perpetually emerging sense of purpose this way. An unfolding of intention dictated and sustained by the energy created from the symbiotic accord between the space and the work of the designers.

What are the best and worst aspects of owning your own store? The best aspect is the joy of working alongside such immensely talented designers. The worst aspect is having to filter out those we will not be carrying in the store. Unfortunately, there must be careful editing and the designers we choose not to work with is not for lack of their creativity and skill set. It is a simple matter of cohesion with the movement of the moment. Nowadays some brands choose presentation format instead of a catwalk show, what do you think of it? I prefer presentations to runway shows. There are several reasons for this. I believe that presentations grant the designers greater freedom to showcase their work in a manner that is true and in keeping with their vision. The installation format is more of an exposition than a mere exhibition. It allows for a more thorough visual elaboration of their point of view. Presentations also encourage interaction with the garments, engaging more of the senses. Thus providing a more intimate experience the articles. This is the best way to get acquainted with a collection. We can find faultless choice of clothes for men at your store, so do you plan purchase female collections? There are no plans to introduce women’s collections. And thank you for such kind words.

What designers are your favorite; the ones you wear most yourself? Carpe Diem and Linea are lines that are in heavy rotation with my wardrobe. I highly favor the materials and the construction is solid. The pieces keep getting better with time and wear. The designs are timeless and remain relevant, so they are very easy to work with. I also incorporate quite a bit of Yohji Yamamoto, Label Under Construction and Carol Christian Poell as well. In terms of designers (as opposed to individual articles), the lines mesh very well together and cater to my sensibilities. Can you name some new designers to keep an eye on? Sruli Recht and Ma Ke are producing wonderful work. Their point of view is not necessarily new, but certainly a breath of fresh air in the current scape of clothing design. Lemuria, is a womenés label that I feel has been slipping under the radar far too long. It is a conceptually brilliant line that is rooted in the idea of articles being transformative. It is very well executed and something which I feel everyone can appreciate. In that conceptual vein, Aitor Throup is one who I believe has the talent to shift the general perception of clothing in its relation to art. This is a powerful potential for one to possess. Up until now, we have only seen glimpses of what he can bring to the table. If he can master the technical aspects of garment making towards the fruition of his vision, then something very special looms in the horizon.

FASHION

LUMEN ET UMBRA www.lumenetumbra.biz

WHAT WE REALLY KNOW ABOUT SCARVES AND WRAPS?! DTOURS TEAM TALKED TO ONE OF THE LEADING PROFESSIONAL IN THIS AREA TAIANA GEIFER OF TAIANA DESIGN.

ISSEI FUJITA HAS LIVED AND WORKED IN ITALY SINCE 1999, COLLABORATING WITH THE BRAND CARPE DIEM BY MAURIZIO ALTIERI. HIS RESEARCH WAS INCREASINGLY FOCUSED ON MATERIALS AND VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS OF THE BRAND. IN THE PERIOD BETWEEN JULY AND OCTOBER 2006 IN MILAN AND PARIS HE HAS PROVIDED FULL COLLECTION OF MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CLOTHING UNDER THE NAME LUMEN ET UMBRA. LIVING IN A WESTERN REALITY ISSEI FUJITA PREFERS TRADITIONAL JAPANESE SIMPLICITY IN WHICH HE FINDS INSPIRATION.

DTOURS: Did yo have any professional background? ISSEI FUJITA: I worked in Carpe Diem from 1999 until 2005, my assignment was more about materials researching and visual communication of the brand. During that period I travelled a lot between Japan and Europe, often with Maurizio Altieri or other people working with us. What was on the beginning of you work? In March 2006 it was the presentation in Paris of my first collection under the brand name “Lumen et Umbra”. I presented five T-shirt treated with a special technique that allows to print light on the clothes. For this presentation I prepared a video about lights and shadows, too. What does one need to become a professional designer (special education, teachers, etc.)? Or it doesn’t matter? I think it’s important to have technical knowledge to develop a complete collection, for this reason designers’ schools are important, but the most important thing is to have original ideas and a lot of creativity Can you describe your brand’s philosophy and the latest collection at all? Who are your clients in this case? I’ve always been fascinated by the traditional simplicity of Japan where I get inspiration while living a western reality. I like to create a link between past and present, wildlife and big cities, tradition and modernity. That’s why fabrics collection are connected to human’s history as often used in ancient

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times and by the pastoral tradition. I also do a special research on materials always using innovative treatments and experimental fabrics. For my last collection, knitwear has made with paper yarn or carbon and metal mixed with wool or cashmere, silk and cotton. I think that my client is totally not fashionable, unconventional, but people with special sensibility that likes particular materials and takes care about research and innovation. Can you name any upcoming and new designers (musicians, artists, etc.)? SANDRA BACKLUND. She is a fashion designer, working handmade in knitwear. Fantastic and creative work. Which was the last city you visited? What impressed you most? 2 weeks ago I was in a really small Italian place close to Perugia, called Montone, for Cinema Festival. Incredible landscape, so quite and natural, no factories all around and no cars in the small centre, it was like a fairy tale little town Did you have any teachers or guidelines? I worked for a long time in Carpe Diem, really close to Maurizio Altieri and for sure he influenced me in the beginning, now I think that I’m doing a different way. What difficulties face a designer today? At first I think, it’s not easy to find a right structure able to help and support a new designer to solve all problems connected to his collection. After a new

www.taianadesign.com

DTOURS: How long have you been in the fashion industry and what made you choose this path? Taiana: I have been in the fashion industry my whole life as the child of a model agent and photographer. It was always around me. I was always fascinated with the arts, always exploring different ways to create my visions of my own personal style. There is so much indecent design out there that is so poorly made and uncreative. There is very little craftsmanship and individuality in style these days and I hope to push these boundaries with my items.

designer has to learn that it’s hard to feel free using his creativity and at the same time to think about market and final client What are your plans for the future? I want to have a «workshop studio» in Japan to share my time between Italy and my country, and start with new collaborations. What places can one visit in Italy? I’m living in south of Italy... I spend so much time working, when I have time I go in Rome or Naples, both are really close to my place, to take a look of new exhibitions or simply go around... What can you advise to younger designers from Russia to want to become great? «Be free to follow yourself and believe in what you do». Have you any projects/activities besides fashion? Photography. I like to take pictures to express myself. I’ve organized some special projects with Lift shop in Tokyo, mixing fashion and video or images. My last project was presented some time ago, it was concerning handlcraft ancient technicals. I met some people in Sardinia (Italy) still working traditional handlcraft. I started this collaboration with them mixing their tradition with my creations and special treatments. I took pictures of all this process and I called it «Lana Nera» (Black Wool).

Do you have higher education and what college did you graduate from? Did you choose this establishment? I went to college as an artist. I studied at the Evergreen State College in Washington State, USA stating with 2-D and 3-D animation and chaos theory. I also did a little bit of environmental and political science, but quickly came back to the craftsman arts. I became obsessed with metal working at Evergreen realizing that I have a large pool of ideas that come out and are very well expressed in metals. I build a great collection of metal sculpture/some wearable, incorporating many other materials in my metal works such as glass blowing, wood working, printmaking and fiber weaving. I later went to a college called The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles, CA. It seems I am on a lifelong hunt to learn as many primitive techniques as possible. The construction of clothing was something I found very important to learn not only for my survival instincts so I may be completely selfsufficient, but could also be used to add to my range of multimedia art skills as an artist. I am completely fascinating with how anything is built and held together, always exploring that You were born in California but now you live and work in New York. What was the reason for the move? I moved to New York for a runway modeling job for Armani and I never left...I suppose I needed to understand the place. Why did you choose scarves and wraps as the main product? I choose scarves and wraps because its practical wearable art. Most people who don’t feel excited enough about their wardrobe can put on a simple scarf and their whole outfit and energy is changed. I love things that are so simple but can go so far. They are comfortable to wear and people can have the freedom to choose their size and color since they are all custom-made.

I like to let people choose things that are especially for themselves. It began as scarves because off my collaborations with CK. Tell us about the technique you use to produce your items? The technique I use is called «Felting». Felting is one of the oldest techniques to produce fabric out of natural fibers. It is all begun with raw sheep hair. I primarily use Merino Wool because it felts the best and softest and sheds the least. But occasional i use blends with Cashmere fibers and blends with silks. I can also felt with alpaca and other breeds of sheep. I take the raw (cleaned and combed) locks of sheep hair and lay it out into the weave that i want. Using many different colors or just one. I then apply heat from water and a special soap to the fibers and practice a series of agitating techniques on the fibers. What happens with the fibers to make it naturally stick to itself is, if you look at a single fiber under a microscope, you will see that it has cuts in it. When heat is applied to the fiber the fiber (hair) expands. When the fiber expands, other fibers can get tangled into those cuts. So all the fibers get tangled. When the fibers cool again the fiber shrinks and they are naturally stuck together. (it’s like sticking a wool sweater in the dryer and its shrinks 5 sizes) Do you use some exclusive treatment methods? As mentioned above, but all my treatments are natural and the dyes on the fibers which i do not do myself are all low impact dyes. It is nearly impossible to dye this type of wool at this size organically. Your products are only for women or are they unisex? Who is your primary client? My products are unisex. Sadly I have not found a male model to photograph them but they are purchased equally by both. My primary client is probably: Barneys (New-York), Maxfields (Los-Angeles), Mona Moore (LosAngeles, Montreal, Canada) and Atelier (New-York). You collaborated with Francisco Costa from CK, what gave you this collaboration? That collaboration started because my boyfriend, Paris Kain, designer and creator of Abraxas Rex (abraxasrex. com) is close with Francisco Costa, the Head designer of CK. Paris and Francisco had done a few collaborations in the past, Abraxas Rex was on a FW2008 Runway. He was having a meeting again for the FW 2009 Collection with Francisco and he told me to come with him and to bring my felted creations because he had a feeling that Francisco would love the idea. And, he did, he loved it and asked me to create for him custom fabric that he

TA IA NA used for 2 dressed and a jacket on the runway. Do you have something else besides the scarves design? I have many other creations besides my scarf design. I have a large collection of illustration work and metal work. But when it comes to other felted creations. A few, but they are not ready to be exposed, still in the works!:) Can you name any upcoming designers? I know he’s my boyfriend but Abraxas Rex is by far the most fascinating jewelry I’ve ever seen. I did love a company called IDEEEN. I love work by Mara Hoffman, Her leggings especially. A company called Risto, Risto Bimbiloski. Kendal Conrad handbags. SoDeMel Swimwear. In Aisce. Rozae Nichols... maybe she’s not that upcoming. I’m sure there a some more that I can’t recall in this moment. Do you plan to create garments? I have many amazing ideas in my head but have not had the time to execute them with this scarf wrap making madness! But yes, eventually!:) And some are in the works…

DTOURS[PAPER] PRESENTS: REBORN PROJECT www.odynvovk.com, www.cmrtyz.com

CMRTYZ x LABELED ODYN VOVK SPECIALLY FOR REBORN/SUPERPOSITION PROJECT.

ODYN VOVK x LABELED

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DIET BUTCHER SLIM SKIN

STORE

AL SELECT

OWNER OF “AL SELECT” STORE MR. MASATO SHARED SOME THOUGHTS WITH DTOURS [PAPER] AND TOLD A STORY ABOUT HIS SHOP. WE DID NOT OVERWRITE THE TEXT AND KEPT IT IN ORIGIN VERSION AS IT ARRIVED TO OUR EMAIL. www.alselect.jimdo.com

I opened a shop about 28 years ago. Our shop is a very personal shop. The same customer from old times comes to our shop. We do not wish we are sold in large quantities. We are the joy that it is the best that we sell favorite clothes. We want to continue selling the thing which our customer likes as possible for a long time. We are blessed with very good customer and client. Our company is not big. However, management of our company is very stable. We sell clothes carefully. I was an electric construction person. I do not go to fashion school. I worked in a secondhand clothes store. The origin of AL is a name of my dog. AL is my dog which I loved. He left the world. Author of AL’s design is me. The design of the shop does not have the rule. It is that we are surrounded in a favorite thing. I collect the shop fittings of my friend’s artist. The concept of selecting is the work which I like. There is a chance to put in my shop if I am a favorite thing. I am always waiting for a new brand. I hope for the thing which creator oneself makes as much as possible. I hope for the new one that another doesn’t have.

DIET BUTCHER SLIM SKIN IS A JAPANESE FASHION LABEL BASED OUTSIDE TOKYO. STARTED BY HIRASHI FUKATAMI, THIS LABEL FOCUSES ON PRODUCING MODERN CLOTHING WITH PUNK INFLUENCE AND A BRAND MANIFESTO OF FREEDOM IN CLOTHING. DTOURS[PAPER] TALKED TO LABEL’S FOUNDER TOMOHIRO ‘‘KAREHA’’ NARITA. www.metalburger.com

DTOURS: Let's talk about your background. How did you get involved in fashion? TOMOHIRO: My grandfather on my father's side was a painter and my grandfather on my mother's side was a tailor. My parents both had a job and they came home late so since I was the only child, I always played in either grandfather's home and turned out to do this job. Recommended by such grandfathers, I attended a drawing school from kindergarten. All these things are probably my background. Tell us about philosophy of Diet Butcher Slim Skin. Did it change through out the years? Philosophy... I do not know if it is or not, but the world I picture is a world that can only be pictured by myself. Throughout the time, various favorites and objects of interest have changed but the core part has not changed.

Takashi Kondo is my closest friend. He is a collage artist. Contemporary art is very important for my shop. And I am indispensable in my life. I obtained and learnt a lot of information in the magazine and the newspaper in old times. However, a lot of magazines became more catalogs (or advertisement) now. I do not read a fashion magazine from a few years ago. Personal blog gives me the most useful information. I exhibit the work made with Takashi Kondo shortly. My future plan (dream): I want to make the gallery which is not commercial as possible. It is a gallery only for an unknown artist. It is my dream from old days. I often go to Paris for an exhibition. All things of Paris give me energy.

DTOURS[PAPER]

What is Metal Burger? DIET BUTCHER SLIM SKIN is the label name that I picture and is my thought but METAL BURGER is the name of the company I manage and is my thought and the staffs that support myself. Who is your client? When you say clients, do you mean as a business? If so, ISETAN in Tokyo, MIDWEST in Osaka, LORENZO and BLACK BIRD in U.S.A., and Lane Crawford (HONG KONG) and BY (SHANG HAI) in Asia and so on. Please look at our website for more information: www.metalburger.com What inspires you right now? At this moment… After a longtime, revival of slash metal and hard core punk inside myself. Also, the recent young artists in Tokyo. They are around 22 to 25 years old but they create interesting things. There was a beautiful installation for a/w 08, who developed it? What is the main message? I asked my friend SHRIKEN PRODUCT to do the creation of this installation. It was a very pleasant work to

make the afterimage of an experience inside myself into a figure together with him. I believe what everyone feels after taking a look inside my brain, is the message. Of course, this will differ by person. I wonder what the thoughts of the people were that think I am hard to deal with, people that don't think anything about me, and people that like me were. This installation is a success inside myself by just imagining about this. Do you think that Diet Butcher Slim Skin is some kind of art? No, DBSS is not an art. If someone feels as it is an art, then it is. If someone thinks it is, then it is a pleasure to be obedient. If something is created aiming an art, then that is not an art at that moment. Can you name any designers we should keep an eye on? I am always interested and jealous of the designers that express what can be done just by them. But there is nothing more foolish than being jealous of individuality. What role do you feel fashion plays on the worldwide stage and what is its impact? Unfortunately, I have been a designer for just 10 years and I don't have enough knowledge and experience to think about this. Maybe when I start showing in Paris and Milano, I can start seeing fashion with the base of the world. Speaking of influence, I aimed to be a designer although I get bored of everything very easily, then did become a designer and still being a designer verifies that fashion is a matter that has a fearful power. Can you share some of your further plans? This is related to the last question but now I feel that I want to see the world a little bit and I have started to prepare so that I can do an exhibition or an installation in Paris. I get excited to work with interesting people in Japan but I believe there will be more and more in the world!!!

FASHION

ROB ERT GELL ER

GEOFFREY B. SMALL

www.geoffreybsmall.net

DTOURS TALKED TO A PIONEER IN AVANT-GARDE DESIGN AND HANDMADE CLOTHES-MAKING, THE AMAZING GEOFFREY B.SMALL.

DTOURS: You are one of the few people that raise social and environmental problems in their collections, how did you come to this? Geoffrey B.Small: I am fortunate to work in a field where I can have a small voice and many people around the world who watch and are interested in fashion. I am also a human being living in a world where most are suffering and much is now at stake including the survival of our species. I do believe in God, and that there is an obligation to all of us to do what we can to help others who are suffering and speak the truth about the world and what needs to be done to make it a better place for all. I believe great fashion is an Art, and Art must always reflect the truth of its time. Now I must also inform people about the great dangers of the nuclear renaissance that is taking place in the world today.

Fashion industry is now dominated by logo mania and marketing, but on the background of the crisis some changes are starting to grow. Do you think the fashion world will change for the better? Logo mania and marketing is the product of the industrial era...big global corporate companies that only care about making more and more money at the expense of the people who buy their products and who make them. They are run neither by real designers or product makers, but fake imposters who can only calculate numbers and lie to you. They take your money. They take your job. And they give you garbage. But with a lot of advertising, they can fool you into thinking you are special. It’s a big lie. And the biggest fool of all is the customer who falls for the lie, gives them his or her money, and buys it. And after all that, the stuff is ugly too.

ROBERT GELLER WAS BORN IN HAMBURG, GERMANY IN 1976. IN EARLY 00’S HE BEGAN HIS TRAINEESHIP AT MARK JACOBS IN NYC. SOON HE JOINED ALEXANDRE PLOKHOV TO REVAMP CLOAK AND IN 2007 LAUNCHED HIS OWN LABEL.

www.robertgeller-ny.com

DTOURS: Tell us about the start of your own label. Was it hard? ROBERT: In the summer of 2006 I was approached about starting a menswear label and we discussed the idea with a great deal of excitement. Beginning a new label, especially under your own name, always poses certain challenges but I had learned a lot from my experience with Marc Jacobs and Cloak. Those experiences were a big help during the start of my label.

we are able to create special blends and new fabrics that are unique to our clothes.

You worked under Marc Jacobs. How was it? It was a great experience that helped me understand how a successful fashion company operates. I also got to work with some very creative and talented people. When I was there Marc Jacobs was doing some really groundbreaking things so it was fun to be a part of it all.

You already collaborate with jewelry designers Hiroshi and Chie of Driftwood; are you planning to start any new collaborations? My most recent collaboration has been with the American denim icon Levi’s. Nowadays some brands choose presentations instead of the runway. What do you think of this? I don’t think one is necessarily more effective than the other - it totally depends on the purpose. I love runway shows because they are so fast paced and exciting. For my collection they work because for me, the purpose of the show is to excite. Then we invite the press and stores to come and study the clothes later. Other designers like the presentation format because it gives the viewers more time with the clothes. I used to do that. What inspires you right now? My inspirations are quite broad and come from a variety of sources. I absorb things that are happening around me and use the elements I like when designing. Overall I’m most inspired by the idea of romance and different interpretations of that concept in books, films, music and art.

What is the main message in your collections? My collections often convey a certain mood that is dreamy, romantic and loosely (but definitely not literally) based on historical references. I like balancing romance and elegance with a tough edge. Why did you decide to produce your collection in Japan? When I was first starting the label I had been put in touch with a wonderful production company in Japan and the relationship has developed over the years. Working with the Japanese is a great experience because they are very talented and possess a great deal of respect for their work. The Japanese also have a deep appreciation for menswear and a sense of personal style that is very admirable. Do you have unique techniques for the treatment of your materials? Robert: I am fortunate to have the opportunity of developing custom fabrics with a mill in Japan so

DTOURS[PAPER]

What is your favorite fabric? At the moment my favorite fabric is cupro. It is made from a regenerated cellulose fiber. I like to wash it which gives it qualities close to a washed silk, but to me has a nicer hand and drape. It is a very special fabric that is great for spring outerwear.

You were a GQ Best New Menswear Designer Award winner. How did this award change your life and business? This award has been a great support, particularly at a time when young designers are facing many challenges. I am honored to have been selected and thrilled with the opportunities that the award has presented, such as the chance to design a capsule collection in collaboration with Levi’s.

Can you explain why there are such a small number of places where we can buy your clothes? Sure. It’s because there is a such a small number of clothes of this level of quality and value that I can make, and such a small number of stores in the world that are good enough as retailers and people to handle my work and take care of my customers in the right way. The very best way or nothing. No compromises. My work is not for everyone. There is too little information about you, although we know you chose a difficult path. So why do you think the press pays so little attention to the people who do not shout about themselves? It is important for your readers to understand that the main fashion press only covers their advertisers, that is to say, the companies that pay them money. To get covered in the magazines you have to buy advertising from them. You have to give them money. A lot of money. This is part of the big lie. They are not covering what is really happening in fashion or design, they are covering only who pays them. I do not need their coverage to do my kind of work anymore. And I do not need to pay them. If a customer needs to see my collection in a lot of magazines to appreciate and buy my pieces, then I do not need that customer at all, and would prefer that they do not have access to my work. You recently created a few pairs of eco-clean sneakers, why did you choose sneakers? Sneakers represent one of the biggest examples of global corporate exploitation, environmental waste and degradation, and use of human slavery in the world today. I felt it was important to develop and offer a beautiful and real alternative to the fake, the lies, and the madness that helps people not harms them. So my friend Giuseppe makes them by hand one pair at a time, from 100% recycled vintage leather and natural bio-degradable rubber soles making them ultra environmental and ethically made. And they are guaranteed for one year free parts and labor, and after that we will offer to provide service them for the life of the shoes or the owner in our workrooms at our standard rates. They are not throwaway items, they are great shoes for life. The opposite of what we know today in the market. Diversification in the modern fashion world is reaching incredible heights, so maybe in the near future fashion industry will collapse? Honestly, the fashion industry deserves to collapse. It has done little other than to rip-off and enslave hundreds of millions of people all around the world and help to degrade the moral levels of our society to an all-time low at a global worldwide level. Its collapse will be a good thing. Real fashion, however, will never collapse, as long as people have a will to be themselves in one way or another and to express it, no matter what. Nowadays a large number of people prefer to dress in BASIC from Gap, Zara and H&M despite all the harm to the environment which these manufacturers cause to plants. How we can reach these people and is it worth it? These companies not only harm the environment, they harm a lot of people--including their customers. Their work and production practices have stripped millions of jobs from people who used to be able to make the basic clothes for their home countries and communities, who now are unable to do either one of these. Now they must give their money to dress themselves and their families to a system that takes away their ability to earn a living. It’s a form of forced suicide. How can we knock to these people and is it worth it? Simple, it’s a question of informing people about the truth and how it is killing them and making them poorer and poorer. But they will not get this information from the television or the major print media, because those media work for the companies that are precisely working against them. The TV and magazines are not your friends. People need to pass the word to each other, one by one. If one person informs 10, then those 10 each inform another 10, and those 10 each inform another 10--one thousand will be informed. If one thousand informed people each inform

another 10, that’s 10 thousand. If 10 thousand informed people each inform another 10, that’s 100,000. And if they continue, you can easily reach millions, even billions, of informed people--who will no longer tolerate this kind of abuse and exploitation. Just turn off the TV, throw it in the garbage can, and start talking to people again face to face. Is it worth it? Your survival is at stake...is that worth it to you?

How can we fight the concept of “fast” fashion? Because of this concept the quality of clothing is falling, prices are rising and the world obsessed with consumerism, is devouring itself...… What do you think of this? A ”29£” or ”2,990 yen” or “29,99 dollar or euro” article that steals its design from a Paris runway collection, promotes and uses slave labor and consumes a long chain of energy and resources and produces an equally long chain of greenhouse gas emissions in its production and delivery to the marketplace, fits poorly, uses uncomfortable fabric, looks cheap, and falls apart after only a month and several washings, and then needs to be replaced and repurchased again 5-10 times a year, and then ends up in an African landfill where its synthetic materials obstruct water flow, degrade topsoil and increase malaria growth is no bargain at all. It is a waste of money and one of the most expensive, wasteful and destructive things you can possibly do with your money. The math is very simple. Fast fashion is not cheap. If you buy something for 10 euros that lasts only a month. You have to buy another one again every month. That’s 120 euros in a year for the same shirt or dress, or whatever. If you spent the same 120 euros on something made of better quality that lasted you even 3 years instead of 1 month--it would cost you only 40 euros per year instead of 120! Fast fashion is not cheap at all. Indeed, it is the most expensive clothing you can possibly buy and just like the subprime mortgages in the United States, it is targeted exactly at the people who can least afford it. Fast fashion is a product designed for uninformed, poor people who are going to be made even more uninformed and more poorer still. They take your money and give you nothing. The last thing you can possibly afford to do if you are poor or in debt. We are now in a worldwide depression that this system is creating. Keep buying that kind of stuff and soon you will have nothing, you will lose your house, and be on the street. And you know what? The last thing I would want to wear if I was homeless on the street would be H&M or Zara clothes. They will not protect you adequately. And you will die. For thousands of years since the beginning of Man, your clothes were your first protection against the elements, and you took them very very seriously. This lesson will be relearned by many the hard way. Why did you choose closed studio and a small number of produced items? Is it the only way to remain independent? Yes. You cannot design what you cannot make. So I design what I can make, using my own directly controlled production system and very special people, that’s what makes it so very special. My system is designed and built by me and my associates to be able to make the best clothes in the world in terms of advanced research, handmade design and value. Our focus is not on large size or quantities. We do not want to be the biggest. Only the best. We do not want to make Fiats, BMW’s, Mercedes or even Porsches; we want to make Ferraris, or even better, Koenigseggs. The very best handmade designer clothes humanely possible today. If I have to design what other people, or their factories and production systems can make, I lose control of my design and work, and thus independence would be a joke. So in this case, the smaller we are the better we can be. Is it possible that new genius designers of the same level as Cristobal Balenciaga and Christian Dior will emerge soon? Could they be rejected by the modern world of fashion? One-Yes, it is possible the emergence. Two- they already are being rejected. Again, you have to get rid of the industrial system and their media who want people to remain uninformed, ignorant and dependent on giving them their money all the time...and re-educate people from the ground up on what is really happening and what is really important. Fewer and fewer young people want to learn and work (especially not in the spotlights), your instructions to the young generation? Wake up. Fast. And change the world for your future to even exist. Before it is too late. Your air, your water, your food, your clothes, your home, your family and your friends are what counts. Make sure you know where all these are coming from, and that you know how to ensure that you will have them when the industrial system fails you. Because it will fail you. Soon. The key to your future and your security is learning and working hard at knowing what to do when you need it to survive. All it takes is one generation not to pass its knowledge, culture and history to its children, and civilization as we know it, is over. If you know your history, there are already many examples of this happening in the past. You are now on the frontline of the survival of your civilization, do you know how fragile it is? And would you be able to stay alive if it all fell apart in one instant? Probably not, therefore you better start to learn and work... hard. And you must do everything you can to stop the nuclear renaissance now before it is too late. The one thing that can end your entire world in one single event is nuclear energy and arms proliferation and the catastrophe that they are guaranteed to bring you. Another Chernobyl or Hiroshima, only much, much worse. Learn about it, share your information with everyone you can, and do whatever it takes to stop it. Nuclear Renaissance is death for the human race.

FASHION www.juliadeville.com

NEW ZEALANDER, JULIA SEVILLE PRODUCES HER JEWELRY AND TAXIDERMY JEWELRY UNDER THE LABEL DISCE MORI (LATIN FOR LEARN TO DIE). ACTUALLY JULIA IS A STRICT VEGETARIAN AND AN ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST. DTOURS: Tell us please where you studied and what you’ve gained from art education. Nowadays, when lots of people work as designers and artists, is it necessary to get higher education? JULIA: I studied fashion for a year in Wellington at Massey University, then I did shoe design for a year at RMIT in Melbourne and finally I did a two year advanced diploma in gold and silversmithing at NMIT in Melbourne. I don’t really believe you need an “art” education to be an artist. Everything I have studied has been practical and skill based and if you already have the ideas I don’t think you need to learn design and art history etc. As we got from the introduction on your website you have been into such things as bones, etc since you were a child. Tell us more about materials that you use. It seems creepy to work with “dead” (in all senses) creatures, isn’t it? I definitely don’t find working in these materials “creepy”. The only thing that is different between a dead animal and a live one, is one still has its life force and in the other it has departed - where to, I cannot answer. Everything I taxidermy is fresh, so it doesn’t smell and in fact they are so delicate and precious I can’t help but feel emotional and a strong sense of love. All creatures are so beautiful and the construction is divine. To be able to see inside a once living creature is not only fascinating - it is an honor. By the way, what do you think of death? Does it bring any sense to life? Or does life lose its meaning because of death? Life and death are not separate. They both exist at once and are both inevitable. To me death signifies the importance of life and vice versa. Why run from the only thing that is certain in life, instead use it as a tool to make the most of your life and the lives of all living things. Celebrate life. Celebrate death.

SKYWARD X

People are painting pictures, taking photos of each other, writing music about each other. Do you think is it possible that a human may become a “piece of decoration” of other people? It is already happening - Professor Gunther von Hagens in Germany, in his Institute for Plastination, has been making artworks out of dead people for some time now. I am a donor and when I die, I too will become a plastinate. I think he has already started selling them as artworks by now.

ROBERT KNOKE www.skyward.se

DTOURS: Tell us about yourself. Have you any professional background? ANNIKA: first I studied to an engineer and also industrial design. I still work as an engineer. Later I studied graphic design and after that I launched my label. The project was not only about clothes, but it ended up as many collections since the interest was so good. What was in the beginning of your way in fashion? What was hard to do? It was just a concept of a label that grew bigger and bigger, so we just continued. No it was quite simple in the start at least. Further on I have of course problems with production and deliveries, but it is getting smoother. Can you describe your work on the last SWD collection (and on illustrations on your site too)? The last collection is a theme about Gothenburg (see the photos) it is also a collaboration project with creative people in the music, fashion and photographer scene in Gothenburg.

THIS SWEDISH DESIGNER STARTED OFF STUDYING ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGN. SHE HAS NEVER STUDIED FASHION BEFORE. I love NYC. Most I like walking, especially over the bridges, and visiting different areas then Manhattan. And to be very drunk with a view. Can you name any new upcoming designers? I got to think about Charlie le Mindu in London, he makes the most fascination outfits of hair. National specialties (social and economic scene) influence you and your work, don’t they? Do you have freedom in creative works? I think I have the possibility here in Sweden to do what I want quite easy. I can see a difference between how, my situations, and the situation for my friends who live in London for example. It is easier to live not solve expensive here I guess and the creativity around you is inspiring and there are so many people around you who really make an effort to do make good things happen.

Where to go, what to do in Sweden? You have to see the west coast, do some sailing and strolling by the sea and in the woods looking for mushrooms and blueberries. Eat the fantastic homely cooking.

Do ones need to follow blogs nowadays? No, not at all but if you find one inspiring it can be a simple way to get pep. Myself, I get more inspiration from music blogs or photo blogs, not so much fashion.

What will happen to conceptual fashion brand in a couple of years? Will all people wear only non-permanent wear (one pants for one day)? I think it will be hard but the small conceptual labels will find different ways to do their stuff. Different ways to get attention, money, and possibilities to continue doing it. Not the usual “two seasons per year and having agents and distributors thing”.

Light or dark? Why? Dark! Dark is kind to you and cause in the deepest dark it will be much more to work with the light.

Your advise to younger designers. Don’t be afraid to start up your thing, but do it slowly and together with someone you like to work with and trust, and complete you Maybe find some strategic partner with different competence than you. Do what you love the most and don’t look aside. Follow your instinct.

What do you like or dislike in today’s fashion industry? Explain why. Do you have your own vision of fashion’s future developing in the nearest 5 years? I’m not really a big follower of fashion. My inspiration comes from the past and from nature so fashion is not important to me. I think the future of fashion lies in environmentally friendly, sustainable, ethical garments that are beautiful and design has not been compromised but neither has our planet. Would you like your brand to be mainstream or you’d prefer it to become an integral part of lifestyle for every single person? I would prefer my brand to remain in a niche/high-end market. I’m never going to make things that the general public want - but that doesn’t bother me because I’m not your typical person. I like the fact that the people that are into my work are so passionate about it, sometimes even fanatical. I would rather have a small portion of the market feel a real affinity with my work, than a mass market wearing it but not really appreciating it. Not everybody would like to be surrounded by dead animals, right? In this sense who are your customers? I have such a broad cliental... surprisingly so. I get of lot of women aged about 30 - 60, that generally work in some creative field (architects, jewelers, artists etc) buying my work, as well as young kids, seemingly conservative people and everything in between... I’ve really learnt the is no certain type of person that likes my work - they just have to understand and appreciate it enough to want to wear it. I do also get people buying my work just to have as an art piece and it never gets worn. Do you have any assistants? How long does it take you to make one item? What kinds of processing do you use? I have one assistant, Bree. It can take us anywhere between an hour and several weeks to make a piece - it really depends on how involved the item is. To name a few processes; I use gold and silversmithing, I hand carve jet and bone, I weave human hair, taxidermy animals...

JULIA DE VILLE

Is there any difficulties collecting materials (birds, mice, etc)? Where do you get all these materials from? What kind of problems do designers working in this area nowadays face with? All animals I use have died of natural causes and were found dead - I am a vegetarian so I will not kill anything for my work. I have a lot of people that have read about me now, and they donate their pets when they die or birds and other animals that they have found dead. I have a whole freezer full of animals now. Who do you consider as the most prominent designer, artist, musician? Nick Cave. He is a genius. This issue is party devoted to Paris. What do you like the most about this city (maybe you’ve discovered some unique places)? What do you think of people, business, events? I love the culture and style of Paris. Everything is beautiful and the people are lovely. It has such a strong sense of history so Paris is very inspirational for me. My favorite thing to do is go to the markets, buy some fresh local produce and cook beautiful food or ride a bike around the old streets. I’m also a dog person - I love the fact that people take their dogs everywhere, even in restaurants. I wish you could do that in Australia! Of course, there are also amazing shops like rue Herolds’ L’eclaieur. Hidden away with so many beautiful things.

What was the last party (and where) you danced at? At my friend Lisa’s home party this Saturday. I think we were all very drunk and there were lots of burning candles. Song for a day? Today it is Wooden Ships - Clouds over earthquake.

Have you ever been to NYC? If yes, give us your thoughts. Any inspirations, places, people?

DTOURS[PAPER]

FASHION

www.nonoyes.com

www.noize-iac.com

DTOURS: What are the advantages of leather “dress of the future” in front of textiles? Have you ever wanted to illustrate, for example, any remakes? Mad Max? No,No,Yes!: We think leather is a universe. The surface of leather contains a microcosm which we can do nothing with it. When we garment-dye leather jackets, unexpected scars, pores and blotches are shown like stars and meteor streams. It’s like we expose a secret “design” of the surface in leather. Or, it’s like playing a improvising jazz that means we don’t know what comes out. Such unexpected excitement. That’s why we choose leather as a main material.

NO IZE

A caption to your collections - cute fashion vandalism… Do you “kill” thing before or after sewing? What methods are being used? One of our purpose doing No,No,Yes! is to explore potentials of leather, what we can do or entertain people with leather. You know, there is a character of “leather” is in a word “Revolution” for Japanese “Kanji”. Chang tomorrow, forget the way you do yesterday. That is core theme for how we create. But since it’s a business, we also think how our fans react to our items. So we tend to make a small “revolution” in each item. For example, design is a simple riders jacket, but a way of mixing leather and other material is crazy. Think, we are all waiting for a cyber-punk… Well, we think a cyber-punk fits more in Asian countries, like China and India. These countries will rise as high consumption societies. Of course, an image of a cyber-punk will change gradually. We don’t think “Mad Max”, “Blade Runner” style of a cyber-punk would be a main stream of fashion or other. But we believe new definition of a cyber-punk will be found in the future. You always distinguish between the duties of production manager and designer sketches? Who of you is ultimately owned by images and ideas? Perhaps, after all, they shared? We, Taichi and Makoto work together to make a collection. Taichi tends to come up with ideas through materials or designs. In other hand, Makoto likes to make theme or concept before creation.

TO DEFEAT THE EXISTING CULTURE AND RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS, TO RUIN STEREOTYPES, PROTEST VIA MENSWEAR DESIGN, JOIN MASCULINE AND FEMININE JOINED TOGETHER AND MAKE CLOTHES SUITABLE FOR BOTH SEXES, CREATE A NEW LINE THAT WILL DESTROY MODERNISM, - THIS IS THE CONCEPT OF NOIZE. WE TALKED TO THE BRAND FOUNDER, TAKESHI NIGARA.

DTOURS: Tell us about how you get involved in fashion? Takeshi Nigara: I just liked fashion. It was very natural for me to get involved in fashion field because I was doing a fashion model for magazines since I was in a high school. So, there was no hesitation to take the course for Bunka Fashion College, in order to learn basic of fashion for 3 years; material, sewing, pattern. After the graduation I got a job as a shop manager for “TOKYO-DO” which is a remarkable sensed selection shop in Harajuku area, enjoyed work there. Shop management, buying clothes, Rock Art, skeleton goods and toys. Almost same time I started my own music group named “HELLBENT” which was organized under the concept of PSYCHOBILLY.I also organized Rock event periodically, made many of various street brands collaborate with mode music. I was not only playing music but I was also Rock DJ there. That was my style at that time. After a while I was promoted as a designer for the “BAD TASTE”, started to get involved in the business management as well for next 10 years. These stories are the origin of my history. When you decide to start your own label and why? A part of time in my life, I was lost my way and been stayed in a chaotic time. I actually do not know if it was long or short while but I left everything as they were until my desire for fashion comes back. And the day came. I just want to make clothes, and moreover, want to share this passion with people as many as possible. One of my old friend Kengo Suzuki approves my plan and we started “Noize” together by the spring & summer collection in 2008. Where does the name of the brand come from? Noise. When some things were made, when some things were born, there are noises as you don’t even care or you might not even be aware of it. But you can start to hear it if your consciousness opens for it. We like that idea and we wanted to be like that. So we named it on our brand. The letter “Z” of Noize logo came from the unknown quantity “Z”. Who are your team? Me and my partner Kengo. We do everything, from design and management by our own.

DTOURS[PAPER]

Can you describe the main philosophy of ‘’Noize’’? “Iconoclasm and construct” is our concept. Defeat existing public order; culture and convention, preconceived idea through men’s fashion. Put the core part of the sound and mind (conscious); both have the moment for change in quality, into the details, create a decadence modernism which involve unisex form; combined general idea of manly or womanly. Let’s talk about manufacture process. How does the process carry on? Many ideas came from photography, books, movies, art, buildings, music… etc. Put them all into one design and shave, and then shave again. Most of inspiration of noise comes from homeless. We do not set up a specific theme for each collection, so simply fuse tow designers inspiration by that time. What are you favorite materials? Do you use any unique techniques of treatment? Recent my favorite material is shark skin. You can make two same garments but none of them will look same because this material has completely deferent feel. It makes more likely handmade, I would rather use this material for accessories. What we care specifically now is making garments with “handmade look” with various materials. How do you plan to develop your brand? We are planning a fashion- and sound- event produced by Noize. Next target is going to be a fashion show in overseas.

Your stuff - the real test subjects, covered with wax, paint-stained, etched dry cleaning and so on. What’s the most incredible experiment you al- lowed yourself with your clothes? There are many “stupid” finishing for leather, as we call it, we have ever done. It’s difficult to choose what the most incredible one is. But there is a one funny yet prominent finishing which is an after-grow leather jacket. A leather jacket grows in the dark. It’s made by high technology developed in Japan. It was very cool but sales wasn’t good :-) Nobody wants their leather jacket grow! Hahaha... Have you any celebrities in client list? Some celebrities, musicians, actors and artists in Japan wear our items. International celebrities... Christopher Walken or Jim Jarmusch. Most of our fans are the young aged twenties and thirties. But, from now on, we want to create more jackets fit to people aged over forties and fifties. On your site you can go step by step hand-maderate production purses origami. But still, don’t you think that the designer’s “kitchen” should be kept in secret? We think “just an idea” or blueprint is not worth if you don’t actually make and do business with it. The important thing is what you communicate with customers by the idea or the item. For this, no-seam one piece leather wallet “Shosa”, the structure itself is really original, but it can’t be finished by only the structure. It has to be with the concept which consists of Japanese manner, crafts and traditions, the story of the leather material and the designer’s thoughts. Even if someone simply imitate the shapes or the structure, it doesn’t affects anything to us at all. Once again, we think what and how we deliver our collection to our fans is more important than the design itself.

NO NO YES

DESIGNERS TAICHIRO HASHIMOTO AND MAKOTO KAWAMURA WERE CLASSMATES AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN KOBE. KOBE IS A CITY THAT IS OPEN TO INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCES..

Can you name some designers to keep an eye on? Mr.Tatsuya HORIKAWA / designer of “JULIUS” Mr.Teruhiko TSUJI / designer of “SIVA” Mr.Takashi NAKANISHI / designer of “AG” Mr.Jun TAKAHASHI / designer of “UNDERCOVER” All of them are my friend and all Japanese but common part of these designers has their own philosophy and continue challenging for new thing without recent conservative nor conventional fashion. They are remarkable designers whom remind me soul of PUNK.

FASHION

PHOTOGRAPHY ISA MARCELLI

DTOURS [PAPER] CONTINUES ' MEETINGS'' WITH GREAT NAMES ON THE AVANT-GARDE FASHION SCENE. THIS TIME WE TALKED TO RICHARD SODERBERG WHO LAUNCHED HIS OWN LABEL OBSCUR. www.212157.obscur.se

OBSC UR

DTOURS: Could you describe your childhood? Have you any professional or fine arts’ background? How did clothing design came into your life? RICHARD: Originally, I went to cutting patterns school for one year, afterwards I studied mathematics and physics. Art is very conceptual for me. OBSCUR emerged as a result of my desire to create. Unfortunately it can be rather easy to cross the lines between functionality and art. Art therefore can confront the ideal of creating clothes in the logical point of view.

Someone said: «It’s not too hard to start but it’s really harder to continue…» Can you describe your start-up? What was really hard in the beginning? As all beginnings, one may struggle from time to time. The most crucial part would have been the localization of a decent production site, when the orders finally came. Ironically, one imagines firstly, that the big problem would be to get orders or feedback from people to like it. The problem turned out to be, on the other end. Something that finally was solved, and now we are on a good level for OBSCUR.

Your garments can be described as «timeless», «sartorial». What thoughts do you put into your brand? I absolutely like those words. The idea of creating a garment that is timeless and endlessly durable, is something I am very much interested in. Contrarily, I am not very interested in the `here` and «now». I just hope that people, will like my clothes in ten years from now. In addition to this, I also hope, I will still be able to evolve and construct conceptual original and most and foremost, timeless garments.

What is your last collection about? What kind of fabrics, materials and types of treatment do you use? The latest SS11 collection, we presented in Paris, was one called Narratif. The collection was based on the premises, that all garments have a history, a story. The materials, dyes, washes and various treatments, all made the pieces into individual story lines. The dark and morbid tones of the collection and combination of exquisite leathers and washed linens, were incorporated to morph interaction and collision between materials. Overall, the pieces are highly complex and constructed, meant to envelop you forever. What do you think about the current situation in fashion worldwide? Since, I intentionally chose to have my studio in Helsingborg, a small town on the Southern West coast of Sweden, I am constantly enveloped by tranquil sounds of the harbor and sea. This quiet hemisphere, allows me to channel my creativity on my work in solitude, without letting my focus drift away. In that light, besides music, light and arts, I am not too aware of the fashion world out there, it does fascinate me, but I prefer a more solemn approach to design. Could you give some advise to the younger generation of designers? Quite straightforward: Do what you love, but be smart. Be ambitious. Work hard. It will pay off in the end. Naturally, there are so many talented people out there might, which might scare you off. In my opinion, you always need to keep trying, but only a few have the guts and ambition to make it.

DTOURS[PAPER]

ISA MARCELLI FOR DTOURS[PAPER], www.isamarcelli.com

What comes first in making clothes - the idea or the final result? How do you organize your artistic/working process? In my way of working, all such processes are very entwined. The Ideas. The Results. The constant evaluations and editing. Henceforth, ideas can come up by mistakes, errors can come up by ideas etc, this is a continuous organic process. Naturally, at time this can be very frustrating, when it feels as if one can never really know, when something is entirely finished. The possibilities are endless. You just need to be able to find yourself and trust your instinct. Something, I hope to attain more and more for each collection.

FASHION LONDON BASED DESIGNER SIMEON FARRAR UTILIZES HIS BACKGROUND AND TRAINING IN FINE ART TO FORM THE BASIS OF A CLOTHING COLLECTION INFORMED BY HIS EARLIER PAINTINGS..

www.simeonfarrar.com

DTOURS: Where did you learn to draw and sew? Tell us about your professional background. Who you consider yourself first of all: the designer or the artist? What’s the difference? SIMEON FARRAR: I studied Fine Art at the Surrey Institute Of Art & Design and specialized in painting and printmaking. After graduation in 1997 I worked as an artist having various shows around the UK. My work was very eclectic and involved many different media from traditional painting techniques to collage, printing and spray stenciling. I was using a lot of screen printing to get the images down on to the canvas and at one point started to print these on to t-shirts. I then started painting on to the t-shirts using them as a canvas. The fashion was just another media that I wanted to use and always started as an art form rather than as a business. I then became quite obsessed with sewing and the technique of applique. I fed lots of found, cut up t-shirt graphics through the sewing machine just like I would a canvas. I exhibited this first collection at London Fashion Week and got a fantastic and very unexpected response. Due to this great response it soon became a business as I had so many orders to fulfill. And even though it has grown so much over the years I still would consider myself an artist. I don’t have any time to make art for its own sake and invest all my time into running the label, but I am and always will be an artist. The main difference between an artist and a designer is a mental thing I think. My work always starts with a concept that’s often taken from the paintings I used to do. Each piece I make, whether it’s a printed t-shirt or a silk dress is treated as a piece of art. You use very bright colours in your collections. Recently designers have started to give preference to black and grey colors, what do you think of it? What does color mean in general for you? My collections started off using very bright colors and recently have become more muted using more subtle blends and a washed out technique of printing that makes everything fade into the background. The collections have always followed the same progressions as the painting. My paintings used to be really bright and hectic, with millions of layers and juxtapositions. After a while they would become more subtle the more focused I got as an artist. The same has happened with the label. After going through that process of obsessive applique of found imagery, things calmed down, became more subtle. I use less abrasive colors and in place are more murky shades that really highlight the use of color when it appears. What do you prefer canvas or fabric? Why? I really couldn’t say which I prefer more, a canvas or fabric. They have different uses and so very different benefits and appeals. By treating my fabric as a canvas I do feel my art can live on despite me as it gets worn. It moves and breathes in ways a canvas can’t. On a canvas the art was confined to the edges of the rectangle but this is not the case on fabric. Having said that, I do miss the way you can really load up a canvas with paint as you go through he struggle to reveal the final piece. Mistakes can get concealed with layers and it all builds the piece and adds to its history. The fabric ultimately has to be worn, it has a function so this process is not possible. You also don’t have to make multiples of a canvas like you do with a garment. Once you said that you were “ill with a city”. Could you describe this city? Have ever had a desire to throw all work, leave and to exchange civilization for a small house in village? The city has always been used as a metaphor in my work. I use it as something that represents limitlessness. I think that despite it’s drawbacks a city is a place where an individual can be anyone they want. There is no limit to what can be achieved or felt in a city. In much of my early work I use this to describe a feeling that I believe lies within us all, a feeling and a reality of limitless possibilities. If we all new how to access this potential life would be very different indeed. I believe it is our natural state and a lot of my work is about trying to understand this reality. I don’t think I could ever exist without a city being in my life. I love the quiet life of the country but the city is where ideas are really given a life. “Everything around - a subject, everything - an inspiration: streets, music, jazz, faces, people, blows, poetry of letters, numbers, lives... “. But is there anything that seems to you antiinspirational, oppressive? I think the only thing that acts as anti-inspirational is negative thought, any thought that limits growth. It’s important not to see your self as any one thing, to put yourself in a box, like saying, ‘I’m a designer’. You need to just be an individual that expresses whatever it is that he/she is supposed to express at that one time. This allows for change at any time and change is growth. In the man’s collection, on t-shirts we have noticed images of a deer, a tiger, a snakeskin, birds. What do these animals mean for you (have you a favorite one)? How do you understand the expression “city jungle”? I often use imagery of animals, I love the deer image I used last season, I think deer are such incredible creatures, so beautiful and peaceful. But I think I’ve used a bird image in nearly every collection so far. I love birds for what they represent. I used birds a lot in my paintings before I started the label. For me they represent this idea of freedom. An image of a stationary bird for me represents latent freedom, the power to soar, to go higher. A bird in flight is this freedom realized. In your works there is a motive of “road”: cars, traffic lights, pedestrians. Do you like to travel? What are your most favorite cities? When I was painting I got most of my initial inspiration from traveling. The first time I discovered this feeling of creative freedom I was in San Francisco. It’s one of the most exciting cities I’ve ever experienced. I was reading Kerouc’s The Dharma Bums at the time which was a real inspiration to me. But I really love London, it’s a great place to be an artist, it’s so cosmopolitan that if you want to be you can be exposed to almost anything. Are you concerned with to problem of pollution of the environment? Do you believe in a predicted doomsday? I am very concerned with the environment. I think it’s probably the most important issue that faces us at this present time. I am constantly trying to make my label an environmentally friendly one but for a small company it is very difficult. Environmentally friendly options for production are still very expensive. Everything is printed here in London and a large majority of the production is manufactured in London. However I do still have things made abroad which does concern me but it’s just a matter of cost. The more I grow the more this will become more dominant I hope. I don’t believe in the doomsday, what’s the point? Can you give an advice - how not to go mad in a big city? Also what is stronger: harmony or chaos? I believe harmony is the natural order of all things, chaos is unnatural. So in that respect harmony is definitely stronger because it is our natural state.

DTOURS[PAPER]

SIME ON FAR RAR 59

ARJAN BENNING FOR DTOURS[PAPER], www.arjanbenning.com

MUSIC www.parissocialclub.com

SOCIAL CLUB "OUR MISSION STATEMENT READS: "ONE CALLING FOR THE SOCIAL CLUB IS THE INCLUSION OF STYLES, GENRES, AND THUS THE PUBLIC." - FROM THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE. MANU BARRON AND SAVOIR FAIRE GAVE SOME COMMENTS FOR DTOURS [PAPER].

DTOURS: How old is Social Club? SOCIAL СLUB: We’ll celebrate 5 years in January 2013.

to Saturday, always with a good line-up but without such a crazy dancing on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Before opening of Social Club were there any similar clubs of the same kind? Did you open SC for a specific niche? We did not. No cliche. We just wanted to open a club based on our personal experience in various of music world, particularly electronic music and night club life. And it seems that our project and our music policy had manifested a variety of artists not only local but also international and some part of the audience really found here its place.

Do you have any sort of a VIP or a zone where I can reserve a table? No and never will be.

In terms of clubs do you have any competitors in Paris? Yes, of course, but generally competition is always good. Actually we have very good relations with other clubs and promoters. Of course, every year there are several clubs or promoters who are trying to copy the «recipe of Social Club» but a copy is always worse than the original so we don’t care. Our policy - do what seems to be right, but we aren’t resting on our laurels, we are constantly in the process of research. This is our main goal - to search and select unique guys who will be «the next». Capacity? One hall, 700 people. What is the mean age of your audience and how can you describe it in a few words? It’s highly depends on the parties. We have the reputation of the youth club - with an age of 18-25 years. But for example at such a parties as D.I.R.T.Y. or Party Harders there is completely different audience. Do you have face control? Yes, it’s rather our burden, we have to deal with it and it’s not the best part of our work. No racial segregation, gender or social status. We rather have to take care that there should be an equal number of girls & boys. It’s important that girls should dominate a bit, this creates an atmosphere of the club. Otherwise it can quickly turn into a macho contest. Do you have club cards? No. It seems that lots of your guests pay for the entrance...… Yes, 90 - 95%. We don’t have resident DJs, only resident parties. The club is open from Wednesday

DTOURS[PAPER]

Can I pre-order tickets? Yes, you can buy tickets on the pre-sales but there is no guarantee of passing our face control and getting into the club. We need to observe the ratio of girls and boys and we never sell over 30% of «seats» in the club. Is there a big public difference on week days or at parties? Totally different!.. Despite the fact that there is always a certain part of regular visitors. Your best regular parties? Do you make the whole promotion by yourself? We are fully engaged in the entire programs of the club but also we have 15 resident parties. Furie, D.I.R.T.Y., Booty Call, Get The Curse, Party Harders, The Cameroscope, DURRR ... It is our general policy to work with our team and such a work makes all these projects so interesting and gives the subsequent returns. What is the main cocktail in bars/clubs of Paris? To be honest I do not know, maybe vodka with something… Do you get enough money at the entrance fee to pay the artists? Not always, it depends on the party. For us this is not the main goal and our artists’ policy means that sometimes we can lose money pay line-ups. Do you have any commercial sponsors? There are some but I don’t work with them. Do you have any daytime activities - lectures, exhibitions? No. Would you like to improve anything in your club? You always have to improve the club. This summer we will work on the new club’s «version 2.0». New interior, new space, new sound, new area for smoking…

www.d-i-r-t-y.com

D.I.R.T.Y. SOUND SYSTEM

IT’S DIFFICULT, PERHAPS IMPOSSIBLE, TO WRITE ONE EASILY DIGESTIBLE SENTENCE ABOUT WHAT FRENCH MUSIC COLLECTIVE DIRTY ACTUALLY DO. THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR RELEASING PILOOSKI’S ILLUSTRIOUS DIRTY EDITS RECORDS; THEY HAVE ‘COMPOSED’ SEVEN ASTOUND- ING COMPILATIONS INCLUDING 2009’S DIRTY FRENCH PSYCHEDELICS, ONE OF THE YEAR’S FINEST ALBUMS; THEIR OBSCURE BLOG ALAIN FINKIELKRAUTROCK ENJOYS A HUGE CULT FOLLOWING AND HAS A HEAP OF CREATIVE FRIENDS ON THE AUTHOR REEL INCLUDING COSMO VITELLI, PRINCE LANGUAGE AND MICKEY MOONLIGHT; AND THE DIRTY SOUND SYSTEM DJS REGULARLY THROW LEGENDARY PARTIES AT SOCIAL CLUB IN PARIS WHICH HAVE BEEN HEADLINED BY ARTISTS LIKE THEO PARRISH, PRINS THOMAS AND PEPE BRADOCK. GUILLAUME SORGE, ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF DIRTY, IS THE MAN REPRESENTING THIS MINI-EMPIRE. (INTERVIEW WAS MADE IN 2010, - ED.)

DTOURS: How did DIRTY begin and what was the general aim you had in mind? Clovis and I used to work for the same big corporate company, we got bored and so we decided to start and indie music website which slowly evolved into a music label...

Collectively you guys have a lot of fingers in a lot of different pies: DJ’ing, producing, compiling, blogging, hosting parties, selling records... Which tastes best? I think we’re part of a kind of “multitask” generation so it’s pretty natural. We’re not artists but we love / need to work with artists. They make life brighter.

The Dirty compilations clearly take a lot of time and careful thought: musically and conceptually they all flow beautifully whilst still managing to showcase plenty of obscure and rare records. What is the process of putting one of these albums together? It’s pretty simple, we release music we want to hear. A good track-list needs to be coherent, showcasing less known tracks, it also needs to tell a story and we like to give a subjective focus on well known musical genres. We also need to still be excited by the selection after hundreds of listenings. We don’t want to release compilations “du moment”. Your most recent (and most impressive) compilation, Dirty French Psychedelics, is a project that obviously hits very close to home for you guys; it feels quite nostalgic for the 70s which was a very productive and exciting era in French music. How do you feel about the current state of music in France? We have a strong scene. Individualities like Krikor, Chloé, Joakim, Oizo, labels like Born Bad or Paneuropean Recordings release exciting music. We’re more than happy to be a small part of that.

As music devotees, how do you feel about the changing nature of the industry where many record labels are struggling and free mp3 blogs are taking a stranglehold? Mp3s desacralise music, it’s a problem for us. When everything is free you lose some of the pleasure. On the other hand 90% of the music released is not worth releasing. We have also discovered some great music via blogs so we’re not totally sure of what to think about this... Any chance of more Dirty Edits? Or has Pilooski moved on to other things? No, the edit thing is over for us. Pilooski is working on his Discodeine project with Pentile right now as well as some solo stuff. Whats in store for 2010? The first Discodeine album featuring Jarvis Cocker, Matias Aguayo and Baxter Dury as guest vocalists; a new vinyl only d.i.r.t.y. sound system compilation... Some other insane parties at Social Club in Paris amongst others things!

MUSIC

www.myspace.com/mightyflairs

F LA IRS DTOURS: Lionel, please introduce yourself and tell us how you have started your musician’s activity. Was it difficult to find your own listeners at the beginning of the way? LIONEL: My name is Lionel Flairs, I'm a Paris based musician. I started making music when I was 15 years old, and then worked in advertising, but then go fed up with the 9 to 5 day to day, so I decided to become a musician...I had a pretty clumsy start, year after year I released a few Vinyl EPs, promoted myself via MySpace...the listeners really started to shop up when blogs suddenly got into my tracks, about three years ago. Is “Flairs” your real surname or it is just a scenic name? Flairs is my nickname, it comes out from a cockney rhyming slang expression Some of your listeners use tag “electro” to your LP “Sweat Symphony”. How would you describe your style(s) of music? I guess it's a balanced mixture of indie pop & electronic music, since I'm very attached to real drums, bass, guitars, pop song formats, but also synthesizers, sequencers, drum machines and programming... I also listen to a lot of indie pop & electronic music mixed together, you should see my iTunes Playlists, it's a goddamn mixture... When you use some guitars (for example, track “R.E. Balls”), your music sounds like electro-punk. Once you said that you make your lives with drummer, bassist, keyboardist playing together pop and electro. Can you imagine the situation, when you attract one more guitarist and your band play live rock or punk-rock music, without minuses? Hum, we actually have a musician on stage that plays both guitars & synth, one drummer with an MPC (a sampler / sequencer) and me on bass & synths...so yes, it's rather punkish sometimes, I really love pushing the distortion pedals a lot!

DTOURS[PAPER]

www.myspace.com/villanese

VILLA

ROMANTIC THEMES ARE INDEED WHAT WAKE US UP IN THE MORNING. ESPECIALLY NOW IN SPRINGTIME THE COUNTRY SIDE SETTING IS REALLY AMAZING. THE SMELL OF DAFFODILS AND COW SHIT ARE VERY INSPIRING. BUT ROMANTIC MUSIC DOES NOT JUST EQUAL WITH GUITARS. APART FROM THE FORM WE TEND TO PORE OUR MUSIC IN THE ROMANTIC WAY OF LIVING IS PRESENT IN MOST OF OUR WORK..

WE ACTUALLY HAVE A MUSICIAN ON STAGE THAT PLAYS BOTH GUITARS & SYNTH, ONE DRUMMER WITH AN MPC (A SAMPLER/ SEQUENCER) AND ME ON BASS & SYNTHS.. SO YES, IT’S RATHER PUNKISH SOMETIMES, I REALLY LOVE PUSHING THE DISTORTION PEDALS A LOT!

As a whole, do you prefer to work on music with others or by yourself? It's two different worlds...But in the past year I've worked a lot more with other people, and when you find the right ones it's a real pleasure....No times wasted, Your first single “Better than Prince” has released in 2006. “Sweat Symphony” has released in 2009. Did you write album or search for record-label for those 3 years? Was it difficult to find a record company? It wasn't so easy to find a record company...when I released the « better than Prince EP», I knew I wasn't ready to sign for an album, as I had a few songs here but not enough material that could have called an album… So I preferred to wait, write more songs and find a label when the album was finished… I mixed the album with Alex Gopher, who's a sound and music genius, he helped me a great deal to finish the album... As of today, many artists playing pop music cannot achieve such level of popularity that Prince or Madonna did because of the times. You play pop music too. Which level you would like to achieve? I don't think I'd like to be as famous as them, simply because being so famous must be such a nightmare and totally alternate any interaction with people around (although I'm ok to be as wealthy as them)....I just want to make the music I like, hit as many people as possible and be happy !! Also one more thing, I did music for a movie score last year, really enjoyed it and would like to do some more very soon! What is the most important thing connected to the “popularity” term for you (the attendance of your live shows / quantity of listeners in the Internet, for example, on www.last.fm good marks by well-known mass media)?

Tons of people coming to gigs. It's the best feeling ever. Fulfilled by sexy and shitty humor, “Truckers Delight” video had a tremendous success in blogosphere. Have your parents or other relatives seen it? What was their reaction on provocative moments in video? They really loved it...I guess it's a family thing, they must be as crazy as I am... You have British roots, but live in Paris. Why did you decide to live especially there? Or you did migrate in childhood because of you parents? I love Paris and its life...I also love London, i lived a and worked there for a while, but I think living in Paris is easier, despite it's horrible beer and crap French TV! Tell us the funniest story occurred with you in Paris in last months. I guess it's one of my latest gigs, I broke 2 bass strings (which technically is almost impossible unless you really want to break them), the electricity went off, people came up on stage, it was a so funny in the end the concert ended up in a mad atmosphere.... Our interview comes to the end. At final, could you say a few words especially to your Russian audience and advice us some places that we certainly should visit in Paris? One cafe in the center called Jeanette, amazing place! And of course if you like electronic music, going to Social Club is a must see... Also eating Oysters in a Random cafe is one Parisian activity I love to do!

DTOURS: Among of various “baliarics”, “80s revivals”, ³disco re-edits you have managed to find something that appeals to the heart and attractsattention. What catches your attention now? VILLA: The music keeps evolving in interesting ways, although there are tunes that don¹t appeal to us, they¹re still very interesting to analyze: to hear in which decade and/or movement the artists are digging for their influences and inspiration is very pleasant, off course it’s the ability to contemporise that makes it even more interesting. Bands like Late Of The Pier and Yeasayer are bands of which we really like, their sound/ feel and compositions as they are renewing, so keep an eye on them!

You work at a countryside farm that seems a complete opposite to the contemporary megapolis. Haven’t you thought unexpectedly about writing some romantic themes about love played on guitar or something a’la Four Tet? Romantic themes are indeed what wakes us up in the morning. Especially now in springtime the country side setting is really amazing. The smell of daffodils and cow shit are very inspiring. But romantic music does not just equal with guitars. Apart from the form we tend to pore our music in the romantic way of living is present in most of our work... If you listen to the melodies in our production you can hear the romantic vision in any one of the tracks. Both of you are dj’ing for about 10 years or more. Which track stayed in your set-lists for a long while? Lost in Music in the extended edit of Nile Rodgers by Sister Sledge, Plastic Dreams by Jaydee, Promised Land by Joe Smooth; all these tracks are Ghent (or home town in Belgium) classics. Fredo & Thang were dj’ing and making re-mixes even before Villa project. What has changed since you hooked up with Seba and locked yourselves up at his farm? Indeed Thang & Fredo have been working in the studio before Villa, but they started working with Seba because he is just much better at it. He’s able to compose genius melodies and translate vision into music without compromise. Villa is very complementary as a trio. That is the magic and the challenge of Villa. There is a theory that during the last 3 decades of 20th century so many things happened in culture that humanity needs at least one more decade to digest it all. What do you think about the incredibly popular tendency to edit old tracks? We think it’s safe to say that a great deal of contemporary art is a result of our recycle society. Yes, we’ve been clut-

tered by products in every sense of the word and probably will never be able to digest all of this. But we strongly believe that honesty and genius will always prevail...About editing tracks we¹d think that some people make it themselves a bit too easy by editing some obvious tracks which provides an overdose of re-edits and is a deterioration of the standard, but on the other hand, everybody has their own personal favourities and ways of getting the job done, so it would be wrong for ourselves and towards others to put us in the position and start pointing fingers to artists. It all started for us with our Diva-edits, so Artists like The Revenge and Loud E deliver great edits!

Which music do you consider really futuristic? Futuristic is not really a word in which we think about music, there have been revolutionary pioneers like Vangelis, Pink floyd, Prince or Aphex Twin of course, but apart from the fact we’re trying to bring something fresh, we’re not trying to reinvent music, we just wanna make people enjoy... Perhaps it’s an frequent question, but tell us what music equipment do you use in the studio? We just updated our studio computer, but the rest of the studio is a collection of classic analog stuff. Seba has been collecting numerous legends from the Memorymoog, cs60, Rhodes 73, Linndrum LM2, full System 100, Sherman qmf, Prophet 5, OBXA, EII, omega 8, Banana synth, SY1, Expander, Prophet VS, DX7, Andromeda. This list could go on for a while. Holy Ghost who became popular due to their brilliant remixes are now starting to write their own tracks and thinking about live Performances. As you do they got used to vintage synths so much that they can¹t imagine a live set with laptop and Ableton. What are your creative plans about your own tracks and playing live? Holy Ghost are artist we appreciate very much. The analog character is very much present in their productions. The comparison between Holy Ghost and Villa is acceptable, but we are not the same. The DJ aspect in Villa is very important to us, we still have a long way to go and aren’t in a rush. Though primarily our focus is not on live performances right now, with all we do we tend to keep in mind that one day soon we’d love to try and bring live music to the people... Lots of technical innovations connected with performance and production were made in past few years, for example The Bridge by Serato. What do you think about all of this stuff and is there any place for it near your Moog Rouge? Of course we love to embrace new technology and their

cross-fertilizations which help us in the studio, as we are 2 dj¹s and 1 producer; it makes us thinking about developing and creating possibilities once we¹d make the step to perform live. Both of best worlds is the way to go here... Anything interesting is happening in Belgian city Ghent? Ghent is a great place to live in as a music activist. There are lots of acts in Ghent that are making interesting stuff, Das Pop or The Subs for example are good friends as well. Some new names to the scene as well like Hermanos Inglesos. The thing we are wild about is the new stuff by the Disko Drunkards. Look out for that one. What would you do if an evil fairy forbade music making? Kill her? Or maybe we¹d oblige ourselves to keep it underground; when we¹d see that happening, we must think about the image inside the album sleeve of The Prodigy, Music for the Jilted Generation, that kinda summarize it. Can you imagine a situation: In 3 years Had Kandy and Ministry of Sound finally hackney ‘balearics’²equalizing it to ‘lounge’. How then would you answer the question on which shelf we should search for your music? Ha-ha, that is a good question! It is not in three years. There is a Hed Kandi Nu-Disco compilation coming out end of this month. So the next stop will be Balearic I suppose. People have found several names for our music. Referring to the past (Balearic) and to the future (Future Disco). But as an artist you have to be able to reinvent yourself, so no matter which genre Villa will be, we will also be the misfit.

What your highest achievement would be like so you can easily quit music without any regrets? That’s like the wrong question to ask! We believe we’d be very happy if we could continue making music without being a victim of the industry... Is there any celebrity whose tracks you would never want to re-edit? There are indeed tracks with a DO NOT TOUCH label. Classics by the Beatles for example, or by Queen or Prince. But it depends from track to track, not from artist to artist. Mike Simonetti did a great edit of Shakira. Every time we play that edit they are people looking at us like: is this really what we think it is? So maybe we could do a Lady Gaga edit. But then again, if I look at her videos, euhm.. no thanks.

MUSIC

ARNAUD BERNARD (ONRA) IS A FRENCH BEATMAKER WHO RELEASED THREE ALBUMS BETWEEN 2008 AND 2009. ONE OF THEM IS THE RESULT OF COOPERATION WITH QUETZAL. RICH PRODUCTION AND ALWAYS TASTY AND FAT GROOVES - THAT’S ALL ABOUT ONRA. DTOURS TEAM TALKED TO THE MUSICIAN AND PRODUCER ABOUT HIS START-UP AND HIS PREFERENCES IN CHINESE MUSIC.

WO OD KID

www.woodkid.com

www.soundcloud.com/onra

WOODKID WAS UNDOUBTEDLY THE FIRST SURPRISE OF 2011. AN UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL FAR FROM THE MANUFACTURED BUZZ. THE YOUNG MAN, AGED 28, CAME WITH AN EP OF RAW BEAUTY, IRON. WOODKID IS YOANN LEMOINE, PREVIOUSLY KNOWN FOR HIS CAREER AS A VIDEO DIRECTOR WITHOUT FAULT (YELLE, MOBY AND MORE RECENTLY KATY PERRY FOR "TEENAGE DREAM"). THE LEGEND SAYS THAT ON A SHOOT IN THE USA, WOODKID RECEIVED, STRAIGHT FROM THE HANDS OF GREAT AMERICAN GUITARIST RICHIE HAVENS, A BANJO THAT IMMEDIATELY REPLACED HIS PIANO, AT LEAST FOR A WHILE. WITHOUT NEGLECTING THE VIDEOS (OR FILM, WHICH IS PART OF PROJECTS), WOODKID DECIDED TO DEVOTE HIMSELF TO MUSIC. INDEED, YOANN LEMOINE MADE THE VIDEO OF IRON HIMSELF, WHICH FEATURES TOP MODEL AGYNESS DEYN. THE WOODKID'S ALBUM ' THE GOLDEN AGE'' WAS OUT 2013. (FROM THE OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY - ED.) DTOURS: How did you decide to become a musician (as you were a video artist)? WOODKID: I always played instruments, since I was a kid. I discovered my voice 6 years ago and wrote my first songs with a little guitar an my computer in my bedroom in Paris. I signed with a record label later and it started to become really serious. Did you write all the music yourself or you had a band/ producer? I wrote and composed and my track, but I had The Shoes and Julien Delfaud (Phoenix, Herman Dune...) and Revolver producing the EP. What is the «Iron» video is about? How long did you spend on doing it? There is a motive of struggle (maybe the moral fighting in you?!) in the video. On some live-concert videos you look a very quite and calm man... It took us 8 months to produce this video, I had all my teams and friends work on the project and everybody was really motivated. The video is about the codes of the adult age, the social, religious, military themes that you encounter when you become an adult and innocence. I have been inspired by Heroic Fantasy a lot, and

DTOURS[PAPER]

I wanted to build a bridge between the harcoder gamers and the fashionistas, which are two parts of me! Religion and Army symbols really inspire me too, I don’t want to comment too much on the video tho, and let people get the interpretation they want. There is a very precise meaning to every shot but I will explain more in the next videos, I see this project as a great and long story, with recurring characters and themes. There is a lot of violence inside of me. I am very calm person but my art allows me to express all the dark feelings inside of me. The lyrics are very dark atoo. What do you think about the situation in music sales today? What are your plans in such a way? I am a bit confused I have to say, I really believe in quality and hard work. We worked with a lot of precision and distance on the Iron Project and it seems to be working. People buy records and like the project a lot. I guess they feel that we worked intensely and put a lot of passion in the project. There are no rules anymore, and we definitely want to break all these rules. We released the EP without any promo, we said no to all TVs, I didn’t show my face in the video, we went for something very dark and not easily accessible... Definitely choices that are not common in the industry but our faith in the project kept saying us this was the way to go.

Could you tell us about your background in creative work? Was it with the help of your family? And how do you feel towards the world in general? No my family connection never really helped me, they are from another city in France and do not connected to Paris or the international scene. They initially helped me by paying for my art studies and have always been a great support for my career. I really a self made man and tried to learn while I was directing my first videos. I’m always amazed I’m turning into an international artists, and that I crossed the atlantic so easily. Nowadays lots of things in the world (feelings, creative ideas, understatement of «your place») become ephemeral because of the internet. What do you think about it and what can you advise creative not to lose themselves? Well my only advise is really to work hard. There is no place for laziness anymore with internet. People want entertainment, they want to see things that are new and impressive.

DTOURS: Please, introduce yourself and tell us how you started your musician’s activity. Was it difficult to find your own listeners at the beginning of the way? ONRA: I’ve been a Hip-Hop fan since 1991, that was my introduction to music, I instantly fell in love with this kind of music, and that’s how my passion was born. That’s only until around 2000 that I started to make beats with a cheap software for fun, until I bought my first piece of equipment, an AKAI MPC 1000. Then, I perfected my craft and released a few albums between 2006 and now. I’ve never thought I could release anything seriously, I was making it for fun. It was pretty selfish at the beginning, but once you start liking what you do, you want to share it because you think other people can dig it too... When we released the first album with my friend and producer Quetzal, we thought we were gonna sell like 100 copies, and disappear, but life is full of surprises. What is the history of your scenic name (“Onra”)? My name is Arnaud, sometimes my father used to write it short as Arno. I remember that I didn’t feel like I needed a name until I found my music was good enough to «sign it». Onra is just Arno backwards, I found it naturally of course, and thought it sounded not too bad, that’s why I sticked to it. But like most of other producers, I have other nicknames that you may find out about in the future projects. Your Bo Bun’s label debut “Chinoiseries” has 32 tracks, which combine different moods and music genres. Your listeners usually mark your music by tags “instrumental hip-hop” and “abstract hip-hop”. How would you describe your style(s) of music? My own style of music is hard to describe, because I can make several things that really don’t sound similar. I’m not trying to be a good Hip-Hop beatmaker, I’m trying to be a good Music producer. So far, all my albums have concepts and a particular direction that I follow through the whole project. Tribute is Soul, Chinoiseries is 60’s/70’s Chinese pop, 1.0.8 is made out of Bollywood samples... But these are all beat albums, or beat tapes if you want to call it this way. So, so far, from what people know about me, I’m Hip-Hop, instrumental Hip-Hop. Though, my plan is to release several albums that really don’t sound the same, my next album sounds more like Funk, 80’s R’n’B influenced. I’m working on another project with Quetzal which gonna be Dub (the real one, not Dubstep), I want to be versatile but still, keep my own touch on every projects.

ON RA

“Chinoiseries” was composed with the help of impressions you got from your Chinese tour. Moreover, “Coca Cola Inc.” used your track “The Anthem” for their ad translated in time of Beijing Olympic Games. Tell us about modern and classical Chinese music you like best of all. Chinoiseries was made in 2006, after my first trip to Viet-Nam, the land of my grand parents. I managed to find some old Vietnamese and Chinese records and came back to Paris with a lot of images and feelings that I wanted to translate with music. That’s how I made most of Chinoiseries, right after this trip, in like two weeks. Before buying those records, I didn’t know anything about Asian music, except the shit you hear in the restaurants, so I can’t really tell you about it as far as its history or the big names that created it. And I’m not Chinese, I don’t read Chinese, so I really don’t know the names of the artists or the songs, it’s still a mystery to me. Which countries and nationalities have inspired you to make your second LP “1.0.8”? 1.0.8 was made out of Bollywood music, I tried to pick the samples that didn’t really sound Indian, to make it different than other projects with the same concept.

In one of the previous interviews, you said that you are learning the piano. What is your progress and will we listen to your playing in the new albums? Ha-ha! I’m not serious enough to know how to play correctly, but you’ll hear a few things on the new album. It’s one of my resolutions for past 3 years, get better at playing keys. Which music instruments do you use at home? Do you collect some of exotic instruments? I have a couple of synthesizers, a couple MPC’s, a couple computers, and a couple percussions. That’s about it, I’m too broke to buy more instruments, it’s really something that I want to do, hopefully in the near future.

In 2009, you have collaborated with Quetzal. In general, do you prefer to work at composing music with others or by yourself? Which artists you are interested to work with? I like working by myself and being in total control of a project from A to Z, but I also like collaborating. Both ways are interesting, the best thing about collaborating is that exchange of ideas and different opinions, that opens the different people to new perspectives. I would say, on a solo project, it’s more of a personal research. I’d like to do more projects with my close friends, Buddy Sativa, Quetzal, Häzel, Walter Mecca, etc...

Do you care how many listeners you have on your personal websites – “myspace”, “last.fm”, etc? Yes of course I try to be updated on who’s following me, from which countries do they come from, etc... It’s interesting to see that your music spreads around the world, and I’m trying as much as I can to reply to every support messages. Those sites are great tools for us artists, it helps us keep in touch with listeners, which is really important I think, also it shows that there’s a lot more people listening to it, than people actually buying it! LOL What is your criterion of “success” in a musician’s activity? There’s several ways to see it. I guess the ultimate success is reached when you’re 100% satisfied with your music, people love it as much as you do and you have the respect from artists that inspired you. I guess that’s pretty hard to achieve. I think every artist has his own meaning for success. «Success», in our world’s meaning, would be bigger labels with bigger budgets, more tours, more shows, radio plays, video, etc... Something more material. Because I never thought this would happen like this, I feel really fortunate. Just by having listeners all around the world, having toured in several countries, making music my everyday activity, etc... My own success would simply be to keep on this way and get better. Tell us the funniest story that occurred with you in Paris. I’m going to disappoint you right now, cause there isn’t anything funny that happened to me. I was on tour the first half of the year, and then I’ve been working on my next album since then, locked myself up in the studio, not going out and only seeing friends. All I can tell you is that, the more I travel the world, the less I want to live in this city.

Finally, could you say a few words especially to your Russian audience and suggest which places we should certainly visit in Paris? I want to thank all the people that supported me, thanks for spreading the word, keep supporting independent artists, keep buying music, hold tight cause the next album is gonna be out soon and hopefully I’ll see y’all soon in Moscow or St Petersburg. If you come down to Paris, besides all the touristic stuff, try to go in the 13th district, our own «Chinatown», and try a restaurant. Asian food in France is the best you can find outside Asia!

MUSIC

MIRROR PEOPLE

MIDNIGHT MAGIC MIDNIGHT MAGIC IS AN ENSEMBLE BONDED BY THE UNWAVERING DESIRE TO MAKE YOU, THE LISTENER, AND THE RHYTHM BECOME ONE; THE SECRET LOVE CHILDREN OF DONNA SUMMER AND GEORGE CLINTON SERVING UP AN ORGASMIC FEAST OF FUNK, DISCO, ELECTRO AND SOUL". (FROM THE OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY - ED.) WE WANT TO SHOW YOU THE STRANGE BLITZ/INTERVIEW WITH THE BAND CALLED MIDNIGHT MAGIC.

DTOURS: Tell us about you background. How did you get involved in the music? MIDNIGHT MAGIC: As far as music goes, my grandfather taught our whole family how to sing opera. Almost my whole family are singers. I just followed suit. When did you get acquainted with Morgan , Andrew and Carter? In the late 90’s, Andrew, Morgan and I were all living in Los Angeles, and became friends through our mutual love of music and film. We met Carter later when we were all living in New York through the music scene.

www.mirrorpeople.net

How did you come up with a decision to make a common project? It just made sense. When Midnight Magic formed, it was obvious that it was a unique sound that we all needed to pursue.

DTOURS: Who are the Mirror People? What kinds of instruments do you use? RUI MAIA: The Mirror People is my new musical project. On studio it’s only me, but live it’s me & a friend of mine. With visual screens. It’s a sound - video performance. I use a lot of old synthesizers & drum machines. I have 8 good classic synths + Drum machines + effect racks. There’s some real bass too.

Which way is easier for you - to make remixes or write your own tracks? Can you explain why? Well, it’s different one from another. When i have to remix, i listen to the song & try to catch a sound or a line that i think that is catchy enough, then i re-work the song around that. When i’m working on my own tracks, normally i use an idea that i have in my head, then, i try to reproduce what’s inside here. Other times i jam above a drum line. The bass guitar is good for that!

How is it going with disco music in Portugal? Is the local audience open to your music? The disco is growing a lot here in Portugal. I did records on Untracked Recordings & Bear Funk, and my friends, Social Disco Club (Mindless boogie), Photonz (d.i.r.t.y.), Tiago (Italians do it better). We have very good electronic producers. We have a huge club in Lisbon called «Lux», it’s normal to have a ‘Horse Meat Disco’ party there or some big dj playing there. Tiga, Lindstrom, Erol Alkan. It happens the same in my city...There’s a lot going on.

What do you think was the most negative trend in music in 00’s? The nu-rave hangover.

Do you feel the influence of Portuguese culture in your music and how it is manifested? Which of the Portuguese musicians inspire you? In Portugal there are a phew artists that I like. The thing here that inspires me most, is my city: Porto. There’s a certain nostalgia in the air, the grey of the buildings, the sun & the sea...It’s great! :) There’s 1 artist that I really like, is António Variações. He died in the early 80’s, he was a true artist, ahead of his time. You can watch some videos on you tube.

DTOURS[PAPER]

In charts of which DJs do you dream to be in? James Murphy (lcd guy), Tiga (cause he’s huge), Optimo Dj’s (cause they’re so cool), The Glimmers & 2 Many Dj’s. Whom would you list as artists of similar style? I don’t have a last fm page... but there’s some people that I think is similar to my work. The Dark Esquire from thisisnotanexit records, the italians do it better catalogue can fit in my style (I did a version of Desire’s ‘mirror mirror’). Todd Terje, Lindstrom, Aeroplane. Is music gratifying for you or is it just a toil which rarely gives you satisfaction? Is gratifying. I think i cant live without it. It’s my life. It makes me think, move & get ideas.

What is the first step for a beginner musician to achieve great success in the future? Be true to yourself and don’t try to copy your favorite artists. Can you tell us how important to you ‘image on stage’ in terms of promotion and creative realization? It’s a lot important. You see bands like Fever Ray or Daft Punk, their visuals, their atmosphere, makes half of the show. That’s why i’m gonna use visuals on Mirror People live performances. What musicians (living or dead) would be playing at your «Dream party»? aha good question! We’ll here it goes: Brian Eno on synthesizers, Budgie (Siouxsie & The Banshees) on drums, David J. (Bauhaus) on Bass, Blixa Bargeld (Einsturzende Neubauten / the bad seeds) on guitar, Nick Zinner (Yeah Yea Yeahs) on guitar & Nico (from velvet undergound) on vocals. Can you name 3 tracks that guarantee to make you dance? Shit Disco - Simple Things, Lcd Soundsystem - Losing my Edge, Daniel Wang - Like some Dream. Do you plan to make a million $? I don’t know. I wanna go as much further as I can. Do you read blogs? and if yes, what are your favorites? yes i read some blogs. I like 20 jazz funk greats, discodelicious, ohh crapp!, big stereo, just to name a few…

Can you describe genre in which Midnight Magic exists? Psychedelic horror movie disco jazz! When was your first appearance on stage and how it was? Our first appearance was at a coffee shop in Brooklyn, it was very strange, and exciting. Please, say some words about your lyrics. What inspires you on such kind of music? I write lyrics based on abstract thought and expression. I’m inspired by psychedelic - the rhythm of the lyric. We made interview with Tim Sweeney and he named your band as one of upcoming, now can you recommend us few bands to keep an eye on? Jessica 6, Tippy Toes, Synfinite, Carl Dixon, 2’s and 4’s, these bands are amazing, and rapidly coming up. Our second issue is about Paris. Have you been there? What do you think of this city? PARIS IS AMAZING! If everyone from Midnight Magic needed to relocate, I’d recommend Paris. I would love to live there. What difficulties being faced as a young band today? Trying to make money doing what you love to do, which is make music and perform. The size of the band is pretty big. It’s hard to get paid, laid and keep it going. If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing? Making movies. Kenneth Anger style. www.midnightmagicsounds.com

EUGENE PETRUSHANSKIY WAS BORN IN SAINT-PETERSBURG AND CALLS HIMSELF A FREELANCE AND STREET PHOTOGRAPHER. WE MET WITH EUGENE AND ASKED SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW TO WORK IN RUSSIA NOWADAYS.

LOOO. CH

THE DISGRACED UKRAINIAN ART CRITIC ANATOLY ULYANOV, PHOTOGRAPHER NATALIA MASHAROVA AND DESIGNER TIMUR AKHMETOV HAVE CREATED AN ANGRY AND VERY BEAUTIFUL SITE ABOUT THE CRISIS OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE AND THE NEED FOR EDUCATION.

www.eugenepetrushanskiy.com, www.hrmlsphtgrph.blogspot.com

www.looo.ch

DTOURS: What is LOOO.CH and what is this project? How did you come to create Looo.ch? Ulyanov: Looo.ch is the information space the interaction with which accelerates consciousness, sets your personality free and sings out the future. The idea is that with the help of information we can change the way people think, so the world around us will change as well. Only evolutionary information which is published on Looo.ch can fight the regression. How do you feel about blogs and social networks existing today? «Void» is the most intriguing area. It implies the ability to be filled, so - the possibility of creation and creative properties. As to the social networks and blogs ... whatever their particular incarnation, as a whole - this is all the phenomenon of a new world. It was born on the other side of the screen but now leaves the palaces of Cyber, merging with what we call material reality. You write about art, science fiction and so on. Who is your audience? And what are your future plans? I work for myself and other cognitive mutants who are «carriers» of the future energy. Together with photographer Natalia Masharova (www.masharik.com) we moved to NYC where we continue to work on the Looo.ch. Plans are to continue to happen. There is a feeling that Looo.ch is fighting against censorship, coercion and crowd thinking. Against church and dictatorship, prohibitions and prejudices. While living in Russia do you feel that you ban something? I do not live and have never lived in Russia but unfortunately been there once in Moscow. Everyone were drinking vodka, smelled like a rats and read poems. I’ve been traveling for two years.. I saw different worlds - forcing is an attribute of every old-society; bans - they are not in the country concretely but in the basement of the human being. From there - all Kremlins, churches, prisons... The essence of coercion is to make a person not to be him-/ herself in all its complexity and dynamics, abandon the Other, the new, the unknown, the future. And all thins in the name of only one cruel whim which reproduces through generations the God and the Policeman . What is «Russian Touch»? How do you understand «Russianness» today and whether it exists at all? «Russianness» is rudeness and eternal sorrow.

DTOURS[PAPER]

EUGENE PETRU SHANS KIY DTOURS: What is in your opinion the conception of Russian Touch? Eugene Petrushanskiy: I come across this field only in the field of visual art, so I can talk only about this «visual» part of it . As I see it: «Russian Touch» is an attempt of people who «represent» Russianness abroad to cause interest of foreign audience to some artist explaining his style as something fresh, no matter that it does not seem very Russian. Not always, but in most cases - «very Russian» is a Western/Eastern visual culture which was transformed in the Russian reality. And I’m not saying that this culture is «secondary» or devised. Such a case is the natural process of visual learning in the current environment - basically it’s something virtual - a huge flow of information which doesn’t need to be sought out. Of course there is lots of «live» educational stuff and unfortunately a very small number of people really in need of it. Many people are afraid to look like something or someone especially through their creative development. In some ways «Russian Touch» exists just to mask this similarity. Perhaps without that label everything would be perceived in a much more sincere way.

but possibilities may be different. What is particularly necessary to a creative personality? - the ability to use these opportunities properly. You should earn you pros. And if you pay lots of attention to the cons you should not engage in the creative activities. There will always be minor irritants what should be cleverly circumvented. As for the territorial factor such as space for creativity - for me it is very important. Interest to this work is highly dependent on the interest of the place in which I am. I feel something like fear when there is no «interest» for a long time.

Tell us about your relationships with Paris? You had also exhibited there. In terms of photography Paris is the city of space, very easy and interesting. You are quickly absorbed into the city no matter whether you’ve just arrived or have been living here of years and in what mood you are. By the way, for me Paris is not the city of romance! In 2009 I was exhibited at one gallery called Russian Tea Room.

Is there any Tragedy? Fortunately, I do not know what a tragedy is. Unfortunately, at some point I will have to know. This is about photography, too.

What were your main methods of work as a photographer? What comes first in this field? I do not have any special methods of work: I think do not know everything in my area. During taking pictures I am not bored and this is important. The main thing that is very interesting making composition around the object of a shooting or to make the composition of the object itself. It’s great when there is a combination of the form and content. Very nice feeling when you can’t wait to see the result.

What are the pros and cons of a creative development in Russia? What is missing? At this point especially for young people everything is given much more easily than before. In Russia, there are lots of opportunities to develop your skills. Of course there are lots of reasons not to use these opportunities - one is lazy, another does not know «how», the third one has started moving in a dead-end direction. Everyone has more ar less same conditions

VOU GAL

VOUGAL WAS FOUNDED IN 2012, IN SAINT-PETERSBURG, RUSSIA BY MICHAEL VON GALL (DRUMS, BACK VOCALS) AND SLAVA VOROSHNIN (MAIN VOCALS, KEYBOARDS, GUITARS). THE TWO MUSICIANS HAD A QUALITY BACKGROUND IN PERFORMING/RECORDING MUSIC AND TOURING. CURRENTLY THEY ARE WORKING ON THEIR NEW RELEASES AND A LIVE SHOW. VOUGAL’S LIVE VERSION OF "I NEED IT" BY SAINT PETERSBURG DISCO SPIN CLUB & LIPELIS IS OUT NOW ON VINYL ON TEARDROP.

RECYCLE EXHIBITIONS CREATE A MIRROR OF OUR FUTURE. THEY REFLECT THE CONSUMER SOCIETY AND HOW OUR DESCENDANTS WILL SEE CIVILIZATION WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT. www.recycle-art.ru It all started with the fact that we’ve been friends since we were 5 years old, we both have parents who are artists and who took us very often to various plein-airs. At all started from that time, first there was painting sculpting in parallel and then - lots of experiments. Later we studied at the Academy of Arts where we made our first project under the name «Recycle». In addition to art we were engaged in design because there was a necessity of material basis for our work. Art for us is not just a hobby but not a job either. It’s difficult to limit life only to work and hobbies...

RE CY CLE

Our projects are another kind of reality thta lives deeply inside our heads. We set tasks for ourselves every day, and after reaching them new ones arrive.

The impetus for the creation of a new object can be anything from garbage to the Sistine Chapel. The main thing is that the idea must be strong and impressive. Sometimes we invent the concept first then the technology, and sometimes vice versa. The material that affect us always appeals in our heads. Sometimes it’s works by other artists, or it may be literature, or even technology. Plastic is one of our favorite materials, it is modern and interesting in work with. Generally we use a lot of other materials: polyethylene, polystyrene, silicone and so on. About the eternal art... The main idea of «Recycle» is that humanity reserves the right of rework everything stamping RECYCLE on goods. Is it feasible to stamp art? We even had a working title of our project "Monument for 1 second". Correct art-management is a good thing. It is great that it appears in our country and exists in other countries. The artist is mentally free, he has his own view but he’s just like all other people because he exists in this world and describes it in his work - just at the some different angle. We believe that classical art education has never stopped anyone from creating new forms; it affects development, gives a sense of proportion and gives one a set of tools for expression. Classical education is a tool, the question is how you use it. Contemporary art in Russia hasn’t enough production quality. For some reason people think there is some kind of "Russian" soul in it. We feel that this is a mistake. Even from poor quality materials something great can be made. For example it was proved by the project called "Russian Poor". Projects realization of course is easier in places where the environment had been already formed: Europe, Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and so on. But sometimes it's easier to work with objects in the provinces.

www.vougal.com

Now there is a flood of new people in art. A lot of interesting ideas, let’s see, quite a small amount of time can provide very colorful characters... We certainly want to do joint projects with different people. We are always open to new ideas and new artists. About fashion. It’s a complex question as we create it for ourselves, sometimes without any references to the environment. And it’s hard to say that we are forming it for everybody, it can be better seen from outside.

DTOURS: What’s the story behind the band’s name? Vougal: Maybe it’s just a wordplay or consonance letters, maybe something bigger. It could be a slang word or one thing that no one understand. At any rate it’s ideally suited to us.

We travel a lot, besides we constantly live between Moscow, Krasnodar and Stavropol. By the way we like to work in unusual environment very much such as in an airplane. It is difficult to give any advise to young artists because we are young too. The main thing is to know exactly what you want and to do as much as possible you can do for your goal every day without exeption...

Whats your background? How did it happen that you started a brand new band? We were playing in different bands about 10 years. Perhaps, it is the best time to do something that you always wanted to do. If you were asked to write a movie soundtrack, how would it look like? More likely it would depend on the movie of course. But formula is simple - mysterious synths, magic strings, epic piano and soulful song in the end credits. What are you working on right now? What inspired «Vougal»? We just finished mixing of our new track, so we are wondering - what’s next. Life is the most inspiring thing. Spring is coming, we’re all full of anticipation the best time in the year, here in St. Petersburg.

DTOURS[PAPER]

What is the current state of Russian electronic music? Have you something original to show or are you only attempting to catch foreign musical trendsetters? Russian electronic music is searching for his own sound and trying to find the best way to be popular in Europe and USA. This trend we could not deny. Everyone can show their own vision of something original. But how this will be true - time will tell. If you could move anywhere in the world, where would you moved and why? Some words about meaning of «russian touch». There are no ifs - we could move anywhere in the world. But if we are talking about some places we have never been - USA first. Russian touch = lots of much. Song for a day? Farley Jackmaster Funk feat. Darryl Pandy - Love Can’t Turn Around.

We are gradually trying to, at least for ourselves, to change the world around us... Song for a day! We recently discovered a funny song. It has the words «reduce-reuse-recycle» - the first track where we heard our name. It surprised us, it was a song about a supermarket. RECYCLE, Andrei and Egor

THE VERY FIRST INTERVIEW MADE BY DTOURS[PAPER] WAS IN SUMMER 2009 WITH THE DESIGNER AND OWNER OF VOLGA-VOLGA, MIKHAIL PANTELEEV. HE IS NOT VERY FLUENT IN RUSSIAN NOW BUT OFTEN JOKED, RECALLING THE BEGINNING OF HIS CAREER AND LIFE IN MOSCOW.WE FOUND HIM A VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE AND MODEST PERSON, AND KNOWING THAT HE WAS (AND STILL IS) FRIENDS WITH MAURIZIO ALTIERI, THE INTERVIEW BECAME EVEN MORE EXCITING FOR OUR TEAM.

DTOURS: Did you visit Moscow long time ago? What kind of connections do you have with Russia? Mikhail Panteleev: I haven’t been to Moscow for a long time. But usually I go there a lot. Even now I can see the slowly moving away Luzhniki Stadium as if in reality... Of course, a lot of things unite me with Russia — I’m Russian, I started to work in Russia, I have a son with my first wife, they spent two months here and we had a great time. Tell us, please, about the women's wear line of your collection, about the technological process. You are in a sense innovator in this area as you found new ways in textile processing. You are always in progress, you use natural dyes etc... I’m always trying to improve myself, not waste time... As for dyes - from the very first collection I use dye «sumi-e», it’s a Chinese ink for graphics which is used for writing by Chinese and Japanese calligraphers. It creates a neutral color and therefore the gamma turns out to be neither cold, nor warm. For example, if you take a black dye and weaken it, you’ll get either blue, or red, or brownish tint. Pure black color doesn’t exist in a simple dye, it’s impossible. If you need to get pure black in a simple dye, it must be a mix of very concentrated blue, for example, and brown. Whereas «sumi-e» is not exactly the color, it’s a tint from white to black. Such a thin narrow line between warm and cold hue of gray. I don’t even know who else but VolgaVolga uses this technique. And a lot of people mix up the dye «sumi-e» with «gunray», by no means it’s another details. Would you like to develop fashion in Russia? Frankly speaking I didn’t think about it. I’m up-to-date in the main fashionnews. But as for now I just didn’t think about it. Would you prefer ideas of Russians coming to your country? It would be interesting actually. There is one guy, Konstantin Gayday. He is a very interesting person, he makes shows constantly. First of all I should come to Russia to look around properly. We used to get on well with Margarita Markaryan. There are so many challenging things in the world and a lot of opportunities nowadays, and very few impossible things… By the way, I’ve got an assistant, crazy and very talented guy, he works in the field of dyeing, a professional, a little bit out of his head, graphic artist.

www.volgavolga.net

DTOURS[PAPER]

Is he Japanese? Was it hard for a Russian man to work with Japanese people? Yes, everyone is Japanese here except me (laughing). Well, you know, it’s a pleasure to work with Japanese people – they are hard-workers. Probably I’ve become a workaholic as well. When I came here first it was Saturday and on Monday I already started working for Yohji Yamamoto. I remember how my life changed quite dramatically. In Russia I had shows in different night clubs all the time. There was no fashion business as such, we just earned money, at that time I worked for Vika Tsyganova, Kristina Orbakaite… I earned 200-500$ per night. But it was then, now the situation has changed certainly. There was a time when I had a kind of leisured state sewing different corsets, garments in my kitchen, and created a kind of “show” afterwards. The state of things here is completely different. I’ve been working for 13 years already among Japanese people, and I really enjoy working with them. They understand everything at a glance, without cheating, they have well-oiled mechanics in business.

It is considered that every collection should be based on something, or rather have artistic background. But very often it seems that the eventual result is purely produced under the up-todate situation – things that sell best of all. In Japan it’s vice versa, everything is technologically advanced, progressive, and therefore probably free. What do your understanding and vision of the future collection consist of? Are you free in this sense? It’s a good question. I’ll start from afar. When I arrived here about 15 years ago, Japanese people were with too many hang-ups and were trying to match European people, buying marks and brands “Made in Italy and France”, Chanel, Dior ext. were obligatory for wardrobe. Without that Japanese was not considered to be Japanese, it was a shame for him to appear in the street. Though even now any Japanese woman can’t help buying purse by LV. Nevertheless during the last decade literally in my eyes Japanese people opened their mind greatly. There appeared a young wave of Japanese people, I can call it even tsunami, so to say torn off, tremendous. I look at then and realize, that each of them might be the head of his own brand (laughing). You can’t even guess from behind if it’s a guy or a girl. Everything is combined: guys wear some women’s clothes and vice versa, they can put on anything mixing it with LV-Chanel-Lacroix, they put on different heaped Japanese brands. In general they wear everything. You never know whether it is a homeless person or a heaped guy! Maybe it’s an indication of progress... I come to Europe, and everything is so faceless, clean and conservative there. And of course our garments, which Europe buys, are different from the garments, which are bought in Tokyo. Menswear – everything quiet, that you can easily wear, and here the person doesn’t even think if he wants to put on some women’s clothes and doesn’t care if he is considered to be homosexual or bananas. He just takes it easy and that’s all! Also here men have various hang-ups. By the way I wear quite colorful clothes as well. During last 10-15 years Japan was developing very fast and drew ahead of many other countries in the world. China and Korea are following the example of Japan, but not of Europe nowadays and they are buying a lot of Japanese brands. So it’s really pleasure and fun to work among these people.I’m absolutely free in sense of creative work as here the situation is different from Russia. I started my work in the kitchen in Moscow and finished it nearly in the same place, but after Yohji Yamamoto offered me to work for him my life changed greatly, I plunged into this huge corporation. I even had no time to study Japanese and to visit the studies. I learned everything on-the-scene, I was like a sponge for information, about 1,5 years I was hem and haw, and then during one week I started to speak fluently. It was a pleasant shock for me. But whether in Moscow or here I could only count upon myself. I had no sponsors in Moscow. So, you did not have any background..? None. At all. Neither in Moscow, nor here. Then – family. My wife helps me, I got acquainted with her during my third year of living here. Now we have 3 children. She is a president of our company at the moment. We started almost from nothing. I felt as if I were in a small boat in the middle of ocean. There was a big ship – Yohji corporation with 600 people working there, and I separated. And one oar has Shiori (Mikhail’s wife – Ed.), and I have the other one. We started to work together… and to bear children (laughing). By now we have already three floors and 10 years of work. We have a rent in a pretty good district. On the first floor I organized a dyeing factory for “sumi-e”.

What kind of qualities possesses this dye? This is an ecologically pure product. Here you can even buy graycolored soap “sumi-e”, which is very healthy for skin. There are some medicines for digestion based on the same foundation. It’s impossible to use “sumi” in ordinary dyeing factories. That’s why I organized here my own dyeing factory and storage for fabric samples, some machines downstairs and dyeing factory on the first floor. On the second floor there is a studio. Here is my own world, which I created by myself. Please, describe the process of creating your collections. Do you create and see everything at a glance or the ideas come slowly one by one? I don’t know exactly. If they are “thematic” then I don’t like the collections by Yohji Yamamoto, they gave me a topic, and after this I was creating vintage headdresses for the Paris collection. I was creating shoes as well. Mostly with my own hands. There was a “topic” for all collection, it was given to me and I was working with it.One thing is to present something for show, but I conceptually deny this as I think it’s not interesting, wasting money. This kind of fashion is for nothing. Now we’re whatever clothes we like.In my Russian life I produced “wearing-watchable” clothes which were in demand among pop-stars, my “crinoline” was shown on TV. It was 18 years ago.Now everything is different. I don’t like the word “conceptual”. It is degenerative, awkward, dry idea. I always keep 5-10 patterns of fabrics, sometimes it’s 20 or 30 for hit models. St Petersburg and Moscow buy them on rare occasions, maybe they are considered to be expansive ones. We are sold in “LeForm” and “Podium” in Moscow, and in “Day & Night” in St Petersburg. One thing is chatter, another thing is sewing itself. I don’t like when you can see serger, don’t like. When you see clothes by Volga-Volga, you can see that the sewing technology is not traditional, in other words clothing design transfers into sewing design. There are a lot of blockhead people on the manufacture, it’s hard to explain something to them, but it happens all over the world, you can’t help it. But still I insist on my ideas, it’s interesting to look at the reverse side of Volga-Volga, on unusual sewing. Our magazine's name means “substandard, different” in translation. We are right in the middle of opening this information gate about how Russians made themselves abroad, how they live and work there. You know, when I started at that time, I was just back from the army and didn’t know exactly what to do. I knew for sure that I will have a kind of creative work. I graduated from the Textile College, my specialization was fabrics. So I decided to go for fashion. I started in the 90-s, there were no magazines, no programs on TV. Svetlana Kunitsina was doing something, she is a wonderful woman, then “Motodor” produced a program on TV. But it was shortly before I left for Japan. There was nothing like this during my formation, and maybe it’s good for I knew nothing and everything was created out of my head.I started in the «post-re-organisation» period, when you could find only “snickers” in the shops, but no bread. It was needless to say something about fabrics… to say about anything at

all. At that time I created a model, which took the first place at the contest, I visited Paris for the first time (test in the Textile Academy). Afterwards I broke a cot, made a small weaving loom and woven a tapestry, I could remember how to do this after studying in Kalinin college. Can you imagine?! There were no materials, no equipment, and at that time it was very unique, and it is unique now as well, because I didn’t see anything, I didn’t know anything, it just splashed out of my consciousness and it took the first place. After that I took the first place again with my rolling crinoline, which I told you about. The main thing is that I knew nothing! I heard something, I liked Jean Paul Gaultier at that time, so sophisticated and nice. And when I left Russia, it was shock for me! To touch and to see all these clothes by all world famous brands, it was something! I used to prefer my own works before, and then I got an opportunity to see all. It’s very good to do something different from what exists. Here it is especially difficult as in Tokyo you can get whatever you want. You know, I’m sure, that I’m not the only one, that the world center of fashion business and industry is not in Paris or Milan, but precisely in Tokyo. It’s absolutely true, it’s a long time, that everybody agree with this statement. For sure in Russia somebody understands this as well, but of course not everybody... There are a lot of shops here and each appearing brand is bought by Japanese people immediately. It’s really hard to do something by your own in this amount of information. When the brand VolgaVolga had just appeared, many Russian journalists told, that I’m like Carpe Diem. By the way, Maurizio Altieri is a very good friend of mine, we always meet in Tokyo. And his son is just 2 years older than my son. They became very good friends as well, they are very close. They always cry when they have to say goodbye to each other (laughing). We also have a lot of in common with Maurizio, he’s a great person… I used to have a lot of hang-ups about all these journalist comparisons, now I don’t have them of course, and it’s a pity that this brand doesn’t exist any longer. It was one of the best which I had ever seen. In general I still don’t look at anything. Song for a day? Do you listen to/like music? Music accompanies me all the time. By 5 a.m. I usually switch on my speakers, as I have no neighbours (laughing). I prefer early 80’s. It’s like charger. After that I can work without charging for some days in a row. I like Belgians FRONT242. It’s really pleasure that it exists recently. In my youth this kind of music used to be unavailable. I love The Doors, Morrison is genius. Music of other rockers became completely rotten. Absolutely nothing. The Doors is something timeless, urgent for every place and time. Actually we are playing music as well... In my “Russian” life there existed a group “New wave” for more than 10 years. There was a time when we competed with Minaev’s “Milk” in the Olympic village, our base was situated in Beskudnikovo and we worked with various crews. With Garik Sukachev and “Brigada S” we worked a lot, and also there was an insane crew “Monster” (“Chudo-Yudo”), in which some crazy drug-addicts were participating. This period of the “Gorbushka” renewal, 1985-1987, three years before my army period. We were playing a lot, and gave concerts in “Gorbushka”. We were playing techno or something like this (laughing). I spined the laser, created light effects, frills and “snots” – gurgling stains on the walls, mixed slides, so there were a lot of things, we had a great and interesting time.

CREDITS: MICHAEL VON GALL - PUBLISHER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, CREATIVE-DIRECTOR FELIX KOBZEV - EDITOR, CREATIVE-DIRECTOR ALEX ANTIPIN - DESIGN MANAGING AND SENIOR EDITOR - ANTONINA GALL COVERS - DAVID LINDWALL

DTOURS[PAPER] 002 PARIS+ ISSUE TEAM: MICHAEL VON GALL, FELIX KOBZEV, EKATERINA KOVALYOVA, OLGA CHERENKOVA, VALERY KAPLECKAYA, NUTSA MODEBADZE, DMITRY KONOVALOV, SERGEI BONDAREV, NATALI GOSTEVA, TM13, ALEXANDER PETRUK (DJ RAKETA), ALEXANDER KORNILOV, MEZZAR, ALEXANDER BURENKOV, RENATA SHULGA, NIKITA LAZAREV (DJ HAMMINBIRD), KIRILL LAM, MAXIM SHAROV, NICK FANICK (DJ FANIK), DMITRY USTINOV (DJ TARAS 3000), ARJAN BENNING, ALEJANDRO CHAVETTA, ALEXANDRA NOVOSELOVA, KONSTANTIN SHEVELEV, AUSTIN SHERBANENKO (ODYN VOVK), CMRTYZ, KRISTINA GORINA, ALEXANDRA KARPOVA, EUGENE PETRUSHANSKIY, KATE VAN DEN BOOGET, ISA MARCELLI

DTOURS[PAPER]