GLAMCULT / 2014 / ISSUE 7 / #106

FREE 2014—Issue 7 #106

“Walk on, walk on.”

Glamcult Independent Style Paper

Issue 7 #106 Update

Cult 8 Albums 16

Years & Years Ghost Beach

36 38

Visual Essays

Platform

Nicola Formichetti 14

The miserable have no...

Hope is...

Interviews

Walter Van Beirendonck 18 Elmgreen & Dragset 24 Katherine Roberts-Wood 30 Ballet School 34

40 46

Collab

The Future of Fashion is Now 52 Plus

Stockists 55

Colophon Editor-in-Chief Joline Platje joline@glamcult.com

Art Director Marline Bakker marline@glamcultstudio.com

Creative Director Rogier Vlaming rogier@glamcultstudio.com

Graphic Design Glamcult Studio: Beau Bertens Rutger de Vries

Fashion Editor Leendert Sonnevelt leendert@glamcultstudio.com Copy Editor Megan Roberts Editorial Intern Kelsey Lee Jones kelsey@glamcult.com Sales Intern Daniël Heijl daniel@glamcult.com Sales sales@glamcult.com

Graphic Design Intern Yuki Kappes Contributors: Daniëlle van Dongen, Emily Vernon, Fay Breeman, Jean-François Adjabahoué, Kristian Vistrup Madsen, Maricke Nieuwdorp, Matthijs van Burg, Sander van Dalsum, Sean Francis Burns Photographers: Benjamin Mallek, Carmen Kemmink, Jeroen W. Mantel, Justine Leenarts, Paul Phung, Taufiq Hosen

Cover Photography: Jeroen W. Mantel Styling: Alex van der Steen— Eric Elenbaas Agency Hair: Daan Kneppers—NCL Representation Make-up: Judith Neyens for Chanel —NCL Representation Assistant photography: Tashena Burroughs Assistant styling: Giedre Malinauskaite

Publisher Rogier Vlaming / Glamcult Studio B.V. P.O. Box 14535, 1001 LA Amsterdam, The Netherlands T +31 (0)20 419 41 32

Leather jacket Raf Simons (vintage), puffy jacket Weekday, top H&M, skirt Monique van Heist, hat Tony Cohen, neckwarmer Stills

For all subscriptions please contact Abonnementenland P.O. Box 20, 1910 AA Uitgeest, The Netherlands T +31 (0)251 313 939 F +31 (0)251 31 04 05

Quotes Walk on, walk on.

—Oscar Hammerstein The miserable have no other medicine.

—William Shakespeare Hope is the thing with feathers.

—Emily Dickinson

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ISSN: 18741932

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Cult 1

A/W14 Collection, photography: Tyson Ernste

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Dusty Thomas Fernweh 3 5

A/W14 Collection, FULL-BLOWN, photography: Max Mato

A/W14 Collection, photography: Pierrick Mouton

Kaytranada, photography: Martin C Pariseau

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CATCH

Faustine Steinmetz Fien Ploeger 1

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When Glamcult was introduced to Dusty Thomas just after her recent graduation show, the young designer from Maastricht unequivocally introduced herself as “a real denim head!” Thus, it comes as no surprise that Thomas’s graduation collection bears the mono-coloured title Bluedenîmes. But don’t let the name deceive you: this is anything but “just” another denim collection. “Before this collection, I wasn’t ready,” Thomas charmingly admits. “I wasn’t convinced of myself. But this collection… it took away all my insecurities.” Inspired by Amsterdam street wear and medieval armours, Dusty—who was nominated for the Lichting 2014 Award—developed a clever mishmash of skirt and trousers, determined to make men look “fierce” and garbing them in functional modern pieces. Promising young photographer Tyson Ernste shot Thomas’s clean designs on her muse and certainly deserves an honourable mention. When was the last time a patient looked this sexy?

Sick! By Leendert Sonnevelt

“Fernweh” is a beautiful German word that means the opposite of homesick.

It’s also the title of Ena Sendijarevic’s successful, compact drama with which she concluded her studies at the Netherlands Film Academy. In Fernweh a 13-year-old girl without roots moves between boarding school and a foster home. But what does someone without a home long for when feeling homesick? These complex feelings are impressively presented by the use of a great cast and well-chosen images.

Sendijarevic, born and partly raised in Bosnia, moved to the Netherlands at the age of seven, so she knows a lot about roots and transplanting them. She studied film science in both Amsterdam and Berlin before eventually choosing scriptwriting and directing at Amsterdam’s Netherlands Film Academy. Fernweh, along with her short films Travellers in the Night (2011) and February (2012), forms the prelude of what will be a great career in filmmaking for sure. By Maricke Nieuwdorp

www.dustythomas.com

www.fernwehdefilm.nl

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With fashion having become a mass industry moving closer and closer to the speed of light, it’s easy to forget the art and craftsmanship safely tucked away at its heart. This season, it’s Faustine Steinmetz who reminds us that dyeing, weaving, shredding, embroidering, knotting and sewing (in subsequent order, of course) are still the most beautiful when undertaken by hand.

Inspired by the work of Mary Katrantzou displayed at Colette during her studies in Paris, Steinmetz moved to London to complete her MA at Central Saint Martins. The emerging designer, who interned at Henrik Vibskov and Jeremy Scott, now runs a studio in the British capital—spreading her blue-toned, minimalist aesthetic from behind the handloom. She reproduces the (denim) pieces we all own, meticulously recreating these wardrobe staples by hand.

With the British Fashion Council NEWGEN panel christening Steinmetz “One To Watch” and Style.com naming her “the next big thing”, we can merely say amen and wait for even bigger things.

By Leendert Sonnevelt www.faustinesteinmetz.com

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The heat of summer will soon be a distant memory. From here on out it’s just cold and rain, with many dreary months to count until we can enjoy outdoor festival season again. Lucky for us, October gives us CATCH. This lovechild of PITCH Festival and Tivoli By Night brings an eclectic line-up of electronic musicians to Utrecht’s recently opened TivoliVredenburg—itself an amalgamation of the city’s two foremost venues.

Varying from pop tropes to headfirst dance music, this evening gathers together all the groundbreaking acts that are turning genres upside down right now. Glamcult favourite Kelela will deliver her Night Slugs/Fade to Mind-infused R&B to push things into futurist territory, while South African outfit John Wizards effortlessly fuses Afropop with Shangaan electro.

Hudson Mohawke, meanwhile, will be doing what he does best: confusing the crowd with his weirdly uplifting dance-floor bangers. The Hague’s FilosofischeStilte turns things up an extra notch, blending trill with abstract synth melodies. The forward-thinking sounds of Simian Mobile Disco, Larry Gus and more artists will help celebrate this diversity. By Sander van Dalsum 31 October, TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht www.catchfestival.nl

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Volume and play on shapes are two major elements of the first collection of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie graduate Fien Ploeger, and it’s appropriately called Full-Blown. The collection explores the concept of hyper-reality in relation to the body. Ploeger’s designs alter the body in ways that question our current beauty ideals, exploring “the extremes of our tendency to perfect ourselves”. Her futuristic vision is to be felt in every aspect of the collection, which comprises transparency, silver and oversized liquid shapes. Ms Ploeger explains: “The estranging fashion objects are made of slick, shiny materials that grant them a sense of beauty, like Jeff Koons’ balloon sculptures.” The designer’s work is also thought-provoking, inspired by extreme body builders, transsexuals and plastic surgery. “Instead of judging, I wanted to give small groups a stage. This is my way of contributing to the discussion, empowering them.” By Jean-François Adjabahoué www.fienfienfien.com

Cult

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A/W14 Collection, photography: Nick Knight, SHOWstudio, courtesy of 1Granary

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Jessica Mort

Palo Alto 9

The Formal Absence of Independence, 2014

Kate Cooper, Rigged, 2014, courtesy of Kate Cooper

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Kate Cooper

Vera Hoveling 6

The LinkedIn profile of Jessica Mort— thank God for the Internet!—is oddly impressive. Recipient of the Stella McCartney scholarship, former intern at Céline and Christopher Kane, H&M Design Award semi-finalist, Vogue Talent… the list goes on and on! Mort, who is currently a junior designer at Loewe, graduated from Central Saint Martins last spring. Her final MA collection consists of classic menswear pieces, primarily the rugby shirt, violently destroyed and manipulated. Striped vests fall apart into coloured frays and weaves, functioning as a decorative layer over oversized trousers. Striking detail: all collars are left virginally white, reminding us of the starting point of the iconic designs. As if her CV needed anything more, one of Mort’s designs was recently captured by Nick Knight for SHOWstudio, transforming modelof-the-moment Sang Woo Kim into the ultimate sportswear explosion. Need we say more? By Leendert Sonnevelt www.jessicamort.com

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Indiewire introduces the latest Coppola on the block’s debut with one striking sentence: ‘It seems that at a certain point in the Coppola family you’re given a camera and a typewriter and tasked to go out and make your own film.’ Paterfamilias Francis did it, writing film history with classics such as The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. His son Roman did it, writing film scripts for Wes Anderson. And of course Roman’s sister Sofia proved herself the goddess of cool with movies like The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation. Even their brother Gian-Carlo, Gia’s father who died after a tragic boating accident in 1986, was a great all-rounder in the scene. At this point, there are circa 13 Coppola relatives across several generations working in the industry. And so is newbie Gia, granddaughter of Francis. She debuted last year with her teenage indie drama Palo Alto. A faithfully concise adaptation of the book of short stories by actor/ filmmaker/writer/all-rounder James Franco, it’s stuffed with the most up-tothe-minute songs by British singer, songwriter, producer and cool cat Devonté “Blood Orange” Hynes, formerly Lightspeed Champion. It’s a smart choice

by Coppola, who has to keep the family reputation as Hollywood royalty in check. Moreover, she also helps other Hollywood scions with their careers: Emma Roberts (daughter of Eric, niece

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of Julia) plays the lead in Palo Alto opposite Jack Kilmer (son of Val), who makes his début in this drama. Kilmer is no stranger to Coppola, who tutored him while he was in elementary school.

Like knows like. Even so, together they bring a new, fresh look, sound and feel to the table, combining their talents and connections smartly—preferably without the help of their famous parents, of course. So, no designer bag girls working with Daddy’s capital; no wannabes touring around the hottest clubs while chanting some famous family name. Coppola worked her way up, starting out as a photographer before working on Sofia’s movie sets. Later she made fashion shorts of her own, finally followed by Palo Alto. The latest Coppola successor seems to have learned from the classic knowledge and storytelling of her granddad while keeping the hip factor that aunty Sofia is famous for. By Maricke Nieuwdorp

Maybe you’ve noticed a recurring subject in contemporary art as of late?

Artists seem increasingly preoccupied with the simulated or computer-generated world vs. our authentic reality— two dimensions that are now in constant overlap. Vera Hoveling, interactive artist and graduate of the prestigious Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, immerses herself in this topic—although she likes to take things to the next level of complexity. Hoveling believes that “the more complex the virtual, the more it appears alive. If the level of immersion is overwhelming enough, virtual reality becomes reality.” It’s intelligent technological art that evolved as she got her head around computer coding. For her graduate show Hoveling presented beautiful results with a display of crazyrealistic projected pyramids that used a lilac Pepper’s ghost effect, from which emerged the “living” digital entities.

By Kelsey Lee Jones

Release 17/10 UK

www.verahoveling.org

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In the world of post-production, image manipulators create digital doppelgängers—those ultra-pervasive, ultrarealized body doubles. They are expensive, unpaid figures that perform on our behalves. They can be disturbingly realistic, especially when you consider the labour inherent in their creation. Does this mean they are real? For Rigged, her first institutional show, British artist Kate Cooper takes over Berlin’s KW Institute for Contemporary Arts, hijacking the illusory spaces of advertising images. She tests our experience of them, and our relationship to them. Cooper also seeks to expose the position that the female body has occupied in the history of advertising and digital-image technology.

What makes this work fascinating is the economy of withdrawal, as our own “real-life” bodies use a strategy of refusal and camouflage as a technique of survival. By Kelsey Lee Jones until 11 January 2015, Rigged, KW Institute for Contemporary Arts, Berlin

Gc Update

Cult 12

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Firm Being from the Venice Series, 2009, courtesy of Gunnar Meier

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Courtesy of The Licensing Project

20,000 Days on Earth

Pamela Rosenkranz

Paul Jung 14

The Things?—A Trip to Europa, 2013

Still from Somebody, 2014, actors: Athena Hunter and Lika Bosman, courtesy of Miranda July and Miu Miu

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Somebody

Marguerite Humeau 10

Paul Jung is a 28-year-old Taiwanese photographer now residing in New York, and after graduating from that city’s School of Visual Arts he’s been garnering attention aplenty in the fashion sphere.

Maybe you’ve already read in Glamcult about his involvement in Melitta Baumeister’s graduation collection?

What attracts our hungry eye is the effortless way Jung makes fashion photography look like art. Forays into graphic design have informed and renewed his vision of photography, and Jung’s image production now borders conceptual art and the apparent simplicity of traditional photography. His pristine and striking pictures shed light on the work of an artist who is not afraid to experiment and explore the foundations of an image. Inspired by the diversity of New York, Jung is channelling ingenuity like no other. By Jean-François Adjabahoué www.pauljung.co.uk

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Cult figure, writer and musician Nick Cave awakens on the 20,000th day of his life. And what a day it is! The artistic expressions of Cave, the perfect allrounder, are free from borders, and thus directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, both of whom have previously worked with Cave, take the docu-fiction approach—and it couldn’t be a better fit.

Eschewing the mantra of realism in biography, we follow the surprisingly accessible artist during private conversations with his psychiatrist, inspiring jam sessions and while leafing through his private archive, presenting us with some key moments from his life. In the car on his way to various meetings, Cave is accompanied by the people who’ve played a role in his life and career at some point—such as the adorable Kylie Minogue—in scenes bizarrely reminiscent of Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars. This avant-garde-like documentary, full of deliberately staged scenes, is filled with wonderful anecdotes and creates a meditative film experience.

Obviously, Cave’s characteristic deep voice is continuously present: in conversations with others, as the narrator and singing and working on the studio album Push the Sky Away. By Maricke Nieuwdorp Release: 19/9 UK, 29/10, BE, 30/10 NL

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Ha! And another “untouched by man” FIJI Water bottle reference in the serious art world. Created by none other than Swiss representative at the 2015 Venice Biennale Pamela Rosenkranz, who calls upon colour schemes of soft drinks and global corporations in her work, messing with their existing aesthetics to comment on bigger issues (politics, history, philosophy, technology). A little less Tumblr than you expected? The artist, and exRijksakademie (Amsterdam) resident, confronts everyday products and images with their material reality and their synthetic appearance in order to turn the complex issues she deals with— such as globalization, environmentalism and pop culture—into attractive sculptures, paintings, videos and installations.

You can try and catch a glimpse of her mostly shiny work in one of the three (!) group exhibitions taking place throughout Europe this coming autumn.

By Joline Platje until 16 November, Beware Wet Paint, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London until 11 January 2015, Blue Times, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna until 1 February 2015, Europe, Europe, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo www.ica.org.uk www.kunsthallewien.at www.afmuseet.no

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Marguerite Humeau is “on a quest to explore contemporary myths: the grey and unknown areas of our reality”. The French artist and master of “spaces and communication” enjoys borrowing scientific questions about factual events, then filling in the gaps by creating speculative narratives as the answers to them—she’s a trickster, and a designer illusionist. Through art, Humeau explores the means by which knowledge can be generated in the absence of evidence, or in the impossibility of either reaching or analysing the object of investigation. So far in her works she’s communicated with prehistoric mammals through jazzy crafted sculptures, found answers from a feng shui master on why Dubai’s Burj Khalifa was a cursed skyscraper and in a series for TAR Magazine (a proposal for serenading outer-space creatures) she landed on planet Europa in an eruption of grandiose splendour. Next up, as part of Frieze Art Fair London, she resuscitates Cleopatra as a 21st-century diva.

Marguerite Humeau comin’ atcha!

By Kelsey Lee Jones

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“Texting is tacky. Calling is awkward.

Email is old.” That’s why film director/ writer/artist Miranda July launched her Somebody app at the Venice Film Festival. The short companion film is the eighth commission from Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales—the acclaimed shortfilm series by women directors who critically celebrate femininity in the 21st century—and explains in an adorable way how the new, GPS-based messaging service works. When you send someone a message through Somebody, it goes not to your friend/lover/family member/colleague, but to a Somebody user nearby the intended recipient.

This person (most probably a stranger) delivers the text verbally, acting as your stand-in. This might come in handy when you find it difficult to say something, face to face, to someone you know, someone you love. Even more so, Somebody twists our love of avatars and outsourcing; it makes us nervous, giddy and alert to the people around us. “When you can’t be there… Somebody can.”

By Joline Platje www.somebodyapp.com

www.margueritehumeau.com 18 and 19 October, Extinction Marathon, Serpentine Gallery, London

Gc Update

TOTEMIC FW 2014 Hair by Michael Polsinelli & Shay Dempsey Created with Mousse Forte and Re-Shaper Jewelry by Giles & Brother

sebastianprofessional.com

WHAT’S NEXT.

By Sean Francis Burns

Cult 15

Stills from Did You Like Cutting Chicken With Scissors?, 2014

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Adrian Mazzarolo 15

When Glamcult meets Brazilian-born, Netherlands-based experimental filmmaker Adrian Mazzarolo, he is recovering after his first dance lesson in seven years. Calm and collected, he moves seamlessly from Jean-Paul Sartre to Barbra Streisand in the same manner he shifts focus in his films—the most recent of which, Did You Like Cutting Chicken With Scissors?, is already something of a critics’ darling, appearing as part of the TENT Academy Awards in Rotterdam and The Best Graduates of 2014 exhibition in Amsterdam. Dramatizing an encounter between lovers separated by mental illness, the subject is emblematic of a thread of tragedy that runs through Mazzarolo’s work.

Serious subjects like love and sepa­ ration are handled with frivolity and hyperbole, characteristically camp —something he wholly embraces.

When he was younger, Mazzarolo dressed in homespun drag to emulate his famous heroes. His creative impetus

apparently stems with the same force.

The characters in his films are boys as girls as boys, cut with erratic images and sound somewhere in the tradition of Jack Smith or Kenneth Anger. There isn’t a definitive proposition; rather, one gets the sense that something is on the brink of explosion. Throughout Mazzarolo’s oeuvre there is an attempt to understand the possibilities of language to generate distance and connection between people.

This preoccupation with language is perhaps unusual for a visual artist. In a proto-artistic manifesto, available online and titled The Embrace of Language, Mazzarolo analyses cinematic literacy. His writing, like his films, is theatrical and championing. This is an artist dealing with the particular relationship between cinema and language as a way of exploring human interactivity. His film Plea for “a new kind of cinelove” is prefaced with the warning that the viewer “will most likely fail to fully

understand the content”. What follows is a reclining masked figure waxing lyrical about language, overlaid with videos of wisdom from Jacques Lacan and Candy Darling. The viewer is left to contemplate what constitutes understanding and whether language, artistic or otherwise, is a sufficient tool for communication. My Heart Belongs To Daddy sees the lead character performing a fetishistic rendition of the eponymous Marilyn Monroe song, laced with references to religion and vaudeville, tongue firmly in cheek.

Sonosolo, meanwhile, sees the performers embodying different roles, alluding perhaps to different aspects of the psyche. All these films share an endearing home-made quality.

Mazzarolo is not just a filmmaker.

His website displays a plethora of images accorded with the same stylistic treatment as his movies. Life is a drama, they suggest—so why not dress and behave like you belong on the stage?

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Characterization, make-up, persona, gender, identity and fabulousness are inherent in the form. But for Mazzarolo these are mere by-products: ideas surrounding presence and reality are perhaps more pressing. In reference to “the real world”, he posits: “I never know what people mean,” as though a definitive reality is something institutional and almost unattainable.

After studying fashion and fine art in Antwerp, Mazzarolo moved on to The Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. He confesses to feeling distant from the field of visual art, drawing more influence from writers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Roland Barthes, believing that he may go crazy like the former and is the lost lover of the latter. He does, however, cite Andy Warhol as initiating the interest in film-making. And fundamentally, film seems an appropriate medium for Mazzarolo’s preoccupation with modes of interaction. He confesses he is drawn to the absences of film, believing ab-

sence to be something more malleable and therefore more alive than presence.

Film, like music, can be “experienced in our personal spheres,” he says.

Towards the end of our conversation, Mazzarolo tells the story of a young actress meeting the writer Tennessee Williams. The actress asks the playwright, “What is A Street Car Named Desire about?” to which Williams replies: “A plea for the understanding of the delicate people.” It is, perhaps, the most fitting summation of Mazzarolo’s own work.

Mazzarolo is currently in the throes of writing his first novel and planning to go back in to education. His Did You Like Cutting Chicken With Scissors? debuts on our website this month and will appear at the Impakt Festival’s Panorama selection in Utrecht later this year. www.adrianmazzarolo.com

Gc Update

11 Oct 2014 - 18 Jan 2015 in Rotterdam boijmans.nl

This autumn Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen presents the fashion of the future. A garment that reacts to emotions, lace patterns grown from a plant, fabric that breaks off and fashion that literally zips people together. Taking a critical view of the current fashion system, more than fifty international designers are showing innovative work at the cutting edge of fashion and art. With the latest generation of fashion designers from all over the world and renowned innovators like Viktor&Rolf, Hussein Chalayan and Iris van Herpen.

Mediapartners: Concept & art direction: Glamcult Studio. Design: Thonik. Photo: Jouke Bos.

By Kelsey Lee Jones

Nicola Formichetti

Formichetti with his two pet Pomeranians, Tank and Bambi, whom he loves so much that he’s dedicated an Instagram account to the little pooches—follow “tanknbambi”.

The world is in a weird place—or rather, it should be, according to ItalianJapanese fashion director Nicola Formichetti, who revealed his debut collection for high-end Italian jeans brand Diesel earlier this year. If you want to make it in the crazy world of fashion, he says, “you need to be fucking bonkers!” And he can’t help feeling a little underwhelmed by the younger generation’s play-it-safe approach.

“The thing is,” he says, “people don’t want to look silly. They’re much more anonymous now, and there’s no individual voice—it’s more of the group mentality. It’s not like they really understand the world, you know? I don’t see people starting their own thing. No one wants to be a fashion designer; they just want to be a blogger or whatever…”

It didn’t take Formichetti long to make the connection between Glamcult, the Dutch and denim. Why, he asks, do the Dutch only wear jeans? “One of my

friends, Cycy Sanders, is from Holland.

He does all of my crazy videos. He’s a youngish guy, but he doesn’t want to go crazy in the way he dresses. He just wants to be…. Well, you know, not super boring, but kind of boring.” Formichetti misses the individual spirit of the way people dressed during his formative years, and that’s what he channelled for the Diesel A/W14 collection: “There was a time, in the late ’90s and the early 2000s when I was in London, that there was this whole conceptual Dutch movement. I went to Arnhem to judge a competition, when I was still young, and people were completely nuts. The designers looked really normal, but when you saw their work, they were complete psychopaths—it was so exciting!”

But hey, who says denim is boring anyway? Especially not when Formichetti lays his magic hands on it. “We’re not a high-fashion brand, so we don’t need to follow the rules of all the other

Diesel’s fashion director Nicola Formichetti couldn’t hide his lack of enthusiasm when talking about the fashion youth of today— or rather, as Glamcult was soon to discover, his lack of interest in anything remotely prosaic. But who would expect anything less from this larger-than-life fashion visionnaire? After all, he is Brooke Candy’s personal stylist and the man behind Lady Gaga’s monster/masterpiece meat dress. people, you know? We can do what the fuck we want, basically!” And he sure does strike Glamcult as a guy who does what he wants along with his partner in crime and founder of Diesel, Renzo Rosso. “He’s completely nuts, and I love it. Always causing trouble. When we get together we’re like, ‘Hmm, what shall we do today?’” he says, rubbing his hands with a menacing glint in his eye. “He’s 30 years older than me. I want to be like him when I’m older!” With their recent Reboot campaign, the pair worked alongside renowned photographer Nick Knight, who Formichetti describes as “a fucking god!” Together they’re working to “project the future” while referencing the heady past, and put Diesel firmly back on the map.

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www.nicolaformichetti.com www.diesel.com

Formichetti’s New York apartment. “Recently I felt that I don’t need to worry about money, finally. It all happened when I moved to New York like five years ago. Though I still don’t really care about money because I always think it comes and goes, you know?”

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Backstage at the Diesel A/W14 show.

“In fashion you have to be really avantgarde and do all of this crazy stuff, but then there’s this whole bitchy thing. It’s a crazy world, basically.

But I love it!”

Nicola Formichetti

Formichetti in his New York apartment: “I’m in Italy a lot, and one or two weeks a month I bring the team to London and New York. We work from abroad because it’s very important for all the team to be inspired. And my family is from Japan, so I’m there a lot of the time too.”

“I feel like I’m in a really good place. The great thing about becoming successful is that suddenly you have people that really like your stuff—positivity is much stronger for me than negative things.

Though I still can’t look at a negative thing in a completely nonjudgmental way. I’m still, like, ‘Fuck you— and fuck you, too!’”

Backstage at the Diesel A/W14 show.

“At Diesel it’s about bringing young generations together. I wanted to have lots of young people around me, because we need them. I can’t do it alone. I need collaborators. It’s incredible, in a year, we found so many people. Now we call them family.”

Diesel A/W14 show. “I wanted to do something really special so that we could project the future. I think it really worked, it got huge attention—We did a good job!”

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Gc Platform

Albums Alumna

Cancer

Cooly G

SBTRKT

ENTER

Ragazzi

Wait Til’ Night

Wonder Where We Land

Self-released

Tambourhinoceros

Hyperdub

Young Turks

The toy-like drum-machine patterns on ENTER’s first single, Eveline, rhythmically lead the way for Beach House-esque organs and similar singing. The heartbroken pop songs of Victoria Legrand are without a doubt the source material for many of Alumna’s recordings, although the three-piece from The Hague has made that sound entirely its own on this debut album. The project of Diede Oosterveen bravely “rebels against the current music industry”, but manages to sound catchy nonetheless. For lack of a better name, dreampop seems to be the right term for these introspective, sometimes celestial tracks like Dirt and 5th Passion. Never fully giving in to radio-friendliness, the heavenly choral parts, guitar and drum-battling build-ups sound a little like Thom Yorke’s frantic Radiohead compositions, which adds another inspiration to the reference checklist.

Alumna creates a noise that’s utterly familiar, perhaps a little too familiar at times, but does it with enough elegance to win over the hearts of many daydreamers. By Sander van Dalsum

Don’t let this somewhat provocative band’s name intimidate you: the aggressive disease is in fact a personal matter for the men who gave birth to the project, not an allusion to their sound. Danish duo Cancer consists of two poetic frontmen: Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild (When Saints Go Machine) and Kristian Finne Kristensen (Chorus Grant). The two songwriters and friends worked on their rippling songs for several years before releasing this mini album. The six rich, darkish and out-of-this-world folk songs that make up Ragazzi expose a different side of both musicians: gloomier and (a little) less theatrical than When Saints Go Machine, and (way) more exciting than Chorus Grant. In 30 minutes their beautiful, radical ballads activate the whole spectrum of human emotions.

Their healing melodies, snake-charming community singing, dreamy swarming guitars and at times raging drums— Ragazzi was mixed and co-produced

by Nis Bysted, who sat behind the desk on all Iceage records—take us to the melancholic backwoods of our minds.

Call us cancer, call us slaves to things that wither and die. By Joline Platje

With track titles like Fuck With You and Your Sex, little mystery remains about the subjects you might find on Wait Til’ Night, the second full-length of London resident Cooly G. Camouflaged in a carefully balanced mesh of dark synthpop, R&B and dub, these seductive, intimate recordings are what the producer and lyricist refers to as “sensitive, lo-fi bedroom music”. While Cooly uses her voice to describe how sweet and smooth her love interest is on the album’s opener, this oft-used theme in R&B gets tangled in the throbbing synthesizers you hear on many gloomy electronic albums of three decades ago. But when hearing the hush-hush undertones of 1st Time, the darker elements trade places with sensual vocals and a melody that could have landed Ashanti or Ciara a number one hit in a long forgotten era.

Album outro The 3 of Us even has Cooly G rapping on a like-minded beat, leaving you wishing you had more of these ’90s rejects to listen to in your private chambers. By Sander van Dalsum

SBTRKT has never considered his music as a singular identity thing, for he loves to collaborate—and that sure comes across in his new album Wonder Where We Land, which boasts a delicious smorgasbord of collaborators. He’s linked up with old friends Sampha and Jessie Ware, made new sounds with A$AP Ferg, Ezra Koenig (Vampire Weekend) and Caroline Polachek (Chairlift) and experimented with newly scouted talent Raury and Denai Moore. By Kelsey Lee Jones

Electric Youth

Jessie Ware

Kiasmos

Kindness

What do you like about teaming up with fellow musicians?

You need to do something really different in order to blow people away—it’s not about repeating anything—so I try to make the best out of every collaboration. I seem to have found feet with people on this album. We all seem to have some sort of synergy.

Where did the album name, Wonder Where We Land, come from?

It’s about that freedom of expression, the feeling when I started out in the studio with all these new collaborators, not knowing how things would end up.

We love your album artwork.

How involved are you with that?

I am completely involved with all of it—I love it! I spend a lot of time thinking about ideas. For me, those kinds of things can inspire you musically and vice versa. It’s all one creative process.

Who would be your dream coproducer?

I’ve grown to realize that who you think may be the best collaboration, may not necessarily turn out to be. It’s those things that suddenly happen, and then something great comes from it. I get most excited by the fact that I don’t know what might happen in a year.

What’s your single NEW DORP. NEW YORK with Ezra Koenig about?

On our first meeting in New York, we were wondering what could we write a song about? New Dorp is a town on Statham Island. But it’s evolved into a load of other stuff now.

We made a video with this creature that comes from New Dorp and climbs around a bit like King Kong.

Sofie Winterson

Innerworld

Tough Love

Kiasmos

Otherness

Wires

Secretly Canadian

PMR Records

Erased Tapes

Pias

Magnetron Music

Much like the magazine of the same name, Electric Youth—reminder: real hero Ryan Gosling—has become a staple for anyone not really in touch with “the mainstream”. But let’s be honest: it’s the blockbuster reach of Drive that launched this synth-pop duo to its current popularity. Pinning down self-proclaimed “voicegirl and soundboy” Bronwyn and Austin to their soundtrack success may be unfair, yet the cinematic quality of their soaring, synth-driven pop songs (think: Chromatics, College, Glass Candy) cannot be denied. In fact, it largely explains Electric Youth’s appeal. From the Narnia-esque album cover with a futuristic hint of Gravity to the happy ending of Runaway, debut album Innerworld is characterized by a warm and sincere naïveté. As perfectly expressed by the analogous artwork, listening to Electric Youth is like enjoying a sweet and empowering children’s story. Very much unlike its printed namesake, we must add… By Leendert Sonnevelt

Jessie Ware’s vocals have gotten ballsier. On her debut album Devotion her voice was elegantly drowned by layers and reverb; now, on the follow-up, Tough Love, Ware turns out to be not only a smooth operator, but a vocal powerhouse as well. She actually hints at the golden age of powerhouse singers: the Nineties with Whitney and Mariah.

This new album contains some real ballads, like Keep on Lying and Say You Love Me (co-written by Ed Sheeran), but luckily has Ware stayed true to her clean but lush and soulful sound. No orchestras, no glittery effects; just a lot of synths, dry beats and a totally legitimate gospel choir. In fact, with this record Ware seems to have found that rare balance between an emotional pop sound that will appeal to the masses and a distinct and authentic style that the critics appreciate. Her lyrics—all about love, of course, and not just the tough variety— are brilliantly effective, simple but not obvious. They sound like you’ve heard them somewhere before… only you haven’t. By Fay Breeman

Kiasmos is the minimal techno project of Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen.

Inspired by their clubbin’, the two friends from Reykjavik started to explore new ideas of electronic music from their own perspective. The outcome is outstanding. Arnalds’ acoustic piano and stringbased compositions and Rasmussen’s electronic craftsmanship coincide like chiasmus (Wiki that!). Kiasmos is techno, but it isn’t. It’s emotional. It’s as dancefloor proof as it is living-room likely, techno accompanied by swirling strings and soothing piano loops—piano and strings as in “classical”, not “Casio”.

Kiasmos is not a selection of seemingly random techno tracks put together, either; the album tells a story. There is no instant tempo, it changes all the time.

Its ambient parts, resonating Iceland’s breath-taking nature, and the addition of acoustic elements to a beats-driven genre make Kiasmos a contemporary classical techno composition.

By Matthijs van Burg

What would one expect to hear on the sophomore album of Kindness, the musical project of British songwriter Adam Bainbridge? Well, probably another pop record that surpasses the undeniable catchiness of its predecessor, World, You Need a Change of Mind. But nothing is as it seems on Otherness, in which the disco rhythms and Bainbridge’s vocals take a back seat for an exploration of free-jazz territory. Gathering more than a handful of musicians, the ten songs contain plenty of horn sections, singers and unexpected swings to create a genre-defying piece of work. Who Do You Love? allows Swedish sweetheart Robyn to lay her vocals on an abstract drum track, filled with minimalist, guitar-picking melancholy. Why Don’t You Love Me?, meanwhile, invites Devonté Hynes to the stage for a popsoul hybrid. Personal highlight With You takes R&B songstress Kelela away from electronics, surrounding her with dark slaps of bass, jazzy saxophones and the appropriate sampling of Art of Noise’s Moments in Love. If there ever was such a thing as timeless, Otherness is just that. By Sander van Dalsum

We wonder whether anyone/anything can stand in the way of Sofie Winterson.

Even before the release of her first album, this talented Dutch songstress was featured in a large TV campaign, performed at SXSW, collaborated with artist duo Pinar & Viola and was featured on our very own Straight Up pages. Perhaps these many early successes have raised the expectations of Winterson’s debut album a little too high. In fact, a first listen to Wires—produced by Magnetron Music’s Rimer London (Le Le, Cata.

Pirata)—might feel like a bit of a let down. A second or third listen, bearing in mind that Mazzy Star and Beach House are listed as Winterson’s main influences, provides the explanation: this emerging artist isn’t set on causing a revolution. The combination of pleasant synth-pop with elements from Winterson’s (vocal) folk background results in a laid-back debut that will probably go unnoticed if turbulence is your thing. If you’re into gurgling syrupy indie-romance, however, dive in!

By Leendert Sonnevelt

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Gc Update

Interviews

18 Walter Van Beirendonck: “I’m just a dwarf between the giants.”

24 Like life, famous art duo Elmgreen & Dragset likes to disappoint the audience.

30 Katherine Roberts-Wood: “The best discoveries 34 come by happy Ballet School: accidents.”

“It’s really cool when you know your idols are totally flawed!”

36 Years & Years: 38 “We’re pretty Ghost Beach: chilled.”

“There’s a parallel between blondes, and the bright quality to our music.”

By Leendert Sonnevelt Photography: Carmen Kemmink—House of Orange Styling: Maaike Staal—House of Orange Hair & make-up: Severine van Donkelaar for M.A.C. Cosmetics— House of Orange

Models: Joeri and Lukas—Alpha Male model management Assistant photography: Naomi Jansen Assistant styling: Mariska Groothuis

Walter Van Beirendonck Combining his signature landscape of extravagant colours, textures and patterns with an outspoken statement against racism, fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck turned the A/W14 catwalk into a site of protest—a joyful protest, that is. Glamcult travelled to Antwerp to talk crocodiles, politics and supermodels with fashion’s most friendly provocateur, exploring the story behind this season’s most defiant and fun collection.

Raincoat K-Way

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Gc Interview

It’s almost impossible to think “Walter Van Beirendonck” without reflecting on the fashion icon’s past feats, from the latexloving Paradise Pleasures Productions collection in 1995 to the physical celebration of Sexclown in 2008 and the delightfully shocking Dream The World Awake retrospective in 2011. Yet it is in the present—or should we say, the future?—that the iconic designer continuously finds himself, pushing yet another boundary.

Based in a small town near Antwerp, Van Beirendonck divides his time between his atelier/breeding ground at home, a production office near the city centre and (as the head of the fashion department) the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. For someone this busy—did we mention his commercial side projects and costume design for the Flemish Opera?—the designer comes across as strikingly calm, taking the time to receive Glamcult in his idyllic office.

“My days look very different, but they’re also very much the same,” he explains.

“I start at nine and stop at six. I’m very flexible, but also very, very organized.”

Graduating in 1980 from the academy at which he now plays a leading role, Van Beirendonck gained recognition as one of the Antwerp Six and, though occasionally underrated, has been a significant player in both fashion and the arts for more than 30 years.

Given the racing pace of the industry, the mind boggles at the numerous ups and downs he must have witnessed thus far. “I’ve seen fashion change,” he ob-

serves thoughtfully. “Yes, that sounds a bit nostalgic… the ’90s especially were an era in which a lot more was possible.

At a certain point I was showing my collections to 3,000 people at a time—that’s simply unthinkable now! Big budgets are a thing of the past. Surviving as an independent designer is a struggle now; the industry is dominated by luxury brands. It might seem natural that I get to show alongside Valentino and Louis Vuitton, but really I’m just a dwarf between the giants.”

Although Van Beirendonck is likely best known for his radical ways, inspired by elements ranging from sadomasochism to tribalism, his approach does not involve deliberately shocking his audience. “That’s never been my intention,” he firmly insists. “Everything I’ve created so far has come to me spontaneously.

My collections might not be easy—even for a fashion-minded crowd—but I never intend to upset. Just to give an example, Paradise Pleasure Productions, the first collection I showed in Paris, was a manifesto for safe sex, against AIDS; for nature and against supermodels. It was an extreme moment of creation, which still resonates today.” With the present (social media) boost of supermodel significance, Van Beirendonck’s reactionary work is indeed still relevant. “Back then it was a must to work with Linda (Evangelista) or Naomi (Campbell); they actually became more important than the collection itself! Of course I

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Catwalk images A/W14

Walter Van Beirendonck

Legging Nike

Walter Van Beirendonck

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Gc Interview

Catwalk images A/W14

Walter Van Beirendonck

couldn’t get either of those two, so I decided to use masks instead. Anyone who knows my work also knows that it comes from a sincere spirit. Using my voice to make people think more or less feels like an obligation.”

Almost needless to say, Van Beirendonck’s A/W14 collection, Crossed Crocodiles Growl, is once more a bright and sophisticated blend of message and messenger. His cast of largely street-recruited boys marched the runway in pastel army helmets, college stripes, protection gear and hightop sneakers with crocodile teeth.

“Crossed crocodiles are an African symbol for democracy,” Van Beirendonck explains. “There’s so much injustice in the world, I really wanted the animals to be

angry. Yet I wanted my protest to be positive and to create a look that functions on the catwalk, as well as in daily life.” Once again, the designer joined forces with regular collaborator and milliner Stephen Jones, who fashioned standout feathered headpieces. Adding a statement to a statement, the feathers were sprayed with anti-racism slogans in English, Russian and Arabic. “I thought about the languages really hard,” Van Beirendonck adds. “The Russian slogan, for example, is a response to the fatal course that the country seems trapped on.” Despite recent controversy surrounding Chanel’s use of Native American headpieces, the designer didn’t mean to comment on this affair. “I was very surprised when I got thank-you notes

from indigenous leaders on the day after the show. I always try to handle ethnic heritage as carefully as possible, but my statements were aimed at everyone, in every place and time!”

As a designer it seems impossible for Van Beirendonck to lag behind or to become outdated. “It’s a challenge!” he laughs. “I’m happy my audience isn’t growing old with me. Having the opportunity to speak out is my ultimate freedom.

I’ve fought for this—I can show my collections without restraint, without being dominated by others.” As a teacher, Van Beirendonck remains a respected and relevant stronghold, constantly sharing his unique perspective with new generations. “Sometimes people presume that my students constantly inspire me, but

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that’s a myth! Guiding young creatives takes a lot of energy; it’s a heavy process.

But sometimes you meet really talented individuals with whom you form a special bond.” Referring to the rise of former pupils and interns Raf Simons, Bernhard Willhelm, Bart Hess and Craig Green, Van Beirendonck concludes: “I can’t predict whether someone will become big or successful, but I do recognize their vision, even when I still have to coach them as students. That’s something very special.

I’m grateful for the respect I keep receiving when boys become men—when they become superstars.” www.waltervanbeirendonck.com

Mesh top vintage

Powerless Structures, Fig. 101, 2012

By Kristian Vistrup Madsen

Elmgreen & Dragset

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Elmgreen & Dragset They once built a Prada store in the Texas desert, placed a camp young boy on a rocking horse on Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth and built a to-scale housing estate in a gallery in Germany.

Now Scandinavian artist duo Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset are back with Biography, a series of exhibitions exploring notions of identity amid ever-shifting norms, accompanied by a 600-page “photo album” depicting their 20 subversive years in the art world.

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Gc Interview

Elmgreen & Dragset explanation or order; simply hundreds of images—strikes a balance somewhere between simplicity and overload. The title promises us a narrative arc; like the accompanying exhibitions and much of the artists’ oeuvre, it puts the story of the personal at its centre. But for Elmgreen & Dragset, the personal is always an impossible story to tell. When Glamcult met the two at the Copenhagen Biography exhibition, Dragset explained that they like to do that with their art: let viewers down, promise a story and then disappoint. “Life often does that,” he stated simply. And so all the loose ends are left fluttering in the wind.

Dane Elmgreen and Norwegian Dragset began their artistic collaboration knitting and simultaneously unravelling white blankets in the corners of Scandinavian galleries in the 1990s, and while they’ve upgraded the format considerably since then, they continue to work in the same surreally minimalist style. Their most famous work is perhaps The Welfare Show, debuted at the Serpentine Gallery (London, 2005-’06), which offered an insight into the institutional anonymity, the boredom, impotence and internalized rage bred by imbalanced power structures. At the other end of the socioeconomic scale, The Collectors, mean-

while, displayed at both the Danish and Nordic Pavilions at the Venice Biennale in 2009, invited the audience to view the private collection of a fictional family of art patrons, complete with guides posed as estate agents, who revealed salacious details of their scandalous lives.

But the budgets were not always so inflated, says Elmgreen, referencing the aptly named Powerless Structures, Fig. 19 (1998). ‘This is from when Elmgreen & Dragset had no such thing as an exhibition budget,’ he says. Two pairs of blue jeans with Calvin Klein underwear still entangled in them have been taken off and left on the floor. The underwear is

fake, Elmgreen reveals, bought at a street market in New York—there really was no budget. The work says something quite tender about coupledom, dependence on one another, passion—maybe youth —or about E&D as a unit, somewhere between someone and something.

In the Biography book there is a photograph of Elmgreen & Dragset kissing at a demonstration. It dates from when they first met and were newly in love.

In the room next to the jeans at the Copenhagen exhibition is a public toilet, the two washbasins connected by a twisting and turning (but beautifully shiny)

metal drain. The work is called Marriage and was made around the time the two stopped sharing a bed in 2004. “The dirty water from the one basin will drain into the other,” Dragset explains. “That is what most marriages are like.” “Is the water hot or cold?” a woman asks. “Lukewarm,” says Dragset, adjusting the faucet without missing a beat. This work reveals a more jaded vision of relationships—or rather, more experienced, more adult, albeit not without the artists’ characteristic playfulness.

Although made across a considerable period of time, these pieces both

appear as part of a decidedly new artwork, reinterpreted and recontextualized as part of a new “exhibition installation” for the Biography exhibition. This underscores the non-linear nature of Elmgreen & Dragset’s work: bits of it are always repeated, redefined and destabilized.

The overexposure of their work (recycling pieces continuously; creating exceptionally detailed installations) produces not the logical, lucid answers we expect, but instead creates a kind of void. For example, the submissive obedience of a gilded maid at The Collectors exhibition in Venice becomes a kind of mourn-

ing for the end of an era when she figures in the abandoned apartment of Tomorrow, or quiet contemplation when she stands in front of a series of monochromes at the Oslo leg of Biography.

Similarly, the dead collector floating in a pool at the Venice Biennale in 2009, when moved to a cavernous dark room in the Danish National Gallery becomes— who, precisely? This search for identity is the link between early minimal works, such as those in the ongoing Powerless Structures series, and more recent largescale installations such as Tomorrow and The Collectors: more than anything

Prada Marfa,2012

To flick through the pages of Elmgreen & Dragset’s Biography is to drown in a kind of image machine, to see the story of the story of a life: hotel rooms, restaurants, cocks, forests, beaches, snow, sneakers. Explicitly not their biography, but rather the biography—all of our biographies. It reminds of their 2013 Tomorrow mise en scène at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, an entire apartment of indeterminate history that visitors brow­ sed like prying snoops, writing their own biographies for the elusive tenant who seemed perennially stuck in the shower.

Like much of Elmgreen & Dragset’s work, the book—no words, no dates, no

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Overview of the exhibition Biography, 2014, photography: Anders Sune Berg. Death of a Collector, 2009, courtesy of Coleccíon Helga de Alvear, Madrid/Cáceres

Elmgreen & Dragset

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Gc Interview

Modern Moses, 2006, photography: Stephen White, courtesy of Galleri Nicolai Wallner

Elmgreen & Dragset

they exhibit both literal and metaphorical questions, dead ends, empty rooms.

Another recurring question might be, “What do we expect from a biography? What types of stories do we value over others, which ones do we keep, which aspects do we emphasize?” The Welfare Show challenged viewers with the stark presentation of a biography normally left unwritten, and The One & the Many, a re-creation of a concrete council estate shown in Rotterdam in 2011 and re-presented in Copenhagen as part of Biography, explores the theme further. We are barred access, having to peek in through the windows—and are sometimes peeked back at. Here

Elmgreen & Dragset celebrate the uniqueness of people and their refusal to conform to concrete boxes, seeing beauty in what is generally unloved and unspectacular and deconstructing accepted hierarchies. This subversion is echoed in Elmgreen & Dragset’s Fourth Plinth sculpture of a boy on a rocking horse, which quietly mocks the traditional eques­ trian sculptures that surround it. What, the artists ask time and again, can we learn from unspectacular biographies?

Back in Copenhagen, and although in stark contrast to The One & the Many, the dark room featuring the swimming pool and the collector’s body features precisely these words on the back wall.

If the many were in the housing block in the foyer, this floating body is the one.

The biography Elmgreen & Dragset is laying out for us is both a collective and a highly individual one: “We do not have any good solution for how to strike a healthy balance between being the one and the many,” they explain, “but it is a dilemma that we like focusing on— sometimes the best way for change to start is to realize or define a problem, a void.” But while “the many” were unique in spite of being marked by their plurality, this portrait of the individual is void of identity, a kind of Hollywood production of death. The room is cold and smells of tyres, a sign bearing the legend “Wel-

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come to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada” has collapsed over an Airstream camper, lights still on. The back of the room is fenced off, a dog guarding the boundary, barking at the fence, mouth wide open. In the world of Elmgreen & Dragset, a life will always resist telling, it will always repeat itself, come back to where it started, be unable to say anything, finally. What is death, they suggest, except the end of the biography, a scene in a movie, the resounding quiet of the dog’s unheard bark? www.elmgreen-dragset.com

Untitled, 2011, photography: Anders Sune Berg

Welcome (detail), 2014, courtesy of Galleri Nicolai Wallner, photography: Anders Sune Berg

Elmgreen & Dragset

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Gc Interview

By DaniĂŤlle van Dongen Photography: Paul Phung Styling: Lune Kuipers Make-up: Gillian Campbell for MAC Cosmetics

Hair: Ditte Lund Lassen for label.m Professional Haircare Styling assistant: Leo Costelloe Model: India Farrell—Elite Model Management All clothing: Katherine Roberts-Wood A/W14

Katherine RobertsWood Mesmerizing, fluid optical sleeves meet stiff, geometric felt shapes—all held together without a single stitch. For Katie Roberts-Wood, this has been a recipe for success: the British designer recently pocketed the coveted ITS Fashion Collection of the Year Award and took home the Vogue Talents Awards. Her MA graduate collection, with its organic yet rigid forms, is a breathtaking combination of craftsmanship and technology. Glamcult spoke to the designer about synchrony, sustainability and why she gave up medicine for fashion.

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Gc Interview

Katherine Roberts-Wood

Hi Katie. Tell us about yourself.

What should be on your personal Wikipedia page?

Well… I was born and grew up in Nottingham, England. At 18, I moved to Glasgow to start a degree in medicine.

I’ve always found it crazy that we’re supposed to pick a career at 14 or 15, when we’re choosing what subjects to study at school. It’s impossible to know what you really want to do at that age! Anyway, I always loved art and design but because I was quite academic, it was expected that I should study more “serious” subjects, so I ended up applying for med school. Although studying medicine was fascinating, I realized that if I was going to commit my life to anything, it had to be something I was totally in love with. If I could finish my medical studies, I told myself, I would graduate and pursue my dream of doing something creative. Eventually—somehow!— I found my way to London and got into the Royal College of Art. Fashion seemed to be the obvious choice; it combines all the things I love, satisfying both the creative and analytical sides of my personality. Drawing, making, technical skills and total freedom of imagination— I love that clothes can have such a transformative power.

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And what about the insider facts?

I have a pet Schnoodle called Choux. I once appeared in a Bollywood movie. And when I was a child, I wanted to be an owl when I grew up.

What’s the most important thing you learned during your education?

When I studied medicine, I learned what hard work and dedication mean. I also learned a lot about people and their behaviour, which provided me with a wider context and broader view of the world. The more scientific side of my education definitely informs my design process and my inspiration for collections. Mostly, I learned that you have to take big, stupid risks sometimes, and that occasionally they pay off. The biggest thing I learned from my fashion education is to value criticism and not to be afraid of getting things really, really wrong. Not having a BA in fashion was quite hard.

Going into the MA, I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. I don’t think I would even have applied if I had known!

Having your work constantly scrutinized was horrible at first, but eventually you realize it’s the only way to get any better.

The best discoveries come by happy accidents. It’s a tough industry, especially

Katherine Roberts-Wood when you feel you’ve put your heart and soul into your work. A thick skin becomes very useful.

Let’s talk business. Does your collection have a name?

The collection is called SYNCH, based on the synchrony that birds display when they fly in groups. I’m obsessed with patterns and mathematics in nature. I love the way it seems like birds move as one organism, with one brain.

I liked the idea of loads of repeated, identical single units making up a larger whole that appears to be this entirely other magical thing with a life of its own.

I was also looking at fractals, tessellations and geometry in nature, especially things that repeat over and over. I used a wave as the basic unit to base my textile structure on, because it’s so prevalent in both mathematical and natural contexts. I developed a technique to link together laser-cut wave “layers” so they reveal flashes of colour when the wearer changes position. It became this bizarre, animalistic protective camouflage for the person wearing the clothes.

Why did you choose not to stitch the garments together?

Imposing rules on your design process can have interesting results.

I was playing around, developing this

technique of linking components together, and thought, Maybe it would be cool if none of the garments were stitched together at all. It forced me to find new ways of constructing the garments. Maybe it makes the process more interesting for me as a designer; it gets my brain engaged.

Do you have a preference for specific materials?

I like using combinations of synthetic and natural materials. I’m not sure if there’s anything I would never use, except for fur; it just wouldn’t feel right for me. I find it hard to find materials that are ethical and sustainably sourced, as pretty much everything is in some way bad for the environment, people or animals. The industry itself is just so antisustainability by its very nature. It’s something that bothers me but it’s hard to know how to approach it. Essentially, what I (and all fashion designers) do is make things for people that they don’t really need. The more you think about it, the harder it is to justify yourself… I’m also interested in the concept of emotional sustainability in design: if we don’t value things, everything becomes disposable.

Fashion should be special; we should want fewer things but they should be really special.

So how do you feel about the fast pace of the fashion world?

It feels really unnatural to me.

I completely get the pursuit of the new— change makes the fashion industry so exciting to be a part of, and it’s human nature to consume. I think it’s the combination of pace and volume that bothers me. I would much rather produce a small collection that is interesting than a huge one with loads of unnecessary bits. It just gets a bit boring. As the volume goes up, the quality goes down. The number of collections is a bit baffling too; some designers are doing so many collections a year. I would definitely be happy doing one a year. I feel like natural seasons are almost non-existent now—at least where I live! I wear the same things year round, just altering the number of layers.

I guess it’s all about money, and that’s horribly depressing.

that I was trying to do something different and quite ambitious. With competitions like these, I think it’s really important to be confident in your ideas, and communicate your passion. Doing things the “proper” way doesn’t really break new ground. Isn’t that the best thing about fashion? Now I get the incredible opportunity to develop another collection to show at ITS next year. If I hadn’t won the prize there was no way I would be able to afford to continue to develop my own work. I’m very lucky. www.katierobertswood.com

You won the ITS 2014 Fashion Collection of the Year Award, as well as the Vogue Talents Award.

How does it feel?

I was super surprised! Come to think of it, I was surprised to be picked as a finalist in the first place. I thought I didn’t stand a chance after I saw the work of all the other finalists; they’re a very talented group. I’m really grateful that (hopefully) the judges could see

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Gc Interview

Ballet School

By Kelsey Lee Jones Photography: Taufiq Hosen

Ballet School Inspiring Berlin-based trio Ballet School rewrites indie-pop in a new language—and it isn’t German. Front woman Rosie Blair has the charisma of Debbie Harry and sounds like a warbling Elizabeth Fraser, but her inner self, she confesses, is Lil’ Kim with her boobs out.

Glamcult talked feminism, fandom and influences with the Belfastborn songstress.

Ballet School is based in Berlin—although nobody from the band is actually German.

There’s Rosie Blair, from Northern Ireland, Japanese-Brazilian guitarist Michel Collet and Louis McGuire, the drummer from Leeds. Berlin is where this multi-national fusion feels comfortable, Rosie tells Glamcult: “It’s a place that allows for the band’s creative freedom—away from the external pressures of the industry, and the whole machinery of trying to get signed and noticed.” And contrary to the city’s hedonistic reputation, Blair assures us there is peace and quiet to be found there: “If you go down the party road, you could get lost in club land for easily ten years!” The band did, however, make a recent foray into the scene, landing a live gig at the famous, sexedup underground club Berghain/Panorama Bar—usually a Mecca for techno heads. Ballet School joined a rarefied roster of the handful of bands to have played there. “We were playing with Dirty Projectors,” says Blair. “It was awesome. It was really, really cool. I mean, Berghain is amazing, you know?”

As though it was destined, Blair first met guitarist Collet on a U-Bahn platform late at night, and there was an instant connection: “The second I saw him playing, I knew. He was amazing. He was exactly the right guitar sound that I had always imagined playing in a band with.” They exchanged numbers there and then, and the next day Ballet School was born. Blair and Collet’s relationship extended beyond the boundaries of the band for the first couple of years, but even after their break-up they managed

to keep the band together—no easy task: “I think that says something, you know what I mean? We’re extremely close. It’s all about the three of us and this insane chemistry we seem to have.”

That chemistry has an interesting composition. Blair undoubtedly appears as front woman and figurehead of the band, but she’s keen to share the limelight: “We’re definitely a band, it’s not just about me… It’s like how Debbie Harry only ever wanted to do Blondie. In the same way, I would only ever be in a band. Not, like, the blonde girl, standing at the front, with two fucking guys in black behind, whose names nobody knows!”

Blair is emphatic when speaking of her love for Blondie, likewise when she reveals some of her other idols: “Madonna! She’s a feminist icon—she’s been a part of my life since I was a tiny child. She’s always been there—like Coca-Cola. I’ll stand for Madonna forever. Forever!” Even nowadays, when Madge has arguably jumped the shark, with her blinged-up grill and inappropriate Instagram snaps, Blair remains loyal: “In Bed with Madonna, The Blonde Ambition Tour—I’m like, ‘Bitches can take a seat, you cannot compete!’ Or take several seats, she’s the best!” Strong, iconoclastic women are something of a theme. Blair recalls Lil’ Kim’s appearance at the MTV awards in 1999 as a defining moment: “She wore the purple outfit.

Her boob was out, she had a pastie over her nipple and she looked really amazing! She had stretch marks on her boobs—and I remember thinking, like, Fucking hell, man! That’s awesome.

That’s really cool! It’s really great when you know that your idols aren’t, like, this fucking perfect thing. They’re totally flawed, and they’re really real—women are real!” A feminist at heart, Blair herself is beautifully raw and unpolished—sassy, even, with her blunt peroxide hair and penchant for expletives. It all comes through in the Ballet School sound; there’s realness there—it’s accessible for us all.

Blair’s quiet confidence comes from a deeply held belief that it’s women who are on top in the pop and songwriting worlds: “Women are good, naturally good. I think it’s a fact, or I have this theory that women are the best topline writers. You know the girls who just write hooks for Rihanna? There are women out there who are fucking writing Rihanna’s hooks!” And pop music, you say? Ballet School has never considered it the low art form some of their peers might; in fact, that’s where they get much of their inspiration. Although signed to an indie label, Ballet School calls its own shots: “If you want to, you can really rewrite pop in your own image. People have an idea about what indie bands are, but I don’t think it’s really current anymore. Whenever an old model ceases to function you just replace it with a new model, it’s not rules—it’s just a model.”

Complementing the ’80s and ’90s pop influences in Ballet School’s sound is the impact of their favourite band, the Cocteau Twins. “Robin Guthrie played these insane guitar stylings and Liz Fraser was just this warbling goddess. They are the Godhead for our band. I love that band. It’s freaky and insane that

35

we are on the label they founded. It’s a huge deal for us.” Running the gamut of the ’90s music scene, Blair also cites The Smiths and Nirvana as influences— “I am, like, obsessed with Nirvana, I love that band deeply.”

Growing up, Blair was forbidden to listen to her own music, Madonna being frowned upon by her Catholic parents: “They thought she was horrible!

And they were like, ‘You are not putting pictures up of that Michael Jackson up on your walls!’” But like every good teenaged muso, she still managed to sneak certain records into the house, and gradually built up her own music collection. Her passion for music was realized when she started her first band, The Ragamuffins, in the playground when she was just seven years old. Some 23 years later, Blair understands the hard work goes into making it in the industry: “I used to think pop stars were just born on ‘Magic Planet’ and were, like, magicked to Earth and were magicked here successful. I didn’t really understand that it’s the people who have a sense of entitlement about it, it’s the people who decide that they are going to do it— those are the ones that make it happen.”

And so here they are, Ballet School, doing just that... www.balletschoolband.com 1 9 November, The Lexington, London (UK)

Gc Interview

By Emily Vernon Photography: Benjamin Mallek

Years &

Years

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Years & Years It is a truth universally acknowledged that standing out in the densely populated UK music scene is next to impossible—but emerging London indie-electro pop trio Years & Years makes it look easy.

Glamcult caught up with frontman Olly Alexander, bassist Mikey Goldsworthy and synth player Emre Turkmen to talk about the band’s natural progression, their chill group dynamic and versatile music projects.

In big-city fashion, the members of Years & Years met in London but came from different places. Olly Alexander, who grew up in Wales and Northern England, moved to London five years ago, just about the same time that Mikey Goldsworthy relocated from Australia. Emre Turkmen, meanwhile, had lived in the city since he was young, but didn’t meet the others until an Internet ad, shower and mutual friend brought them together. The story—which is less scandalous than its parts suggest— began with Turkmen answering an Internet ad for a guitarist posted by Goldsworthy: “I was also looking to make music with other people rather than by myself,” he says, “and so then we started making music together.”

Their search continued for a singer— at the same time that actor Alexander (Brits may recognize him from teen drama Skins; the more sophisticated from films such as Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch’s God Help the Girl) was eagerly keeping an eye out for opportunities: “I really wanted to join a band,” he says. When a mutual friend introduced him to Goldsworthy, Alexander went on a charm offensive: “I was like, ‘Mikey, let me be in the band,’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, maybe.’ And then he heard me singing in the shower... It was like my audition and then they let me in.”

Their almost effortless formation set the tone for the band’s following years: “We’re pretty chilled,” says Alexander. “You have to be if you’re going to spend every day with each other. If we didn’t get on it’d be a nightmare.”

Where other bands they’ve known have stabbed, strangled or refused to work with each another, Years & Years’s only

complaint centres on Turkmen’s bad jokes and Alexander’s resulting irritation.

Likewise, the band’s musical development has been a natural process. In the beginning, a more indie Years & Years appeared under streamers and Etsylike banners for their first music video, I Wish I Knew. A celebratory, sunshinestate sound progressively gave way to their current sensibilities when Turkmen replaced his guitar with a laptop, Goldsworthy explored synthesizers and Alexander began listening to more house music. “Naturally, we gravitated towards the sort of music that we’re making now,” says Turkmen. “It wasn’t really something we decided, it just sort of happened.”

Of their working method, Alexander says: “We all have a different way of writing.

I write quite traditionally on a piano and then use some of it to whatever Mikey or Emre have written.” The band’s range of inspirations furthers their scope and depth: Flying Lotus and Little Dragon are shared favourites, while Alexander also name-checked Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, Jeff Buckley, Joni Mitchell and Canadian author Margaret Atwood. Turkmen and Goldsworthy threw Radiohead, ’90s R&B, Prince and Marvin Gaye into the mix.

As for their own music, critics have found “electro pop” and “soulful R&B” equally appropriate, but clearly labels don’t really interest Years & Years; “making interesting pop music” does.

Recent covers and collaborations run the gamut of pop, from soulful to danceable, and exemplify a ceaseless push toward newness. The band’s fresh perspective on Blu Cantrell’s Breathe (featuring Sean Paul) retains the original soul vibe while smoothing out the delivery

with Alexander’s take on both Cantrell’s and Paul’s voices. And, they’ve tackled the upbeat tempo of The Magician’s summer-soaked anthem Sunlight, which was just released .

Listening to Alexander’s voice, which can just as easily accompany a piano as the band’s electronic production, his formal training slips into the background. In his acting life, Alexander earned recognition for his roles in West End play Peter and Alice and Mike Newell’s Great Expectations, in which he starred alongside English acting stalwarts Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter and Robbie Coltrane. With this training, it’s easy to assume the transition to music would be simple, but: “I hadn’t worked on myself,” Alexander explains. “I’ve just been playing characters for a while and I didn’t want to do that on stage.” Relieved to dedicate his full-time efforts to the band after a manic few years of filming, the distinctive-looking frontman stays in touch with the acting community by casting fellow actors in the band’s projects. The video for Kitsuné-produced EP Real, which took inspiration from David Lynch’s Twin Peaks and The Knife’s Pass This On video, explored the mystical effects of dancing as Ben Whishaw (Peter and Alice), Tuppence Middleton (Trance) and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits) battled it out for the approval of the band. Its nightclub atmosphere and neon lights darken the scene, allowing each actor to let loose—especially Whishaw, whose one minute-plus dance set defines unconfined reverie. It doesn’t stop there, however: the band’s third music video for their most recent EP Take Shelter features actor Emily Browning (who starred alongside Alexander in

37

God Help the Girl) as a tripped-out forest pixie who placed a spell on the group, intoxicating not only Years & Years but the wider audience as well.

In spite of industry accolades, Years & Years remain humble, considering themselves “a small fish in a big pond” amongst the dense UK music scene. Their initial successes are not taken for granted, as the band continues to giddily thank its fan base on Facebook for a sold-out show or eagerly try on a justreceived shipment of clothing from an interested label before the interview.

From their happenstance meeting in London to their chill outlook, Years & Years makes it look effortless—almost fun—to bring varying musical processes and inspiration together. Their openness to diverse genres and various pop projects are a direct result of this musical alchemy, which sees them well on their path to creating noteworthy pop music.

With a full album predicted in the next year or so, and an aggressive UK and European tour preceding it, music tastemakers will stay fixed not only on Years & Years’ upward progression, but also on the band’s extraordinarily natural approach. www.yearsandyears.co.uk 7 October, Plan B, London (UK) 29 October, O2 Brixton Academy, London (UK) 31 October, TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht (NL)

Gc Interview

By Kelsey Lee Jones Photography: Taufiq Hosen

Ghost Beach Glamcult met up with Brooklyn-based duo Josh Ocean and Eric “Doc” Mendelsohn, whose endeavours as Ghost Beach—a band name we can easily envisage in neon lights—result in multicoloured electropop with a retro twist, taking us on a mini trip back to ’80s Miami.

With their debut album Blonde, the boys seek to contradict preconceptions: “We never set out to make music that feels bright or summery!”

Hi guys. Let’s start with some basics. Where did you meet and how exactly was Ghost Beach formed?

Eric: We actually got together in another group. Josh was in a rock band and they needed a guitar player, so I joined. But after a while, the two of us decided that the music we were making in that group wasn’t really what we wanted to do. We’d written some songs together and we wanted to find a home, a place for them. So we decided to form Ghost Beach—just the two of us writing, producing and playing together. We always wanted to be a duo!

Was the music you played in your last band completely different?

Eric: Yeah, it was just rock music…

[Sighs] Two guitars, bass drums and vocals, you know? I think everyone goes through that phase.

Josh: We’re at such a cool point in history now, with technology enabling us to do so many interesting things. We wanted to be a part of that.

So when you write songs together, who does what?

Josh: We both like to do a bit of

everything. We usually start with a vocal idea or a drum beat, and then we build on top of either one of those. Often Eric is working on a drumbeat and I work on a vocal, and they just happen to fit together perfectly. We go back and forth, like playing ping-pong.

The title of your debut album is Blonde. What does that refer to?

Josh: It’s related to that superficial judgement often passed on people with blond hair. People hear our music and think that it’s bright and summery. That has always felt weird to us, because we never set out to intentionally make music that feels that way! Somehow there’s a parallel between the implied state of mind related to being blonde, and the bright quality to our music. Beneath the lightness of it, there’s actually a lot more.

What we’re saying is: look beneath the surface a little bit.

So all the colourful imagery that surrounds you, is that not a reflection of your characters?

Josh: It is! As you can tell by my purple hair—as well as my black shirt…

[Laughs] We’re colourful people. I mean, in NYC everyone wears black all the

time. We like bringing colour, there’s not enough out there. We’re always trying to go on vacation, mentally.

So it’s a bit like taking shrooms?

Eric: Yeah, exactly! There’s escapism to all of this and that’s really important for us: to feel like our music is transformative, and there’s dissociation from reality. About the summery mood: we just try to be ourselves and not think about it too much. The best we can do is write what we write. We grew up in a certain time, so we must have been influenced by certain music.

Who are the artists you grew up with?

Josh: Oh man, the list is long! Don Henley, The Beach Boys, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, Peter Gabriel, Tears for Fears, Paul Simon—I like all of these people.

Eric: I’ve always loved The Police, and Sting has always been my number one musical inspiration. But then I also really love the energy of punk and rock bands such as The Hives.

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jumping jacks; I do a back flip off the bandstand; Josh punches me in the face; I punch him in the face. And then we go on stage. Nah… Normally we don’t do much of anything. Boring, right? You know, the highlight of our day is playing a show.

So if it seems like we’re having a good time, it’s because we really are. I would say that during 85% of the shows we play, we have a lot of fun. And then there’s also the worst shows, the kind you never want to imagine ever again. You see yourself jumping up and down, you look into the room, and you’re like, “Damn it, what is this?”

Josh: But so far we’ve been lucky to play really cool gigs. One of the benefits of being in a band is that music brings people together; it connects. That’s definitely a perk, besides enjoying pressing sample pads and listening to lots and lots of bass sounds. Which is also fun, right? www.ghostbeachmusic.com

Is that where you get the energy from before you get on stage?

Eric: No! We all do about 35

Gc Interview

Visual Essays

40 The miserable have no other medicine.

Photography: Justine Leenarts

46 Hope is the thing with feathers.

Photography: Jeroen W. Mantel

The miserable have no other medicine.

Sweater Raf Simons x Sterling Ruby, briefs H&M Coat Francisco van Benthum, trousers Acne Studios, beanie The Quiet Life

Denim jacket and jeans Diesel Suit The Suits, turtleneck Avelon, jacket BLK DNM, shoes Vans, socks Falke

Jacket Diesel, vest and coat Prairie for Weekday

by Matthew Ames, trousers Weekday, shoes Vans, socks Falke Jumper H&M

Photography: Justine Leenarts Styling: Lisa Anne Stuyfzand Hair and make-up: Judith Neyens for Chanel—NCL Representation Model: Tino—Ulla Models Assistant photography: Michèle van Vliet Assistant styling: Julia Suyker

Coat Just in Case, jacket Saint Tropez, blouse Paige, skirt MTWTFSS Weekday

Hope is

Sleeveless top SuperTrash, turtleneck with loose sleeves H&M, trousers Walter Van Beirendonck (vintage)

the thing with feathers.

Bomber Monki, sweater Samsøe & Samsøe, turtleneck Vero Moda, dress worn as skirt H&M

Puffy jacket adidas by Stella McCartney, sleeveless jacket Guess, leopard print jacket Liu Jo, top H&M, skirt Guess

Leather jacket Raf Simons (vintage), puffy jacket Weekday, top H&M, skirt Monique van Heist, hat Tony Cohen, neckwarmer Stills, socks By Brown

Jacket Drykorn, blouse Caroline Biss, turtle neck H&M, skirt Oilily

Photography: Jeroen W. Mantel Styling: Alex van der Steen—Eric Elenbaas Agency Hair: Daan Kneppers—NCL Representation Make-up: Judith Neyens for Chanel—NCL Representation Assistant photography: Tashena Burroughs Assistant styling: Giedre Malinauskaite

The Future of Fashion is Now Craig Green

Central Saint Martins MA gradute collection 2012

Fashion is undergoing a profound change, as a young generation of socially engaged designers casts a critical eye over current conventions. From jackets that charge your phone to lace dresses made from strawberry plants, ideas that may just be the future are happening now.

This autumn, Rotterdam’s Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen celebrates new fashion perspectives and innovation around the world with the inspiring exhibition The Future of Fashion is Now, for which we worked on the campaign image and book design. Glamcult is also media partner, so stay tuned for more updates online.

London-born Craig Green is one of the six designers who have created work especially for the Hans Nefkens Fashion Award. He graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2012 and has since established his own label, with the element of protest fundamental to his design—a riot against existing traditions in fashion, if you will.

Dazzling Puzzling, A/W13, photo: Yoshitsugu Enomoto

Mintdesigns

Mintdesigns was founded in 2001 by Hokuto Katusi and Nao Yagi, who met while studying at Central Saint Martins. Their design philosophy is inspired by childhood and led by “happy mistakes” and accidents that occur during the design process, resulting in cheerful clothing that expresses emotion—mint!

52

Presented in collaboration with the Han Nefkens Fashion on the Edge initiative, The Future of Fashion is Now is testimony to the expanding consciousness that is developing within the fashion world today, as young designers become increasingly mindful and innovative in their practice. Both curator José Teunissen and the 56 international showcasing designers critique our current fashion system, posing questions such as: “Do we actually want a new wardrobe every six months or can fashion last longer?”, “Does the fit of a dress have to satisfy the prevailing ideal of beauty or might it be different?” and “What is fashion’s role in the advance of wearable technology?”

There’s plenty to see from both designers affiliated with renowned fashion houses and young, up-andcoming talent, all working at the very cutting edge of fashion and art. They are innovators and inventors, seeking to reposition perspectives and offer alternatives for our future. They present the most progressive of ideas in technology, sustainability and new materials, exploring such subjects as fashion and politics, public consumption, the social value of clothing and notions of identity.

And you’re invited to participate in these discussions—via an expert meeting, workshops and lectures—to help facilitate valuable change in the fashion industry.

Six designers—Iris van Herpen (Netherlands), Craig Green (UK), D&K (Ricarda Bigolin & Nella Themelios,

Australia), Olek (Poland/USA), Digest Design Workshop—Dooling Jiang (China) and Lucia Cuba (Peru)—have been commissioned to make new work especially for the exhibition, enabled by the Han Nefkens Fashion on the Edge Award, an initiative of writer, patron and art activist Han Nefkens, fashion expert José Teunissen and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen With help from 20 international scouts they’ve spent the past few years searching for special talent, from which they and the other jury members—Dutch design duo Viktor&Rolf, Karin Swerink (Vogue Nederland) and Vassilis Zidianakis (Atopos CVC)—selected the award winners.

And that’s not all. Visionary designs from renowned fashion figures such as Christophe Coppens (Belgium), Hussein Chalayan (Cyprus) and Commes des Garçons (Japan) will also feature, while Viktor&Rolf have created a Zen garden and performance display, which act as a plea for the industry to move more slowly and with greater mindfulness.

Get down to Rotterdam, get involved and see tomorrow’s fashion, today. The Future of Fashion is Now will be on display from 11 October until 18 January 2015. www.futureoffashion.nl www.boijmans.nl

The Future of Fashion is Now

Beyond the Body: A Perception of Appearanceand Identity, 2012, costumes of digitally printed silk.

Film: Maja Zamodja

The Welsh Space Campaign, 2013, photo: Dan Burn-Forti

Made by Rain, Dutch rain print on a 100% silk shawl, 2013, photo: Pim Leenen

The sky is no limit for young Welshman and design student Hefin Jones, as he investigates the limitless possibilities of his home country, He’s sent ordinary Welsh folk into outer space via a space suit created entirely from local resources and materials— hey, listen up and realize the potential of collective communitarian effort. Cosmic!

Jennifer Gadient

Julia Krantz

Imme van der Haak is a Dutch designer who recently completed her MA in product design at the Royal College of Art in London. Through her work she seeks to question our definition of “normal”, playing with and obscuring existing fashion archetypes.

Si Chan

Shell Collection, 2009, photo: Julia Krantz

Inflatable Smokey Coat, S/S12, photo: Christian Schnur

Dutch textile designer and graduate of Amsterdam’s Sandberg Institute, Van der Kruijs is a true nature girl. Her work explores the relationship between colour, culture and natural environments, with nature serving as both subject and material.

She’s made it possible to “wear the weather” by working the ever-present Dutch rain into beautiful print work using photosensitive material.

Swiss art graduate Jennifer Gadient is fascinated with the world hidden from the human eye. She finds inspiration in X-rays that expose the structure of the human body, creating garments that make visible the silhouette of the body beneath.

She works with materials such as transparent PVC, which explains why her work is been des­ cribed as “plastic poetry”.

Imme van der Haak

Hefin Jones

Swedish designer and graduate of HDK School of Design, Julia Krantz designs structures that prepare wearers for the impending future, using volume and shape for reinforcement. Her designs are reminiscent of human anatomical elements and organs, turning the body inside out.

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Hug me, 2012, photo: Sara Pista

Aliki van der Kruijs

Si Chan, a designer from Hong Kong and master’s student at Central Saint Martins, speaks volumes through his work. For his graduate collection he set out to expose the human condition with the theme of loneliness and (mis)communication, maximizing the idea of a hug with jovial and voluptuous padded garments—spreading the love!

Gc Collab

Paradiso

Stockists Acne Studios www.acnestudios.com

Francisco van Benthum www.franciscovanbenthum.com

Stella McCartney www.stellamccartney.com

adidas www.adidas.com

Guess www.guess.eu

Sterling Ruby www.sterlingrubystudio.com

American Apparel www.americanapparel.net

H&M www.hm.com

Stills www.stills-atelier.com

Avelon www.avelon.me

Hugo Boss www.hugoboss.com

SuperTrash www.supertrash.com

BLK DNM www.blkdnmcloseup.com

Just in Case www.justincase.be

The Quiet Life www.thequietlife.com

By Brown www.brownclothes.eu

Liu Jo www.liujo.it

The Suits www.the-suits.com

Caroline Biss www.carolinebiss.com

Monique van Heist www.moniquevanheist.com

Tony Cohen www.tony-cohen.com

Sean Nicholas Savage

Chanel www.chanel.com

Oilily www.oililyworld.com

Vans www.vans.com

Monday 13 October

Converse www.converse.com

Paige www.paige.com

Vero Moda www.veromoda.com

Diesel www.diesel.com

Raf Simons www.rafsimons.com

Walter Van Beirendonck www.waltervanbeirendonck.com

Drykorn www.drykorn.com

Saint Tropez www.sainttropez.com

Weekday www.weekday.com

Falke www.falke.com

Samsøe & Samsøe www.samsoe.com

Saturday 5 October

Bear In Heaven Wednesday 8 October

Fool’s Gold Saturday 11 October

Felabration

Mulatu Astatke, Jungle by Night Sunday 12 October

Richard Reed Parry

(Arcade Fire) & The London Contemporary Orchestra Tuesday 14 October

Erlend Øye Wednesday 15 till Sunday 19 October

Amsterdam Dance Event FKA Twigs, Buraka Som Sistema, Zoot Woman, Funkinevil, Sevdaliza, Rustie, Mount Kimbie (dj-set), Gallowstreet, The Magician e.v.a.

I want Glamcult!

Thursday 23 October

Cloud Boat Friday 24 October

Woman’s Hour Saturday 25 October

My Brightest Diamond Thursday 30 October till Friday 7 November

Indiestad

Friday 31 October till Saturday 1 November

London Calling

Kate Boy, Spoon, John Wizards e.v.a.

Tuesday 4 November

Foxygen

Friday 7 November

Kiesza

Tuesday 11 November

Little Dragon Saturday 15 November

Banks

Please note that this is only a selection of the Paradiso programme.

Check www.paradiso.nl for all programmes, venues and tickets.

Glamcult is released eight times a year, providing a platform for rising and established talent from the realm of fashion, music, art and film. We don’t tell you what to wear, what music to listen to, or which parties to attend. We simply give a unique impression of what is happening on the frontlines of avantgarde (youth) culture. Sign up now to get every issue sent straight to your doorstep!

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