GLAMCULT / 2015 / ISSUE 7 / #115 / EU

FREE 2015—Issue 7 #115

“Between light and nowhere.”

Glamcult Independent Style Paper

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Issue 7 #115 Update

Embody

Cult 8

Gosha Rubchinskiy 38

Platform

Jean-Vincent Simonet 14

Visual Essay

We’re in...

We're all...

Interviews

Charles Jeffrey 16 Beni Bischof 20 Y/PROJECT 24 Shura 30 Beau 32 Visionist 36

40 46

Update

Albums 54 Plus

Stockists 55

Colophon Editor-in-Chief Joline Platje joline@glamcult.com Creative Director Rogier Vlaming rogier@glamcultstudio.com Fashion Editor Leendert Sonnevelt leendert@glamcultstudio.com Copy Editor Megan Roberts Sales & Marketing Filippo Battaglia filippo@glamcult.com Sales sales@glamcult.com Art Director Marline Bakker marline@glamcultstudio.com

Graphic Design Glamcult Studio: Karen van de Kraats Rutger de Vries Graphic Design Intern Madelon Balk Contributors: Daniël Heijl Doria Arkoun Emily Vernon Emma van Meyeren HFA Lohan Jack Dolan Katrice Dustin Kelsey Lee Jones Matthijs van Burg Misha Kruijswijk Sander van Dalsum Sarah Johanna Eskens

Photographers: Ari Versluis Charles Jeffrey Daniel Sannwald Gareth Wrighton Holly Fernando Katharina Poblotzki Raffaele Cariou Sophie Mayanne Violette Esmeralda Françoise Bolechowski

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

Quotes Between light and nowhere.

—Antony Hegarty

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

We're in a magic place, y'all.

—James Franco, Spring Breakers We’re all mad here.

— Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland Cover Photography: Raffaele Cariou Styling: Morgane Nicolas Hair: Yoshiko Haruki Make-up: Asami Kawai Model: Céline Bouly—Supreme Paris T-shirt Vetements, panties Petit Bateau, socks Falke, shoes Allude

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rogier@glamcultstudio.com www.glamcultstudio.com Distribution distribution@glamcult.com

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ISSN: 1874 1932

Cult

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Graduation collection 2015 Out of the Blue, Photo: Team Peter Stigter

28. everyday selfie project, 2015

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Graduation collection 2015, Photo: Ferry van der Nat

Tanja Ritterbex

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Sophie Hardeman

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Scooter Beijing, 2015

Cleopatra on burger, 2015

Olivier Jehee

The Royal Moffie Family

Damien Girard

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The work of visual artist Tanja Ritterbex, in which she casts herself as subject matter, can be read as a diary spanning a great diversity of media. An overarching manic disposition seems to inform her work, which she humorously deploys whether she paints, performs, draws, sculpts or makes use of DIY video. These alterations of medium form the significant part of the body of her work, as she questions the continuously changing image of the female self. “When you finally understand that what you see is not what you think, then you can see in it what you want,” she says. By producing her work in series, Ritterbex creates an intricate network in which her pieces affect one another —and which subsequently appears to form a world of its own. It’s a world of bewildering enchantment and bizarre rituals that is sure to captivate the spectator. By Ruben Baart www.tanjaritterbex.blogspot.nl

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Fashion as a valuable form of protest: it’s nothing new, especially coming from an experimental young designer.

Much like the Teddy boys some 60 years ago, however, Royal Academy of Art (The Hague) graduate Olivier Jehee not only criticizes, but also celebrates authority. Bringing together two very different worlds—one of luxury and decadence; the other of revolt— Jehee permits a clash of cultures, referencing punks, traditional couture, dandies like Stephen Tennant, skinheads and 18th-century monarchs at the very same time. Visualizing all his quotations through the art of collage, the Amsterdam-based designer, a former intern at Meadham Kirchhoff, guided his BA collection towards the right silhouettes, colours and materials. Sure, there’s a lot happening here, and the clothes might not be for all. Yet more is definitely more, in this case. “People [still] don’t know how to treat boys with feminine interests who simply love to dress up in their mothers’ dresses,” Jehee told Glamcult. “Instead of shaming and discriminating against them, my collection is a statement that celebrates different tastes and preferences.”

By Leendert Sonnevelt

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Loud cheers erupted when this collection hit the runway of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie’s graduation show. Street casting her mob of models, among them some of Amsterdam’s cutest club kids, Sophie Hardeman presented an “affectionate reaction to the current fashion industry”—flaunted to a distorted edit of Smack My Bitch Up. Surprisingly, this young designer’s non-conformist views are channelled through one of the least adventurous fashion staples: denim. Conventional jeans are liberated from any structure they normally have to conform to, and daily denim routines are (literally) turned upside down. With Out of the Blue, Hardeman intends to challenge and shift the public perspective on fashion. Her mix of well-crafted clothes, idealism and humour brings to mind the iconic work of Bernhard Willhelm, the art-fuelled fashion designer with whom Hardeman interned. Glamcult crush! Put that bass in your walk… By Leendert Sonnevelt www.sophiehardeman.com

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Those things that “locals” no longer notice, Damien Girard marvels at. The Paris-based photographer (and fashion marketing student) elevates the human traces of life from the daily landscape to harmonious art form. From Beijing to New York, through the momentary snapshots of urban scenes Girard minimizes the distance between the viewer and the subject, resulting in an unsettling intimacy. “The presumption is that a photo doesn’t reflect reality; it’s merely choices and interpretation. I’ve taken this idea further to consider it a lie.” Thus Lying Tapes was born, the ambiguous name of Girard’s Tumblr account, which comprises a contemporary compilation that accepts mistakes to better enjoy life. The ultimate place to dream your Sunday morning away. By Doria Arkoun www.lyingtapes.tumblr.com

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When Dutch photographer Jan Hoek and fashion designer Duran lantink came across a photo on the internet of a South African transgender sex worker, the two set about tracking her down in Cape Town. Fascinated by her ability to improvise outfits from the most hideous of garments, they invited the woman and her co-workers to design their own clothes, capturing them for a series called The Royal Moffie Family. With Hoek shooting the girls and Lantink having lent his talents to reify the women’s designs, the collection aspires to push boundaries, to spread the message that being “different” should be celebrated and honoured worldwide. From pyramids to Victorian brothels, AK47s to Naomi Campbell, Hoek and Lantink use their skills to make the girls’ dreams come true, creating their joint dream photo shoot at the same time. The whole series is still a work in progress, but will be shown soon enough during Amsterdam Fashion Week. By Doria Arkoun www.janhoek.net www.duranlantink.com

Gc Update

Photography: Franรงoise Bolechowski

r u o y p Kee t dry fee mes. i t l l at a Going out is a fun but wet and slippery exercise. Beer, beverages, wet floors, dirty bathrooms... In places where being waterproof is a huge convenience, make sure you wear the right sneaker. Keep your feet dry with the Rubber Chuck. www.converse.com

Cult

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Polyester issue 3, 2015

A/W15 Collection, Photo: Ollie Hadlee Pearch

Cut up lyrics for Blackout from Heroes, 1977

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David Bowie is

Polyester 10

Hannah Weiland

HEADBONE production image, 2015

Graduation collection 2015

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Marie-Sophie Beinke

Headbone

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Yup, we all have friends or relatives that saw this and came back bigger and better fans than ever before.

Superstar, composer, author, painter, style god, actor, fashion icon and (not kidding) co-writer of the forthcoming Spongebob musical… Davie Bowie Is. After seeing Chicago, Toronto, Sao Paulo, Paris, Berlin, Melbourne and London, it’s the Netherlands’ turn to welcome the acclaimed retrospective, which brings together five decades of personal Bowie memoires: costumes, handwritten lyrics, photography, set design, album artwork and rare performance material, together bearing witness to the gargantuan influence of David Robert Jones. So whether you’ve already seen it or not, we suggest booking your #bowieisnl visit before it’s too late and discovering the extensive side programme put on by the Groninger Museum. “I’m an instant star.

Just add water and stir.”

By Leendert Sonnevelt 11 December until 13 March 2016, Groninger Museum, Groningen

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If Shrimps’ A/W15 collection was narrated, it would probably be an epic tale... The tale of a roguish British bird heading for a facetious planet, perched between the Wizard of Oz’s Emerald City and Star Trek’s Super-Earth. Dreamt up

by London designer Hannah Weiland, the planet Shrimps is a pot-pourri of artists, paintings and architectural inspirations. From the acid colours borrowed from Luis Barragán to the faces reminiscent of Otto Dix’s work, Shrimps is an ode to fashion’s joyously playful side. Using carefully sourced fabrics that emphasize luminous colours and texture, the label creates eccentric and cultish pieces, with at its heart, faux fur and outerwear. This winter, Weiland offers up fluffy, poodle-like faux shearlings, embellished with astral crystal buttons and in shades of mustard, malachite, terracotta and forest green. By Doria Arkoun www.shrimps.co.uk

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It’s hard to miss the new wave of internet artists, digi-feminists and fashion designers expressing themselves with glitter, ’90s references and lots of pink.

Print magazine Polyester is here to try and convince us that this is not just a momentary trend. Londoner Ione Gamble founded the magazine after noting that mainstream media took “trashy” fashion less seriously than its conceptual, minimalist counterpart. Now Polyester aims to prove that all things trash, camp and kitsch have a deeper layer and those creating it have an important message to share, often about gender or the female body. This is brought to life by, among others, fashion designer Edward Meadham (of Meadham Kirchhoff), who co-authored an article, and by Glamcult fav Arvida Byström, who shot one of the features. So far, the team has successfully released three issues, and with tons of norms and standards out there to be challenged, we expect many more inspiring issues to come. By Sarah Johanna Eskens

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Named Headbone, Charles Richardson’s exhibition at the Zabludowicz Collection will certainly leave you scratching your skull. In his videos and installations the British artist explores themes of male identity and uncertainty. Through the symbolic use of bodies, objects and gestures he navigates the idiosyncrasies that permeate the “lifestyles” of today. Sound is a vital component of Headbone, with a specially recorded version of the song Dem Bones acting as soundtrack. A children’s favourite, its lyrical origins lie in the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel in which God, through the prophet, breathes life back into scattered human remains. Avoiding direct commentary, Richardson instead employs images of the absurd to renegotiate the preposterousness of contemporary existence, in an approach that disarms through dark humour and the staging of infantile wonder.

By Kelsey lee Jones 8 October until 8 November, Zabludowicz Collection, London

www.polyesterzine.com www.zabludowiczcollection.com www.charlie-richardson.com

www.davidbowie-groningen.nl

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Der club der wilden maler—“The club of wild painters” that German “Die Brücke” expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905 sparked a flamboyant inspiration for Munich-born fashion designer Marie-Sophie Beinke some 110 years later. Beinke lost herself in their gaudy, artificial colour palette and applied her own passion as a painter to envisage her multicoloured graduate menswear collection at the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts, that aptly was shown at the MoMu last year. She imagined how artists like Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner or Otto Mueller might look if the inner world of a man was brought to the outside— “How might one dress an artist in his own paintings?” The answer is a pleasing combination of bold geometric blocks on white suits and shapes, stand-out sequins and colour-pop macs, all styled against bursting floral arrangements and laid upon patterned fabric cuttings. Die Brücke translates as “the bridge”, emblematic of a bridge between present and past for Beinke.

Here’s to plenty more of her colourful creations bridging out into the fashion world. By Kelsey Lee Jones

Gc Update

Video Doors of Perception, 2014, courtesy of Box Freiraum Collectie

Cult

Schlange (Snake), 2015

Exhibition view of Primitive Data, 2015, Photo: Gert Jan van Rooij

By Emma van Meyeren

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Markus Selg

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German artist Markus Selg is no newcomer to the world of art. Having presented his first solo exhibition (titled New York City Girl) back in 1997, he’s just shy of two decades’ experience.

This year, he’s taking his work to De Hallen Haarlem, with the exhibition Primitive Data. Glamcult talked with Selg about what to expect from his work anno 2015, and came to understand his role as an observer and connector above all else.

“In the end, life is the Gesamtkunstwerk,” Selg says of the interaction between his individual works and the installations they form together. The multimedia artist will show his work in seven rooms through various installations in Haarlem’s modern and contemporary art museum, De Hallen. But don’t get too caught up in the individual forms and objects, as Selg himself cautions: “I don’t really think there is any individual work of art at all.” Instead, his art is best understood holistically, telling one and the same story, evolving around the same themes: the archaic, the mythical and transformation.

The perfect case in point is his work The Testament (2005), a digitally

printed panorama. “In the history of immersive rooms—which goes from cave paintings to virtual reality—the panorama was very popular in the 19th century: it was one step before the birth of cinema,” Selg explains. In The Testament he depicts a couple with a child on a raft, stranded between the elements, waiting for the tides to come.

“It could be the end of a journey or the beginning,” he says. “The Testament is something like the hard disk of this show. It’s filled with the memory of mankind—like an archaic storage vault or tomb.” Ultimately, Selg is using different techniques from across history to discuss the archaic, to demonstrate ongoing transformations and to amplify similarities. As such, we shouldn’t expect to understand Primitive Data as a discussion of oppositions, Selg explains: “I like connecting things that seem to be contrasts. I think the joining of forces is the most dominant aspect in my work.”

Data, for instance, he interprets as digital data as well as the data of our ancestors stored in DNA and in myths. And thus it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Selg explains the title of his exhibition as “uniting different

fields: the archaic, primordial, the so-called primitive and the fields of contemporary technology and science.”

His criticism isn’t so much of the opposition between the primitive and the modern, but of the fetishization of data: “We should see data as more than its functionality. The observation of the smallest units in quantum physics is necessary for scientists to reach the conclusion that matter is not made up of matter: instead, there are endless potentialities and what we perceive as matter is closer to something like frozen spirit. Maybe we can find something similar if we take a different look at data.” And this is how Selg brings Primitive Data together as a description of something new, something that was already there but can now be viewed differently: “Primitive Data could be something like a bridge between archaic, spiritual technologies and contemporary technology.”

Likewise, Selg doesn’t prefer digital over non-digital techniques or the other way around: “I think they are totally intertwined and I like how both influence one another.” He appreciates the functions digital techniques offer,

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which are often easier than non-digital ones—for instance, the “undo” function and digital film techniques, which allow for endless reshooting of scenes. On the other hand, these new, easier and more approachable techniques still need the artist’s direction: “In the end, it’s still the vision of the artist that is most important.” It’s this vision that Selg has been developing over the last decades through different media and modes of working: “For the last five years I didn’t have a studio. I kind of pushed my boundaries,” he says.

During that time Selg worked on his first feature film, Das Ewige Antlitz, staged an opera and travelled with his camera through Benin in West Africa. “Now, elements of all this come together for the first time in a single exhibition. I like this moment of retrospection. Everything strangely comes together very well, it’s like a spiral movement.”

When asked about the message behind these notions of similarity and transformation, Selg says: “The beautiful thing about art is that it influences your life in an unpredictable way. You follow your ideas and intuition, but you don’t really know where it’s leading you.”

He continues: “I went to see a voodoo priest to learn more about putting life into objects and creating rooms that have a strong energy. Maybe it was a bit naïve to think I could find some explanations. Of course, there was no explanation at all. It was quite a profound experience, though, and after a sleepless night I slowly realized that it was already more than I’d hoped for. So if people take some kind of experience with them from this show, I’ll be more than happy.”

Primitive Data will be on view at De Hallen Haarlem (Haarlem) until 3 January 2016. www.dehallen.nl

Gc Update

“My pictures, whichever one you pick in this exhibition, they all start from what surrounds me: all the people that you see here are my friends,” Lausannebased artist Jean-Vincent Simonet says of the images that surround him at Foam photography museum, where he’s showing at the moment. “The places too... my dad’s printing house, the statues that I encountered when I was in Paris, it’s all me!” And while Simonet’s images seem staged, they all come naturally, he says: he grabs his camera, calls some friends to join him and lets them fool around so he can take his infrared photos. Adding a touch of magic at the processing stage, Simonet is perhaps as much alchemist as photographer: manoeuvring between traditional darkroom techniques and innovative, bleeding- edge practices, he explores conventional approaches to reach new interpretations of the ordinary, giving birth to absurd yet sublime, surrealistic situations.

It soon becomes clear that Simonet has no real script; it’s all about creation. “My process began with some Skype screenshots that I found really cool. But I didn’t want anyone to know that I took them from there, because of the contemporary aspect of these phone calls.” And because anyone

can make a screenshot—you don’t have to be an artist for that—Simonet looked for new ways to “break” the digital aspect. “I first did some photograms with the screen printed on photographic paper, but that was too simple. What I did next was boil the chemicals that I use to develop photos. This gives the sort of colour effects, like something was spilled on them. Then I added some contemporary techniques: I scanned them to add chrome and intensity,” he explains.

Simonet infuses a poetic feeling into violent and lugubrious atmospheres, just as his hero Conte de Lautréamont did. Based on the French poet’s work The Songs of Maldoror, written in 1868, Simonet’s Foam exhibition encapsulates the poet’s spirit through a series of photos. It doesn’t literally follow the text; rather, the exhibition plunges the public into a disconcerting but sublime aesthetic. Just as Lautréamont was calling out to his young readers to feel free, think for themselves and stand up against normative standards, Simonet forces his visitors to be irreverent. Inspired by what the Surrealists did with The Songs of Maldoror in the early 20th century, the photographer updates the work as a manifesto. Lautréamont spoke up against God, religion and morals back

then. But what of Simonet? “I’ve always hung out with outsiders, people that disturb conventional life in some way.

I don’t really like narrow-minded people. So this exhibition would burn their eyes!”

Chromatic primary colour installation for Lyset’s Dag by Dansk Center for Lys, Lokomotiv Værkstedet, Copenhagen, 2014

By Doria Arkoun Portrait: Jean-Vincent Simonet

Jean-Vincent Simonet At a time when mundane, everyday life photography is swamping the world, the work of Jean-Vincent Simonet displays the uplifting idea that the banality of our daily surroundings can be elevated to the poetic.

Through a highly personal approach to the medium and the swapping between old and new techniques, the French photographer slash alchemist works instinctively to “disturb conventional life”.

Jean-Vincent Simonet: Maldoror is on view at Foam (Amsterdam) until 1 November. www.jeanvincentsimonet.com www.foam.org

Installations made for the Art Zone at Roskilde Festival, 2015

“My final exam: one idea and the deadline set within the week. I needed this plant dead, so I kindly fed it with bleach.”—Jean-Vincent Simonet

“I feel the need for the infinite. I cannot, cannot satisfy this need. I am the son of a man and a woman, from what I have been told.

This astonishes me. I believed I was something more.”

—From The Songs of Maldoror

“We don’t know much about Lautréamont’s private life. Thanks to his book, people were able to find out bits and pieces of his teenage loves and the influence they had on his writing: it turned out he was gay and had sex with some hermaphrodites... This photo portrays my own teenage love.” —Jean-Vincent Simonet

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Gc Platform

Interviews

Charles Jeffrey is an arbiter of London nightlife and fashion alike.

Beni Bischof: “Magazines. I love them!”

Y/PROJECT designer Glenn Martens: “I'm that creepy guy staring at you in the metro.”

Shura: “I sound like the cheeriest pop star in the world, don’t I?”

Character differences Visionist: “Anxiety is created a remarkable something that you don’t see.” yin-and-yang compatibility in Beau’s joint coming-of-age transition.

Segabodega: coat Issey Miyake (vintage) Soraya: coat Halston (archive)

By Katrice Dustin Photography: Gareth Wrighton and Charles Jeffrey

Art direction, casting and set design: Charles Jeffrey Styling: Kate Lovat Models: Soraya窶馬evs models, Segabodega All clothing A/W15 and S/S16

Over the last year, 25-year-old CSM graduate Charles Jeffrey has made a name for himself on and off the runway as an arbiter of nightlife culture and fashion alike. With the notorious East London club night Loverboy, as well as menswear collections that aim to deconstruct common depictions of gender and (male) beauty, Jeffrey is a young force to be reckoned with. Glamcult spoke to the Glasgowborn designer about the story behind his work, why he’s not trying to be McQueen and the “freak soup” that makes London an exciting place to be.

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Gc Interview

Segabodega: top vintage

Your club night began just over a year ago. What is Loverboy and how did it start?

Loverboy started when I was asked to do a club night at Vogue Fabrics, which coincided with my 24th birthday.

It was a night to just have fun and be with friends, and from there it grew in popularity so we decided to keep it going. Now, Loverboy is a laboratory for me to work with people and try out new ideas.

You’ve shown two menswear collections so far: your graduate collection and your S/S16 collection presented at Fashion East.

What’s your working process when designing?

I illustrate a lot and work with people to help get me into a certain vibe. I also like making images and little films to help explain what I’m trying to say through each of my bodies of work.

I think there’s something to be said about not overthinking and just allowing myself to be lazy sometimes. I often end up finding inspiration while being lazy, actually.

I’ve found that when I’m not thinking too hard about things, something I’ve totally disregarded as an idea can suddenly come back to me and seem to work. I also try not to take myself too seriously.

You recently won Fashion Graduate of the year at the Scottish Fashion Awards. How did that feel?

It was great! I was very honoured to be alongside such talented Scottish people. It was a very proud Scottish night, ha-ha. Also, lots of champagne.

What’s the story behind your A/W15 graduate collection?

Truthfully, I kind of struggled with that collection. I actually didn’t have anything fully decided upon until the first fitting. It was based on my illustrations as well as how I dress, and just my entire vibe at the time.

Who is a designer working right now that you find inspiring?

I really love what Grace Wales Bonner is doing. She’s putting something out there that has so much heart and soul to it. Of course I have heroes like Galliano, Yohji Yamamoto, Raf Simons and Rei Kawakubo… but to feel in person what I’ve felt via my heroes through films and books was very touching.

There’s something special about the fact that Grace is around the same age as me and lives in London. She has an incredible vision and is making something truly beautiful.

You moved to London when you were 18 to do the BA course in fashion design at Central Saint Martins. What do you like about living in London?

You can do anything in London.

If you decided you wanted to make a film tomorrow, you can do that. If you’re passionate about what you do and you’re willing to work hard, you can get whatever you want. It’s so easy to meet people and you can always find someone to work with that you really like. Yeah, it’s shit for a lot of reasons and it’s expensive—of course. By no means is it an easy city to live in. It can be a real struggle and I’ve felt that struggle. But there is always someone to talk to and be, like, “Yeah, it’s shit.” Then you go to a nice café and have an avocado toast and it’s great again. The nightlife here now is also incredible. There are so many amazing people who are excited to be here. And all the freaks move to London, which is the best part. It’s like a freak soup.

A freak soup peppered with poverty.

when it comes to my own work, so I think I need that partner or somebody to work with who believes in what I do and wants to work with me day in and day out.

Someone who won’t let me get away with murder, basically.

Which direction do you see Charles Jeffrey heading in the coming years?

Firstly I’m looking to build a team, because right now it’s really just me working on the label. I can be a bit destructive

www.charlesjeffrey.net

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What are you envisioning for your next collection?

I’ve got loads of ideas about what I want to do next. I kind of feel like a rebellious teenager right now. My room and workspaces are a disaster.

I think it’s really me trying to be something that I’m not and then reacting to that. Like, I’m kind of done trying to be this proper “adult” fashion designer and having these crazy high expectations of my career and myself. I haven’t got any money, it’s hard to live in London!

Why should I be trying to be like McQueen or something? I’m not. Why should I try so hard to be the best pattern cutter?

That’s not me. I’ve become a bit sick of trying to be these things that I’m just not.

Maybe I’m feeling a bit punk.

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Gc Interview

Segabodega: pants Puma Soraya: leotard and hat stylist’s own

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From the series Meta Fingers, 2009

By Misha Kruijswijk

Enfant terrible, professional provocateur and artistic all-rounder: there’s never a dull moment in the world of Beni Bischof. The Swiss artist has a taste for sausage, the banal and the bizarre, and energetically fools around with thick layers of oil paint, chewing gum and the sleek surfaces of magazine ads to subvert our boring reality. “Don’t grow up—it’s a trap!”

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Gc Interview

Born in 1976 in St Gallen, a small town near the Austrian border, Beni Bischof was probably around 12 when he first knew he wanted to become an artist.

“But not really. Somehow I repressed it for a long time. Until people around me said, ‘You’re an artist.’ For me, it was more important to be particularly free and independent, and becoming an artist was the consequence of that.”

“Free” is a particularly good characterization of Bischof’s work, for he refuses to be tied down to any single medium. Instead, his oeuvre, which this year earned him the Manor-Kunstpreis —complete with 15,000 Swiss francs and a solo exhibition—ranges from drawings to painting to chewing-gum sculptures, and from fluorescent graffiti to sausagefuelled photo montages. Visiting Bischof’s personal website, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by his enormous, kitschy creative force. It is in his hometown St Gallen that Bischof attempts to channel this artistic ADD. And unsurprisingly, his studio is far from quiet: “I listen to talk radio, radio is great,” he says. “Often I’m hearing movies. And when I’m listening to music, then it’s to different things, from jazz to rap and pop and from punk to classical. Okay, not often classical. Today it’s Gil Scott-Heron, Mark Mothersbaugh and the track Panflute by Nazca—the song from the Nescafé ad.”

It’s clear that if “bonkers” is Bischof’s middle name, “versatile” comes a close second—not only in his choice of media or music, but also when it comes to subject matter. Heavily armed lasagne slices, hovering cars, photos of wellplaced fingers through glamorous ads: in the world of Beni Bischof, everything is possible. His interventions are provoking and funny, meant to entertain and break through the tedium of daily routine. His impulsive and direct way of working is probably most evident in his drawings, which almost seem like occupational therapy for the artist. We see hateful bananas, barfing machine guns and rockets charged with rotten sausages. They are simple and spontaneous and bear strong resemblance to the cartoon world of childhood: “I was absolutely fascinated with drawing comics and creating my own world and sinking into it,” he confirms. “My dream job as a kid was comic artist. Today my drawings are more related to pop culture in general.”

It is his treatment of pop culture, simultaneously celebrating and critiquing it, that puts Bischof in the long and colourful parade of pop artists. His favourite piece of mass culture? “Magazines.

I love them. They’re a great source of inspiration.” It turns out to be a mutual feeling. In his series Meta Fıngers, Bischof sticks his hands through the surface of the glossy paper, giving Scarlett Johansson, Kate Moss and others an especially phallic, analogue nose job in the process. A dirty mind is a joy forever after all—although Bischof also stresses that perversity is in the eye of the beholder. In the series Sausage Power, he provides picture-perfect models with a very special makeover, inserting pieces of juicy wurst. It seems like Bischof’s very personal way of giving the advertisement world the finger.

His Germanic heritage isn’t limited to Bischof’s preference for sausage as an artistic prop; he mentions Martin Kippenberger and Dieter Roth as important inspiration. Both artists were working in the second half of the 20th century and are famous for their multidisciplinary, ground-breaking and expressive work. Bischof clearly owes a lot to their visual imagery and non-conformist attitudes. Jackson Pollock’s influence shines through in the Cillit Bang series.

Bischof’s taste for the bizarre and the banal is infectious, but those who think him a mere clown are wrong. Look beyond the tip of Scarlett’s wienershaped nose and you’ll find an implicit social and political commentary. Study his drawings and you’ll see plentiful reference to weapons and warfare too.

Getting to know Beni Bischof, Glamcult concludes that his playful provocation and absurdist humour are perhaps just a way to grab his audience’s attention.

His work balances between “naïve microcosmoses and the world’s greatest catastrophes”, as the artist himself once stated. Bischof himself will ensure things never get too heavy, as we discover when we ask him his life motto. After some careful Google research, he answers: “Don’t grow up—it’s a trap.”

This is accompanied a few days later with the even more profound “Your resemblance to a Muppet will prevent the world from taking you seriously.”

And it seems Bischof has elevated this last to an art form. www.benibischof.ch

V The Americana Issue, 2013

From the series Sausage Power!, 2011

Beni Bischof

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GHETTOFAUST, exhibition overview at Galerie Nicola von Senger, 2011

No Time To Chill, exhibition overview at Kunstmuseum St Gallen, 2015

Beni Bischof

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Gc Interview

By Leendert Sonnevelt Photography: Violette Esmeralda—Eric Elenbaas Agency Styling: Venus Waterman—Eric Elenbaas Agency Hair: Sharmaine Cox—The Book Agency

Make-up: Joanna Banach Models: Isobella—nevs models, Soraya—nevs models, Afonso, Connor, Julia, Haluk, Max and Robyn Assistant photography: Lois Cohen All clothing A/W15

Ever since taking the helm of Y/PROJECT in 2013, Glenn Martens has led the architectural Parisian fashion house into uncharted waters.

A self-assured minimalist but also a “hopelessly romantic softie”, the Flemish designer has caused the label to grow and—more importantly—infused it with his personal sense of cool. “Basically, we’re having fun!”

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Gc Interview

When Glamcult chats to Glenn Martens, the Flemish designer is already finalizing his fifth collection for Y/PROJECT. Founded

by Moroccan designer Yohan Serfaty in 2010, the fashion house attracted attention from the outset for its honest and somewhat sinister architectural pieces.

Being asked to lead a label largely known for its charismatic founder— Serfaty tragically passed away—was, understandably, far from easy. “Those first few months were very emotional and rough,” Martens reflects. “Taking over the brand of somebody who recently passed away is just hard, there’s no other way to describe it. When Gilles, the CEO of Y/PROJECT, proposed that I took over the creative direction of the brand, I was obviously very flattered.

But I also told him that I wasn’t the guy…

First of all, with all respect for what Yohan had built, his aesthetic was opposite to mine. And secondly, I wasn’t sure how to impose myself on a team and client base in full mourning.”

Despite his initial hesitancy, Martens— at that time working for his young but successful eponymous womenswear label—decided to undertake the challenge. “After some long discussions, Gilles and I discovered a great deal of connection points in what we envisioned for the future of Y/PROJECT. It was a struggle at first. But it slowly became clear that the more freedom I was given, the healthier the brand behaves. Today, four seasons later, I’m proud of what we’ve reached. The first two seasons were proper transitions.

For the last two seasons we’ve imposed our identity and freed the path to the future. Basically, we’re having fun!”

Pondering what the original spirit of Y/PROJECT actually embodies, the 32-year-old designer first of all names the label’s (tough) attitude. “Yohan only proposed menswear,” he says, then adds, “but due to the cut and fit it often appealed to women. Versatility is another connection point.”

Taking a look at Y/PROJECT’s autumn/ winter 2015 collection, Martens’ personal mark has become surprisingly visible, as well as very successful. Presenting a wearable, gender-fluid collection, classic tailoring is mixed with futuristic textiles and experimental details. Most remarkably, Martens has injected Y/ PROJECT with a heavy dose of subcultural references, giving the straightforward label an indefinable sense of raw romance. When asked to comment on Style.com’s recent description of his work as a “thoughtful approach to minimalism,” he concurs: “We don’t thrive on decoration. We aim for straightforward and honest designs, clear and clean both in line and proportions. I guess that’s minimalism.” There’s more to Martens’ take on Y/PROJECT, however. “I guess duality is my thing. I’ve always been quite determined; I don’t do things the ‘soft’ way.

I’ve always worked several jobs to pay for my studies and, later on, for my personal collections. In school I stitched entire

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Julia, art & design student Haluk, illustration student

Afonso, DJ

Soraya, photography student and model

Connor, DJ and performer

Max, fashion design student

Y/PROJECT

collections out of Emmaus curtains. I just jump on things… but in the end, I do think I’m a hopelessly romantic softie.”

If anything, Martens is—obviously —a child of his era. “I’m a ’90s kid,” he confirms. “That’s my comfort zone, and I’ve always more or less directly referred to it. I honestly don’t worry about being contemporary and timeless. The whole strength of this era, the culture we grew up in, is freedom. We’ve fought for personal identity and I’d love to reach that with my clothes. Personally, I rarely think about what I’ll wear; I’m totally comfortable in any situation. Whether it’s at a cocktail in Saint-Germain-des-Prés or a rave in the suburbs, I don’t dress to the occasion, unless it’s explicitly requested.

I’ll just make sure my shoes shine when I visit my grandmother…” Speaking of fashion and gender, for Martens that’s never been an issue: “Y/PROJECT has always been gender fluid. Since day one I’ve been putting men’s coats on our women. It just wasn’t a ‘thing’ back then,

Robyn, hair & make-up student

Y/PROJECT

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Gc Interview

Y/PROJECT

so we never communicated it. I’ve always loved working on versatility and it’s simply a part of our fundaments.”

In terms of process, the designer does make a distinction. “It’s one big overlapping collection. The base, concept, fabric use and global silhouette… it’s all the same. Nevertheless, both have a totally different approach of design. For guys the process is focused on emotions.

Even with the most basic T-shirt you need constant reflection on the man wearing it. Women are more daring. The design process is therefore much more experimental and straightforward.”

My house is your house and your house is mine. With Y/PROJECT’s latest presentations taking place in dim venues to pounding soundtracks, one wonders what club culture means to the label’s creative honcho. “My main inspiration comes from the street,” Martens says.

“I’m that creepy guy staring at you in the metro. I love watching people, seeing what they wear and how their clothes

affect them. I obviously do love clubbing but when people go out, they dress to it.

They're part of a scene. They’ll probably be more attractive than the little lady in the supermarket, but then again, she’s probably more interesting as inspiration.”

That being said, his universe does contain a special place for music. “Fashion primordially senses the sight, but the creative process includes a world based on imagery, music, memories, friends, joy, pain… Music for sure guides me to reach the goal. My personal taste is quite eclectic. Being Belgian and raised in the ’90s, techno and house are part of my language. But I’m not at all professional.

I rarely know what I’m actually listening to and let my friends discover new things for me. Regardless of genre or era, I just follow the crush. In one day I’ll jump from The Soft Moon to Danny Brown to Marin Marais to Portishead to 18+ to Gainsbourg.” Not just Belgium’s dance scene, also its history comes back in Martens’ work. “I’m the worst chauvinist!”

he laughs. “For S/S16, I merged Y/PROJECT with gothic architecture, subtle references to my hometown of Bruges. I dismantled everyday basics to reconstruct them through graphic cuts and geometric shapes, elongating the silhouette, as if they stood in the reflection of a gothic cathedral.”

With Martens taking well-executed risks, Y/PROJECT is growing up fast. “In the last season we doubled menswear and tripled womenswear,” he cheerfully discloses. “I couldn’t be more happy. We’re just two people in the studio, each assisted by one intern.

That’s four people producing four collections a year! I hope to strengthen the team as soon as possible, giving us some time to look back, develop and experiment. In the end you have to imagine we’re all just in our 20s or the beginning of our 30s. None of us are really ‘normal’, so I can assure you… it’s fun!”

How exactly does the designer do it?

“I’m not good with ‘ordinary’,” he shrugs.

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“I guess I’d like some routine. But then again, I’ll always go with the opposite.

My jobs require me to be constantly on the move. I can’t remember being in Paris for longer than a week; I guess that gives me a feeling of freedom. But regardless of where and when I wake up, I do it with coffee and cigarettes. And I rarely go to bed without a nightcap.

The worst of habits, but as they’re my only constants, I’ll stick to them for now…” www.yproject.fr

Isobella, model

Y/PROJECT

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By Emily Vernon Photography: Holly Fernando

Shura Moscow-born, London-based singer-producer Shura broke on to the scene in early 2014 with the release of Touch. With an epic 100,000 plays in a single week, that track propelled her to celebrated festivals around the globe. Remarkably candid, Shura confessed to the risks of her electro-pop plunge, just as her accelerated assent up the ranks approaches a highly anticipated debut album.

No pressure, then.

Sitting with Glamcult before her Lowlands’ performance, Shura’s sole rider request is a glass of water. “I’m supposed to be this glamorous artist that somehow dropped out of a pink cloud with a song called Touch,” she jokes, recounting touring life. “And yet here I am, drooling with my neck like this,” she cocks her head to one side, cursing the photos that subsequently landed on Facebook.

Shura’s pop-star status is still an irrelevance to all but the music press, it would seem—not least to herself. Born Aleksandra Denton to a Russian actress and a British documentary filmmaker, Shura grew up in Manchester, her childhood documented with camcorder snippets just like those of many other families.

Yet unlike most, Shura now finds herself “a recognizable human”, which makes her family affairs, public affairs. Family videos of her singing Elton John songs completely naked as a child, or her twin brother’s staring roll in her music video for White Light, garner platinum-level media attention these days.

Music was always a family affair in the Denton household. Her parents favoured an oldies-but-goodies playlist of Elton John, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper and Pink Floyd, while older brother Oliver introduced Shura to the likes of Ed Rush, Optical and Burial. In spite of a constant childhood soundtrack, Shura is still a terrible dancer: “I’m not gonna be doing a Britney any time soon,” she affirms.

“I’ve got my guitar as my safety net.” If it hadn’t been for a guitar lying around the house and her dad’s willingness to

teach the 13-year-old Shura the basic chords, that “safety net” wouldn’t exist.

During her pre-synth, pre-Touch teenaged phase, Shura indulged the folksier feel of an acoustic guitar, and walked to school listening to Kings of Leon—although she’s keen to clarify that she’s more into Courtney Barnett, Hinds and Tame Impala these days.

“When you’re a teenager, you’re trying to really desperately carve out your personality or your space and be different,” she muses, confessing that she never used a chorus in her early music because it was “lame” and uncool.

The discovery of the synthesizer presented Shura with a new sonic palette—and a process more fit for her “boisterous” personality. “You don’t have to have that great control. You can sort of just go like that,” she says, making a Beethoven power gesture on the small table. “You play a nice chord and go: ‘Fuck me! That sounds amazing!’”

Her YouTube synth education eventually led to a 2011 collaboration with Cyrus Shahrad, aka Hiatus. His quest toward audible perfection and insights on production brought Shura closer to an eventual shift in sound and mindset.

“You get a bit older and you say, ‘Well, how about instead of trying to be different, just trying to be good,’” Shura explains of a decision that resulted in more fans, but also questions. “When you start to make something that maybe other people could like or could connect to or… is slightly more commercial…” she peters out before continuing: “There’s

that fear of if people then don’t listen to it, what does that say about you?” When writing a song purely for herself, Shura could hide behind its inaccessibility.

Now, however, she’s settling into the reality that her sentimental synth tunes come with a degree of risk and vulnerability.

Shura released her sophomore track, Just Once, in a cloud of nerves, awaiting confirmation that the attention garnered by Touch was no accident.

An hour after she released the single, Dev Hynes, a musician of musical purists and of multiple accomplishments, tweeted her. “He thought it was brilliant and I just cried, I just started crying because it was just a relief that I’d done something good.” It didn’t stop at Dev; Cyril Hahn and Jungle concurred that Shura had solidified herself in the electro-pop world. Being vulnerable had paid off.

That vulnerability extends to the lyrics. Shura’s songs are intensely personal, addressing the post-break-up “friend zone” and the difficulties of telling someone you love them (in 2Shy).

Reliving such experiences should be difficult, but handing them to others in the form of a song eases Shura’s burden.

“So many people have messaged me, going, ‘Describes exactly what I’m going through,’ or, ‘You read my mind,’ so you kind of… it’s almost like a problem shared is a problem halved,” she muses. The song’s original meaning morphs as it is shared among her listeners.

The storytelling of this self-declared “Queen of Awkward” continues

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to expand beyond the expected relationship dilemmas. Sci-fi movies such as Interstellar left an impression for its themes around time, family and aging.

The latter is a topic that has plagued Shura ever since she read Confessions

by St Augustine as an English literature student at university. A beautiful line about the difficulty of conceiving a time when, following the death of his mother, the author would not live alongside her in the world, still rattles her perspective. “You become more interested in the past as you grow up,” she says, “because you have a better concept of how absurd time is.”

As she continues down the debutalbum path, Shura’s nostalgia around her family builds. “As you grow older you go, ‘Well, you know, maybe the future doesn’t have anything better for me but I’m okay with that.’ You just try and live in the moment as much as possible and appreciate who you have.” With audio recordings of her family and anecdotes of being three years old potentially in the mix, these reflections may soon become clearer to her wider audience.

Even pink, electro-pop-musician producing clouds have their grey days.

“I sound like the cheeriest pop star in the world, don’t I?” Shura jokes over ramble through death and potentially unmet futures. But with hundreds of fans awaiting her performance and an Xbox FIFA session in her tour bus, Shura’s gloomy future will have to wait. www.weareshura.com

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By Emily Vernon Photography: Katharina Poblotzki

Beau “Lovers and music”—the first thoughts of Emma Rose and Heather Golden, collectively known as Beau, upon waking on an average New York morning. For these unspoken leaders of the bohemian youth wave, music is literally and metaphorically life’s soundtrack.

With 2015 marking Beau’s debut EP before either’s 22nd birthday, the months to come promise ageless perspectives from the indiesoul duo.

The names Heather Golden and Emma Rose seem almost too fitting for a dreamy American folk collective called Beau.

These stage names, derivatives and simplifications of their given ones, are ever-evolving signatures in Beau’s joint coming-of-age transition. It’s a relationship that began at summer camp during elementary school, catalysed by their painter mothers’ companionship in Greenwich Village. So far, so boho.

Growing up together, they managed not to grow apart, their character differences creating a remarkable “yin-andyang” compatibility, they tell Glamcult.

While Rose describes Golden as “funny”, “creative” and “psycho-active”, and Golden pins Rose as “flirtatious”, “concise” and “adventurous”, their shared values of honesty, friendship and support—a “kind of love”, as Rose puts it— summon seamless creativity. Since the precocious age of 13, the duo has written a stockpile of songs that would eventually go on to comprise their self-titled EP. The venues where they debuted their sound, however, did not predict this eventual accomplishment.

Trade now poster-worthy New York locations such as the Chelsea Hotel for typical teenage house parties. In between the hip hop and dance tracks of these informal get-togethers, Golden and Rose’s friends insisted that the pair play their heart-felt anthems. “We’d be, like, ‘Really?’” says Rose, as the room suddenly quietened for their impromptu performance. “We started feeling like this entity,” she continues. “And that’s what turned it into something, you know, much greater than we thought.”

An impulsive trip to Paris pursuing Golden’s boyfriend of the time unfolded into an adventure more promising than young love or house-party performances.

After gathering the necessary funds to make the cross-Atlantic flight, Rose joined her best friend, and through mutual acquaintance and Parisian graffiti artist André Saraiva, Golden and Rose met

Kitsuné co-founder Gildas Loaëc. Despite having carried notebooks at all times since the age of 13 and amassing pages of poetry, melodies, lyrics and eventually songs, this was far from a premeditated attempt to jumpstart their career. In fact, they were especially ill prepared to play for Loaëc—“I didn’t even bring my guitar,” quips Rose.

“We did have all these songs, but we just didn’t know what to do with them, nor did we think about what to do with them,” Rose recalls, her giddiness a contrast to her generally considered demeanour as the pair relives an experience they describe as “incredible” and “surreal”. “Gildas was, like, ‘So, you know, maybe we can work together,’” Rose recalls. Golden intervenes: “And I was, like, wait—this is the guy we just met who has this record label, right?”

Their impromptu meeting with Loaëc outlived Golden’s Parisian fling and solidified Beau as a group.

The vision of the album that resulted from that opportune Parisian meeting is “this teen angst-meets-coming-of-age-meets-girl out of New York,” Golden explains. Powerful songs like Lost Soul, Rose’s favourite, written during their early years, satisfy even the most jaded of listeners. “You hope when everyone listens to your song they get this deep, gutting feeling, whatever it may be,” Golden continues. This teen-to-20 transition resonates throughout their debut EP, but also creates an unintentional universality to their music.

Making their journey together linked the sister-like duo in intangible ways. Just the other day, Golden explains by way of example, they wrote parts of a song in complete isolation, which effortlessly combined into a united whole.

“In order to have a seamless work ethic you need to have the kind of connectedness that we have,” Rose explains.

“It’s based a lot on energetic compatibility.” For early 20-somethings, Beau’s understanding of the world’s nonphysical

composition extends beyond expected levels, especially with respect to their relationships. “Working with someone on a creative and emotional—like, very emotional—level is really beautiful, and I think that’s the root of all humanity,” Rose concludes.

Beau are able to channel their energy into vivid lyrics that strike the intellect through indisputable constructs—ones that the girls know people relate to, have thought about and visualized. “Maybe not necessarily a horse with no lungs,” Golden quips, referencing their own lyrics. “But everyone knows what it’s like to be as small as a grain of salt in this huge world.” These lines are just some of the many gems that reverberate through an EP they modestly labelled “coming-of-age”.

Metaphors like these come with minimal effort, “like word vomit” according to Golden—where they “can just spit things out,” Rose continues. “There are things that brew in our minds and our psyche,” she clarifies of their noteworthy lyrics. “It’s these elements, these kinds of truths, that I think most of the time are released very spontaneously. It’s almost like something you’ve always wanted to say.” And the duo has allegorical boxes full of perspectives to share.

Shared beliefs on the state of mainstream music stimulates Golden and Rose’s contribution to the industry. The duo feels that the “essence” of classic singer-songwriting has been flattened— or rather, misdirected—through overuse, electronic tracks and the tendency toward simple instrumentation. Music in its “raw form” provokes the duo to apply an intentional approach to their creative process. “We really stick to our guns in the way that we work on our vocals. We work on guitar, we hand write everything and we have real drums,” Rose explains.

“We take pride in that.”

Beau’s aspirations are at odds with the disaffected air of the majority of their peers. “Yes, bring back the power

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of song!” Golden declares in full confidence: that’s their never-fading goal. It’s an intention influenced by past greats but entrenched in current storylines. “It’s obviously not trying to relive a different time where it was Bob Dylan, Neil Young or Joni Mitchell,” Golden continues, “but to find whatever it can be today for the world and for our generation.” The duo hopes to join artists like Alabama Shakes, Flo Morrissey, Tallest Man on Earth, CocoRosie and Adele who all, according to Beau, are pursuing the same goal in either more classical or experimental ways.

Beau’s inspiration extends beyond music to the thrill of everyday exploration.

“Life in general, it’s just so… it’s flourishing.

It’s really intense. Every day is an adventure,” says Golden. The duo takes time to go out, observe and slow down from today’s virtual pace. “There’s this instant gratification in the cyber world now, where you just see something, and, nope... next... next... next!” Rose explains. “You really absorb less energy, and you take less time to feel things.” Be it outer-space, colours, paintings, a sunset, the moon, flowers, struggles, politics, Alice in Wonderland or New York and its characters, inspiration does not stop at their doorstep. “It’s really interesting when you’re writing a song to think about the world. I think songs can be very selfinvolved sometimes,” Rose confesses.

The ambitions of Beau centre on sharing their spontaneous, heartfelt experiences with an audience. “Music is a gift that you get to explore yourself and give back to other people,” Golden explains. “It’s one of the only forms that really touches the senses instantly and gets you feeling so much.” While Golden and Rose anticipate their upcoming album, Glamcult awaits their next turn of unexpected events that could once again propel their music and career into a completely new domain.

Gc Interview

Clarks: The power of three

It’s almost impossible to fathom that Clarks have been gracing— and pampering—feet around the world for almost 200 years. With time comes evolution, however.

So for this autumn/winter, the Clarks Originals DNA has been boldly reinterpreted once again, diving into the past, digging up (new) classics and giving them an innovative remix treatment.

Originals remixed Pay close attention to anything Clarks are doing this season, and you’ll consistently come across the number three.

Bringing together history and an exciting new phase of development, the brand’s three flagship silhouettes—the Desert Boot, Wallabee and Trigenic— were selected and thrown into a contemporary mix of materials, patterns and details. The result? Three unconventional takes on three iconic shoes.

First up are the two Graphic Packs. Linear patterns have been reimagined with a naïve, hand-drawn aesthetic, giving the three well-known silhouettes a fresh new look. The Graphic Pack for men comes in black, white and red; for women it’s available in grey, white and pink.

Remix set number three, better known as The Felt Pack, is all about material. Using 100% pure wool fibres, a marled effect has been created, which is combined with suede and vegetabletanned leather. Raw top lines give the pale grey hues an artful twist.

Clarks: The power of three

Trigenic Right now you’re probably thinking: “I know the Desert Boot and the Wallabee, but… Trigenic?” As the name suggests, this one is Clarks Originals’ latest, cutting-edge creation.

Taking the human foot’s natural motion as its starting point, the Trigenic features a three-part, decoupled outsole for maximum flexibility, a new anatomical symmetric last, and a foot bed with integrated fit

sleeve. Hand-stitched panels on the upper are specifically cut and angled to aid flexibility, and the shoe is built on an ethylene-vinyl acetate midsole with Vibram outsole pods. Too much information?

Let’s sum it up for you: the natural form of the foot is mirrored by a shoe you actually want to own— just like the Clarks Hygienic range back in 1883.

Clarks Unboxed From Hygienic to Trigenic, the influence of Clarks on the evolution of footwear is immense. Clarks Unboxed, a newly launched interactive online platform, allows you to immerse yourself in the story of 12 people, ideas and beliefs that have shaped the brand, as well as the world.

From two brothers accidentally starting a craze for fluffy slippers

in the 1820s to the Wu-Tang Clan making “Wallies” popular in the ’90s, you can now discover the stories behind the footwear that has always been hot, revolutionary and comfortable. www.clarksunboxed.com www.clarksoriginals.com

By Emma van Meyeren Photography: Daniel Sannwald How did you come up with the name Visionist?

I guess it has to do with having a perception of what’s going to happen.

I make music that might not be current right now but it will be in a year or two.

Visionist is about seeing what’s going to happen. It’s important to me to not become an imitator of somebody else’s sound; instead, I try to create something that’s very new. And in terms of my personality as well, I’m very analytical and when I predict what I think will happen, it’s often true.

Where, for you, does homage or influence end and imitation begin?

Imitating is just being, like, “This is working at the moment so if I do something along these lines it might work for me.” That’s not how I write music; I write music for myself. Creating something new is as easy as hearing something and wanting to take it another way.

Because at the end of the day, I think I have to make music that speaks for me and not someone else. So with the album I wanted to push my sound on again. I wrote a record that is first of all really challenging for me, and also quite challenging to listen to. But that’s fine, I’m cool with that.

Visionist Producer, former-MC and DJ Visionist, or Louis Carnell, broke on to the scene in 2013 with his EP I’m Fine (Part I). Some might call his sound “experimental-grime”, but given grime’s unique and intrinsically experimental nature, we’d like to avoid tautology and focus on his first full-length work, Safe, due out this October.

We spoke to the South London visionary about life, music and the facets of being and feeling “safe”.

Speaking of the album, did it come from a personal journey to safety or a resistance to it?

I knew straight from the start that I wanted the concept of the album to be about anxiety and safety. It’s kind of a back and forth between safety and resistance. Because, yeah, obviously there are parts of me that wish I didn’t have anxiety because that would make life happier. But at the same time, it gives me a subject to work with and I can create something beautiful out of it. So it’s that back and forth. But yeah, I think compared to my previous work this record is going to be a lot to take in. The EPs are quite clean, they’re an easier listen and there’s less movement within the tracks, so it’s easier to just lock in. But with the album there’s so much movement and each track has many different elements. I’m aware that maybe not everyone will like it, but that’s okay because I’m happy with it.

How does all that translate to the album artwork?

It was made by Daniel Sannwald, and it’s pretty layered. Firstly, I made my skin-tone white. That has to do with the perception of what is seen as a “safe” person. Because I was touring a lot last year I experienced being

stopped and searched at airports really often. Taking that experience, I wanted to show that this white heritage where a safe person is thought to be white is still very present.

But then there’s also blue and purple…

The bruising is because one of the main topics of the album is anxiety.

But anxiety is something that you don’t see; it’s not like a cut. You can’t see the blood, it’s all mental. If I’m about to get really anxious and I feel like an anxiety attack is about to happen, it will be hard for someone who hasn’t experienced that to understand what’s happening. The bruising is a visual representation of the anxiety; it enables you to see that anxiety does damage you.

And then I have this plastic wrap around me. That’s again about keeping something safe. If you keep something safe you wrap it up, and in the image I’m only half wrapped, so it’s like—am I damaged goods? Am I brand new?

Also, the image is very futuristic. So it’s playing with that kind of thing: am I being kept safe from myself?

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Why did you use your own face on the album cover?

It’s mainly singers who put images of themselves on the cover, it’s unusual for a producer. But I’m an artist just like a singer is an artist so I figured, why shouldn’t I be on the front? It was important to me to be really personal and open with his record, and this cover tied in very well with that idea.

What can we expect after the album drops? Will we be hearing more of you?

Hopefully I can do a tour. At the moment I’m building a live show, it’s kind of like a compilation of the album.

I draw certain parts together, and it becomes something like a collage or a mesh. So I’m using my music but also creating whole new tracks at the same time.

Gc Interview

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DUTCH DESIGN AWARDS PRESENTS THE BEST OF DUTCH DESIGN 2015

Words by Leendert Sonnevelt

Gosha Rubchinskiy

Embody by Ari Versluis Taking the streets of Russia to high-end fashion realms and skate parks around the world, Gosha Rubchinskiy has quickly garnered a cult-like critical acclaim. And even though his name sounds fresh, this season sees the designer’s fifth official collection—aptly outlined by Style.com as “a reminder of the days when customers at the newly opened McDonald’s in Moscow would take their Coke cups and friesholders home with them.” From the boys he scouts and shoots to the boys and girls that fanatically sport Гоша Рубчинский tees, there is a visual denominator that binds them all.

Together with photographer Ari Versluis, Glamcult met Rubchinskiy and three of the boys flown in from Russia to present his distinct aesthetic in Paris.

“Any characteristic can amaze me… I look for something special in a person.” Speaking warmly about the three boys by his side, their arms and legs marked by skateboarding bruises, it’s clear that Rubchinskiy is just as much a designer as a friend. “We met for the first time six years ago,” he reminisces about meeting Tolya [left]. “Some of my friends invited him to the casting in Moscow when he was 14 years old.

We became friends, and Tolya has done every show so far. He’s grown with us, and is now actually a part of the team. But also Ivan and Andrei [middle and right] are bright persons that represent the current generation.

They symbolize a moment that influences

my work. It’s a feeling; it’s what is happening in Moscow and St Petersburg right now. It’s what’s happening among my friends.”

Although it would be easy to describe “the Rubchinskiy boy” as very Russian—which is accurate in many cases—it is not the entire truth. “I work with a lot of boys from Moscow and St Petersburg because I live there,” the designer explains. “In my work I want to tell the story that I know best, and that is what is happening in my country at the moment.” Yet youth from all over the world can embody that same disposition. Scouting is a continuous process for Rubchinskiy, who meets his faces through “friends, friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends.”

He adds: “I often meet people on Instagram. We follow each other for a year or two, and then we meet and work

38

together. It’s very much about street casting, or actually Instagram casting.

My last show included boys from Amsterdam, London, Berlin, Paris, Saint Petersburg and Moscow.” Describing Tolya, Ivan and Andrei as his “muses” doesn’t feel right to the designer.

“I don’t know,” he concludes. “My main language is Russian. Our meaning of the word ‘muse’ comes much closer to something like ‘spirit’ or ‘feeling’. I think that is what it should mean.”

Embody is an ongoing collaborative project by photographer Ari Versluis and Glamcult, exploring the relationship between influential contemporary fashion designers and those who influence their work. Stay tuned for more. www.gosharubchinskiy.com www.ariversluis.com

Gc Embody

Visual Essays

We’re in a magic place, y’all.

Photography: Raffaele Cariou

We’re all mad here.

Photography: Sophie Mayanne

Kersti: top Corbier Agostini

We’re in a magic place, y’all.

Kersti: top Vetements, panties Roseanna, boots Lutz Huelle

Kersti: dress Diesel, panties Petit Bateau, shoes Nehera

CĂŠline: top Anne Sofie Madsen, skirt American Apparel

Kersti: tank top forte_forte, panties Petit Bateau, boots Amélie Pichard for Léa Peckre Céline: sweater Raf Simons, skirt American Apparel

Kersti: bra Corbier Agostini, skirt Léa Peckre, panties Petit Bateau, boots Vetements

Photography: Raffaele Cariou Styling: Morgane Nicolas Hair: Yoshiko Haruki Make-up: Asami Kawai Models: Céline Bouly and Kersti Pohlak—Supreme Paris

We’re all mad here.

Mateo: shirt Acne Studios, shirt around waist McQ Alexander McQueen, jeans Levi’s Vintage Clothing (customized)

Mateo: parka Diesel, t-shirt and trainers Dior Homme, socks Falke Gaby: jeans Ashish, shoes Robert Clergerie

Bronte: coat Kenzo, dungarees G-Star RAW, sandals Dr. Martens

Gaby: jacket Faustine Steinmetz

Gaby: denim jacket Kenzo, leather jacket McQ Alexander McQueen

Bronte: jacket worn as top Marques’ Almeida, jeans Acne Studios, choker Vivienne Westwood

Mateo: boiler suit Kenzo, jeans around neck Replay, jeans Diesel

Mateo: jeans Faustine Steinmetz, jeans underneath Levi’s Vintage Clothing Gaby: shirt Acne Studios, jeans Vivienne Westwood

Bronte: jacket Vivienne Westwood, jeans around waist G-Star RAW, jeans Dior Homme

Photography: Sophie Mayanne Styling: Dasha Kova Hair: Yusuke Morioka using Bumble and bumble.

Make-up: Ksenia Galina and Ekaterina Novinskaya using MAC Cosmetics Models: Bronte—Next Model Management, Gaby—Tomorrow Is Another Day, Mateo Carlos—Select Model Management Assistant photography: Prexa Shrestha Assistant styling: Leila Afghan

Albums The Garden

Homeshake

Dralms

HÔN

Mild High Club

haha

Shook

Midnight Snack

White Lion

Timeline

Epitaph/Burger Records

Full Time Hobby

Sinderlyn

Tambourhinoceros

Stones Throw Records

Who’d have thought a (credible) punk band would one day howl “We be grindin’, grindin’, grindin’, up in the clubs!”

But hey, it’s 2015 and like their press release clearly elucidates, “Wyatt and Fletcher Shears don’t give a shit what you think, they’ve been conceptualizing their own style since well before the formation of the band in 2011.” Conceived in Vada Vada, their self-invented and all-encompassing universe of neo-punk and yelping vocals, but also of performance and (children’s) literature, haha offers exactly what makes The Garden great: these boys can in no way be pinned down. Every single track on haha—whether it’s grubby, strippeddown punk or influenced by ’90s hip hop and breakbeat—comes with a big, dirty American smile. The Shears brothers might be the most unpredictable / beautiful of jesters, but don’t let that stop you from taking them seriously. By Leendert Sonnevelt

Claiming that music will take you to another place is—aside from a huge cliché—not necessarily a compliment for its composer. But who hasn’t put on a record, drifted away, abruptly realized the music has stopped, and thoroughly enjoyed it anyway? That scenario pretty much summarizes the debut full-length of Dralms, aka Vancouver-based artist Christopher Smith and his collaborators.

Following the release of two promising EPs over the past year, Shook offers a soft collection of melodic indie-pop songs, infused with poignant electronics that bring to mind the likes of SOHN, The xx and Say Lou Lou. According to Smith himself, Shook represents “that moment when everything changes.

Where you hold on to what’s true to you for dear life, or let it all crumble, accept it, pick up the pieces and move on.” Or, perhaps easier to relate to: that moment when all you want to do is hide deep under the covers and feel very fucking sorry for yourself. Album artwork on point. By Leendert Sonnevelt

Peter Sagar’s second Homeshake album is another delightfully understated affair, but this time he’s incorporated an entirely different arsenal of instruments.

Putting the guitars to one side in favour of synthesizers and drum loops, Sagar reveals a new facet of his eccentric songwriting, highlighting a different group of influences ranging from dreampop to neo-soul and everything in between. Fans of 2014’s In the Shower may be dubious about this change in direction, mourning the demise of Sagar’s lo-fi, jangly approach. And it’s perfectly fair to say that some of the programmed drums on Midnight Snack sound a tad flat and lacklustre at times, but for someone who’s best known as a guitarist, it’s impressive to watch Sagar within a whole new context. All in all, we can’t help but fall for Homeshake’s sophomore record. His melodic prowess and endearingly mundane subject matter shine through clearer than ever.

By Jack Dolan

Harmonious, dramatic, raw, polished, accessible but ultra “fashion”. Sounds like a complicated mood board, but Danish song crafter HÔN, aka Jesper Lidang, proves that even the most unlikely of combinations are just a matter of balance. White Lion features striking ’80s synth waves and a lot of talented songwriting. Experimenting with vintage drum machines and adding multiple vocal layers to create a memorable debut, Lidang challenges the conventions of contemporary pop music. “It’s essential to my music and my definition of HÔN that only the strongest of melodies survive,” he says. “I want it to move you and to stick to your brain.” Let this be your new ear worm! By Daniël Heijl

The musical world of Alexander Brettin, aka Mild High Club, is teeming with tripped-out ’70s Californian nostalgia.

From the grainy video for lead single Windowpane (complete with budget green-screen effects and potted plants) to the wobbly organ chords that lace the entire album, Timeline has one foot firmly in the past and its tongue firmly in Brettin’s cheek. Comparisons to Ariel Pink, who Brettin has previously played with, are unavoidable, and yet Mild High Club is by no means lacking in individuality. The restrained psychedelia of Weeping Willow, followed by the sing-along euphoria of The Chat, shows the breadth of Brettin’s abilities as a songwriter, finishing off the record on a real high. As a debut solo album, Timeline is immediately appealing and full of lush details, yet also retains a playfulness that suggests the best is still to come. By Jack Dolan

Shopping

Roseau

Peaches

Visionist

Real Lies

Why Choose

Salt

Rub

Safe

Real Life

FatCat Records

Big Dada

I U She Music

PAN

Marathon Artists

A post-punk revival—it’s about time!

But wait, this already happened, right?

Franz Ferdinand, The Rapture, The Futureheads, Radio 4… Remember? Well, now it’s up to a new generation to (re) discover a fab genre and relive the origins and follow-ups. East-London’s Shopping are obviously post-punk aficionados with their razor-sharp guitars, bass lines as bumpy as cobble-stone roads and punky (fe)male vocals chanting anti-capitalistic and impassioned lyrics. But they’re also bang up to date both lyrically and when it comes to adapting a retro sound into something now/new. Why Choose is the successor to Shopping’s successful DIY debut, Consumer Complaints, and it’s well worth buying. It’s as catchy as funk and addictively danceable, but Shopping will also get you hooked on the postpunk genre (again). Embrace it! Start listening to ESG, Au Pairs, Gang of Four, Delta 5. You’ll thank Shopping for that…

By Matthijs van Burg

UK singer/producer Roseau, née Kerry Leatham, continues to steadily build her repertoire with the release of her debut album, Salt. Written in the pastoral escapes of the Essex countryside, the album sways with a reflective fulfilment any city dweller will surely appreciate.

Although the 11 tracks resonate around a single event in Roseau’s past, every song embodies its own theme. From material-obsessed city characters in New Glass to the need to go home after a long night in Grab, Leatham emphasizes the complexities of lifechanging events. See You Soon offers an extended goodbye, performed and written with Dogtanion and incorporating the smooth rhythms of R&B into the resonating ballads of a selfassured artist. Her sonic layering technique—which she calls “vocal blending” —embeds nostalgic undertones, while Leatham’s intricately textured soundscape sheens of electronic wobbles, folk strumming and playful sonic elements. Though it’s a consistent, satisfying package, Glamcult hopes Roseau expands her sound into more courageous territories for future projects.

By Emily Vernon

When Peaches’ breakthrough record, Teaches of Peaches, came out in 2000, feminism wasn’t as ubiquitous in pop music—or anywhere else, for that matter —as it is today. Now Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus and everyone’s mother is declaring themselves feminist. One listen to Rub, however, and its immediately clear though that there’s a big difference between these pop princesses and Peaches: while the former use feminism as branding, for the latter it’s a way of life. For the highly twerkable opening track Close Up, Peaches enlisted the help of Kim Gordon, while other collaborators include Feist and Simonne Jones. The lyrics remain as explicit as ever: “My pussy’s big and I’m proud of it,” she sings on Vaginoplasty. “Make you bow down to it ’til you drown in it.”

And you just know she will… By HFA Lohan

The estranged productions of Londonbased Louis Carnell—or Visionist— have been deforming grime and R&B since 2011, with his alien recordings released in short, concentrated bursts.

Those EPs have finally built up to Safe, a debut album that addresses the heavy theme of anxiety. According to Carnell, it’s his most personal statement to date, one that he conveys through glacial synthesizers, unsettling sampling and the occasionally deep drum patterns. For the most part, the record is sparsely constructed, obtaining its strength out of moments of emptiness and the echoing of metallic sounds and highly pitched, melodic vocal samples. It’s as minimalist as the outer reaches of space, which would be the ideal place to listen to the mildly aggressive Vffected or the introspective Sin-Cere. Earthly surroundings will, however, be enough to get you truly engaged into the dark world that Carnell has formed from his profound, artistic openness. By Sander van Dalsum

Somehow, the eponymous debut album of Real Lies depicts every phase of a night out in the city. The eternal longing to blow off some steam after a long week of work; the pre-drinks on someone’s comfy couch; the actual going out—and especially leaving the club with the glimmer of early sunlight stroking your washed-out face. The—at times —rave-y electronics, the reggae-tinged guitar work, ingenious sampling and dreamy lyrics go from settled to uplifting to melancholic and back again.

Spoken word sections communicate the singer’s occasional boredom, but remain intriguing in their authenticity.

It’s easy to compare the soft-spoken voice and bloke-y storytelling of this trio of Londoners to Mike Skinner, but there’s so much more to Real Life than just that. Yes, it’s the perfect pop record, but it’s also—at the risk of sounding melodramatic—the sound of a generation. No pressure, then.

By Sander van Dalsum

54

Gc Update

Aus Berlin is the festival where you can get completely lost in a LABYRINTH which is full of intense visuals, crazy sounds and weird objects. An experience that gives you the feeling you are in a surreal place. This is what Aus Berlin presents during its third edition on the 28TH OF NOVEMBER in Tilburg. Tim Henrik Schneider, the artist behind the famous Berlin labyrinth PERISTAL SINGUM, is responsible for all the art and decoration. Check out the pictures or website to get the idea.

Besides an artistic experience the festival is all about music from Berlin and some upcoming Dutch DJ’s. Aus Berlin Festival presents: Anja Schneider, Tiefschwarz, Weval (NL), Thomas Schumacher, Klangkuenstler, Channel X, Dan Caster, Benotmane, Luuk van Dijk (NL) and Eversines (NL).

28 november

SPOORZONE TILBURG www.ausberlin.nl

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Stockists Acne Studios www.acnestudios.com

Faustine Steinmetz www.faustinesteinmetz.com

Vetements www.vetementswebsite.com

Allude www.allude-cashmere.com

forte_forte www.forte-forte.com

Vivienne Westwood www.viviennewestwood.com

Amélie Pichard www.ameliepichard.com

G-Star RAW www.g-star.com

Y/PROJECT www.yproject.fr

American Apparel www.americanapparel.net

Kenzo www.kenzo.com

Anne Sofie Madsen www.annesofiemadsen.com

Léa Peckre www.leapeckre.com

Ashish www.ashish.co.uk

Levi’s www.levi.com

Bumble and bumble. www.bumbleandbumble.com

Lutz Huelle www.lutzhuelle.com

Charles Jeffrey www.charlesjeffrey.net

MAC Cosmetics www.maccosmetics.com

Clarks www.clarks.com

Marques’ Almeida www.marquesalmeida.com

Converse www.converse.com

McQ Alexander McQueen www.mcq.com

Corbier Agostini www.corbieragostini.com

Nehera www.nehera.com

Diesel www.diesel.com

Petit Bateau www.petit-bateau.com

Diesel Black Gold www.dieselblackgold.com

Raf Simons www.rafsimons.com

Dior www.dior.com

Replay www.replay.it.

Dr. Martens www.drmartens.com

Robert Clergerie www.robertclergerie.com

Falke www.falke.com

Roseanna www.roseanna.fr