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EDITOR IN CHIEF Kevin Ma SENIOR EDITOR Kevin Wong DESIGN Hybrid Design hybrid-design.com @hybriddesignsf CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Arthur Bray Petar Kujundzic Arby Li Robert Patos Felson Sajonas Gavin Yeung Helena Yeung EDITORIAL INTERNS Jo Lee Kwok Charles Park COORDINATOR Vanessa Lee COPY EDITOR Peter Suh GUEST EDITORS Calum Gordon ADVERTISING Victoria Burke Crystal Choi Charles Gorra Gems Ip Paul Le Fevre Huan Nguyen Josh Parker Jacqueline Ruggiero Tiffany Shum Blane Snyder
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SPECIAL THANKS Tay Baron Bennet Chow Kenneth Deng Ian Hammond Roh Jamin S.K. Lam/AllRightsReserved Wayne Lau Hasse Lemola Yihan Liu Eddy Martin Veronica Morris Andrew Pulig Roman Nails Samuel Ross Tim Sedo Yumiko Shimizu Ralph van Klingeren social/capital Federico Tan Terence Teh Esmay Wagemans CONTACT magazine@hypebeast.com 12th Floor 10-16 Kwai Ting Road Kwai Chung Hong Kong +852 3563 9035 PRINTING Asia One Printing Limited In Hong Kong All Rights Reserved ISSN 977-230412500-0 13th Floor, Asia One Tower 8 Fung Yip Street Chai Wan, Hong Kong +852 2889 2320 enquiry@asiaone.com.hk HYPEBEAST.COM PUBLISHER 101 Media Lab Limited © 2016 Hypebeast October 2016
THE CARHARTT WIP ARCHIVES THE FIRST EXTENSIVE LOOK INTO THE CARHARTT WIP UNIVERSE. TO BE RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 4TH IN ALL CARHARTT WIP STORES. MORE INFORMATION AT CARHARTT-WIP.COM
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
EDITOR’S LETTER
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KRIS VAN ASSCHE
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NO VACANCY INN
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THE NORTH FACE
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MASAMICHI KATAYAMA
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NASIR MAZHAR
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MATTHEW WILLIAMS
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DEFYING THROUGH DESIGN
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KAWS
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HIRO MURAI
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ZANE LOWE
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CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS
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ZONE
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MARTINE ROSE
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THE NEW AGENCY
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DETROIT CITY GUIDE
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THOMAS HOOPER
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DIRECTORY
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CONVERSATIONS WITH CAV EMPT
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instead, we buy things for what they are; As consumers, we don’t simply or not, we it of bolize. Whether we’re aware buy things for what they sym every article by the things we own. Behind are constantly characterized nd every piece own distinct ethos, and behi of clothing is a brand with its ue perspective. of art is an artist with a uniq of our lives, comprises a significant part For the creatives whose work tructing an es. Creating a brand means cons a lot goes on behind the scen for audiences that makes it second nature image and defi ning it in a way and consumers to absorb. creatives who the rabbit hole with a mix of For this issue, we went dow n deeper insights r world. They not only provided graciously invited us into thei attitudes, and and ed inti mate perceptions into their work, but also shar course of this ons onto the world. Over the how they project these noti e,” we found that we call “The Projection Issu extensive exploration which the scope of a hing an identity, be it within the arduous task of establis successfully to omplete until you are able brand or an individual, is inc ming from bea t rs. Similar to the way the ligh manifest your vision to othe the business le until it reaches a screen, a projector is incomprehensib the ability to elops its consum ers lies in of selling a brand that env we own becomes ing that the idea of som eth com municate ideas, so much so a way of defi ning who we are. institutions into the brands, artists and In the ensuing pages, we look so tangible epts loped a distinct image: conc that have, through time, deve they effectively process and presentation, that through its physical presence, universe. bring us into a whole other Kevin Ma Editor In Chief
POP-QUIZ
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BACKPACK
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NAVY POLYCOAT
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STUDIO COLLECTION
© HERSCHEL SUPPLY COMPANY. OUR LOGOS ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS.
A-COLD-WALL* UTILITY HOLSTER
As part of its Fall/Winter collection of 2016, A-COLD-WALL* has released its utility holster with two hardware renditions. Featuring a canvas body and heavy metal hardware, designer Samuel Ross displays his penchant for combining opposite elements. Made of double-stitched canvas, the holster features the signature A-COLD-WALL* print on the bag front, as well as both sides of the body strap. Available in two sizes. This utility holster will be available at select retailers for $166 USD.
OFF-WHITE X MATCHES DRESS SHIRT & CAP
Virgil Abloh collaborates with Matches to create an exclusive capsule collection for Fall/Winter 2016. The 19-piece collection is the first part of Digital Exclusive, a Matches series dedicated to collaborations with the best in modern menswear. Intended to embody the present and future of street style, the collection focuses on red, black and camouflage pieces, unified by an OFF-WHITE emblem and spray-paint detailing.
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Pictured here, shirt and cap, $440 USD and $105 USD, respectively. Collection launches October 2016.
YOHJI YAMAMOTO ULTRATECH BACKPACK
Yamamoto’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection of monochromatic sportswear looks to be the prediction of streetwear’s future. The clean, sci-fi-esque theme prevails from the clothes and footwear, to the accessories, which range from a full-face visor to sleek backpacks such as the white one pictured here, featuring a logo front and black accents. Truly gear of the future, meant for the present.
WINTER REDEFINED Boots Danner Light Khaki
Featuring Mark Bollman Founder of Ball and Buck
Details 100% waterproof, Made in USA
Location Brooklyn, New York
Explore Danner Portland Select at danner.com
ADIDAS FUTURECRAFT M.F.G.
The world’s first pair of sneakers made by robots, adidas Futurecraft M.F.G. changes the face of sneaker manufacturing by bringing the production process closer to its consumer base, eliminating months of wait time. Made with ARAMIS technology, the shoe is constructed from a series of patches which wrap around the foot, creating an unparalleled support system. The torsion bar on its outsole provides superb flexibility. With a Primeknit upper and BOOST sole, these shoes mix the best of adidas with the promising dawn of new technology. The first SPEEDFACTORY in Atlanta will be functional in late 2017.
Stories in Transit WORDS
PHOTOGRAPHY
A R T H U R B R AY
AARON MILLER R AY S P E A R S
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“No Vacancy Inn is an interchangeable place,” stressed Tremaine Emory as he played with his dreads flowing from beneath his Moran Bondaroff cap. He tilted back in his chair in a disheveled room at the Bloomsbury Hotel—a place frequented by London tourists, and on this occasion, the setting of another No Vacancy Inn transit session. Emory was joined by his partner, Acyde Odunlami. “It's not even about whether the conversations make it to SoundCloud—No Vacancy Inn could happen anywhere,” chimed Acyde in a thick London accent, who was equally well-dressed with a No Vacancy Inn tee to match a vintage silk button-up. There's no doubt the two have a penchant for fashion. Recognizable logos flit from various hems, yet their ensembles are less about bragging than about paying tribute to subcultures and their own creative projects. Everything is considered.
"THERE WERE ONLY 80 PEOPLE IN THE ROOM ONE EVENING WHEN WE HOSTED A LISTENING PART Y FOR KANYE. HOW COULD WE PRESENT THAT TO 8,000 KIDS AROUND THE WORLD?"
“I was at my friend Rocky's place with A$AP Nast, Alex ‘Gucci’ Goldberg and Q Blood. It was like a clubhouse in which we were discussing how we could bring New York back. That's No Vacancy Inn: it was at Rocky's apartment, right now it's in Bloomsbury; tonight it's a party at the Ace Hotel.” Tremaine took a second to pause as he took in the surroundings he's all too familiar with. “That's why I call it a hotel with wheels. It's not just a slogan, it's a lifestyle—always being in transit.” Established by the two friends from opposite sides of the pond, No Vacancy Inn was launched after the pair had hosted various club nights and radio
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shows together. Bonding over a shared affinity for cigarillo, Miles Davis and Yves Saint Laurent, the duo became the “go-to guys” for the city's most sought-after parties, which took place in East London dive bars and SoHo green rooms. “Club culture is all that No Vacancy is about. When Tremaine and I grew up, clubs were the only places where you would hear a record before the Internet Age. That’s how I met all the Supreme kids in the ‘90s. I didn’t meet them by emails or on Instagram. Club aren't just clubs, they are social places where the hot new rapper or the hot new designer can meet,” reminisced Acyde.
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As strong believers of creating rather than just observing, the duo's roles as nightlife impresarios have sprouted other creative offshoots. With the aim to inspire as they too have been by cultural manuals like The Face and i-D magazine, or cultural meccas like London's BlueNote and New York's Union, No Vacancy Inn is a modern-age adaptation of the duo's influences and they're not rushing anything. “Money has never been the forefront of anything I do,” explained Tremaine. “It’s an important aspect to live in the world but there’s also my dignity. I always play the long game.” Despite their network of hiphop stars and A-list creatives, it seems that fame is low on their agenda. “Success and fame don't come overnight, and you shouldn’t be in a hurry to try to make yourself something, because it goes faster than it comes.” Acyde nodded in agreement, “I know a lot of famous people and they're not any happier than me. It’s even more important these days to learn from others, take the time to study a craft, and walk the walk; the rest will come in due course.” The collective wisdom and genuineness has garnered support from pivotal platforms including a T-shirt release with Dover Street Market, a pop-up with Tom Sachs ‘Boombox Retrospective’ at the Brooklyn Museum, a radio show series with Know Wave, and parties on Boiler Room with the likes of Virgil Abloh, Heron Preston and Theophilus London. Flirting between online and offline mediums, No Vacancy merges physical cornerstones with the digital world in its podcast series. “We're part of a generation of people living on the Internet. Social network is not social: going to parties and building on a vibe is social,” opined Tremaine. In an era when conversations are often bypassed and physical experiences are replaced by fleeting digital snapshots, No Vacancy Inn offers a perspective that make us pause and listen. 032
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Q&A How would you describe No Vacancy Inn to the onlooker? Tremaine: No Vacancy Inn is an ethereal hotel. Think like the Hotel Chelsea in the '70s and '80s, on wheels. Hotel Chelsea has a cast of characters with some mainstays; me and Acyde are the mainstays. Then you have people who live in and out of the hotel, like Virgil Abloh or Fraser Cooke. Fraser made a mix for us, and in that sense stayed at the No Vacancy Inn. We also did mixes with Tom Sachs and Brodinsky. So it’s not all about me and Acyde. It’s about a community of people who intercept and make things happen. How did you come up with this metaphor? Tremaine: Hotels and nightlife—a lot of creative things come out of it. Like Andy Warhol’s Factory, or Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons in their NYU dorm room. That's a type of hotel, they created Def Jam out of there. Just two or more people meeting and figuring
things out. This is what happens in a hotel. We’re in a hotel room now. No Vacancy Inn is a way to find meaning in a transit life: in each session we let people connect. It's about community building. Could you explain the transformation from parties to radio? How do both coexist in a way that makes sense to the brand? Acyde: I have an obsession with not being a spectator of culture. For example, you go shopping and you get upset because you can’t find a zip-up fleece. You can give up, go out of your way to find a thrift shop that has it, or make it yourself. You are no longer a person
"NO VACANCY INN IS AN ETHEREAL HOTEL. THINK LIKE THE HOTEL CHELSEA IN THE '70S AND '80S, ON WHEELS."
Tremaine: Inadvertently, that became what we do. Rather than just throwing club nights, our events became social experiments, presentations and focus groups. That moved on to Know Wave, and we began to ask how we could take it further. There were only 80 people in the room one evening when we hosted a listening party for Kanye. How could we present that to 8,000 kids around the world? Know Wave was a really good start, and we moved on to No Vacancy Inn. Surprisingly, there isn’t a lot of clear documentation of the people behind what’s going on in culture.
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In the digital age, why is it even more important now to connect in real life? Acyde: When we interview Luka Sabbat, Joey Badass and Dev Hynes in Palm Springs or the OG International Stussy Tribe guys in Tokyo, we really want to talk and get deeper than what's often perceived via photos on someone's Instagram. You can tweet 140 characters, but on No Vacancy Inn we can touch on a number of topics. We don’t write down questions for our interviews—it’s just real conversation.
who just watches, you’re participating. For me, being a music person, having grown up in club culture with the older guys in the '80s and '90s, we would just make things happen. I have always wanted to do that naturally, to instigate rather than just party.
With an emphasis on experience and inspiration via physical interaction, what mainstays paved the way for you guys? Tremaine: Kids ask me crazy fucking questions, like “how do you get Supreme to follow you on Instagram because they only follow 70 people?” First of all, if
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"YOU CAN TWEET 140 CHARACTERS, BUT ON NO VACANCY INN, WE CAN TOUCH ON A NUMBER OF TOPICS. WE DON'T WRITE DOWN QUESTIONS FOR OUR INTERVIEWS—IT'S JUST REAL CONVERSATION."
you're focused on who Supreme follows, you’re crazy; but the reason why they do is because I hung out at Union every day. I met my boy Ricky Siaz (who was the designer at Supreme at the time) on his first day in New York. I used to buy Angelo Baque’s shirts from Union so I have known him since day one. My boy used to date Shaniqwa Jarvis, who is Angelo’s best friend. I remember Mary Ann who ran Union put me up for a job for Stussy, but my schedule kept conflicting so I ended up getting a job at Marc Jacobs. These are all real friendships and interactions that make you. Kids have to find their Union or their Blue Note or wherever they cut their teeth, hang out there as much as they can, and build with people. Be a good person and shit will start to happen if you live long enough and work hard enough. Are you trying to bridge the gap between high culture and subculture? Tremaine: You could say that. An example is Tom Sachs. Neither Acyde nor I were famous, but Tom
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reached out to us to collaborate on the Bodega. It's like an outfit: you might pair your YSL jacket with beat up Levi’s if you have the means, or you might have a beat-up Levi’s jacket that might look better than a YSL jacket. It's about not getting caught up in titles, and paying attention to characteristics. Acyde: Everyone we talked to or we tried to present through are people who have achieved a certain level. If you want to play the game, you have to know why you are talking to them. Even a 19-year-old like Luka Sabbat is advanced in his knowledge of fashion because he was born into it. His dad was a tailor and his mom worked for John Galliano. In 10 years’ time he’ll be above everybody else: he’s had a head start. Lono is another great example. He founded Foxy Brown before Puffy took her. He was putting on parties with Diddy and Andre Arroyo in New York. He took Stussy to Japan, and was there at the birth of Chicago house. For anyone who has got a bit of heart and feel like they should be relevant, know your level and just keep moving. Get busy.
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FEATURE
MASAMICHI K ATAYA M
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D A I G O YA M A M O T O
The Blueprint of Wonder 038
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On a perfectly respectable lane in Tokyo’s upscale Aoyama district, among rows of designer boutiques bearing names like Alexander Wang, Acne Studios and Marc Jacobs, a monumental stone block breaks the perfect monotony of glass-and-steel storefronts. Delineated from the pavement by a thin strip of light outlining its perimeter, the building’s grey marble facade gives nary a clue to its contents, punctuated only by a thin sliver of a door offset to the side. Behind this door is a black marble antechamber—a liminal space of sorts separating 21st-century Tokyo from an ersatz mid-century New York office interior. Beyond, a central stairwell flanked by three storeys of windowless, fluorescent-lit rooms, each sparsely decorated with select pieces of vintage American-designed furniture and racks of designer suits. A quietly unsettling sense of intrigue and surreality pervades the building. But far from a scene in a Murakami novella or a Ballardian dystopia, the imposing structure is the THOM BROWNE. NEW YORK AOYAMA boutique, expertly designed by
the prodigious Masamichi Katayama of renowned Tokyo-based interior design firm Wonderwall. While his name is not immediately recognizable to those outside of design circles, Katayama is somewhat of a maverick within. Chances are you’ll already have visited several of his projects: his portfolio extends from mass-market shops like Uniqlo (he’s designed over a dozen global flagship stores) and Nike, to one-off but no less influential projects like colette and jewelry designers YOON and VERBAL’s recently opened debut flagship store for their AMBUSH label. Simply put, Katayama has firmly established himself as the go-to interior designer for the international fashion community. Though his repertoire is wide-ranging, an undeniable sense of theatricality is the common thread in all of his works. From a refurbished Edo-period machiya teahouseturned-boutique above a burbling Kyoto brook for thrift store chain Pass The Baton, to the psychedelic, color-infused OZONE lounge at the top of Hong
"BEING BORN IN OKAYAMA REALLY HELPED SOLIDIFY MY FOUNDATION AS A PERSON. I WASN’T REALLY EXPOSED TO MUCH FASHION THERE. WHAT ENDED UP INFLUENCING ME MORE WAS THE FACT THAT I WAS SO FAR FROM BIG CITIES SUCH AS TOKYO, WHICH MADE ME VERY EAGER TO EXPLORE THE WORLD OUTSIDE MY HOMETOWN."
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NIGO® in 1998 that his vision was realized in full. “At that point in time I wasn’t able to really take on the projects that I wanted to and it was a bit of a stressful time for me,” Katayama recalls. Looking for a designer to remodel his influential Ura-Harajuku boutique NOWHERE, NIGO® immediately bonded with Katayama and invited him to redesign the store’s interior. “He gave me freedom to do what I liked, but I was also aware that having this freedom was both a blessing and curse.” The end result—a streamlined, space-age interior bathed in subdued fluorescent lighting—was a mutual blessing as it not only marked a turning point for NIGO® and Katayama, but also carved out a new aesthetic in Japanese interior design which had become stagnant alongside the faltering economy. It would also spawn one of the more enduring creative relationships of recent memory, with Katayama continuing to design over 60 A Bathing Ape locations for NIGO, alongside other standalone projects such as CURRY UP and STORE by NIGO.
Kong’s Ritz-Carlton hotel that claims the title for the world’s highest bar, brands turn to Katayama’s Wonderwall for the shock and awe treatment. His close affiliation with fashion stretches back to his birthplace of Okayama, better known as Japan’s denim capital. “Being born in Okayama really helped solidify my foundation as a person. I wasn’t really exposed to much fashion there. What ended up influencing me more was the fact that I was so far from big cities such as Tokyo, which made me very eager to explore the world outside my hometown.” Spurred by his family’s furniture trade, Katayama studied interior design in Osaka, but it was his love of punk and rock music and their associated fashions and subcultures that to this day imbues his work with its own soul. After graduating and gaining experience at several interior design firms as well as working freelance jobs, Katayama eventually 042
founded H. Design Associates with two other designers during the ‘92 post-bubble economy, but the partners decided in 2000 to go their separate ways. Left unfulfilled, the same year Katayama founded Wonderwall, which is a product of his cultural fluency right down to its name. “I thought that it would be interesting to make it sound like a name of a rock band,” Katayama explains. “I had a lot of ideas but the name ‘Wonder’ stuck to me not only because I liked the sound, but also because of Stevie Wonder at first. Of course Oasis’ song ‘Wonderwall’ was a big hit back then, but also George Harrison’s 1960s film was also titled Wonderwall which starred Jane Birkin.” The ‘wall’ portion of the name, he says, was directly relevant to the interior design aspect for obvious reasons.
"PEOPLE DON’T NECESSARILY COME TO SEE THE DESIGNS. THEY COME MORE TO SEE THE GOODS, OR EAT FOOD. DESIGN IS SUPPOSED TO SUPPORT THAT. IF I WAS AN ARTIST, I COULD PROBABLY JUST EXPRESS WHATEVER I AM THINKING AT THAT MOMENT. BUT I FEEL WITH DESIGN, IT’S REALLY AN ANSWER TO A CERTAIN PROBLEM THAT YOU ARE TRYING TO SOLVE."
Despite his abundant design potential, it wasn’t until Katayama was introduced to none other than 043
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Surprisingly, contrary to his reputation for showmanship within the world of interior design, Katayama subscribes to the school of thought that the best design is invisible. “I know it’s weird for me to say this, but people don’t necessarily come to see the designs. They come more to see the goods, or eat food. Design is supposed to support that. If I was an artist, I could probably just express whatever I am thinking at that moment. But I feel with design, it’s really an answer to a certain problem that you are trying to solve.” This pragmatic approach is rife throughout Katayama’s design process, which begins with a thorough analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the client’s brand, the brand’s customers, the building location, and surrounding neighborhood, through to grander notions such as current industry trends and the state of the economy. “In general people aren’t really aware of those particular characteristics themselves; that even applies to brands. From this, I try to decipher what is, metaphorically speaking, the ‘best answer’ to meet all of their needs.” This approach has served Katayama well time and again across a breadth of projects internationally, and has reaffirmed his belief that serving clients both big and small only enriches his experience all the more. “BAPE and Uniqlo may be opposites in many ways, but I really have an interest in both. When it comes to smaller brands they put more emphasis on creation and the artistic value, but for mass brands it’s more of a business and they place heavy emphasis on the economics, for example how they can best utilize the space to sell more. I feel like because I’ve tackled both ends of the spectrum I have been able to achieve a certain balance. To put it very simply, I love sophisticated French cuisine with lots of courses, but I also enjoy a simple gyudon beef rice bowl from
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(Japanese fast food chain) Yoshinoya as well. Keeping an open mind and exploring both styles allows me to get a broader spectrum.” Katayama’s encyclopedic base of cultural knowledge is reflected in another monolithic concrete box only a brisk half-hour walk from the THOM BROWNE. NEW YORK AOYAMA space. Much like the boutique, the Wonderwall office requires the visitor to break from surrounding reality via a triple-height corridor guarded by an impossibly tall bank vault door. Inside, however, is a different story. Stacks of magazines on the floor, Katayama’s personal collection of artifacts exhibited behind glass, and a stuffed polar bear overlooking the cavernous conference room provide a glimpse inside the unbounded mind of man who has accumulated, and draws upon a vast cultural knowledge base to inform each project he takes on. Indeed, the man owns an incomprehensibly extensive music collection of 10,000 CDs, a fraction of which is immaculately arranged on full-height bookshelves flanking the approach to his private office space on the top floor. In the final word on the paradigm-shifting influence of Katayama’s unorthodox vision, German publisher Gestalten has dedicated an entire hardcover tome titled Wonderwall Case Studies to document the firm’s milestone projects in honor of the designer’s 50th birthday. An extensive retrospective is more than merited—what he has accomplished in the mere 15 years of Wonderwall’s existence has already established him as a paragon of the design world, and this particular title will serve as the hors d’oeuvres to a complex, yet much-lauded, banquet of work. For now, we can only hope that Katayama continues to mesh together high cuisine and gyudon alike to create a sensory feast that will last the ages.
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ARBY LI
Creating Your World PHOTOGRAPHY
WILLIE CORRENTE
WILLIAMS
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Everyone has their own version of the world, unique to them. What other people see of that world, however, is a culmination of factors that include what you do and how you showcase your life. Within the fashion industry, one of the most difficult tasks is creating the world that surrounds a brand, the way Hedi Slimane, Jun Takahashi, Martin Margiela have done, creating a universe around their labels that transcends the clothing—Slimane with his rock ‘n’ roll sensibilities, Takahashi with his archaic punk attitude, and Margiela with his ever-present aura of mystery. It’s not just sewing together fabrics to create products that make up a brand’s identity, but also the concept of what the brand encompasses allows people to connect with it. Matthew Williams’s world is ALYX. Throughout the past decade, the creative director and designer has spent his time astutely absorbing the information that would eventually help him create his own brand, and by extension, a world for people to connect to. Named after his
daughter, ALYX is more a personal monologue and culmination of his life, than simply an impartial vessel of consumerism. After dropping out of high school at 19 to pursue his passions, Williams went on to work with some of the most notable names in both music and fashion. From projects with Lady Gaga and Kanye West, to Nike, Stussy and Supreme, as well as creating a brand out of his DJ collective with Heron Preston and Virgil Abloh, Williams has led the way in the modern day creative realm. Now in its fifth season, ALYX is a brand that has stayed true to the voice from its inception. The way the garments portray a timeless ethereal quality is just one piece of a larger story—everything produced has a conscious meaning behind it.The talented creative fills us in on the ideas he is trying to present, how his past work can obscure perceptions of his new work and why ALYX is something he can happily do for the rest of his life.
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PORTRAIT BY NICK KNIGHT
NAMED AFTER HIS DAUGHTER, ALYX IS MORE A PERSONAL MONOLOGUE AND CULMINATION OF HIS LIFE, THAN SIMPLY AN IMPARTIAL VESSEL OF CONSUMERISM.
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Q&A What made you choose fashion as the medium to translate your vision? The world doesn’t need more clothes. Storytelling was always very interesting, and that’s what I am as a clothing designer. It’s the medium I choose to express myself and to tell the stories that I want to tell. The designers I’ve looked up to and the clothing I’ve always loved has a story behind it and that’s definitely something that comes from menswear. The lineage of a garment represents what’s special to it on the inside but you cannot necessarily see that with your naked eye. It links you to your friend circles and your clan of people that are all drawn to the same secret. I like that idea of creating a world outside of a garment. All of the storytelling through hardware that goes on the clothing or image locations or the music used can be little codes for people who want to go down the rabbit hole to find out more about me and about my love and pain and things that make me happy. Are you designing for yourself or for a female perspective as ALYX is a womenswear brand? I’m not designing for what I personally would wear. I’m designing the women’s stuff from a place of what I find attractive and what I find beautiful. I’m inspired by girls, like models Molly Blair and Stella Lucia and their attitude, which I keep in mind when making clothes. When you’re a man designing for women, it’s mostly an idea that you’re projecting. A woman designing for women can project special qualities in the clothes, like when Yohji and Hedi design for men. It’s exciting when you can tell that a brand clearly communicates the style of the designer. Hopefully one day when I have the opportunity, I’ll be able to design for myself. I’m not branding it unisex because I think that term is used too loosely these days.
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Do you still get associated with your previous work even as you are working on new projects like these? When working with celebrities, whatever you do amplifies and gets etched in stone. I did work with Gaga when I was 21 or 22 years old and I still get labeled as Lady Gaga’s creative director in the first line of interviews, when what I’m doing now has no relevance to her or to Kanye either. I appreciate both of them but it’s not fair to them either, because they’re doing their own work now. If I’m an employee for a company I do my best work for that company. But does that company’s ideology reflect on each individual employee? Because I worked with pop stars when I was 21 or started a DJ group with my friends, I get labeled as things that I’m not and it’s funny.
That must be pretty annoying if people keep comparing you to your past. Where I come from in California, there’s no fucking hope. Everybody I grew up with lives in the same town and has like six babies by the time they’re thirty. When I started making clothing 11 years ago and dropped out of college at 19 because I wanted to be a designer, I moved to LA driving fabrics around to denim brands and working out of sweatshops, doing anything I could in the luxury space. How would I even know how to meet a store in Europe or get an Italian bank account to work with contractors? You have an extreme disadvantage being born in America and wanting to do high-fashion because there’s nowhere to make clothing at that level here. You have to go to Italy or Japan. You can make jeans and T-shirts but not elevated womenswear. I’m really grateful that I
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had the entertainment industry to take me out of Los Angeles to meet all these great people—because it wouldn’t have been possible without Kanye and Gaga believing in me and giving me a platform. If I was born in London or Paris, I probably just would’ve worked up the fashion system but there’s no way to do that when you’re born in Central California.
store footprint is as valid if you have the social media following and you’re able to direct traffic to your own online store. It’s not hard to realize there are people who do it extremely well. For me, it’s something I’m still getting used to, since social media is not natural to me. Utilizing it in an authentic way is something I’m working on. In a way, it’s a bit snobby to not be on it and using it.
Is social media also a part of how you project your vision? I come from a time when you didn’t know what the designer who made your clothes looked like. Clothes were just judged on the magazines, the runway, how they looked and felt in the stores. Now it’s not like that at all. Some clothing can be made not to the best level and become successful through social media. Now with e-commerce, less and less of the physical
How do you manage to stay on top of all the different aspects of your work? It’s just instinct. Because it’s my own company I can do things at my own pace. A lot of these things can take a long time to do. A catalog can take nine months. That’s not normal; a normal company might expect a quicker turnaround but that’s also why most people’s work is shit. I think that’s why you see all the burnouts
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in designers because they’re expected to produce relevant ideas and work at a rate that isn’t possible. People can fool themselves into thinking their ideas are good but they’re not. It’s just like more noise. It’s also a struggle for us to cover everything at HYPEBEAST, so it’s refreshing to see a brand not trying to make as much as they can. It’s disgusting to me. Like, who’s buying all that? It’s crazy because everybody wants to keep hitting their sales goals and their company growth, but what if the world is saturated with products? Sometimes the solution to increase sales is to make things less expensive and make more of it, but what about making nicer things and less of it, and making the company smaller? That’s why I’m really interested in recycling fabrics, and clothing. By going against the trend of churning out as much as possible, do you fear ALYX might fall into an area of obscurity? We’re making modern classics. I really think of the clothes as a value investment. When people are spending their hard-earned money on the clothes I make, they’re going to want it to be in their closet for years to come. I personally shop like that, as does my wife. In addition, I design the clothes so that each individual piece can be the best garment it can be. You may wear pants from one designer, a top from another. The individual piece has to be the best pants or best sweater it can be, not just a silhouette for that season. I think some designers can do it, like wearing all Rick Owens looks amazing but then sometimes when you’re just wearing a drop crotch pant there’s only one other T-shirt that can work with that.
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"THE WORLD DOESN'T NEED MORE CLOTHES. STORY TELLING WAS ALWAYS VERY INTERESTING, AND THAT'S WHAT I DO AS A CLOTHING DESIGNER"
How else do you present your ideas outside of clothing? Founder of SHOWstudio, Nick Knight has always told me that we should take advantage of all the latest technology. When Ansel Adams was practicing photography, an 8x10 camera was the most technologically advanced camera at that time, and he hiked with it into the mountains of Yosemite with probably 150 pounds on his back to take these amazing landscapes. He wasn’t taking a lighter camera because it was easier. I think it’s the same with film, I love the look of it but at the same time it’s not better or worse than digital photography, it’s whatever the person chooses for that look. I feel like there’s more room to play when you’re dealing with a new technology or a new medium. So if this is the epitome of your ideas, would you be content to do the same thing for the rest of your life with ALYX? Yeah, I’d like this to be what I do for the rest of my life, and to keep bringing in people to collaborate with. If
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you look at a lot of people I look up to like Raf or Hedi or McQueen—they started their brands at around my age and the world found out about them when they were thirty 30 and when they had lived a little bit of life. I did stuff when I was 21 or 22 and people knew about it around the world. Still, all the decisions you made at 20 stick around with you in this day and age. It did take all these jobs and years to understand who I was and what I can do. And that’s why I’m happy with where I’m at now and where ALYX is. Just to have the confidence to put something out that’s so personal—named after my daughter—is a window into my head. You’re kind of naked to the world. If I were younger and didn’t have the experience with all these brands and people, I may have just called it an ambiguous name that means nothing and is just a brand. But I think this way it forces me to have some kind of passion and deeper relationship to the work.
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(PRE VIOUS PAGE) K AWS UNTITLED 2015 ACRY LIC ON C ANVA S 72 X 120 INCHES PHOTOGR APHY FAR Z AD OWR ANG
At first glance, I was shocked. Like his good friend and collaborator Pharrell, Brian Donnelly, better known as KAWS, looked unbelievably young. The global artist, who has been at the forefront of art and culture for the last two decades, looked no different than when he first burst onto the scene in the late ‘90s. Even down to his clothes, donning his signature chambray oxford shirt and baseball cap, KAWS seems to have remained unchanged.
in stark contrast to the work he is internationally known for. As we discussed his latest endeavor, he spoke with a calm, calculated confidence without any hint of arrogance, though, just outside the walls of our meeting room in the Central Embassy Mall in Bangkok, there stood a giant masterpiece of his doing—a trophy of sorts.
After speaking with him for just minutes, I got the feeling that he doesn’t consider himself some largerthan-life artist or celebrity, which at this point in his illustrious career, certainly he deserves to. Soft-spoken and reserved in demeanor, KAWS stands
KAWS BFF 2016 8 METERS PHOTOGRAPHY KEVIN WONG
Brazenly colored, the 8-meter-tall structure took 20+ men and over 10 hours to erect. Named the BFF, it is the latest of KAWS’ family of characters and follows a high-profile lineage that includes the Companion, Accomplice, Chum and Bendy. While a completely new addition to the collection, the BFF created in collaboration with AllRightsReserved, is
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immediately recognizable as KAWS artwork. The signature skull and crossbones, the X’s on the gloved hands, the bold and saturated colors coupled with sleek curved lines—the KAWS BFF can be literally spotted from a mile away. These Godzilla -sized sculptures have been a staple of KAWS’ work over the last few years, and to any other artist, it would stand as a clear point of accomplishment in their career. To KAWS, however, it’s simply the latest exploration in his work, another medium adding to the long list he has accrued throughout his career.
esteemed museums and galleries like the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Still, he does not see any of them as monumental milestones. “A lot of times when people are writing, they’re talking about me graduating into some other situations; I don’t think of it like this at all. I just think that these are the opportunities in front of me now,” KAWS puts it plainly, seemingly unaffected by his massive popularity and success. For some artists, this type of confidence can seem to come from a place of haughtiness or condescension, but not for KAWS. He simply does not put extra value on any particular works, explaining how none of this has changed to him or his approach to art.
This prominent career has taken KAWS from tagging the billboards and bus stops of New York to filling
KAWS BFF PLUSH 2016 20 INCHES BLUE COLORWAY PHOTOGRAPHY KENNETH DENG
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(PREVIOUS PAGE) KAWS AT THIS TIME (DETAIL) 2013 WOOD H 225.98 X W 102.36 X D 84.65 INCHES PHOTOGRAPHY JONT Y WILDE
(LEFT) KAWS SMALL LIE 2013 WOOD (NATURAL) H 393.7 X W 182.68 X D 168.19 INCHES (RIGHT) KAWS GOOD INTENTIONS 2015 WOOD H 237.8 X W 119.61 X D 97.52 INCHES PHOTOGRAPHY JONT Y WILDE
In reference to his range of works and evolution to different mediums he explains, “The whole point I do it is to communicate. So the goal hasn’t changed at all, it’s just the opportunities that have changed. When I think of when I was doing stuff on the street, I don’t see this necessarily a step up. It’s just a step in a different lane.” The singular goal of communication is one that KAWS takes into great consideration when creating 066
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new works. Throughout the multitude of different digital and physical spaces his work has inhabited, KAWS has always considered the way in which audiences will view, interact, and ultimately perceive or feel while in the presence of the art. The thought process behind works such as his BFF sculpture, or his much talked-about Companion sculpture at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, is based on his obsession with communicating his art better. “With so much of my work, I feel like the only interaction people have
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KAWS SURVIVAL MACHINES 2015 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 5 WORKS, EACH MEASURING 112 X 92 INCHES PHOTOGRAPHY JONT Y WILDE
is through digital mediums. There’s nothing that can compare to being in front of a sculpture that people that can walk around and view. It’s a totally different thing, experiencing a sculpture. The show that’s up at Yorkshire Sculpture Park: having them in the English countryside gives a whole different feeling and meaning to it. People often identify my work with the urban landscape, but in my mind, the sculptures aren’t really attached to any kind of geography.”
long line of products. From his teeming army of collectable figurines to his playfully designed clothes, KAWS stands by the assertion that none of those endeavors were purposely sought out as a stepping stone, but rather, they “just happened.” “Everything that has happened so far has been really sort of organic,” he claimed, referring to the seven-yearlong stint with his brand, OriginalFake, and his most recent collaboration with retail juggernaut Uniqlo.
The other expansive medium KAWS has ventured into, and has found tremendous success, is with his
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(SCULPTURES LEFT TO RIGHT) KAWS BORN TO BEND 2013 RESTING PLACE 2013 COMPANION (PASSING THROUGH) 2010 ORIGINALFAKE COMPANION (DETAIL) 2006 PHOTOGRAPHY JONT Y WILDE
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KAWS ACCOMPLICE 2010 FIBERGL ASS AND RUBBERIZED PAINT 120 X 47 1/2 X 36 INCHES EDITION 2 OF 3, WITH 1 AP PINK COLORWAY PHOTOGRAPHY JONT Y WILDE
(RIGHT) KAWS CHUM (KCB5) 2012 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS OVER PANEL 84 X 68 X 1 3/4 INCHES KAWS UPS AND DOWNS 2012 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 35 X 23 INCHES 10 PARTS EACH MEASURING 35 X 23 INCHES
for KAWS to date, gave KAWS all the more reason to stay true to his patented aesthetic. “It’s a whole next level of exposure,” he reflects. “It was good, I wanted to just keep it with existing imagery.” Even still, knowing the T-shirts would be so pervasive on a global scale, KAWS did not change nor did he cater to the lofty platform—he stuck to his guns all the more, imparting his distinct designs.
Amidst the vast amount of work KAWS has produced, his brand and its quality is consistent if nothing else. While in his output, he continues to effortlessly shift into different lanes, he does not feel pressured to adjust or adapt to the times. Whether it’s in art, music, fashion or writing, it is almost impossible as a creative to remain unaffected by current trends. The beautiful thing about KAWS’ work is that “toys don’t get old, characters don’t age or change.” This is what KAWS loves about his work. The timeless aspect of it allows him to create his own universe; one that is steadfast with its own characters, taking from the past and present, to create something that has proven to withstand the test of time. Now 20 years in, KAWS’ cartoon-like presence has carved out a lasting place within our culture. Like Warhol, KAWS has crafted a body of work that transcends the art world and has become a recognizable mainstay throughout. Even now, while his work sits atop bedroom shelves and hangs on the most revered walls, KAWS maintains that there’s still a sense of unknowing to him in it all. “It’s kind of like putting letters into a bottle and tossing it out into the ocean.”
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Few can argue with the claim that the music world is one of the most volatile arenas within the scope of popular media. Ever since Napster arrived onto the scene in the late ‘90s, the music industry has been subject to the constant threat of copyright infringements and illegal downloads. Consequently, artists and recording labels have had to refine their formulas when it comes to sharing new music—a challenge that also affects other media outlets. Now more than ever, users find themselves playing a more active role in not only creating or finding new content, but also sharing it. In an age where new strategies are integral to capturing new audiences, remaining
platforms such as Spotify, Pandora and SoundCloud. In order to take on this new digital challenge, Lowe is relying on his passion for music. While the pressures of conforming to the digital marketplace continue to mount, and new obstacles steadily arise, Lowe argues that “A hit record is a hit record. Quality will always find its audience.” However, he points out a new sense of self-sufficiency among artists when it comes to presenting a new record. “Artists are trusting their instincts more than ever before. The spirit of independence in terms of the decision-making process is way more alive than
"ARTISTS ARE TRUSTING THEIR INSTINCTS MORE THAN EVER BEFORE. THE SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE IN TERMS OF THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS IS WAY MORE ALIVE THAN IT HAS BEEN FOR A LONG TIME." loyal first and foremost to our love of music seems to be an increasingly challenging mission. Meet Zane Lowe. For over a decade, the 41-year-old has been the leading voice of BBC’s Radio 1, presenting the newest in music and conducting interviews with icons like Kanye West and Rick Rubin. Since last year, the New Zealand native has been taking on an even more expansive role as the creative director of Beats 1, Apple’s internet radio station. The new service plays a significant role within Apple Music’s revamped music strategy. After revolutionizing how music is experienced with iTunes and the iPod, Apple faces new competition in the form of streaming
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it has been for a long time. Finding your audience now is a far more personal experience than it was before. The authenticity is coming from inside the studio, from the artist’s vision. That’s what we’re responding to. You know Travis Scott is making those decisions. You absolutely know that Flume is in charge of what he’s doing.” Lowe describes the Beats 1 mission as “a layered experience” for its users. It adopts a multidimensional approach to bring the different aspects of today’s music releases into one place for its listeners. “No one looks at content these days as one singular thing. I think people see it as an overall experience: the way
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that it looks, the way it sounds, the way it moves, the pace at which it moves, the situation, even the way it feels.” Taking his previous work for BBC Radio 1 into consideration, it becomes apparent that this multifaceted approach derives from his passion for music, which gradually morphed into a profession. While making a name for himself as a DJ and producer, Zane received his first professional experience as a presenter on music station Max TV in his hometown of Auckland, New Zealand. It was then Lowe realized that it wasn’t just music that drove him, but also everything that surrounds it. Lowe has framed his approach around exploring the entire story—from the artist’s background history to understanding their choice of album artwork, and how everything connects to communicate an artist’s vision. “The two lanes of my life have always been music and media,” Zane says, “The making of the music, playing it as a DJ, the integrated side of it, but also the sharing of it and the conversational side of it.” In his early twenties, Lowe moved to London without much of a road map. It was in the British capital where he had his first real taste of the music industry outside of his hometown. After landing a gig as an MTV presenter, it did not take long for his reputation to grow in the UK music industry. While presenting MTV’s flagship music show Gonzo, which had evolved from a two-hour random collection of clips to a primetime show with musical guests and interviews, Zane was allowed to delve even deeper into his interest in music. Soon after, he received an offer to become the host of BBC Radio 1’s evening show, which would ultimately provide a platform for him to work in new ways, slaking his thirst for making music. The variety of radio features such as ‘Hottest Record in the World Right Now,’ ‘Masterpieces,’ and ‘Zane Lowe Meets’ helped him approach stories from different angles and learn about the process behind the music. In regards to what drives his interviews, he confesses “I want to learn from the greats. I look at interviewing as an opportunity to be in the audience, to be in some kind of lecture with great artists, to absorb information from the great people in the room and then one day, you might get to apply it yourself.” However, 078
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Lowe understands that in order to do so, gaining the artist’s trust is the key to establishing what he calls a “real conversation” between two people with a common interest in music. “I’ve never been that person to try and inspire discomfort. I like to make artists feel comfortable enough to go deep. I want to go deep into the process.” If London marked the formative period in Zane Lowe’s foray into music, his move to Los Angeles would symbolize the next evolution of his career. Admitting that it took him a year to fully absorb LA, he now realizes that the City of Angels offers the perfect setting for the current challenges of Beats 1. “I love the contradiction of being in a really relaxed, coastal beach geography but you’re also smack dab in the center of the music industry. It feels like the future.” This dichotomy is fitting for his new role
as creative director at Apple Music’s Beats 1, where he is tasked with combining his native interests with fresh, new perspectives. By no means is Beats 1 Radio a fully developed project, as it adheres to one of the Internet’s golden rules: there is no final form. While the online community continues to progress, Zane and his team face these incessant changes with a healthy dose of humility, and with the understanding that the digital sphere demands constant adaptation. While Beats 1 is making incremental adjustments, they avoid forcefully implemented strategies, and instead try to constantly reflect upon and learn from past experiences. “When you’re in the formative stage of something, you have a license to learn about yourself, what your personality is, and what you have to offer. We’re learning so much from our mistakes, we’re learning as much
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"IT'S ABOUT BUILDING SOMETHING, BUILDING A TEAM AND BEING A PART OF AN OVERALL INSPIRATION TO CREATE SOMETHING PEOPLE WANT TO USE, LISTEN TO, AND GET SOMETHING OUT OF. IT FEELS LIKE AN EXCITING FUTURE IN A DIFFERENT WAY."
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from the things that go wrong as the things that go right. Right now is not the time to overthink.” For Lowe, BBC Radio 1 was undoubtedly the catalyst in his career; Beats 1, on the other hand, marks the new challenge of growth and development. Compared to his previous stations, he explains, “[Beats 1 Radio] is less about a personal journey of touring and making records. It’s about building something, building a team and being a part of an overall inspiration to create something people want to use, listen to, and get something out of. It feels like an exciting future in a different way.” The Beats 1 program is as equally tailored to the needs of the artist as it is to the audience’s perspective. Since production and tours are ever-changing and keep artists in motion, Lowe explains, “You have to pivot quickly. You can’t build a schedule and sit on your hands for a year. Every day something is shifting, molding and altering the way it sounds.” One of Beats 1’s most pivotal assets is human curation, which stands in bold contrast to automated playlists on platforms like Spotify and Pandora. When music is curated the old-fashioned way, broadcasters are responsible for programming directly with musicians and celebrities, who in turn become curators of and host their own shows. Artists like Pharrell, Elton John, Jaden Smith, and more recently Travis Scott and Chance the Rapper have all taken a stab at doing so. While it remains to be seen if the Beats 1 formula pays off in the long run, the platform’s 360-degree approach allows Lowe and his team to respond to their audience’s evolving demands. Incorporating the artist’s perspective to their programming has become more than just a strategy for catering to savvy listeners, but represents a whole new direction. Zane seems confident that the path he’s currently pioneering will attract a wide audience: “We listen to the artist intently and hear what they want to do. That is the bridge between the music and the audience. The fans always cross the bridge.” 084
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The concept of a muse stems from Greek mythology dating back to the 1st century; these goddesses served to provide inspiration—well-versed in poetry, song lyrics and myths, they were a vital part in the cultural evolution of the time. Classical understanding of Greek mythology suggests there were nine muses in total: each one for a different creative field. There was a muse for love poetry, tragedy, hymns and humor. There was, not surprisingly, no goddess for fashion. Yet, it is an idea that has long since penetrated the vernacular of fashion, as designers seek out a face and personality that chimes with their creative vision. To many, models simply model, a mere medium for the message—but for some, the relationship between model and designer can often inform entire collections’ campaigns and brand identities. In 2015, when Rick Owens’ long-time muse Jera Diarc went rogue and revealed a piece of paper which read “Please Kill Angela Merkel. Not” as he walked down the runway, the designer was said to have been so enraged by the upstaging of his show that he punched the rogue model backstage. In Owens’ mind, it was a betrayal, an undermining of months of dialogue between the
FOR ONE OF OWENS’ CONTEMPORARIES, RAF SIMONS, MODELS-TURNEDMUSES HAVE TAKEN ON AN EQUALLY IMPORTANT ROLE IN SHAPING ONE OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE MENSWEAR BRANDS TO HAVE EVER GRACED THE RUNWAYS OF PARIS.
pair with the aim of communicating his message and in the case of this Spring/Summer 2016 show, a look at the concept of “male aggression.” Ironic. For one of Owens’ contemporaries, Raf Simons, models-turned-muses have taken on an equally important role in shaping one of the most innovative menswear brands to have ever graced the runways of Paris. Throughout his career, Simons has sought inspiration from a number of sources: music (from Gabba to Kraftwerk and Robbie Snelders) to art. The Belgian once compared it to air, saying he cannot go a day without seeing art, “ce n’est pas possible.” In 1999, Simons presented his first book, Isolated Heroes, in collaboration with British-born fashion photographer David Sims. The publication featured a number of street-cast models that Simons would 104
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use in his Spring/Summer 2000 collection, one of them being Snelders. Pallid, skinny, arresting, the young Belgian came to embody the archetypal Raf boy, transcending his role as a model and becoming an integral part of the evolution of Raf Simons, the brand. “At that time, I spent most of my days wondering how to dress and how to act and what gigs to go to, going to discos and not having any sleep. So I think that was inspiring for them,” Snelders said in a 2014 interview with AnOther magazine. “They would look at what I wore, extract a small part of it and make it fashion. Raf has this gift for picking up on things from everywhere and turning them into something else.” It was a role that would grow along with Snelders, who eventually became an integral member of Simons’ team, regularly staying with them in the studio until 2 a.m. even when he wasn’t necessarily needed.
The landscape of fashion that we see today, however, is markedly different from the days before iPhones and Instagram, fashion shows filmed by drones, and ‘See Now, Buy Now.’ Acutely aware of the need to marry creativity with commerce, a new generation of fashion designers are blurring the lines between consumer and muse. Gosha Rubchinskiy’s fashion shows are notable for his use of Instagram-cast models, with the Russian designer regularly putting out casting calls on social media for headshot submissions for his forthcoming shows. Fans of the brand—and the all-encompassing world he’s crafted over a handful of seasons–duly oblige. In other cases, Rubchinskiy actively seeks them out, giving a seal of approval to those who desperately seek to be part of his pan-global cult.
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“The way he is so active on Instagram is great; it allows people who are interested in his work to feel connected in a way they wouldn't otherwise with a different brand,” says Tom Emmerson, teenage photographer and self-confessed Rubchinskiy fanatic who was discovered by the Russian designer through the social media platform and subsequently asked to walk in his Fall/Winter 2016 show. What these skaters and photographers wear and what they like is posted on Instagram and duly filtered into Rubchinskiy’s collections.
2017 show—where models were clad in the logos of forgotten ‘90s sportswear brands such as Kappa, Fila, Sergio Tachini, as well as references to football-casual favorite Benetton—Rubchinskiy spoke of wanting to reflect the aesthetic of his legions of young followers. They were “tired of popular things,” he said, instead opting for vintage, somewhat ironic sportswear from brands that were no longer considered fashionable. Both Rubchinskiy’s inner circle—which includes skater-turned-artists such as Valentin Fufaev aka DOUBLECHEESEBURGERVF—and his wider group of followers are integral to his exacting vision. While all his designs are littered with niche references,
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each collection is executed with an apparently commercial outlook. Following his Spring/Summer 2017 show at an abandoned tobacco factory, he declared to the assorted fashion press, “I am not fashion.” These designs were not meant for them, but for the photographers and skaters he surrounds himself with, the ones that reflect his own consumer base. While the customer may differ somewhat, the concept is the same for Rubchinskiy’s postSoviet peers, Demna Gvasalia and Lotta Volkova of Vetements. The designer and stylist duo have also regularly looked to Instagram to find new faces for their runway shows—which, in turn, has a strangely 107
democratizing effect, propagating the idea that you can not only buy the oversized hoodies and spliced jeans, but that you can be part of their world. “For me, fashion is about making clothes, clothes have to be worn, that’s what we do; we want to see people wearing these clothes,” Volkova told Vogue earlier this year. “It’s a commercial business. It’s not art that you hang on the wall.” Volkova herself is integral to the design process—her eye for styling and past-life as a designer sees her advising all aspects of the brand, from the proportions of a jacket (oversized or over-oversized) to the location of each show. But she also serves as somewhat of a
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muse herself to Gvasalia, having walked in each one of Vetements’ shows so far. In many ways, Volkova epitomizes the Vetements woman with her androgynous haircut and personal style, unafraid to marry death metal with kitsch floral. But equally, she is very much the typical Vetements consumer: willing to embrace elements of rebelliousness and internet hype, but with a genuine appreciation of fashion and its storied institutions. Such a figurehead feels more relatable as the face of a brand than a supermodel or celebrity-led campaign, and authenticity is what resonates with today’s savvy consumers. In London, Nasir Mazhar’s shows have been praised for their diversity—a notable juxtaposition to both Rubchinskiy and Vetements’ overwhelmingly white casting—but for the British designer, it is merely a reflection of his friend circles and inspiration of city life, rather than a political statement. The key, Mazhar claims, is authenticity: “It’s extremely important—if a model doesn’t fill the clothes and doesn’t look confident or comfortable, they can kill the look. The models bring the clothes to life and depending on what kind of models you choose, they can sway the feel of the collection,” he says. “It’s important to me for kids to see our shows and to feel like maybe one day they could walk the runway or they could model.” 108
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Mazhar elevates tracksuits to a couture-like level, whilst also championing a wholly androgynous aesthetic—his creations fuse working class sensibilities of the UK capital with the aspirational power of sportswear, which has been a recurring theme throughout decades of British subculture. Those who model his clothes, as Skepta did in Spring/Summer 2015, are largely his end-consumer as well. “We street cast everyone in
subcultures and style tribes which once underpinned youth fashion, it is conceivable that brands of this ilk are filling the void left behind. What’s perhaps unusual to the movements that preceded them is the medium of how they are disseminating their ideas. Designers like Gvasalia, Mazhar and Rubchinskiy are democratizing runway fashion, which for so long was once merely within the purview of an in-the-know
"I THINK WE ALWAYS SHOW A REAL VISION OF BEAUT Y, NOT AN OLD OUTDATED IDEA OF BEAUT Y WHERE EVERYONE IS THE SAME SKIN COLOR AND HEIGHT AND LOOK."
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our shows,” Mazhar adds. “I think we always show a real vision of beauty, not an old outdated idea of beauty where everyone is the same skin color and height and look.”
elite. The idea that tracksuits and gaudy sportswear would grace runways, at one point, would have seemed perverse—but these are not collections designed to pander to traditional notions of luxury fashion.
It is this honesty and authenticity that makes these labels exciting, not the $900 USD Snoop Dogg T-shirts. Fleeting moments of hype such as these are easy to achieve—and the three aforementioned brands have all experienced it—through it all, they’ve slowly cultivated a world that consumers can not only buy into, but one that they can be a part of. While the Internet may have resulted in a dearth of
In a world where we’re often limited to 140 characters, visual short-hand becomes increasingly potent—for many, what we wear is the easiest way of expressing that. Brands like Vetements are allowing us a peek behind the curtain, a chance to be part of the process. The models are the consumers, the consumers are the muses; it all feels so attainable. Many would even argue it feels real. 111
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Art is meant to be personal. Commonly known as a form of “self”-expression, its purpose is to offer an artist with a release—often allowing them to let out deeply-harbored thoughts, afflictions and emotions. As Oscar Wilde once said, “Art is the most intense form of individualism the world has ever known.” With art, one is encouraged to create with blatant disregard for pressures of public perception, or to a higher degree, commercialism and profitability. Art can undoubtedly be defined as a selfish act. Thomas Hooper, a visual artist and tattooist, known for his intricate ornamental work, does agree with this to a certain extent. “No matter what people say, you personally have to like it,” he says in regards about his own work, which is heavily laden with Eastern religious imagery and geometric patterns. But as in the nature of tattooing, Hooper also understands that there is a delicate relationship between an artist and his “canvas” that must be accounted for. Tattooing
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as an art form is entirely different to conventional art in this regard. Hooper is uber-conscious of this give-and-take that exists in tattooing, regardless of how prolific an artist has become. Now over a decade into the craft, Hooper has attracted clients from around the world to whichever studio he resides, from his early years in London, to New York at Saved Tattoo, now to Rock of Ages in Dallas. His distinct style, drawing from Indonesian, Australian, tribal and Tibetan art, is a product of his personal interests. While Hooper’s work is intimate and based on his vision, an aspect of heightened awareness and careful consideration—beyond simply making art—comes into play when individuals entrust themselves with him. Aside from the more obvious duties of deciphering what it is someone truly wants, as well as the fit of both the art and the body, there are also innumerable
factors that, unless you are on the delivering end of the needle, are difficult to conceptualize. “The factors are insane,” Thomas explains, naming diet, ethnicity, age and health as significant factors that affect the entire process. Hooper also reveals that he must do double duty as a therapist. “If you go to get tattooed after having a really stressful experience in the morning, all the pores are tiny—you have tension in your skin. It’s impossible to tattoo. It’s my job to make the person relaxed and comfortable when getting the tattoo.”
ONE OF MY FAVORITE ARTISTS IS CHRISTOPHER DRESSER. HE WAS A 19TH CENTURY DESIGNER LOOKING AT EARLY PERSIAN, EGYPTIAN, JAPANESE AND CHINESE ART, PREDATED BY MAYBE 500 YEARS.
If the nature of art is communicating the self, tattooing—as an art form and a corporeal act—is something beyond ourselves, and unique in its duality. The mark of a great artist, as we see with Thomas Hooper, is both having a developed personal style, while also maintaining, recognizing, and appreciating the unique symbiotic relationship between the artist and his subject. 114
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Q&A How do you even begin to create your own style or decide what your focus will be as an artist? Like a chef or musician, you don’t try and reinvent the wheel—you take all these different influences and try to make this new thing that’s yours, by combining them in a new way. One of my favorite artists is Christopher Dresser. He was a 19th century designer looking at early Persian, Egyptian, Japanese and Chinese art, predated by maybe 500 years. And what he did then still looks good now. If I use it as an influence, chances are what I am doing is going to look good in 50 or 100 years. I don’t want my tattoos to look like “oh yeah, that was done at the turn of the millennium.” You do your own art as well. Describe the difference between finishing a piece of your own art versus a tattoo. It’s not just a piece of paper because you’ve spoken to that person. You live with them as you tattoo. You occupy however many hours together. You get to know them and all of a sudden, they’re gone. There’s a lot of parameters, lots of stress and pressure, and on a piece of paper you don’t have any pressure. You have the pressure to finish a tattoo but you’ve no pressure to finish paper art. And the art can go into a certain house or workplace and people see it, but a tattoo, it walks around the world. Art is there to communicate; tattooing has a far greater reach. Can you talk a bit about the imagery you use and what kind of things influence you to explore these themes in your art? My influences include everything from music to architecture, to ornaments on buildings. Artists like William Morris, Christopher Dresser; Thai art, Asian art and so on. I’m also inspired by band shirts. Easiest way to put it, there’s no conscious, forced progression. I just see where the process takes itself.
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How do you go about developing your own patented tattoo aesthetic? If I do one of them it’s just a one-off. But if I do like 30 of them or maybe even 100 of them, then all of a sudden it’s a thing I’ve done a lot. It gets refined, and then it becomes a language. By doing something very interesting, over and over again, you then start to build a visual language rather than it just being a piece of art you decided to do because you looked up a bunch of different references. By refining and almost like distilling, I create a vocabulary that I can go back to and reference.
When you settle on a design, is it something you see entirely in your head? Or is it as you’re sketching it, something pops up in your mind and you continue with it? I come up with a bunch of ideas and they sit around in my head. With a lot of them, I like the idea of chance where I will do one drawing and photograph it in a funny angle on my phone, email it to myself and I’ll doctor it, vectorize it and repeat it and make a new pattern in a way that I’d never have thought of. I use this kind of backwards process to make it a little more crude or distort it in a way.
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Describe the difference between human skin as a canvas versus a conventional canvas. Just to give it a touch of satire, when you’re tattooing it goes something like this: “Fuck, this is hard, I wish this would stop moving. This person’s diet is terrible. This isn’t going in like I want it to, why not? God, I’ve got to get this done in three hours. This is difficult and the skin is impossible.” And 10% of the time you’re like “wow, this is like magic.” Also, for personal art, I don’t have to worry about whether the piece of paper thinks that I am a dick. I can be rude to a piece of paper, whereas it’s not just about the person leaving with a good tattoo, my point of view is they leave with a good tattoo and they’re also thinking, “Well that was great. I enjoyed those three hours of conversation.”
There’s always an interesting relationship there between the artists and client. Would you say that there’s a lot of psychology that you have to impart and try to pull out what the person really wants even if they might not know themselves? They’ve put their trust in you. When people say you can do whatever you want, I always believe that it’s the truth. So we’ll just work together to find out what this person wants, and take it from there. I don’t want to read someone’s mind, but you know, maybe they just don’t want to make a decision. It’s like trying to solve a riddle which is fun. I like challenges. Sometimes you want things to be easier, but if things are easy, they’re not worth doing.
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C O N V E R S AT I O N S WITH C AV E M P T
How’s C.E doing now? Good and it’s growing. We don’t set business targets for ourselves and started it with no expectations, but it seems to find an audience and it’s growing. That’s enough for us
themselves. Music is the best example—the way we follow it doesn’t really change much, but the music itself is always changing and developing. C.E is a common area where we three exercise our
already.
shared interests. We each might have other interests outside that have nothing to do with this project, but when the three of us converge, we work together on a certain zone of interests that become the brand.
What are you guys into right now? The direction of our focus doesn’t change much, but the things that we have always been focused on—those things are constantly changing
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The influences behind the graphics
How closely are you trying to keep your ear to the ground in terms of happenings in the fashion industry? Do you even pay attention anymore?
something they didn’t know before and they might find something they’re interested in. It might be nothing to do with what actually influenced us in the first place, but so what? I think it’s cool, like everyone has their own interpretation. Definitely, that’s not wrong either. When you create a brand, you don’t
I do. I keep up with stuff, but some of us don’t, and that provides a crucial sort of division among us. Part of what C.E is trying to do now is to make something relevant for people to wear, that means you have to understand what’s going on. We also need to know what’s happening to avoid following trends—that can happen quite
retain the driving seat position, it’s like a dialogue with the audience. The brand exists in a space that isn’t just what I decide, it exists out there. I can’t totally control that and that keeps it fresh for us too. It’s sort of as if a brand is the work of a collective imagination—we have our part to
easily if you’re not careful. What is “now” is difficult to articulate and occasionally you’ll come across something that can be “now” in a very bad way. The idea of “now” being a consensus of trends is something we really dislike. “Now” should be something exciting and not a terrible stereotype.
are kind of hard to work out. It’s fun when people try to work it out. It’d be nice if they discover
play but that’s not all of it. The desirability of any brand can’t be understood by just looking at the products or even marketing initiatives and brand-generated hype… There’s kind of an unconscious conspiracy between the people behind the brand and the audience to see something bigger than just the sum of all the parts.
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"THE IDEA OF 'NOW' BEING A CONSENSUS OF TRENDS IS SOMETHING WE REALLY DISLIKE. 'NOW' SHOULD BE SOMETHING EXCITING AND NOT A TERRIBLE STEREOT YPE."
What is your ultimate aim? We haven’t worked that out. We just want to keep going. The three main people in our brand have been involved in bigger brands before—we got a lot of positive and negative experiences from that. We know what we want to avoid. It’s possible to forget about why you started, though.
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Starting whatever you started was worth doing without success—the success is a byproduct. You guys also don’t target any type of customer in particular. We don’t have a target customer, nor a target store. We do not design clothes just as merchandise for sale either. The design process satisfies us, it defines what C.E is, but it’s not exclusively for us or anyone specific. So it kind of lives in the space for nobody? Yeah. For anyone who is prepared to move into its space. Interesting. But some brands have a target anyway, even if they don’t say it. I think it would be very difficult to do. How can you do it when you’re not that person? If you need to hire your target and have him/ her sit down to tell you what they want, you might as well just let them design for themselves. Just be realistic with what you know. Numbers and analysis can perhaps help you figure out the direction of certain things, but that idea
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seems to be crumbling a bit. People thought they could go a long way with it but they couldn’t. You need somebody to come up with an idea then try it out, and if people like it, it’s working. It gets a little bit ridiculous when everywhere you turn everything is pretending to be based on real feedback, data, focus groups, etc. I hope that people are backing away from that kind of thinking now—it’s suffocating. We see streetwear brands moving to fashion shows. Ever considered it? The idea that fashion shows would even be a thing to consider for a brand like ours is the allure of saying “we’re not a streetwear brand now, we’re serious.” But I suppose that once people get into it, they realize what it really is. What I find kind of strange too is, basically if you’re doing a show in Paris, you actually hope to have more or less the same people in the front row as at every other show. So it’s not like these people care about what you’re doing, they’re just there to be like “okay, impress me.” It’s just a weird way to try to connect with your real
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if you really care about being a member of that fashion week club, which is important for some people —and that’s fine. We never really
Anything outside of clothing that
wanted to be a member of that club so why would we handicap ourselves by trying to join in? That would be strange.
is part of the brand. Not everything we produce needs to become a product and be sold. The logic is that we make a film to sell clothes,
you would look into? There are a lot of things we do, we make films sometimes, all of that
"FASHION IS THE IDEA THAT THERE’S A CONSENSUS ON THE CHIC WAY TO DRESS NOW. SO IT SOMEHOW ALSO INCLUDES THE TOTAL REJECTION OF THAT."
audience. It would only make sense
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but the process of making them is exactly the same as thinking of products. We do events where there
looks good for now. It’s one of the first and most powerful ways people find to express something about
is no presentation of products at all—just us programming music and
What does fashion mean to you? Fashion is the idea that there’s a consensus on the chic way to dress
themselves to the outside world. It is often negative, like “no I’m not wearing that.” But the world has changed and people’s interests are so much broader, thanks to the Internet. Young people are a lot more flexible in their thinking and they’re less prejudiced compared to people of our generation, where you really had to be a part of a
now. So it somehow also includes the total rejection of that. And it includes people who have their own rival interpretation of what
group; whatever was outside it was just shit. Kids now are more mellow and open to different stuff, they like what they like and they’ll
images we like. People show up in C.E clothes of their own choosing or in something else with no connection. It’s all part of C.E.
"IT’S NICE TO SEE PEOPLE WEARING THE CLOTHES. AT FIRST IT WAS MOSTLY OUR FRIENDS, BUT NOW IT'S COMPLETE STRANGERS."
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still listen to or wear something totally different. A lot of ‘90s streetwear was quite restrictive, there were rules to follow because you didn’t want your mates to be laughing at you. You try to be interesting and a bit fresh, but you can’t break the rules. That’s what made it street. I think everyone loosened up. The downside of this connectivity through phones and so on is it has opened up a lot of avenues for big companies who engage in cynical marketing to slide into people’s attention, because they find out most of your information through this device, it’s a golden opportunity to feed you branded information. People are much more conscious of brands, and it’s harder for people to work out how they can work on something independently now, because they see everything done by big companies, and they can’t imagine how they can do it. If you look at HB comments, they’re fantastically entertaining, just funny; but I find it interesting to see—people who’re just comments on a screen to me, who’ve grown up in a world with the internet and knew nothing before it—how they find out about
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stuff and find authenticity. There seems to be a big thing about not adopting cultures/clothes/whatever that you didn’t grow up with. Like anti cultural appropriation but kind of extreme, like you have to stay what you are and you can’t move or change. You talked about how you would look back to old things for inspiration. When people look back at C.E in 10 years’ time, is that what you’re
trying to go for? It would be nice. You have to create a definition of fashion now, in a way that’s always the idea of what fashion is about. You need to have a vision of what you’re supposed to be wearing for certain occasions. Say for a Chanel cocktail dress, what occasion is it for? It’s kind of a fantasy occasion now because it’s not actually one that exists in life for most people. You create your fantasy version of now where these clothes would fit in. What’s fantastic about it is, I guess, we’re hoping to create a picture of a world where people feel more excitement in their surroundings. It should be something you feel every day.
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Do you guys look at anything like
We’re just trying to make C.E what it is. It’s easy because there’s only three people, the future direction of the brand exists within the
Like jackets in the summer? Ok, yes, for that kind of level of
three of us. Trying to coordinate everything is difficult but it’s what makes it exciting. If we write down our mission statement, we’d be limiting ourselves, we don’t need to do that because we trust each other to understand what each of us is trying to communicate. And, once you fix the direction you’re working in service of that idea,
that when you’re making clothes? To be honest not really.
basic practical stuff. For us, because we can see our clothes in the street, they change the way the city looks a bit. For “proper” fashion brands, the fashion show is the end result, that’s where everything looks perfect and you get a grade on it, then you’re done; you’ll never see it again. It’s a different form of entertainment. Whereas, for us, we see people wearing it in the street, and we can be like “okay, that looks nice.” You get to affect the common reality a little bit. Would you say this is the rewarding part? It’s nice to see people wearing the clothes. At first it was mostly our friends, but now it's complete strangers. I’m happy to see somebody looking good in our products and that’s changing what everyone else is seeing in the street. It’s fun.
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it really becomes work. It’ll be dull. The exploration of figuring out where our brand should go is enjoyable for us. If you just want to nail it down so that anybody can come along and do it, then you don’t have to do it yourselves, you can just hire a group of people to do it for you.
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HELENA YEUNG
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VIRGINA ARCARO HIROAKI FUKUDA M O R G A N O 'D O N O VA N
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A Craft in Contrast
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Kris Van Assche sits stoically on the couch with his hands resting lightly on his lap; the creative director of Dior Homme exudes the exact aura you’d expect from him—calm, collected and measured. His all-black outfit makes for a stark juxtaposition against the blue patterned wall behind him. This type of glaring contrast is exactly what Van Assche craves in his work—the surprise between mixing opposing ideas such as workwear and streetwear, or a carnival set filled with sullen-faced models. In fact, he says it himself: “Contrasts inspire me.” Sitting across
jumped over to Christian Dior to launch its menswear line, he took Van Assche with him. In 2004 Kris Van Assche left Dior Homme in order to focus on the creation of his own house, KRISVANASSCHE which was launched in 2004. A few years later in 2007, the Belgian designer returned to Dior to take the reins as artistic director, and has led Dior Homme’s development since with 16 collections under his belt so far. During this era, Van Assche cemented Dior Homme’s standing as a luxury house on its own, separate from the workings of Dior’s womenswear
"I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED TAILORING AND CONTRASTING STRONG TAILORING WITH PIECES THAT REFLECT THE ENERGY OF YOUTH." from the serene designer, you’d never fathom that Van Assche often preoccupies himself with the idea of surprises. However, it is this inherent trait that, after almost a decade helming the storied brand, has proven Van Assche as one of fashion’s biggest and most experienced names, leading Dior’s menswear division to the uppermost tiers of luxury fashion.
atelier. In doing so, Van Assche’s direction and vision built the brand into what it is today. Having been given the opportunity to carve his own legacy into one of the most storied French fashion houses, Van Assche had to first and foremost figure out what he wanted Dior Homme to be. But even more so, he needed to distinguish the identity of a menswear brand living alongside an already iconic womenswear line, whilst emerging from the shadows of his predecessor. “I came to Dior Homme asking myself this question: ‘What is the relevance, the reason of being, of a men’s division at a couture
When Van Assche joined Dior, he was still relatively new in fashion, having just served as Hedi Slimane’s first assistant at Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Homme—a post he landed straight out of the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts. When Slimane
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house?’ Is it supposed to be about super luxurious materials and a high–end gentleman's wardrobe? Is it supposed to be a young and high fashion brand? I decided it should be both.” Van Assche’s vision for Dior Homme led him to immerse himself in what he calls the “art of tailoring.” He ensured that Dior Homme’s designs were of the utmost quality while pushing the boundaries of fashion and style. “I’ve often said it is easy to copy the outside look of a jacket, but impossible for mass markets to do the same with the inside structure, the technical side of menswear.” Van Assche’s first Dior Homme collection for Fall 2007 saw him loosen the seams, and continue to solidify the brand’s established reputation as the go-to for slim-cut suits and impeccably-tailored menswear. Van Assche’s romantic aesthetic makes a grand departure from Slimane’s dark, youth–punk silhouette, heralding a new era for the house of Dior. Kris Van Assche's debut show for Dior Homme was a stark difference from John Galliano's, who helmed Christian Dior's womenswear line at the time. Galliano has always been known for his extravagantly excessive and fanciful designs—the antithesis of Van Assche’s minimal and simple menswear staples. Then came Raf Simons, who imbued his avant-garde design know-how into the label and kickstarted an era of sharp silhouettes mixed in with beautiful flowing gowns. It was clear that Dior Homme and Christian Dior were cut from different cloths. While the two labels may act as almost wholly separate entities, it’s clear that both divisions are interconnected by the very DNA of the late designer. Each successor balances the history of the brand, the legacy of Dior himself, and couples it with his own interpretation for novel collections. Van Assche has no problem incorporating Dior’s essence into his designs, one way or another, and it makes it easier that he gets full creative control without having to consider its womenswear counterpart.
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“I have always loved tailoring and contrasting strong tailoring with pieces that reflect the energy of youth. When I launched my own KRISVANASSCHE label in 2005, it was all about Prince of Wales tailored jackets, shirts and ties, and handmade hats, worn with baggy work-wear trousers on white sneakers. I have also always loved flowers; for my second KVA show, but also the third and after, I played with the idea of masculinity; the contrast of it with the softer, poetic side of flowers. It turns out Monsieur Dior loved masculine tailoring and fabrics, as well as flowers. This allowed for me to connect quite easily.” But Dior Homme is not only about the clothing. The process of image making is a larger and more elaborate task than simply designing apparel. In fact, it’s a complete vision that includes everything from 142
the music, to the set and the models. “Shows are incredibly important to me because they bring life to the imagination and the collection. Very early within the design process, ideas for the runway come to mind, as well as for the music.” The designer also handpicks the faces that represent his brand ethos, selecting names such as A$AP Rocky and Robert Pattinson. For his Summer 2017 show, Van Assche brought to life one of his favorite pastimes as a child, the Sinksenfoor fun fair. “It is a real reference and immediately brings back good memories, again of contrasts—the colorful, playful world of young kids against the dark romantic attitude of my fellow art school students.” Once again, Van Assche proves that he revels in surprise, taking every chance he can to create a novel image by combining seemingly opposing themes. This inherent quality also provides
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"SHOWS ARE INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO ME BECAUSE THEY BRING LIFE TO THE IMAGINATION AND THE COLLECTION"
Van Assche with the perfect platform to foster Dior Homme as an autonomous entity, leaving no room to exist merely as “the menswear line of Dior.” This strive for contrasts may be most evident in Van Assche’s own wardrobe, where he is in his own words “just as comfortable in a hoodie or a tailored jacket, denim or tailored pants, a polo shirt, or a dress shirt.” At the end of the day, his own tastes and style lays the groundwork for Dior Homme, which has “always been about this full wardrobe proposition; those two realities living in harmony. It’s about work and play, in the end.” By staying true to his own style coupled with his desire to surprise, Van Assche has successfully carved Dior Homme out of the marble stone that is Christian Dior’s legacy.
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T H E N O R T H FAC E
SAMUEL CHOI
ST YLING
SIMKY CHEUNG
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G AV I N Y E U N G
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Many Faces of the Mountain
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The North Face. A formidable and visceral phrase by all means, those three words strike trepidation and awe into the hearts of mountaineers as the riskiest yet most rewarding face of a mountain to climb. Given that it receives the least sunshine in the Northern Hemisphere and is therefore the iciest, this geological feature has sent scores of the foolhardy plummeting to their deaths. Those who have managed the feat have accordingly been inscribed into alpine history —cue sweeping images of English daredevil Edward Whymper ascending the Matterhorn for the first time in history in 1865, or the German-Austrian alpinists who successfully scaled the Mordwand (or “Murder Wall”) of the Eiger in 1938.
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is indisputably the largest outdoor retailer in the world. Indeed, the tenacity with which The North Face has stuck by this archetype is admirable, even when this strategy almost brought the company to ruin at the turn of the millennium when ignoring a shift in its target demographic to more urban centers (spurred in part by The Notorious B.I.G.’s posthumous 1999 track “Dead Wrong”), the brand simultaneously alienated its original supporters, translating into a net loss of $100 million USD in 2000. Sixteen years on, however, The North Face has been brought rudely back to health, thanks to a multi-pronged approach to design and marketing that has seen it flourish internationally despite the fashion industry’s trend toward consolidation.
While The North Face brand wasn’t around in those earlier times, it has done much since its founding in San Francisco in 1966 to draw on the mythology of the explorer, and it has gone to great lengths in this regard—valued at $75 billion USD in 2014, it
The North Face’s strategy is perhaps most evident in the East, where it has established highly coveted sub-labels in the trend-leading markets of Japan and South Korea. Established in 2003, Japan’s THE
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NORTH FACE PURPLE LABEL was a visionary offshoot that preceded the athleisure movement entirely, and is distinguished by slimmer fits, premium technical fabrics and exceptional heritage construction techniques. “Before we launched PURPLE LABEL, all [The North Face] garments which were worn as city wear looked exactly the same as outdoor gear,” explains creative director Eiichiro Homma. “Since such gear was designed for a specific purpose, all the latest designs looked the same. The ultimate solution would be a very skinny jumpsuit, if a textile could provide all features including freedom of movement, shock protection, temperature, and moisture control and such. Our view was different—at the time people not only wanted very new styles but also heritage styles too. They couldn’t be just an exact replication of historical designs, but had to incorporate a modern understanding of these historical designs.” A veteran within the Japanese fashion industry, Homma was, in retrospect, the perfect candidate to design the hybrid functional lifestyle garments demanded by the then-experimental sub-label. Having honed his expertise designing technical marine wear for clothing conglomerate Goldwin Inc. for close to two decades, Homma concurrently founded his own line of ultra-functional lifestyle wear in
2003 called nanamica, or “house of seven seas” in Japanese. “When we launched nanamica and PURPLE LABEL, we intended to adapt [The North Face] for city wear without compromising the core values of the original.” Since that fateful year, nanamica and PURPLE LABEL have functioned as sister labels, with Homma overseeing the design process for both brands. By now a mature fashion market, South Korea was bestowed its own The North Face counterpart in the form of White Label, which emerged much later in 2014. “The outdoor market in Korea grew consistently and remarkably from the early 2000s to 2012, not only in the actual number of mountain climbers but also the number of people wearing outdoors gear in their everyday lives,” observes White Label design director Christian Lee. This explosion in brand recognition was, of course, helped in no small part by The North Face puffer jacket which became something of a status item especially within the country’s school system—so much so that they are nicknamed the “uniform worn over uniform,” or “backbreakers” for the amount of work parents must endure to afford one for their child. Despite the lofty heights that The North Face currently enjoys in South Korea, White Label was nonetheless
"OUR VIEW WAS DIFFERENT—AT THE TIME PEOPLE NOT ONLY WANTED VERY NEW ST YLES BUT ALSO HERITAGE ST YLES TOO. THEY COULDN'T BE JUST AN EXACT REPLICATION OF HISTORICAL DESIGNS."
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SIMIL ARLY, WHITE L ABEL'S INDEPENDENCE FROM THE MAIN LINE HAS ALLOWED ITS AESTHETIC TO BECOME UNIQUE, WHILE REMAINING CUT FROM THE SAME TECHNICAL FABRIC.
founded with an eye towards the future. As Lee explains, “The outdoor market will only weaken when the outdoors-oriented fashion trend subsides, so we needed to maintain and expand our market by incorporating alpine-oriented technology into items for daily wear. We need to have two hunters to hunt two rabbits at once. White Label is the second hunter to The North Face, and its creation was inevitable in order to remain an authentic outdoor brand while coping with the changing market.” The result is a diffusion line that emphasizes preppy, yet unmistakably outdoors-inspired garb that is as suited to the streets of Seoul’s youth culture
epicenter Hongdae, as does the wooded trails of the nearby Mt. Bukhansan. When speaking of the success of these imprints, it’s impossible to ignore the importance of the complete creative autonomy that The North Face grants them. This is helped in part by the fact that Goldwin Inc. wholly owns the licensing rights for the brand in Japan and South Korea, allowing the conglomerate to exercise its regional expertise for a deeper and more nuanced understanding of these markets. “Our creative team is a totally independent team and separate from The North Face team at 152
Goldwin,” Homma attests. “However, we have a very close relationship with them over the years and we are always invited to their internal product and marketing conferences to study the brand and the latest technology without delay.” Initially intended as a cheaper, more accessible sub-label to the main line, Homma’s insistence on the highest quality for the PURPLE LABEL has allowed it to ultimately flourish within the Japanese market, while becoming a coveted brand in the West thanks to the labyrinthine nature of shipping Japanese products overseas, as well as its golden association with nanamica.
Face global team to create distinctive products in different distribution zones. White Label is for daily lifestyle, yet is still produced using the same quality test processes as The North Face.” Given the exceedingly positive reception of the White and Purple Labels in their respective markets, it’s no surprise that The North Face is making further power moves within Asia. Beginning in mid-2016, the brand unveiled a new class of stores concentrated in Hong Kong and Shanghai that not only were the first to sell the White and Purple Labels outside of their home countries, but also introduced the all-new Urban Exploration line. “Shanghai and Hong Kong are different in so many ways, but they also share a certain urban energy particular to 21st-century global cities in Asia,” says Asia-Pacific marketing manager, Tim Sedo. “Opening our first retail concepts in these centers has provided a strong backbone for our Urban Exploration story, and we continue to look to the uniqueness of each
Similarly, White Label’s independence from the main line has allowed its aesthetic to become unique, while remaining cut from the same technical fabric. “Among The North Face global distributions, White Label is unique to be independent in such a way—it might have helped White Label to become relatively resolute in its product designs,” says Lee. “The White Label design team works separately from The North 153
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city for further inspiration.” Whereas the White and Purple Labels seek to focus on the fashion aspect and de-emphasize the technical, Urban Exploration instead flaunts the technology-enhanced fabrication of its designs, tapping into the current fascination with the urban outdoors. Indeed, the specifications for its garments reads like a who’s who of the cutting edge of fabric innovation, including the likes of GORE-TEX, DryVent, AlphaDry and Cordura. Building upon the precedent of the Japan-exclusive The North Face Unlimited capsule collection, The North Face tapped streetwear creatives like longtime Stussy and Supreme collaborator Allister Lee to create the raw aesthetic of the store interiors—cue nods to local influences such as Hong Kong’s infamous King of Kowloon and the hutong graffiti of Beijing, juxtaposed against the works of Asian UrbEx photographers and mountaineering equipment. The North Face plans to aggressively expand urban exploration into Greater China throughout 2017. Despite an expansive portfolio of diffusion labels developed over the years, the end goal for The North Face has always remained unchanged: to facilitate exploration. As this pursuit has shifted with the times from realm of nature to our own gritty streets, The North Face has nimbly evolved and adapted to equip each successive generation of adventurers. After all, it’s not whether you successfully ascend a perilous peak that marks you as an explorer, but the thirst to discover new territory. And regardless of the color of the label, The North Face doesn’t plan to stop until its iconic Half Dome logo is emblazoned on the chest of every individual looking to quench that thirst.
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As you exit the Forest Gate overground station in the outskirts of London, the merciless winter gale immediately greets those traveling from the hustle of the British capital. Past the off-licenses, Turkish-owned kiosks and automotive repairs is a cluster of refurbished railway arches that house the studio of progressive fashion designer Nasir Mazhar.
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design. There's no denying London's melting pot of subcultures plays a formative role, one which revolts against the bourgeois' stereotype of the working class. As such, the 32-year-old designer asserts that new ground needs to be broken whereby good design is rated by quality, not by cliché. Nasir fervidly says while rolling a cigarette, as if the smoldering tobacco would add warmth to his brisk studio, “Luxury to me is quality, 100% quality. Not a stitch out of place; it looks and feels gorgeous.” He inhales deeply before continuing, “People think it’s luxury because it’s sold on the runway; but if the designer sold it for half the price, does it mean it isn’t luxury?”
While the humble premises, filled with fabric rolls and mood boards, are a far cry from the luminous runways that host Nasir’s final designs each season; they are the core of his operations, a place that he feels even more akin to since the passing of his father. Within these arches, in his hometown, are where all his ideas come into fruition. “It’s not
WHILE SPORTSWEAR IS HIS CHOSEN MEDIUM, NASIR DESCRIBES HIS WORK AS ANY THING BUT. 'PROTECTIVE ROADWEAR' AND 'ELEVATED CLUBWEAR' ARE AMONG THE TERMS COINED FOR THE FASHION RENEGADE’S WORK.
like I can afford a place in Covent Garden anyway,” Nasir laughs. “But I also want to be where I’m comfortable. I don’t want things to get too big or out of hand.” Having successfully tied the knot between the once sparring worlds of runway fashion and street-ready —think tracksuits, caps and gilets—Nasir doesn’t let his accomplishments get to his head. Instead he focuses on challenging social stigmas through 158
While sportswear is his chosen medium, Nasir describes his work as anything but. “Protective roadwear” and “elevated clubwear” are among the terms coined for the fashion renegade’s work. These personal descriptions are also a decisive reaction to the vocabulary seen littered across e-commerce sites: “sports-luxe,” “athleisure” or “high-street,” all of which try to bracket together trending styles with adjacent buzzwords.
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“It’s just menswear, it’s just fashion. It’s clothing for my generation. I find it weird for people to describe this as anything else. You wouldn’t go up to Hedi Slimane and ask him what he’s trying to design,” Nasir points out. His anguish stems from a time when the now-popular sports-inspired silhouettes that make up the landscape of British fashion, weren’t so welcome. “People used to laugh at me when I told them I went to garage and grime nights, asking ‘why do you look so poor?’, and adding ‘oh that’s so roughneck.’ Tracksuits were seen as lower class. East London wasn’t a thing,” said Nasir who never received any fashion schooling. His introduction to design came shortly after his stint as a hairdresser, when he ventured into headwear design. His unconventional route into the world of fashion made it even more imperative to Nasir to represent the subcultures that shaped him. It’s hard to speak of Nasir without mentioning grime. “It just fits with my approach creatively and it helps people understand the brand’s roots. Grime was always frowned upon when I was a youth. To me,
it was always art. So I feel responsible to introduce these artists to a highbrow crowd. I need to do my bit to educate them.” It’s not unusual for grime’s linchpins, from Skepta (who also walked his 2015 fall/winter collection) to producers like L-Vis 1990, Kingdom, Faze Miyake, to sit front row at Nasir’s shows, while their own brooding soundtracks lay the baseline for the program. The genre and its ties to the underground club scene are comparable to the cult following of Shayne Oliver-helmed imprint Hood By Air and its early GHE20G0TH1K parties —both labels setting ablaze their own gender-bending trails. And while the nuance of grime is often compared to punk, and a comparison could be made with Vivienne Westwood’s romance of the subversive genre, Nasir ensures that the similarities are scarce. “The concept is somewhat punk, but grime and garage have been dominating modern culture for so many years. Punk died so long ago. All these people are still banging on about punk. It has no relevance now, nobody is punk.”
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His commitment to authenticity in the London landscape is further established in the casting of mixed-race models to be draped in his audacious threads, reflecting contemporary London youth more realistically than the laminated norms set by the designers of yesteryear. “What are you saying by enlisting 30 models of the same color, look and height? For me, it just says racism and it’s discrimination against different people and races. That’s not a healthy image. I just want to represent my reality and how I see the world.” While certain design elements from holsters to harness tanks, track pants, and exposed flesh across viscose cropped tops and retro-inspired clubbing attire are a mainstay on the colorful cast of muscular boys and exotic girls—Nasir challenges the status quo with each release. Upon its debut, the brand quickly gained traction for its use of logotape. Much like the Bully Cap, which extended from Nasir’s primary talent in crafting headwear accessories, the logotape aesthetic became synonymous to the label, along with the coveted sweaters, trackpants
and ski masks. Shortly after its initial release, the logo-based theme was adopted by other labels, from Japan’s uniform experiment to the ubiquitous adidas Originals NMD sneaker. “We were one of the first to do the elastic brand tape. Instantly, people started doing similar things. Even after we got rid of the logos and been doing black for two seasons, people were still asking for the logos.” There's no denying Nasir's credence has helped establish an entirely new style, loyal to its emblem. His output not only shows that a segment of the working class can champion the cynical fashion realm with innovation, but it also proves that “luxury” need not be confined to the three-piece suit. Yet, as the influx of trends swarm in, blindly picking up what's commercially viable with no regard for brand's philosophy, will the successes of Nasir Mazhar stand the test of time? As our conversation drew to a close, Nasir smirks, “I don’t just create for what people want, I create based on what I think people should be wearing, and it's done alright so far.”
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INTERVIEW
MURAI
The Making of
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KEVIN WONG
JOYCE KIM
HIRO
a Visual Symphony
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It’s a love-hate thing for me when it comes to music videos. On the one hand, I’m almost always entertained—from the overly theatrical depictions of the lavish lifestyles of the rich and famous, to the abstract and often incomprehensible visuals that accompany indie tracks. On the other hand, particularly with music I have a strong affinity to, I’m almost always wary to watch the corresponding video. Even when I do come across an MV that I find amusing, it is often met with apprehension. This hesitation is entirely due to the fact that once you’ve seen the music video for a given song, the mystery behind the track fades. Any visual storyline you may have developed in your head could all be wiped away in roughly three minutes. And like film adaptations, there is an obligation for a music video to represent the song accordingly. Imagine the pressure directors must feel—from the artist, from
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record labels and most importantly, from its viewers. Unlike adaptations, however, the motive of a music video is not to simply translate or regurgitate the song. The goal, as Japanese filmmaker Hiro Murai explains, is in “capturing the feeling of a singular moment [in the song].” The Tokyo-born creative, who is responsible for some of the most unique and conceptual music videos to date, adds that producing a music video is more like “adding a new track to the music,” rather than a mere imitation. Now based in Los Angeles, Murai shares with us just how he is able to produce videos that seamlessly link songs and visuals together, and how he’s done so alongside his close friend and artist Donald Glover (Childish Gambino), as well as Kendrick Lamar, Earl Sweatshirt and Flying Lotus, who he calls Steve.
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Q&A What is it about translating music and lyrics into visuals that is appealing, even more appealing than traditional voice over films? I’ve been trying to figure out why. I also love traditional filmmaking and movies, but there's no way to be abstract with narrative film-making. And there’s something about hearing music that offers the visual abstract experience. I was really interested in it and I was trying to figure out a way to express that visually. I am working on a more traditional narrative show right now, which has its own joys, but at least with music videos, I always think it’s a very unique opportunity to express emotions, rather than a concrete plot or story. With the songs and the artists you work with, how much do you seek to understand a song or get to know the artist before you take on a project, or before you start ideating? It depends on the project. I’ve been fortunate that a lot of the recent videos I’ve done are artists that I listen to in my own free time and I am actively a fan of. But
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there are times that tracks get to me where I don’t know anything about the artist. And upon hearing the track, something kind of clicks and at least the thing engages me after hearing a few more times. But I think getting to know the artist and getting to know the music is essential to the video-making process, because you’re really collaborating with somebody else, and no matter what, the music video is more than 50% about the music. How many times do you have to listen to a song before actually working on the video? It depends on the song. It’s sick how many times I have heard the songs. I’m talking like hundreds or thousands of times. When I’m trying to come up with an idea for it, I will put it on the background in the car, or at my house on loop so I can just approach it more subconsciously, rather than just sitting in front of the computer and just listen to the song. It gets pretty crazy. If I hear a song that is kinda hot at the moment, and I hear the song on the radio after we’ve done the video, I just get like this weird physical heightening reaction without knowing why, and then realizing
"MUSIC VIDEOS ARE FUNNY FOR MUSICIANS IN A WEIRD WAY, LIKE LENDING THEIR BABY TO SOMEONE ELSE."
that,“oh yeah, it was the song we did a video for four years ago.” It’s like hearing a dog whistle; your body just knows something's happening. When working with artists, how closely do you ideate with them? Is it a back-and-forth, does it take a lot of time? How much input do artists really have in the video? It depends on the relationship I have with the musician. With FlyLo, he knew he wanted to play with something about a funeral. After he left me with the tip, he just let me flesh that out, and I sent it back to him later. In the case of like Childish Gambino, he is someone who is a writer by trade, so he is very meticulous about how he writes his ideas. I don’t do this with a lot of artist but he would give me a treatment that he wants to do and I’ll go off that, then I’ll give him feedback and pitch him my ideas. But with Childish it feels more like a two-way conversation.
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With the Childish Gambino video, you had a recurring thing going on and on. Do you come up with concepts like this as you hear the song, and then you mold the video around it? For that one in particular, I think there’s a repetition in that song that just dug into me. At first we talked about it and we knew we wanted to do something with a loop. The idea first was the idea of coming in and out of the diner over and over. And then it being sort of a deja vu feeling where everything feels the same but slightly different. Then the multiplying of him came. The song also has this taunting quality, it feels like it is kind of blowing raspberry on your face a little bit. We thought who better to do that than Donald himself. So it comes in layers. With music videos you’re given this song where an artist has a certain amount of ownership of it, and will generally have preconceived notions towards it. Is it difficult to communicate what they want with this song, or what they might see the song as? The most difficult thing about music videos is that a lot of young filmmakers come into the medium and they have so many different ideas but they need to understand what the musician wants. Music videos are funny for musicians in a weird way, like lending their baby to someone else. For me, I realize the only way that I can get anything good made is connecting with the musician. We see eye to eye, and be that they trust me, trust that I have respect for the music that I am handling, ‘cause I really do look at it like I am adding a new track to their music; it’s not just like a reason for me to fuck around with the camera. I have a lot of reverence for the music.
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element of it and grows out of that little seed. In general, I don’t like to change the pace of the edit per song, because I am kind of snobby about “music video editing” where everything is sort of edited to fit the music. I would create a scenario that goes along with the song musically rather than try to cut it up and force a good fit for the music. What do you think is the most important aspect of storytelling in filmmaking? It’s probably connecting to a face or personality. Storytelling works the best when you can slot yourself into someone’ s mind. That’s why I like thinking about who these artists are and how they’re perceiving whatever is happening in the music videos. Music video are just a bunch of color and chips, you need an emotional gateway to tell the story. Do you draw inspirations from films and your favorite director? I grew up in “golden era” of music videos. I am a lifelong fan of Spike Jonze and Jonathan Glazer. I also jump around in movies as I grew up watching too many movies. It’s hard to name but I draw a lot of inspiration from movies. I follow illustrators and photographers and whatever else kind of hits the chord that I think is right for inspiration. Would you ever think about making a musical? I totally would. I am not a musical person but that will be interesting. I remember watching a hip-hop opera on MTV. I think they called it hip-hopera.
Aside from lyrics and beats, what other elements within a song affect the music video? Things that I am drawn to can be something really simple. Sometimes I just really like the bridge of the song or like a synth or guitar riff. And I will get drawn to and try to figure out how to visualize that specific
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VA N E S S A L E E
CENTRAL Branded in the Spotlight
SAINT MARTINS INTERVIEW
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DEAN MARTINDALE
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A supremely talented artist, formidable in ability by all accounts, has only a six-percent chance of making it into the most prestigous undergraduate fashion program in the world. This meager statistic shrinks to two percent if our hypothetical applicant is then able to harvest his money, blood and spirit and be selected to show in said program’s yearly fashion show—a place where legends are born. Central Saint Martins rests at the pinnacle of the very best—the crème de la crème of talented would-be designers who hold the future aesthetic of us mere mortals in their hands. Talent flocks to CSM from all around the globe to be trained, curated, and for a lucky few, to debut in a yearly fashion show where media, buyers and industry figureheads present a one-off opportunity to make it big in a famously cutthroat business. CSM’s recent move from London’s SoHo to a set of Victorian industrial buildings in King’s Cross, repleté with £200 million pounds’ ($260 million USD) worth of renovations, stands testament to the school’s shining success. With a new lecture theater sponsored by LVMH and having cultivated the then-undiscovered likes of John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, and Christopher Kane, one may argue that CSM isn’t simply a fashion academy, but rather, it is synonymous with the industry itself and is the epicenter of its future. In a melting pot of raw artistic talent and vision, what separates the truly exceptional from a student pool already composed of the best? The most successful alumni of CSM are masters of executing perspective: their resulting work renders the product as vessels for a wider vision that can span the length of a brand, or even an era. Creating a brand identity, for many, is similar to how we develop personal identity. For Nicholas Daley, a CSM Bachelor of Arts graduate, his brand is nearly indiscernible from himself. He maintains, “I just wanted to make clothes which I could wear.” We see Nicholas Daley, the man, omnipresent in Nicholas Daley, the label: wool pants and jackets with proportions that are just off-kilter enough to startle, but sharply tailored to reflect an 186
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WHILE IT HOLDS TRUE WHEN CHRISTOPHER SHANNON CL AIMED THAT "THE COLLEGE IS ONLY EVER THE PEOPLE IN IT," THE CLOTHES ARE ONLY EVER THE PEOPLE WHO WEAR THEM.
English sensibility. Drawing on his family’s textile roots in the jute industry in Dundee, Scotland, his Spring/Summer 2017 collection, is shot on models with stony expressions reminiscent of 19th century portraits, and almost takes the viewer back to the Industrial Revolution if the three-piece suits, rolled trousers, and floppy hats had not possessed silhouettes which belie their historical influence. From the designs themselves to the use of traditional materials such as British Shetland wool, there is little doubt that Nicholas Daley’s background serves as a major source of inspiration. Christopher Shannon, a veteran MA graduate, stands opposite Nicholas on the branding spectrum. Although his collection, a veritable magpie’s nest of tracksuits and erratic cuts in flashy emblems and colors, seems to speak for itself, Christopher thinks the way he arrived at this aesthetic is much harder to pin down. Branding, for Christopher, is almost a subconscious decision, his personal tastes and experiences filtered by years of “making work, making images and doing projects” eventually developing into a distinctive label. He is wary of pigeon-holing his brand into simply reflecting himself, but instead opts for a more inclusive principle: “I like the term ‘work.’ I’m not sure I’ve translated my experiences into a brand, more like just expanded on my interests and point of view.” 190
While both Nicholas Daley and Christopher Shannon agree that being educated at Central Saint Martins can be invaluable to aspiring designers, Shannon also sees the dark side of such gilded exposure. “Imagery comes and goes at breakneck speed; in a way it loses its value, so the clothes have to work harder.” He raises the question of whether CSM is a celebrity institution where status precedes talent—its reputation a commodity for people who simply buy their way in. He states CSM’s current norm of “ripping off references and calling it luxury” stands in stark opposition to how CSM can be, “at its very best, inventive and witty, and well-crafted.”
The influential pull that evoked a sort of nostalgic disdain in Shannon means something entirely different to Nicholas Daley. The media exposure from his graduation collection being selected for CSM’s famed press show has garnered features in magazines such as Dazed&Confused and CHAMP. “Ultimately this led to BEAMS finding out about me and I then started my own label,” he said. It is popular (perhaps the only) opinion that being selected for Central Saint Martins’ grad show is eponymous with commercial success. Does therein lie the value of a CSM education? While it holds true when Christopher Shannon claimed that “The college is only ever the people in it,” the clothes are only ever the people who wear them.
Brand identity is forged from inspired, experienced commentary: a personal and political critique of the times in which we live. Central Saint Martins is not only a place that shapes the artist, who in turn creates a brand, but bridges the oftentimes rather large gap between an artist and his audience, or in parallel terms, a label and their potential markets. As Nicholas Daley attests, “It is always difficult to find that window of opportunity [for brand exposure].” Christopher Shannon believes the press attention is “helpful, but when it descends to just showing off, I find [it] less interesting.” He describes the intense focus on selling a collection to the press as caricaturing a creative into a brand: “It’s a bit gross when people think of themselves as brands before
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[thinking of themselves as] developing designers.” It is worth considering whether enormously talented designers such as Daley and Shannon would endure more convoluted paths to commercial success if they had not had their time in the CSM limelight, if at all. Nicholas describes his experience of securing a coveted spot on the year end press show as “a great achievement and a catalyst for things to come.” The prospects of an aspiring creative are grim, mostly due to a lack of sufficient exposure; the ratio of
talented individuals to successful ones often involves near-insurmountable numbers. The most valuable contribution of an establishment such as Central Saint Martins is perhaps their seemingly infallible system, which places aspiring designers in the most glorified part of the public eye. Like any other educational institution, Central Saint Martins grooms the people of our future. The nature of fashion’s future is perhaps unlike any other as it 192
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involves a dialogue between brand and wearer— intersecting character and experience under different outlets of individual expression. Central Saint Martins brings artist and audience together—but not in an obligatory, “Spin the Bottle” sort of way. The value of CSM lies in an unshakeable belief in its institution, from the public and the press, to buyers and fashion editors, and even the students themselves. Nicholas Daley’s reasons for attending CSM aren’t purely artistic: “I enrolled at CSM because of the 193
menswear pathway, but also [because] it is one of the best fashion schools in the world.” The magic leap of faith borne from CSM’s repute for excellence, clearly not lost on its audience nor its students, is part of the force which puts labels on our backs and shapes our cultural psyche. From designers like Shannon and Daley to other individuals, the art of defining ourselves has an almost religious significance—and whether we realise it or not, the alumni of Central Saint Martins are the ones taking us to church.
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The Understated Fashion Maverick R O S E
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FEATURE
Having simmered in the underground fashion scene for close to a decade, London designer Martine Rose is unfathomably still looked upon by many as an up-and-coming fashion maverick teetering on the edge of mainstream stardom. Can a commercially-viable breakout ever transpire? For those familiar with her catalog and her unrelenting commitment to artistic styling, the answer would be a resounding yes. When will it happen? While impossible to foretell, asking Rose herself is moot as the talented creator chooses instead to focus on the experiences and processes of it all, as opposed to any sort of final outcome. “I don't think I have ever had a conversation with myself about building my brand. For me it’s really important to do what I love to do, to work with interesting people, to communicate my ideas in different ways. Growth, I assume, will follow naturally.”
with sartorial mainstays and overeager apprentices, Martine has experienced tremendous growth since that fateful night. Unapologetically frank with her work, she remains honest in her approach, churning out artistically integral pieces which not only blur the lines between different forms of masculinity, but somehow manages to evade categorization altogether. From a past collection summarized in one single ensemble, to her profound use of evocative imagery, Martine does things her own way. A self-professed tomboy coming up, Martine naturally gravitated towards masculinity in her designs, having worn boys’ clothes throughout much of her childhood. “It just felt natural, so it was a very easy decision for me,” she explains. “I really enjoy the challenges of menswear. It’s good to have rules to break. Women have always shown as much interest in my collections as men, so I feel in many ways that I already design for women.” Recognition quickly ensued followed in the wake of her 2013 spring showing at the inaugural London Collection Men showcase. Garnering a whirlwind of attention from global press outlets, Martine secured stockists from the U.S., Europe and Asia: the journey continues.
First gaining traction as a menswear shirting label, Martine debuted with a 10-piece collection at a private members-only club back in 2007. In the crowd was Lulu Kennedy, founder and director of Fashion East—a non-profit initiative dedicating time, effort and resources to nurture emerging design talent. Enthralled by such budding talent, Kennedy was compelled to help, in the form of a sisterly shove that landed Martine amidst the glare of London Fashion Week. Carving out her own niche in a market inundated
Quick to draw artistic influence from her own personal memory bank, Martine proves keen to creatively
"COUNTER-CULTURE AND THE PEOPLE THAT PARTICIPATE, PIONEER, AND SUBSEQUENTLY CHANGE THE STATUS QUO ARE A NEVER-ENDING SOURCE OF INSPIRATION."
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FEATURE
"SOCIAL MEDIA IS A PHENOMENON THAT IS STUPID TO IGNORE, AND IT’S AN INCREDIBLE TOOL THAT CAN REACH A LOT OF PEOPLE VERY QUICKLY."
explore the sights and sounds of her past. “I was always surrounded by fashion and music growing up and was hugely influenced by my older siblings and cousins. I remember sitting on the end of the bed watching them getting ready to go out and being absolutely fascinated. They were into different scenes. One of my cousins was really into dance music and raves and he always used to wear Boy London and really baggy streetwear, while my sister used to go to reggae and soul dances and used to wear Gaultier, Pam Hogg and Katherine Hamnett. I wanted access to this world so much.”
at some point touch upon her wealth of sensual influences, both sonically and visually. “I’ve always enjoyed exploring different ways of communicating a story to people, beyond clothes. To create a world that you can invite people into that tells a story,” Martine explains. “With regards to subcultures, yeah, it’s something that I have always been drawn to, whether it was my own experiences or those scenes that I never experienced. Counterculture and the people that participate, pioneer and subsequently change the status quo are a never-ending source of inspiration.”
Revered far and wide for her intimate renderings of subcultural movements, any attempts to accurately characterize Martine’s distinct design language would
For the 2016 fall season, Martine tapped into the directorial expertise of Sharna Osborne to help capture the evocative visuals of her collection in 200
a short film. Looking to the works of renowned sharpshooter Robert Mapplethorpe, as well as Mark E. Smith, member of the post-punk group The Fall, Martine drew direct design cues from both iconoclasts in formulating collection pieces. Leather chaps blanketed oversized denims, while subtle vintage undertones surfaced throughout. While others work tirelessly to reinvent the fashion wheel, Martine devotes her time to narrating a story. By taking the quintessentially classic, she seeks to intersect elements that initiate interesting plays on historical references, fabrications, silhouettes and colors. Ahead of the 2017 spring season, Rose recently unveiled a lookbook inspired by Cindy Sherman’s “Bus Rider” series. Expressively staging everyday folk as if on a routine bus route, the range took aim at no one specifically, but rather everyone at the same time. Toying with the idea of ownership, Martine reworked garments with clashing styles and colors, resulting in a rugged DIY punk appeal. In her refusal to bend to the will of a conventional runway, Martine has sporadically shown over the years, seemingly to no rhyme or rhythm. Combined with a sparing approaching to social media, we were curious as to what avenues have proven most effective in building her brand. “Social media is a 201
phenomenon that is stupid to ignore, and it’s an incredible tool that can reach a lot of people very quickly. But it is just that, a tool that I find at times quite one-dimensional and soulless even if it does sell us the dream,” she explains. “Some people are experts at using it and I honestly really admire that so much. For me, I think maybe I’m a bit overwhelmed by its presence and power and there is an appeal in something quieter that resonates with me more, be that good or bad.” Keeping artistic ingenuity first and foremost, Martine has done well to captivate the spirits of industry insiders and fashion advocates alike. Aside from her personal collections, the London designer has explored collaborative alliances with such brands as CAT, Timberland and Been Trill. “Collaborations for me are an opportunity to have conversations and discussions, to bounce ideas outside of the normal day to day running of the studio.” Many of today’s mainstream megastars have also taken notice, namely, Drake, Rihanna and most recently Travis Scott, all of whom have been snapped donning her wares. “It’s flattering of course, how can it not be?” Martine exclaims with palpable excitement. “Both of them are important cultural figures of our time, so it is really exciting to see my clothes being worn by them. Definitely something for the scrapbook for my daughter.” Aside from wrapping up a consulting gig for the likes of Balenciaga, Martine Rose remains tight-lipped about the future, though she does go on to tease exciting new works she can’t yet divulge. However, if the past few years have proven to be any indication of what’s in store for this influential artist, it seems that only good things are in store for her camp. When asked to characterize what success looks like to her, she replied, “Working in a job I love, with dynamic interesting people at the top of their game, collaborating on cool projects, making ideas come to life, laughing a lot, having a healthy work/life balance, a decent wage of course, perspective, and most importantly people to share it all with.” When asked about where she plans on taking fashion next? She replied, “Nope, I've never been much of a planner.”
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DETROIT
Detroit, Michigan is more than just a city on the rebound and one should look a little more beyond its historic car culture and ruin porn. It’s a city filled with heart and integrity, with determined small business owners working tirelessly to revive the blue collar-centric metropolis to its former glory. If there’s beauty in the breakdown, look no further than these galleries, shops, and restaurants we’ve picked for the guide. They are all damning proof of the charm and ferocity with which Detroit answers to her skeptics.
CITY
ASTRO COFFEE
WORDS
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FELSON SA JONAS
BURN RUBBER DETROIT ARTISAN DETROIT BIKES DETROIT DENIM LIBRARY ST COLLECTIVE MOCAD THE PETERBORO REVIVE
PHOTOGRAPHY
T H E S E L D E N S TA N D A R D
BOHDANNA CHERST YLO
TWO JAMES SPIRITS W I L L L E AT H E R G O O D S
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Astro Coffee
Burn Rubber
21 24 M I C H I G A N AV E . D E T R O I T, M I 4821 6
Astro Coffee is one of Detroit’s essential spots for your caffeine cravings. They get their coffee from quality roasters such as George Howell, Ritual, and Heart. The sure-to-please go-to is a cup of flat-white and an egg sandwich that’s made with soft-scrambled eggs, fresh herbs, and garlic aioli on a Zingerman's rustic Italian roll.
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306 S . M A I N S T. R O YA L O A K , M I 48067
Burn Rubber is Detroit’s definitive stop for ultra-cool streetwear and exclusive sneaker releases. With its well-considered brand roster, coveted footwear collaborations, and in-shop events, BR is not only focused on enriching street culture in the Motor City, but also on providing the community with a positive outlet in terms of retail and creative output.
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Detroit Artisans
Detroit Bikes
21 41 H I LT O N R D. FERNDALE, M I 48220
Hunting for vintage home furnishings and accents should be a special experience in a historic area like Detroit. Far from your run-of-the-mill antique shop, Detroit Artisans offers a rich stock of old-world treasures ranging from kitschy furniture, unearthed musical instruments, rustic tools, and more.
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1216 G R I S W O L D S T. D E T R O I T, M I 48226
The culture of American-made is more important than ever to a city like Detroit. Founder Zach Pashak built the company around the idea that bicycles should be accessible to everyone. Forgoing flash and sticking the basics, Detroit Bikes emphasizes an elegant simplicity not just in form, but also in function. The popular A-type model is built with a quality frame and has just three speeds—it’s meant for easy cruising around the city.
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Detroit Denim
Library Street Collective
29 8 7 F R A N K L I N S T. D E T R O I T, M I 48207
Founder Eric Yelsma isn’t shy about his passion for jeans and Detroit. He turned his hobby into a small company that now employs some of the city’s natives. As for the jeans, the process involves 85 steps before a single pair can be sold. Materials come from the only denim mill left in the United States, making them truly American and Detroit-made. For true aficionados, the shop/factory also specializes in repairing your jeans, whether it's from another brand, or their own. 208
1260 L I B R A R Y S T. D E T R O I T, M I 48226
Nestled in the heart of downtown Detroit, the Library Street Collective is a space dedicated to enriching the city’s art scene by showcasing groundbreaking contemporary works from some of today’s most talented artists. The gallery has opened group exhibitions that included names like FAILE, Ryan McGinness and Sam Friedman. Cleon Peterson, Shepard Fairey and Futura have held solo shows there as well.
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Revive
MOCAD
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4454 W O O D WA R D AV E . D E T R O I T, M I 48210
MOCAD can be considered the epicenter of Detroit’s contemporary art scene. The 22,000-square-foot building that was once a car dealership, is now a trusted hub for emerging artists. Not only does MOCAD display captivating works for visitors, it also encourages the community to help foster Detroit’s art culture through film screenings, music events and educational gatherings.
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154 & 157 W M A P L E R D. BIRMINGHAM, M I 48009
There are no other establishments around the Detroit area quite like the Revive shops. 154 stocks some of the best mid-tier streetwear brands, while 157 carries extremely coveted high-end labels like OFF-WHITE, UNDERCOVER and visvim. The stores are known to be must-visit stops by clientele from around the globe, which include superstar athletes to A-list musicians and actors.
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Two James Spirits
The Selden Standard
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3921 2 N D AV E . D E T R O I T, M I 4820 1
Reviews for The Selden Standard remain consistently positive, and it’s not hard to see why. Specializing in small plates with an emphasis on uncomplicated seasonal dishes, this can’t-miss eatery is renowned for its robust and rustic options—there’s grilled quail served with pickled cranberries, house-made duck sausage, and a pork shoulder confit teamed with spaetzle noodles.
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2445 M I C H I G A N AV E . D E T R O I T, M I 48216
Two James Spirits is the first licensed distillery to operate in Detroit since the days of Prohibition. It’s located in the city’s Corktown neighborhood in a huge space that was previously a taxi garage. It’s all about carefully-crafted, artisanal spirits here and you can choose amongst a bevy of options such as the Catcher’s Rye Whiskey, Nain Rouge Absinthe Verte, or the Barrel Reserve Old Cockney Gin.
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Will Leather Goods
The Peterboro
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3921 2 N D AV E . D E T R O I T, M I 4820 1
The Peterboro is known for putting a modern spin on familiar Asian dishes. They also serve craft beers, excellent wines and sake. Food-wise, some jaws may drop at the thought of a cheeseburger spring roll, but it's an instant classic here. For main dishes, there are the popular almond boneless wings, as well as the Mapo tofu, whitefish soup and a Mongolian hangar steak.
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4120 2 N D AV E . D E T R O I T, M I 48201
Will Leather Goods’ Detroit outpost is called the ‘Legacy Store,’ and rightfully so, as it boasts an impressive array of handmade goods in an expansive 9,000-square-foot space. Materials from historic Detroit landmarks were used in its construction, including old street signs, refurbished fixtures, and repurposed wooden structures. In addition to the awe-inspiring decor and products, the shop also has a custom haberdashery and a coffee bar made from parts you’d find in an old firehouse 215
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Directory ACNE STUDIOS
MARTINE ROSE
A C N E S T U D I O S .C O M
M A R T I N E-R O S E .C O M
ADIDAS
M AT C H E S
A D I D A S .C O M
M AT C H E S C L O T H I N G .C O M
A - C O L D -WA L L
M AT T H E W M I L L E R
A-C O L D-WA L L .C O M
M AT T H E W M I L L E R .E U
A LY X
MONOCRAFFT
A LY X S T U D I O.C O M
M O N O C R A F F T.C O M
BONNE
NASIR MAZHAR
B O N N E L I F E .C O M
N A S I R M A Z H A R .C O M
C AV E M P T
NICHOL AS DALEY
C AV E M P T.C O M
N I C H O L A S D A L E Y.N E T
CHRISTIAN DADA
N O VA C A N C Y I N N
CHRISTIANDADA.JP
N O VA C A N C Y I N N.C O M
CHRISTOPHER SHANNON
O F F -W H I T E
C H R I S T O P H E R S H A N N O N.C O.U K
O F F- - -W H I T E .C O M
COTTWEILER
S C H U E L L E R D E WA A L
C O T T W E I L E R .C O M
S C H U E L L E R D E WA A L .C O M
CRAIG GREEN
THE NEW ORIGINALS
C R A I G-G R E E N.C O M
T H E N E W O R I G I N A L S .E U
DIOR HOMME
T H E N O R T H FA C E
D I O R .C O M
T H E N O R T H FA C E .C O M
I S S E Y M I YA K E
THOMAS HOOPER
I S S E Y M I YA K E .C O M
M E D I TAT I O N S I N AT R A M E N T.C O M
K AW S
W O N D E R WA L L
K AW S O N E .C O M
W O N D E R-WA L L .C O M
MAISON MARGIELA
Y/ P R O J E C T
M A I S O N M A R G I E L A .C O M
Y P R O J E C T.F R Y-3
Y-3 .C O M
MARCELO BURLON
M A R C E L O B U R L O N.E U 216
AG ADRIANO GOLDSCHMIED
M A I S O N T H E FA U X
M A I S O N T H E FA U X .C O M
AGJE ANS.COM
HERMÈS BY NATURE