Posts tagged with ‘Fashion’

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This is the blog of The Stimuleye.

  • EYE 2 EYE

    HYERES EXPRESS 2013/ JURY PREVIEW / IMRAN AMED

    - by antoine

    One of the most unexpected and influential sites in fashion today is Business of Fashion. Imran Amed, its founder and editor, answers our questions before joining the Hyères 2013 Fashion jury.

    Photo by Scott Trindle.

    AntoineAsseraf: Along with Industrie Magazine and the rise of the fashion blogger as a class, your blog has drawn attention to a lot of work, which was heretofore considered a bit peripheral to a designer’s raw talent. What do you make of a place like Hyères that still somehow naively stresses the belief that talent will find its own way? If you were to create a Business of Fashion competition/festival, how different would it be?

    Imran: At BoF, we firmly believe in the power that lies at the intersection of creativity and business. Both are essential to a successful fashion enterprise, and one can’t work without the other. It’s a true symbiotic relationship. If we were to do a BoF festival therefore, it would be a combination of creative fashion presentation and business plan pitches, and the judges would come from both sides of the industry.

    FilepMotwary: It seems to me that many of the young designers who dream of a future in fashion are unaware about “the business” of fashion in general. Should they worry of how things have evolved, and turned the industry into this huge marathon of task, values that need to be constantly re-valued, trends that suffers from the lack of longevity etc…?

    Imran: I tell my students that once they start their own business, they will spend 90% of their time managing the business, and only 10% of the time designing. This balance is not something that has necessarily changed in recent years, but it’s true that there is more and more for a young designer to do in the global, digital fashion world in which we live today.

    Sean Santiago: The internet and its popular content-sharing platforms, i.e. Tumblr and Pinterest, are destabilizing traditional revenue streams faster than new ones are being created. How will original creative output find funding in the future and do you see crowdsourcing methods such as, for instance, a Kickstarter campaign, possibly becoming necessary to the creation of original artistic output? Or will a big brand always foot the bill when it comes to fashion-related content?

    Imran: Brands and designers could certainly fund portions of their businesses — say specific collections or products — via crowdsourcing platforms. But ultimately, I suspect that they will need to turn to traditional forms of fundraising (selling equity or taking loans) in order to fund the business over the long term. A young fashion business is highly cash flow intensive, and therefore will likely require stable and planned funding in order to fuel growth and expansion.

    Malibongwe Tyilo: BOF is recognized as one of the boldest voices in fashion writing, often publishing pieces that might not be appreciated by some PR people. Considering how important PR has become to design companies, how does that affect how the design businesses deal with you?

    Imran: We are bold, but I believe we are also fair and balanced. Part of the role we see for ourselves at BoF is to surface and shed light on important industry issues that merit wider discussion and debate.

    If we can do so in a way that is balanced and fact-based, then most PR professionals seem to respect us for that.

    Certainly, there are some who would prefer to control all the communication about their clients, but this is misguided and unrealistic.

    28th International
    Fashion & Photography Festival
    Hyères 2013
    April 26>29

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  • EYE SCREAM

    HYERES EXPRESS 01 PREVIEW

    - by antoine

    Less than 48 hours before the beginning of the festival, we bring you our first HYERES EXPRESS video, a quick preview with the people who make the Hyères Festival – founder and director Jean-Pierre Blanc, photography director Raphaelle Stopin, and fashion director Maida Gregory-Boina.

    A THE STIMULEYE PRODUCTION
    directed by Antoine Asseraf
    filmed & edited by Thibault Della Gaspera
    interviews Filep Motwary
    coordination Clementine Colson
    sound design Ça Va Chéri

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    HYERES-EXPRESS 2013 DESIGNER PREVIEW: YVONNE POEI-YIE KWOK‏

    - by filep

    Netherlands (25). and last year I graduated from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute graduate (2012). She is now in research of  possibilities to start her own label.

    Portrait Filep Motwary.

    How does it feel for you being selected for this year’s edition of Hyeres ?
    It’s an honor to be selected for one of the top fashion competition in the world. It’s really nice to be in the South of France, meeting new people and working in a nice environment.

    How would you describe Hyeres in three words ?
    Beautiful, cozy, atmospheric.

    What has been your favorite part of the process so far ?
    Working in the garden at the Villa Noailles with sunny weather and great surroundings.

    In three words, what is your collection about ?
    Marionettes, handwork and youthfulness.

    In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyeres will help you in the future ?
    I think it’s a great platform to present yourself internationally. Getting in contact with different company’s, people in the industry and press is a great starting point to start your own label or to work for a fashion brand.

    28th International
    Fashion & Photography Festival
    Hyères 2013
    April 26>29

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    HYERES EXPRESS 2013 / DESIGNER PREVIEW / XENIA LUCIE LAFFELY

    - by filep

    Swiss. Studied history of art and modern French before starting fashion design at the HEAD-Genève. About to start an internship at 3.1 Phillip Lim, with the prints team.

    The stimuleye
    Portrait by Filep Motwary.
    How does it feel for you being selected for this year’s edition of Hyeres?
    Three years ago when I came to the festival for the first time, it was love at first sight so to be a part of it today is a great honoured and I’m so touched and excited.

    How would you describe Hyeres in three words?
    Warm, sharp and respectful.

    What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
    Drawings and making collage.

    In three words, what is your collection about?
    Preciousness, sentimentality and drawings..

    In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyeres will help you in the future ?
    It will help me to be more aware of my own work and of the fashion world.

    28th International
    Fashion & Photography Festival
    Hyères 2013
    April 26>29

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    HYERES EXPRESS 2013 / DESIGNER PREVIEW / HENNING JURKE‏

    - by filep

    Germany, Berlin. 28 years old. Studied at The Berlin University of the Arts, gratuated in October 2012. Working on his portfolio.

    Portrait by Filep Motwary.

    How does it feel for you being selected for this year’s edition of Hyeres?
    Being selected feels like a dream came true.

    How would you describe Hyeres in three words?
    Inspiring, pleasant, fantastic.

    What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
    To meet the team of the Hyères Festival. It is great to have this people who give the support for me and my work.

    In three words, what is your collection about?
    Anticipation, melancholia, luck.

    In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyeres will help you in the future?
    The Festival is a great platform to represent me and my work as a designer. The team helps each designer , giving a great support with the shows and also the showroom. I hope to find a job as a designer in a house…

    28th International
    Fashion & Photography Festival
    Hyères 2013
    April 26>29

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    HYERES EXPRESS 2013 / DESIGNER PREVIEW / SHANSHAN RUAN‏

    - by filep

    A Chinese national living in Paris who graduated from ESMOD, and works as freelance for a Japanese fashion houses and fashion galleries.

    Portrait Filep Motwary.

    How does it feel for you being selected for this year’s edition of Hyeres ?
    Unexpected and magic! I ‘ve been following Hyères while I was still a fashion school
    student and I never got the time and the courage the send my file. Now it has been three years since my graduation and I would love to do something for my own, without too much restriction. It’s great Hyères gave me this opportunity.

    How would you describe Hyeres in three words ?
    Energy, Exchange, Experience.

    What has been your favorite part of the process so far ?
    Hyères allows us to work with the professionals from the fashion industry. I mean not only the ‘Glamour’ part of fashion, but also the very ‘technique’ part, the fabric and accessories suppliers, the production factories, the dyeing experts, the pleating artisan. It is great to get to know them and to work with them. I’ve learned so much.
    I appreciate their patience and kindness, without their help I will never complete the
    collection as I expected.

    In three words, what is your collection about ?
    Movements, Sentiments,Memories.

    In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyeres will help
    you in the future ?

    Hyères gives us opportunities to know people, to build the connections, but also, get us , designers known by other people, to let people hear our voice, know about our work, our stories. Hyères is not just an event that happens and ends, it’s a continuation.

    28th International
    Fashion & Photography Festival
    Hyères 2013
    April 26>29

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    HYERES EXPRESS 2013 / DESIGNER PREVIEW / XING SU‏

    - by filep

    From China/Northern Ireland/Canada. Age 26. Studying at Fashion Institute of Technology, NY.

    Portrait by Filep Motwary.

    How does it feel for you being selected for this year’s edition of Hyeres?
    It is an incredible compliment to be selected for a fashion festival with such a long and distinguished history. I’m excited and a bit anxious.

    How would you describe Hyeres in three words?
    A warm fantasy.

    What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
    Working with an amazing professional team to elevate a first collection and being surrounded by other designers who share similar goals, ideas, and opinions about fashion.

    In three words, what is your collection about?
    Play and balance.

    In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyeres will help you in the future?
    Exposure and publicity are so critical to one’s success in fashion now, and I can’t imagine a better platform than the Hyeres Festival.

    28th International
    Fashion & Photography Festival
    Hyères 2013
    April 26>29

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    HYERES EXPRESS 2013 / DESIGNER PREVIEW / SATU MAARANEN‏

    - by filep

    Helsinki, Finland.Graduated this Christmas from Aalto University, School of Art, Design and Architecture. At the moment she designs prints and garments as a freelancer for different companies.

    Portrait by Filep Motwary.

    How does it feel for you being selected for this year’s edition of Hyeres?
    It feels really great. I am superhappy about it. Hyeres is impressive opportunity to present your work for international audience.

    How would you describe Hyeres in three words?
    Delicious food, sunshine and same-minded people.

    What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
    The favorite part of the process has been doing all the openscreen prints. To do it freestyle is fun and relaxing for me.

    In three words, what is your collection about?
    Landscapes, old Haute Couture and innovative materials.

    In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyeres will help you in the future?
    It will help me to get new working opportunities and to create important connections. It is also going to be interesting to get feedback from all the fashion professionals..

    28th International
    Fashion & Photography Festival
    Hyères 2013
    April 26>29

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    HYERES EXPRESS 2013 / DESIGNER PREVIEW / DAMIEN RAVN

    - by filep

    Norway (31). MA graduate from the Royal Academy in Antwerp. Runs his own label and teaches design for 3BA at the Fashion Department of the Warsaw Fine Arts Academy.

    Portrait by Filep Motwary.

    How does it feel for you being selected for this year’s edition of Hyeres?
    Purely very honored.

    How would you describe Hyeres in three words?
    Historic, impressive and panoramic.

    What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
    Working together with all the sponsors to develop new parts of the collection especially for the festival.

    In three words, what is your collection about?
    Bonded minimalistic maximalism

    In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyeres will help you in the future?
    I know Festival Hyeres is a wonderful opportunity to show your collection to the world and it will hopefully open some doors in the future.

    28th International
    Fashion & Photography Festival
    Hyères 2013
    April 26>29

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    HYERES EXPRESS 2013 / DESIGNER PREVIEW / TOMAS BERZINS & VICTORIA FELDMAN

    - by filep

    Tomas Berzins / From Riga, Latvia / 21 years old / graduated from ESMOD Paris 2011 / co-owner of victoria/tomas label. 

    Victoria Feldman / From Moscow, Russia / 24 years old / graduated from ESMOD Paris 2011 / co-owner of victoria/tomas label.

    Portraits by Filep Motwary.

    How does it feel for you being selected for this year’s edition of Hyeres? 
    This is just great to have the opportunity to present our experimental collection, that was developed specially for this Festival. As well to have people around who are interested in it.

    How would you describe Hyeres in three words? 
    Eat, Pray, Create.

    What has been your favorite part of the process so far? 
    Most of the clothes we create are ready-to-wear. Participation in this Festival opened the doors to step a bit aside from wearability and to work more as an artists, bringing out many handmade and sophisticated technics that would not be easily adaptable to real urban life-style that we love so much. It gave us a certain freedom to combine both visions that we really care about.

    In three words, what is your collection about? 
    Heritage, emotions, aggressiveness.

    In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyeres will help you in the future? 
    This is a very rich start for a young designer and this is a priceless experience that you get, as it will be there for all your life.

    Portraits by Filep Motwary.

    28th International
    Fashion & Photography Festival
    Hyères 2013
    April 26>29

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    hyeres express: FLORIANE DE SAINT PIERRE

    - by filep

    Paris-based Floriane De Saint Pierre needs no introduction as today she considered as one of the ten most powerful women in fashion and beauty. She set up Floriane de Saint Pierre & Associés back in 1990. Twenty three years later she is the person all important fashion houses turn to in search for help to find an executive or designer. The list of successful matches consists of putting Christopher Bailey at Burberry, finding Alber Elbaz’s first creative director position, among so many others.

    This year, she serves as jury member for the 28th edition of the Hyeres Festival, and answers the questions of the Hyères blogs.

    Floriane de Saint Pierre, portrait by Ben Baker.

    MalibongweTyilo: Having been responsible for hiring some of the biggest names, what would you say is the most common quality amongst designers who are able to head these successful mega brands?
    Each of the designers has a crystal clear vision of their personal aesthetics. The most important factor for them has been their ability to look ahead of their time and translate their vision into something that you identify with.

    FilepMotwary: How relevant is creativity to the way the fashion industry functions today?
    We can draw a parallel between the street photography of fifty years ago and what we see in fashion and design bloggers today- there has always been creativity, but what we are seeing is a huge shift in its expression. The expression of creativity is effortless today. However, creative design has never been more relevant and necessary than it is today. From fashion brands to Apple and Evian, etc. global brands absolutely recognize the importance of design as a factor in strong-value creation.

    AntoineAsseraf: Does your work end once a designer has been selected and hired
    – or do you stay involved somehow ?

    We always stay in touch.

    BrunoCapasso: Today the world imposes a new way of thinking, a reinvention in fashion, what new thing do you search in the new designers? How far does the media influence and disrupt your choices?
    Designers must possess a personal aesthetic that resonates not only in fashion, but functions as a global creative proposition. Everyone today associates themself with a creative tribe and they are very demanding with the integrity- design, quality, services, and reputation- of a brand. Media is great for this- it is what gives design talent the chance to become visible and if there is genuine talent there, the media will be very supportive and loyal.

    SeanSantiago: The disconnect between Hedi Slimane’s last collection for Saint Laurent Paris and the work of his predecessors couldn’t be more striking or controversial. When judging these young designers based on their creativity and ingenuity, do you find yourself reconsidering the standards to which you hold a commercial designer like Slimane?
    A product today makes sense only if it captures and reflects or even anticipates the profound sociological evolutions of its time. Hedi Slimane is a designer who thinks globally and very much ahead of his time. He knows what Saint Laurent means today.

    VogueGermany: Is there any candidate you’re already keeping an eye on ?
    Yes, of course!

    28th International
    Fashion & Photography Festival
    Hyères 2013
    April 26>29

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    hyères express: felipe oliveira baptista

    - by antoine

    “a screen to the brain” is what Felipe Oliveira Baptista wants to show us in Hyères. 

    Winning the Hyères award in 2002, then the ANDAM Award, “FOB”, as he is nicknamed, made himself a name showing in Paris over the last 10 years, and is now also the creative director of Lacoste.

    As he prepares his return to Hyères, this time as Jury President, he faces the inquiries of our team of bloggers…

    by The Stimuleye

    Felipe Oliveira Baptista by René Habermacher.
    Filep Motwary: If I asked you to look back to the beginning of your career and compare how the industry worked then to how fashion functions today, what would you say are the biggest changes? 

    Everything has speeded up a lot, more collections, pre-collections, collaborations & capsules. Internet gave way to a whole new way of spreeding new talent, ideas and concepts. it is a very different landscape from the beginning of the century. On the other end, we seem to live in an era where there is too much of everything and by the time something new is found, it is already finished.

    Warhol’s 15 minutes have turned into 15 seconds.

    Antoine Asseraf: Winning Hyères + Winning the ANDAM + Consulting for other brands… is that the only path for French-based designers to establish themselves today ?

    I think Paris is the toughest fashion week for a youg designer. Between all the big houses and a strong presence of other international designers, it makes the spotlight smaller; so Hyeres & the Andam are a great help to get your name out there.
    As for working for other brands, if you are independent and do shows, it is almost mandatory.

    Sean Santiago: How do you keep a sportswear brand such as Lacoste relevant on an international scale, and is international appeal vital for a successful brand? Where does that appeal come from – catering to diverse markets or maintaining a uniquely French aesthetic that people find desirable?

    Lacoste is relevant on an international scale with more than 1500 shops world wide. We create a base and main message through the show collections, pre- collections and advertising campaigns, but there are regional adaptations done to answer local needs.

    Bruno Capasso: You being Portuguese felt any difficulties to enter in the market, even though you have a British training? What do you think of Portuguese fashion today? Which are the things that need to be improved so they have more global approach? 

    I don’t know…I do not think my nationality went for or against me, I  believe individuality is stronger than one’s nationality.

    Vogue.de: You are going to have an exhibition at Hyères as well. What are you going to display? 

    “A screen to the brain” is an installation made of 100 different sized screens that go through the creative process of a collection: references, collages, drawings, videos to the pages of fashion magazines.

    This installation will evolve and will be shown again in a FOB exhibition starting next october in MUDE, Lisbon.
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  • GOOGLY EYE

    welcome to marie laure’s

    - by antoine

    The Stimuleye is proud to present the Hyères 2013 teaser trailer – Welcome to Marie Laure’s, starring Suzanne von Aichinger as the reincarnation of the legendary Marie-Laure de Noailles. Of course.

    International Fashion & Photography Festival 2013
    Hyères – Teaser

    April 26 – 29, 2013
    Villa Noailles, Hyères

    http://www.villanoailles-hyeres.com/2013/

    Film by Antoine Asseraf & René Habermacher
    starring Suzanne von Aichinger
    as Marie Laure de Noailles

    Styling by Suzanne von Aichinger
    assisted by Simon Gensowski & Laure Grandon

    Hair by Panos Papandrianos @ CLM UK
    Make-up by Min Kim @ Airport Agency

    Sound design by Ca Va Cheri

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    undercover (and inside out)

    - by rene

    Japanese designer Jun Takahashi, the creative force behind the cult label Undercover has been a major influence in Japan’s fashion scene for more than a decade. 

    After vanishing for two years from the Parisian catwalk, he returned with a vengeance and presented his new collection to an audience that awaited his return, with mix of patience and restlessness.

    01_UNDERCOVER_FW_2013_RENE_HABERMACHER
    Inside out: Undercover dress with entrails, bone and skull lace, a heart on the right spot for the scary cute.
    Photo by René Habermacher.

    The show at the intimate venue of the Institute Pasteur started with much delay, yet the undercover flock of disciples, among them the devoted Grace Coddington, awaited patiently what was to come from behind the antique glass-panelled doors: scary kittens with bunny masks on ponytailed shoes, wearing their insides out, ribcages and organs on outer display. Skeletal hands grasping waist lines, vintage lingerie elaborately piled-on to sleeveless evening jackets. Little dresses with what seemed to be ruffles at first glance, turned to be a romantic interpretation of entrails slung around the décolleté and a sparkling crystal studded heart.

    Surprising,- or in the case of Jun Takahashi actually not- the arch from the drama of the unique pieces to the extremely wearable parts of the collection: googly eyes on a waxed trench coat, or the return of Undercover’s signature pieces, the perfecto, and the trench, with double collar and worn as a dress.

    This is where the strength of Jun’s subversive vision lays: there is no friction between the everyday pieces and the elaborate constructed parts of his universe. Seamlessly he migrates between outfitter to the urban hipster to action art performer creating his giant Grace dolls from vintage plush toys in front of a bedazzled audience. The Graces, creatures from outer space were originally created for the presentation of the Undercover collection SS09 became somewhat of the labels mascot.

    02_UNDERCOVER_FW_2013_RENE_HABERMACHER03_UNDERCOVER_FW_2013_RENE_HABERMACHER
    Starch undercover: special pieces made from deconstructed men's white shirt collars. Photo by René Habermacher.

    René Habermacher: How is it to be back in Paris?

    Jun Takahashi: It’s very exciting! Its been two years since we had the last show, so I am so happy!

    You received well deserved great critics for this show of return.
    how did you start with this collection, and how did it evolve and what is the narration?

    Last season when we came back to paris having just the showroom, I made seven special crafted pieces. It’s been a while  since I’ve made such a creation and enjoyed it a lot.
    It was just for the showroom, but this season i wanted to present a collection on the runway to show it to a broader audience. That’s how I started this collection.
    The theme of the collection is about internal organs and bones, showing something from the inside exposed to the outside. Like lingerie that is usually hidden underneath, I used to make dresses and so expose them to the outside. That’s kind of the theme of the collection.

    Why did you decide at this moment to take the inside to outside?

    I don’t know why (laughs). It’s been a while I wanted to show the “inside”. This is very undercover. It’s easy to express “Undercover”.
    The motifs of organs and bones have something grotesque and scary in peoples minds. I take this and make it cute. It’s about both sides: not just scary, not just cute. we have both sides in the brand.

    04_UNDERCOVER_FW_2013_RENE_HABERMACHER
    Pile-on vintage lingerie evening jacket. Photo by René Habermacher.

    Are you a story teller?

    (laughs) To me show is one big story,  one drama, one stage. In a way I am not just making clothes, but one big tale, a story.
    Since I was little I preferred the scary stories. I like Hitchcock movies. I am not necessarily into the ghostly but prefer the mental story.

    Another aspect is a strong sense of subculture evident in your work.
    It is very different today then when you started off. What is subculture for you today?

    Most of he people surrounding me in Tokyo come from subculture, its a normal thing for me – its music, movies etc. not the mainstream. People in subculture are not specifically specialized in something – they don’t have mass-apeal. I like that. I source from this and then present my version in the “mass-area” like Paris.

    Do you think exposure is dangerous for subculture?

    The dark side of sub-culture! (laughs)
    I take this positive. We always want to have information very quick- and I find this bloggers taking snapshots in the street very interesting, it’s really like I use the internet. How quick they are, it’s impossible for the print to catch up. Myself I like to post on Facebook and use the internet as a communication tool.

    Is the “season” still relevant to you?

    When I design i don’t really think of the season. But when it comes to selling, we have to take this into consideration. For example in Japan we start selling FW collection in July, which is very difficult to sell Winter clothes because its still very hot for another 3 months until October.  So we have to think about the balance between the creation and the business.  So that’s difficult.  We cannot completely ignore the seasons but not only thinking about seasons.
    The runway shows’ timing are getting earlier and earlier and it takes time to actually get in the store.

    05_UNDERCOVER_FW_2013_RENE_HABERMACHER06_UNDERCOVER_FW_2013_RENE_HABERMACHER
    Undercover signature: the trench. Right: Pile-on vintage lingerie evening jacket. Photo by René Habermacher.

    How is Japan to you today with the changes the country had been affected with the tsunami and the Fukushima incident especially?

    Since the disaster was such a big thing and with the economical situation everybody’s feeling was like “hit the bottom.” We cannot be worse anymore. But now the people are actually trying to go up to be positive, they step back and reflect what can we do to recover from such a disaster. Maybe the government is not helping us that much, but people are trying to do something themselves, try to get the economy back and be positive.

    How do you imagine the future your kids are growing up into?

    They are little kids right now, but they are starting to have their own will where they wanna go. I am not so worried about them because they will find a way by themselves. We’re concerned about the future and the nuclear problem in fukushima, the earthquakes and what kind of effect this will have on us, but my kids will find their own way so I am not too much worried.

    Are you still telling your kids stories of Grace? How is Grace, will we hear again from your creature?

    I will continue with Grace- but Grace is not for little kids. They get a little scared… with one eye and all that.
    I have a Grace doll in my house but at the beginning the kids were a little scared.

    But if you were a kid you would not be scared…

    It’s scary – but there is an attraction too!

    What’s next?

    Showing the next collection in Paris again!

    What is the last thing that stimulated you?

    So many various things! conversations with friends – it’s not just one – it’s many different things.
    I absorb everything. Family and friends are important. It’s important to have close friends that are straightforward in their opinion what they think about me, instead of just hiding things. It’s important to me to listen to them. A lot of my friends are creators, photographers doing their own thing. Their opinion is very important to me.
    As I get older I get inspired and stimulated by more and more things. I can accept anything like a bus ticket.

    07_UNDERCOVER_FW_2013_RENE_HABERMACHER
    Trilogy in white starch: dresses from deconstructed men's white shirt collars. Photo by René Habermacher.
    
    
    http://www.undercoverism.com

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    john lawrence sullivan : in the ring

    - by rene

    Tokyoite Arashi Yanagawa, the man behind menswear label John Lawrence Sullivan, has quickly become a fixture of the men’s fashion circuit.

    The choice of name for the label is perhaps the most telling. John Lawrence Sullivan, the man, is a heavyweight boxing champion, also known as the “Boston strong boy,” and godfather of sorts  to Arashi, who quit a promising boxing career to fight in another type of ring. 

    Ever since entering the seasonal arena of fashion week in Paris, he’s championed his collections in the eye of attention, with the likes of Suzy Menkes a constant follower. In this context, Arashi’s unconventional vision of the sharp tailored sportsman is most compelling.

    
    Arashi Yanagawa backstage after his John Lawrence Sullivan presentation. Photography by René Habermacher

    René Habermacher: Hello Arashi, how is it being back in Tokyo after your last show in the ring fight of Paris fashion week?
    Arashi Yanagawa: I’m getting ready for the next match in June. While I’m always relaxed in the end, I also always begin thinking about the next collection right away. It’s exactly the same as in boxing.

    RH: In your work, specially your most recent collection, I sense a strong fascination with British culture.
    but you’re successfully showing your 3rd collection, you chose Paris to present it…
    AY: I believe Paris is the most important location for fashion in terms of the both the culture and the history of the industry. Paris has a special eye for beauty and elegance. No other place draws as many journalists, buyers, and fashionistas. All of this naturally makes Paris a very attractive city for presenters, but I also appreciate how strict everyone in Paris is towards creativity.

    RH: And what is it with you and London? 
    AY: London has street fashion just like Tokyo, but it also brings history and tradition into the mix. I’m impressed by the way all of this culture has just naturally rubbed off on the younger generations. Another example of something that has really moved me is the culture of the London market where you see young people today buying and even demanding clothing designed a century ago.

    
    Rehearsals for John Lawrence Sullivan FW13. Photography by René Habermacher

    RH: how do you decide for what you’ll go next? what is your creative process?
    AY: I input the “sense” of the things I see or hear in my daily life and stockpile them. These could be colors, silhouettes, light, or even materials. But, I make an effort to express my own sense of the now rather than just making things based on historical research.

    RH: For the current summer collection the theme was influenced by the Bauhaus movement.
    Why did you feel the urge for this now, and how did you translate that into the clothes?
    AY: I had a chance to go to Berlin, so I paid a visit to the Bauhaus school in Dessau and took in the artwork there. I found the combinations of wood, leather, and metal used in the products there particularly interesting, and thought it might be fun to try doing the same things with apparel. So, I made the theme “Bauhaus” and began putting together the collection while referencing architectural cutting, artistic colors, and product techniques.

    
    John Lawrence Sullivan's "Bauhaus" inspired collection, SS13. Photography by René Habermacher

    RH: can you tell me more about “ELECTRIC AFRICA”: theme of the collection FW13/14, you just showed in Paris, what ideas are behind it?
    AY: “Electric Africa” is a coined phrase. I had the idea to create a new, modern vision by combining tribal patterns associated directly with Africa with flashy colors instead of the standard earth tones. Tribal (triangular) elements were worked into various items and aspects like the cutting of the tailored jackets or the placement of the buttons. I also added a spacey essence reminiscent of the crop circles that suddenly appear in fields to the accessories, colors, and textures.

    RH: This collection also sports extraordinary footwear. Your sneakers have been hailed throughout. How did this design come together?
    AY: I wanted create something akin to sneakers or trekking shoes, so I used Vibram soles. I also combined the base colors of the seasonwith highly contrasting hues in order to bring out a sense of Africa. I worked with a brand called ORPHIC when making the shoes.

    RH: Since you dropped your boxing for founding your label, fashion in Japan underwent quite some changes. How do you see the japanese approach today, what is your viewpoint and what influenced you over the course of time?
    AY: When I started my brand in Tokyo my image was much more aggressive. I feel like back then many of the magazines adopted a fashionable approach, and that the buyers tried to answer the challenges the designers undertook with respect. But, as the economy got worse the magazines switched to much more easy to understand catalog-like appearance in order to make sales, which in turn influenced buyers, whose customers were influenced by this, to become much more conservative in their selections. So, there were a lot of negative things occurring in fashion here. The Tokyo runway shows were no different, as the focus shifted conspicuously to more “real” presentations rather shows with a bit a fantasy or elegance to them. Feeling all of this made me want to do my shows somewhere more stimulating, so I chose Paris.

    
    "Electric Africa", John Lawrence Sullivan FW13. Photography by René Habermacher

    RH: While developing your collection, are you having a specific type of man in the back of your head?
    AY: I always imagine a man who possesses both beauty and strength in terms of appearance and mind. If I were to provide a sportsman as an example, there is a certain boxer who comes to mind…

    RH: Are there any parallels you can draw between your sports career and the one in fashion? 
    AY: One thing I realized when I first started working in fashion is that there is a common trait shared by boxing matches and fashion shows that only I seemed to notice. This was the way in which you worry over something that will last only few minutes on a single day for months in advance, battling with your anxieties and, as long as you don’t give up, preparing for the next match as soon as it’s all over regardless of whether you won or lost. The way everything seems so fleeting and transient once it’s all said and done is also the same.

    RH: The understanding of classic tailoring is a very strong element in your work. Now you started your women’s line: how does this apply here? 
    AY: Incorporating classic tailoring into women’s fashion is one of the most important elements for John Lawrence Sullivan. This isn’t something just any brand can do, so it’s something we will continue to actively working with in the future. One of the differences between men’s and women’s fashion for me was the way in which things like esthetic elements concealing points I had complexes about confused me a bit at first. Now I feel that I have learned to use men’s techniques to deal with these things.

    
    Showboard with looks and cast for "Electric Africa". Photography by René Habermacher

    RH: As you added another collection to your house – your work wheel must spin faster evidently, with 4 instead of 2 presentations.
    AY: I always think of how I can break down the restrictions of the tailored look when I do my men’s designs. While there is the sense that I can be confident in breaking these restrictions down precisely because they exist, but with women’s my process is one of imposing my own restrictions on the things I design freely. So, there is a sense of mutual stimulation between my men’s and women’s lines that has been a good influence in my opinion. That said, I am definitely much busier than before…

    RH: Do you feel urged by the increasing numbers of pre-collections and cruise collections that the big houses lately launch?
    AY: This is most likely just a sign of the conservative sales trends we’re seeing worldwide right now.The big houses are just doing this as a way of making sure they continue to pull in revenue. I too feel that JLS must do the same if we are to continue showing in Paris, so I’ll be considering various strategies for this in the days to come.

    RH: With clients all over the globe in different climate zones: do “season oriented” collections make still sense to you? (already the weather in Japan is quite different to the north american or european)
    AY: Breaking things up by season allows designers to change up their mood and add depth to the presentation, so I most definitely think it has meaning. But, I also feel that in terms of actual sales it is often seasonless items that perform the best.

    
    "Electric Africa", John Lawrence Sullivan FW13. Photography by René Habermacher

    RH: How do you perceive the present of fashion?
    AY: I think what we are seeing is a mixture of various styles coming together.
    This is also exactly why I feel that you can’t make it in this day and age unless you believe in yourself and keep making bold presentations. I guess you could say I feel we’re in an era where only the essentials survive. I want JLS to continue to be a brand that always takes up the challenge of presenting in Paris.

    RH: What is up next? 
    AY: The designs for my women’s exhibition in March and preparations for the 2014 S/S season.

    RH: What is the last thing you saw, read, heard or felt that stimulated you?
    AY: Tadao Ando, James Turrell, Donald Judd, Taro Okamoto, Talking Heads, Pixies, David Bowie, Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch, Kinji Fukasaku

    Website: John Lawrence Sullivan

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  • GOOGLY EYE

    the rainbow is a monster

    - by antoine

    Arrrgh follows Rrrrip.

    “Arrrgh – Monsters in Fashion”, a fashion exhibition featuring the clothes of Bernhard Willhelm, Walter Van Beirendonck, Rick Owens, Filep Motwary, Hyères graduates Jean Paul Lespagnard, Mareunrol and Mads Dinesen, and a 360 degree film installation from Bart Hess, is now opening at the Gaîté Lyrique digital center in Paris.

    “Arrrgh” follows in the footsteps of “Rrrrip – Paper Fashion”, another internationally touring exhibit by Greek collective Atopos, whose founding member and curator, Vassilis Zidianakis, we met before the exhibit opening.

    
    Left: Pictoplasma "Pictoorphanage Les Petites Bonhommes", 2006.  Right: Manon Kuendig "Collection BLOWJOB", 2011

    Antoine Asseraf: What was the starting point for this exhibit ?

    Vassilis Zidianakis: In Hyères in 2006, where I was in the fashion jury. One of the designers, Amandine Labidoire, had a sketchbook with characters that started something in my head.

    Then I asked Pictoplasma to write a text on character design, they saw my research on the subject and instead proposed to do a whole book about that idea, which became NOT A TOY, and then led to this exhibit.

    
    Craig Green "BA Collection", 2010 & "BA Collection", 2012

    When does this phenomenon start, in the 90’s with Leigh Bowery, Margiela, Walter Van Beirendonck… ?

    Internet is the real starting point – avatars, different identities. People don’t show their face and instead create a character.

    In fashion, you could say it started with Comme Des Garçons for the shape, and Margiela for the face – because when you hide the face you create a monster. But Schiaparelli, who was close to the surrealists, had already tried that, and you find it a lot in ethnographic clothing: each civilisation has costumes to dress up and become someone else. Today, it’s become a bit like Halloween, and clothes that are not meant to be worn on the street, but to go to parties, take pictures, it’s very marketing associated.

    Character design as a whole comes from marketing, in the US and Japan – products talk to you, like yogurt, clothes, Michelin…

    You also have to see the evolution of what we consider “monstruous”. For example, hoop dresses from the 18th century which are too wide to fit through a door – don’t you find that monstruous ?

    
    Left: Projection by Bart Hess. Right: Bas Kosters "Collection Le Salon Explosif", 2007
    
    Left: Alexis Themistocleus "Freaks", 2010. Right: Heiniek "Foamboys x Hyperbole@ Ludwig- TEDX AMS", 2012

    Besides the rise of internet, the 90’s are also a decade of video games becoming mainstream, the emergence of adult animation…

    It’s the idea we wanted to explpore with NOT A TOY, which led to this exhibition. If you read vinyl sex objects, it says “THIS IS NOT A TOY”, it’s for grown-ups.

    Ultimately I’m very happy to show this outside of a fashion context, in a place like Gaîté Lyrique which is more technology related. The exhibit isn’t directly linked to technology, but shows the influence of technology on our bodies.

    What is different about this exhibit than what was shown in Athens ?

    After 3 years of research, we made a show at the Benaki Museum in Athens. Since then, a lot of new things have been produced around the idea, so for the Gaîté Lyrique we doubled the number of exhibited pieces on display.

    We also commissioned Bart Hess a video for the 360º room, a special costume from Craig Green which serves as visual identity for the exhibtion,
    and the fashion show of Jean-Paul Lespagnard which will be part of the parallel program.

    
    The Brainstorm Design "How To Make Friends And Have A Social Life", 2013

    Tell me more about the ancient Greek notion of “monster”…

    Today “monster” has a negative connotation. But the original Greek word, “teras” (which gave “teratogen” and “teratology”) indicates a physical phenomenon in need of an explanation. So for example, to the ancient Greeks, a rainbow was a “monster”.

    A bit like a UFO ?

    yes, unidentified, and needing to be explained by us.
    the theme of the monster is really about difference, about what we’re capable of accepting, because we’re attracted to strange things, but don’t know how to communicate with them.

    ARRRGH ! MONSTERS IN FASHION
    February 13 to April 7, 2013
    Gaîté Lyrique
    3 bis rue Papin, Paris.

    
    Left: Rozalb de Mura "Collection The Remains", SS2010. Right: Mask available at the museum store
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  • EYE SCREAM

    this hyères : full circle

    - by antoine

    Full circle.
    For its 28th edition, the Hyères International Fashion & Photography Festival made a daring choice.

    As presidents of the fashion and photo juries and guests of honor, they invited 2 young individuals, each recognized in his field, but with one thing in common: they won Hyères.

    Yes, this Hyères, festival graduates Felipe Oliveira Baptista (2002) and Charles Fréger (2001) return, not as young hopeful nominees, but as still-young confirmed professionals, now presiding over the juries.

    Felipe Oliveira Baptista The Stimuleye Hyères 2013

    Hyères 2013 fashion jury president Felipe Oliveira Baptista. Photo by René Habermacher.

    the stimuleye fashion photo gif

    Hyères 2013 preview. Visual by The Stimuleye.

    And the nominees are…

    FASHION SELECTION
    Tomas Berzins & Victoria Feldman, Latvia + Russia
    Henning Jurke, Germany
    Camille Kunz, Switzerland
    Yvonne Poei-Yie Kwok, The Netherlands
    Xénia Lucie Laffely, France – Switzerland
    Satu Maaranen, Finland
    Marion de Raucourt, France
    Damien Ravn, Norway
    Shanshan Ruan, China
    Xing Su, Canada

    PHOTO SELECTION
    Lena Amuat & Zoë Meyer, Switzerland
    Emile Barret, France
    Petros Efstathiadis, Greece
    David Favrod, Switzerland
    Dominic Hawgood, United Kingdom
    Grace Kim, USA
    John Mann, USA
    Anna Orlowska, Poland
    Peter Puklus, Hungary
    Eva Stenram, Sweden

    Hyeres 2013 selection
    Fitting Model at the fashionselection at Felipe Oliveira Baptista's headquarters.
    
    Where is JP Blanc there are always flowers.
    
    The fashion selection meeting, with jury members, festival director JP Blanc and blogger Filep Motwary.
    
    Photography selection: Portfolio of Dominic Hawgood, United Kingdom.
    
    The entry of Petros Efstathiadis, Greece.
    
    Prints of Eva Stenram, Sweden.

    Full jury and exhibit lists coming soon, but we’re happy to report that fashion photographer and film maker Pierre Debusschere will be among this year’s exhibitors.

    28th International Fashion & Photography Festival
    Hyères 2013, April 25 -> 29
    at Villa Noailles, Hyères

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    MONSIEUR HERVÉ

    - by filep

    What’s in a name ?

    You can ask Kenzo Takada, Martin Margiela, John Galliano, Valentino Garavani or Helmut Lang – designers who, for various reasons, left the company which bears their name, and then had to make themselves a new name, in fashion or elsewhere.

    Or you can ask Monsieur Hervé Léger, the legendary French designer who took fashion by storm with his body-conscious designs, ultimately embodied by the “bandage” dresses. Monsieur Hervé Léger does not design for Hervé Léger, the company. Monsieur Hervé Léger designs for Hervé L.Leroux, a nom de mode suggested by Karl Lagerfeld.

    Photography by René Habermacher

    Filep Motwary, who met Monsieur Hervé through model and muse Suzanne Von Aichinger, talked with the designer as he prepared his new couture collection for Summer 2013, now on display in Paris in Colette and on presentation in Monsieur Léger’s new but history-laden atelier.

    Filep Motwary: So, how is your day so far?

    Mr. Hervé Léger: Well it’s cool. I am peaceful today. Yesterday I was not, but today I am.

    F.M: You are getting ready for your Couture collection ?

    Mr.HL: Yes, you see I am a professional, I try to do everything in the right context and I do not like to keep my people working at night and we are trying to be efficient and of course we will be ready on time. You know I’ve been creating for a long time, but because I didn’t want to make shows, my comeback is under new conditions. And it figures that some people always followed me and now I sell worldwide. Business is good now finally again and I am pleased.

    (As we speak, Suzanne Von Aichinger and René Habermacher are working in the showroom photographing the garments),

    F.M: I understand. Do you mind if you help me fill some gaps of your life’s storyline, because it’s out there, but not fully completed… So, it was during the late 1970’s that you started-off your career as a hat maker and hairdresser?

    Mr.HL: (Laughs) It’s a crazy story, but… I’ll try to make it short. I had done some studies like everyone, I went as a young man to the Beaux Arts in France though I only stayed for one year as it was the 70’s and France was all about manifestations at the time and intense political changes. As students, we were on the streets demonstrating and I wasn’t learning a lot since everything was on strike.

    I also wanted to be independent from my parents and wanted to do something by myself, to work. I am very good with my hands; I am a craftsman and can do everything with them in terms of creation so I decided to be a hairdresser. Although I didn’t study hair, I learnt the job very quickly by opening the door of a hair-salon telling them I wanted to learn. They took me and stayed there for a while. Then I started to make hats, after finding a book at my grandmother’s house, which was full of illustrations on how to make them. The first customers arrived and I was working at home. So there goes the “hat story”.

    Then one day someone who was famous in the 1970’s asked me to do a very particular hat, a-giant-sort of “Belle Époque” hat with a lobster on it (laughs). The guy’s name was Tan Guidicelli, whom you probably might know. It wasn’t long enough until he asked me to make three dresses for his show because his atelier was very busy and his show was in three days. Although I had never designed any dresses before, I said “Ok, I’ll do them” and when he saw them he said “ you got a real sense of fashion and you should stop hairdressing and come work with me”. So that was my first fashion encounter.

    Of course I dropped hairdressing and started to learn sewing. Later I went into design. My second big encounter was Karl Lagerfeld.

    The 1980’s were an easy time. You could easily meet someone. People were more open. Even during my days as a hairdresser, with my friends, you could end up having dinner with Claude Montana, Mugler, Lagerfeld etc. It was not such a big deal as it is today. It was proper dinners you know, not charities. So at the time I met Karl at the house of a journalist friend and something happened immediately. We started talking about corsets (at the time I was fascinated by corsets). So that was on Saturday and on Monday my friend from “Woman’s Wear Daily” called to say “Karl wants to see you.” So I went with a few sketches and he said, “ Well, I don’t care about your sketches, I’m looking for an assistant at Fendi in Rome” and I said “Yes!”.
    So by next Friday I was on the plane flying to Italy.

    Then I went to Chanel for one year and worked for him until I was fired.
    I created my own label in 1985 but the bandage dresses came out only in early 1990’s. I don’t consider the beginning of my career started in the 80’s. My career, as I see it started in the 90’s.

    F.M: Tell me about the bandage dress…

    Mr.HL: The real story of the bandage dress is important as a fact of my work storyline. I was having a show at Angelina Tea Salon in Paris, and I wanted something glamorous for the finale. I didn’t have the fabrics. A few days later, I went to a factory and found some bands of metallic yarn, sort of lurex. I asked, “What is this?” and I was told “its for the garbage”. So I took that and I started to put one yarn next to the other and started molding the bands on the dummy, exactly like you do hats. And that’s how the first bandage dress was born. I did the show and it was a success.

    I was hooked on these new for me materials and started to experiment. In the beginning, I did not want to put any zippers because I wanted to create a dress with no seams. The problem was that I did make the dress with no seams but when one of my clients got herself in, she couldn’t get out (Laughs).

    Then came the presentation of nine dresses in the office of my press attaché at the time. The fashion journalists from American Elle made pictures and became a success very quickly.

    F.M: This technique you are working on, the way you make your garments is really one of its kind. Allow me to say that I see them as dresses for women to please men…

    Mr.HL: It’s true! Its because they make women look great. The fit is great because it shapes the body. For example, the body of a young girl is not my cup of tea. I like bodies with a bosom, with a waist, curves…

    My dresses can give a shape even to bodies that are not perfect. This is why I think men love them the same that women who wear them. They seem almost like a modern corset with no bones. The fit that a woman experiences at Herve L.Leroux is the fit I invented at Hervé Leger. Even in my couture dresses today, I use the bands and my own technique, the one I invented then.

    F.M: Hervé, I want to ask you about the true story about what happened. How did you lose control of Hervé Léger in 1999.

    Mr.HL: People say that I sold it. That’s a lie, I mean I wish I would have sold it.

    When the bandage dresses started to be famous, a man that was fascinated by them approached me. He said to me “I went to a party in Caracas and a woman arrived in one of your dresses and everybody went crazy.” He “chased” and sent me some bankers asking to be my partner. Of course I said “Yes” because I wanted to develop this business and I didn’t have to run after any partner anymore…

    It was a nice combination and it was Seagram, a very powerful group who invested money and soon Hervé Léger became a major house.
    Though I had to be very conscious about the number of sales, otherwise they would drop me. The story is that the guy from Seagram decided to get rid of a few companies they had in order to invest on a bigger French company called Vivendi. At the end he sold everything, including me, although he assured me before that he would find me a new partner and he would help to finance the changes.

    I had someone who wanted to buy the company from Seagram, they put the dossier in the bank’s hands and then they sold it to Max Azria. So he bought it, though I tried to make it work but it fact it didn’t. At the time I was only left with 5% of the company…
    When people invest in a company, especially in the fashion industry, the designer or the name behind the company, has to stay part of it otherwise it won’t invest.

    Some people like Donna Karan, did it in a very clever way for example.
    I guess it didn’t work for me because I didn’t have good lawyers at the time…

    I didn’t agree with the strategy and they fired me from the house I had created. The worst of it all was that he didn’t know what to do with the house of Léger for a long time. In 2007, which is quite recent I may say, at the same moment when I decided to do ready-to-wear again, he opened the archives he started to re-do my dresses from back then for Hollywood stars and the bandage dresses were successful again.

    F.M: And what did you do?

    Mr.HL: Wolford contacted me and they asked me to work for them… Then came my shop. The problem was I couldn’t use my name anymore. It’s Karl Lagerfeld who came up with the idea of Hervé Leroux. He said “you’ve got red hair” so it has to be called Hervé Leroux and put the “L.” in the middle, who knows one day you can do again “Hervé Léger Leroux.”

    F.M: So, back to your collection. How did you start again?

    Mr.HL: In 2000 I did a comeback with ready-to-wear and I had immediately lots of customers coming, especially from America. Then came another incident, 9/11. No one came after that.

    It affected everyone and the business went downhill. That’s when I decided to stop ready-to-wear as it was very expensive to create, have production control, distribution etc… So since then, I focused on Couture until 2007, only for private customers and some shops that wanted to buy a few of my pieces. It was a difficult time but I survived.

    It was in 2007 when my customers wanted my ready-to-wear again and it went very good. We are in Colette and so many other prestigious boutiques around the world now. I am very satisfied.

    F.M: You are a designer that works with couture methods, a real artisan. How do you see the use of “future” references and approach in fashion in combination with technology?

    Mr.HL: I think moving towards the future is good for this business, generally speaking..

    Sewing a dress is always sewing a dress.
    For me what is more important is that the clothes look good and made with good materials. I know nothing about technology whatsoever. I know that my clothes are very true; I use very particular techniques to make them. I am more of a couturier rather than a stylist. I don’t go scouting for old clothes to re-do them, I don’t search for ideas around. Even at moments when I wanted to copy someone, I just couldn’t do it you know?

    Other’s people’s clothes don’t inspire me. I am obsessed by my own ways of creation and I feel lucky to have customers starting from 16 to 70. I am never about trends; I see no use in them. Today I have the feeling that it is all about money. Designers today don’t spend hours fitting a dress on a body. They do it on dummies. I feel comfortable with the way I work.

    F.M: How were the 1980’s and 1990’s fashion scene compared to what we see today?

    Mr.HL: Oh my God, things were so happy back then, so happy. The 70’s, the 80’s and the 90’s. People were passionate and they could make money from that passion. Bankers, investors or whatever you call them didn’t really exist then so designers were freer. Only one thing Filep, the aesthetic of the girls then is what is missing from today.

    Or the power the shows had back then. Think of Montana and Mugler!! Oh my God, the girls were so beautiful, the way they walked. I feel lucky for living through that era working with all of them; from Linda to Cindy… I had them all.

    And they were so full compared to today that everyone is so skinny. And all my models loved the clothes; you know a lot of clothes would disappear after the show (laughs). Even during fittings those girls would feel the clothes, they were posing.

    Today my favorite show is Victoria’s Secret because it’s a happy one. I am not saying girls are not beautiful today, I just think shows today have become boring and less inspiring. They look like robots and there is no charm. I really wonder if I was to do a show today how I should do it and not look ridiculous and dated.

    And sometimes I speak with journalists and they are bored of the current situation too.
    Anyway, I am not ready to do a show now also because I am not a kid. If I do a show it has to be made the right way as a good show also costs a lot of money.

    F.M: Maybe you could do a little show in a Hotel Suite like couturiers used to do back in the 50’s.

    Mr.HL: Hmm, yes. For this season I just wanted to show the work the way it is. Starting on Monday, Colette will have 5 of my dresses in the window and on Thursday I am showing another 12 pieces in my showroom as I have been invited by the Chamber of Haute Couture and it feels wonderful.

    F.M: What is this collection about?

    Mr.HL: You know I never start saying “I’m going to do this and that”. I just grab my fabric and start working. All I can say is that 80% of the collection is done and it looks like a walk in a Japanese garden. The drapes are very graphic in the sense of Japanese design…

    F.M: Why does couture still breath? Is it merely a question of tradition? Why does it still interest people?

    Mr.HL: It’s exceptional I would say with an excellence. Although the world has changed and we are in the middle of a crisis, luxury is always surviving. What is luxury about today is another story than what it used to be. There are a lot of luxury houses that produce clothes or bags in Taiwan etc. but, there are still women who want to dream. I see my clients… And the movie stars I dress – of course they don’t buy the clothes (laughs).

    There are still women who are not in the spotlight, not in the newspapers yet they prefer couture because it is special. They are in search of the perfect fit and for me the fit is something important.

    F.M: Why is couture so personal as it requires the customer and the designer in a very private session?

    Mr.HL: There are less and less couture houses as time goes by. Chanel is a real Couture house for example because they have the right hands to do the artisanship, Gaultier also as well as Dior. Couture has a certain way of doing it, it has its own rules, and also the fabrics are richer. Everything is on made on perfect scale. There are more and more rich people and the opposite, which I find very depressing. We can say there are people who are rich today and they are richer than what the term “rich” meant 20 years ago..
    Those who spend, really spend…

    F.M: What provokes the strongest emotions in you nowadays, compared to what made you emotional in the past?



    Mr.HL: When I was “Hervé Léger” I was never satisfied. Nothing was good enough and I always thought I could do better. Today, although I still want to do better I become emotional by looking at my own dresses, a feeling I never had before.
    I am happier today because I don’t have anybody else involved in my business; I have a great team of loyal people working with me. Also what is very emotional for me is when I see women trying my clothes on.

    F.M: What is next for you?

    Mr.HL: I’m working on developing my business. A perfume that I am working on. I want to start doing accessories, shoes, lingerie and swimsuits. Also my customers locked me in my atelier designing dresses – at least I am famous for something (laughs)- but you know I am very good in designing suits, coats, pants and blouses…

    Basically when you are wearing Herve L.Leroux, is for the evening. I want to make day-wear too. Although every time I do they never buy it, but I’m going to push.

    The interview is a collaboration project between Un nouVeau iDEAL and The Stimuleye.
    interview FILEP MOTWARY
    photography RENE HABERMACHER
    fashion editor SUZANNE VON AICHINGER
    hair PANOS PAPANDRIANOS
    make up YIANNIS SISKOS
    model ANNA MARTYNOVA@ NEXT MODELS

    thank you VERSAE VANNI @ NEXT PARIS

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  • GOOGLY EYE

    Olivier Saillard, Violetta Sanchez, and 25 ways to be a turncoat

    - by filep

    “We nominate McQueen at Mugler and Armani Casa at Margiela…

    We nominate Margiela at Schiaparelli and order him not to make any collections to preserve the surrealist spirit of the house.”

    Curator Olivier Saillard hosted another one of his legend-in-the-making performances during couture week, this time in the intimate setting of the APC headquarters.

    For 30 minutes, Saillard and his collaborator Violetta Sanchez pushed the classic man’s grey blazer to the limit (and beyond) by showing 25 ways it could be worn, while reciting a surreal list of nominations that read like a “who’s who” and a “what’s-wrong” with today’s fashion scene.

    Can’t wait to see what Saillard comes up with next.

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  • EYE CANDY

    jean paul lespagnard: from b to a

    - by antoine

    B is Belgium.

    A is Africa.

    Leave it to Jean Paul Lespagnard to connect the 2 in a fresh way for his SS2013 collection.

    You can also see one of the key outfits from the collection in action, as worn by Lynsey Peisinger, in the FIAC Paris 2012 teaser…

    FIAC 2012 official teaser by The Stimuleye. Pants/overalls by Jean-Paul Lespagnard.
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  • GOOGLY EYE

    films of the season: princess cornflakes

    - by admin

    Big is beautiful.
    Biggerest is beautifuller.

    The Stimuleye is proud to announce its Film of the Season™ for Vogue Italia,
    its first full collaboration with CLAST productions,
    a special commission for curvy clothing line For.me Elena Miro,
    Princess Cornflakes.

    Princess Cornflakes / ENGLISH VERSION

    PRINCESS CORNFLAKES (English) from AntoineAsseraf+RenéHabermacher on Vimeo.

    Princess Cornflakes / VERSION FRANÇAISE

    PRINCESS CORNFLAKES (Français) from AntoineAsseraf+RenéHabermacher on Vimeo.

    CREDITS:
    (more…)

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    fall encounters

    - by admin

    Another season’s collaboration with Joyce: Marios Schwab + music designer Rafael Wallon-Brownstone, and a glimpse into the world of Giambatista Valli…

    Marios & the Music 

    Giambatista Valli 

    More on Joyce.com’s Special Features

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    face 2 face : rad hourani & filep motwary

    - by antoine

    Just before leaving for some much needed holidays, The Stimuleye is happy to announce a new interview series in collaboration with Un Nouveau Ideal’s Filep Motwary.

    A-referential, Unisex, Anti-Trend, Feature Film… wunderkind designer Rad Hourani is first to go FACE2FACE.

    Creative Direction: The Stimuleye

    Assistant: Jean-David Alimi

    Sound Design: SOSSOON

    Thanks: Robin Meason / Creative Door.

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    the ANDAM

    - by antoine

    230 000 euros for a young designers… who says the French don’t support talent ?

    For 23 years now, the ANDAM prize, created by Nathalie Dufour and presided by no less than Pierre Bergé, has rewarded promising Paris-based fashion designers, regardless of nationality.

    The first winner : Martin Margiela in 1989.
    Since then, Viktor & Rolf, Christophe Lemaire, Felipe Oliveira Baptista, Gareth Pugh and last year Anthony Vaccarello have received the prize which includes not only a huge amount of money, but industry connections whose worth money cannot measure…

    The Stimuleye presents : ANDAM 2012.

    ANDAM
    Association Nationale pour le Développement des Arts de la Mode
    2012 FASHION AWARDS
    05/07/12

    GRAND PRIZE: 230 000 EURO
    Nominees: Cédric Charlier, Julien David, Thomas Tait, Calla Haynes, Vika Gazinskaya, Andrea Nicholas Taralis
    Winner: Julien David

    FIRST COLLECTION PRIZE: 60 000 EURO
    Nominees: Calla Haynes, Pièce d’Anarchive, Céline Méteil, Jacquemus
    Winner: Pièce d’Anarchive

    more info: http://www.andam.fr

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    i am a very lazy man : yohji yamamoto

    - by antoine

    “i am a very lazy man.”

    That’s not really the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto.
    Film costume designer, Hyères jury president, Y-3 sportswear line creator, musician and soon film director, not to mention one of the people who revolutionized fashion aesthetics, Yamamoto has done his share.

    I had the pleasure of spending an evening backstage at his fashion show to get an exclusive peek for the new Joyce.com website.

     Antoine Asseraf for Joyce.com, interview by Lucienne Leung.

    Thanks: Coralie Gaultier, Filep Motwary.

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  • EYE 2 EYE

    The perfect muse: François Sagat

    - by rene

    In Carlo Collodi’s 1883 children’s novel “The Adventures of Pinocchio” it is the wooden puppet that possesses sentience prior to its transformation; it is the puppet and not its creator, the woodcarver who triggers the miracle of the doll coming alive.

    With François one never knows who pulls the strings. It is him who invokes the sentiment for a story to become alive. Yet he hands himself over unconditionally to his collaborators, like an “instrument to be played”, as he likes to call it.

    Film director Christopher Honoré once expressed that François Sagat “redefines the notion of masculinity”.  François, the humble boy from Cognac has moulded himself to unattainable iconic status. Gilded with his blue inked crane, he is to conquer his righteous spot in the pantheon of pop culture…

    FRANCOIS_SAGAT_RENE_HABERMACHER_THE_STIMULEYE_APPLE
    "François Sagat with Apple" Exhibition SPECTRE, Hyères 2010. Photography by René Habermacher

    René Habermacher : you recently played alongside Chiara Mastroianni in HOMME AU BAIN by Christophe Honoré, and as well the lead in Bruce LaBruce L.A. ZOMBIE – how were your experiences?

    François Sagat: L.A ZOMBIE was an experience which had very little to do with HOMME AU BAIN… The shoot for LA ZOMBIE was like a real porno shoot, scene by scene, it was mostly fucking, except that of course the porno version was censored for festivals…Beyond the sex scenes, LA ZOMBIE was a chaotic shoot, without a script, hasardous… but I’m still to this day satisfied with this participation and collaboration with Bruce LaBruce, from whom I still have much to learn, and who possesses a huge cinema and litterary culture… Despite what his critics say, I think Bruce has a real style.

    During the shoot I really tested my capacity to resist “obstacles”, it was at times very difficult, I didn’t know where I was going, no direction, it was like being thrown in the lion’s den.
    There was no script, the storytelling was weak and the whole plan was turned on its head by last minute changes and many cancelations, but that can be said about a lot of “cinema” projects.

    L'HOMME AU BAIN by Christophe Honoré, starring Chiara Mastroianni and François Sagat.

    Regarding  HOMME AU BAIN, the shooting was a lot more structured, but energetic nevertheless. It’s on this project that I realized that my abilities as an actor were limited, weak even, and felt like I was a big challenge for Christophe Honoré because of my “heavy” image, of the luggage I was carrying.
    There were moments when I thought I terrified him, being everything except malleable. The project was constantly evolving due to the fact that we had planned it as a short, and that a lot of questions arose towards the end of shooting. It was finally released as a full feature film, and I have the feeling it wasn’t the right place for the film.

    It was an intimate project which to me, with hindsight, would have had a strong impact as a short. But I am neither director nor the creator of my own character.  Rather than control the situation, I felt the blowback. But surely the imperfection of the final result  makes it a real film, that can be remarked and criticized. I chose to shoot it and live the collaboration for the moment rather than think of the finished product.

    FRANCOIS_SAGAT_RENE_HABERMACHER_THE_STIMULEYE_ROSE
    François Sagat for QVEST magazine. Photography by René Habermacher.

    What is the difference to you between acting in a porn movie or a feature film?

    The difference ? Of course there are differences.

    When you’re a porno actor, you’re in constant control of your carnal envelope and your physical aspect, whether you learn it or you have it from the start.

    I didn’t know it as first but I am someone who has that ability. Porn is often an activity for people who are shy orally.

    As a performer, you never really have to carry the more or less artistic responsabilities of a porn film, because there is no artistic issue to start with. You just have to be a good soldier fitting what the consumer desires to watch and what the production has decided, and that’s it.

    I think also that I am someone who’s very sexual and exhibitiionist, but that’s not really giving you a scoop. Porn is like military service, it’s “my way or the highway”, and in my case, I’ve been and continue to be a good soldier.

    The main difference is that you need a capacity to adapt and to lose who you really are, physically as well as morally. I created for myself a character in porn as in life, it’s difficult to let it go.

    FRANCOIS_SAGAT_RENE_HABERMACHER_THE_STIMULEYE_PILLORY_VILLA_NOAILLES
    Video still from PILORI installation by Lynsey Peisinger & The Stimuleye. Villa Noailles, Hyères 2012.

    (more…)

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  • GOOGLY EYE

    pilori, beyond the wall & simone fehlinger

    - by antoine

    If you didn’t make it for the 3 days of the Hyères Fashion & Photography Festival, you still have until May 26, 2012 to see the exhibitions of the festival at the Villa Noailles in town, including Yohji Yamamoto, Jason Evans, Anouk Kruithof, Ina Jang, Cunningston & Sanderson, Chronique Curiosité, Inez & Vinoodh and… Lynsey Peisinger + The Stimuleye’s performance/installation/video hybrid, PILORI.

    Until the end of May you can see at the villa the PILORI installation featuring footage of the performance (with the cooperation of Yohji Yamamoto Inc.) and video contributions by Antoine Asseraf & René Habermacher, starring François Sagat, by Jason Last & Jaime Rubiano, Clément Roncier, Sebastien Meunier + Romain Dja Douadji + Tomek Jarolim, and the winner of our internet contest, Simone Fehlinger, who met up with Filep Motwary.

    PILORI (“PILLORY”) is a unique collaboration between choreographer Lynsey Peisinger and The Stimuleye for the Hyères Festival. Drawing on a pool of both local and Paris-based performers, Lynsey Peisinger conceived 2-hour performances inside a specially built space in the Villa Noailles’ Sautoir space: a wall with 4 pairs of legs poking out, moving, at rest, ignoring or harassing each other…

    For its exhibition phase, the performance footage is augmented and interrupted by the footage of BEYOND THE WALL, different video artists’ renderings of what lies beyond the wall which cuts the performers in half.

    clones by Antoine Asseraf & René Habermacher starring François Sagat for The Stimuleye

     CLONES starring François Sagat, by Antoine Asseraf & René Habermacher.

    the stimuleye PILORI installation at Hyères

    Sebastien Meunier, Romain Dja Douadji & Tomek Jarolim for BEYOND THE WALL.

    The Stimuleye's BEYOND THE WALL/PILORI for Hyères

    Clément Roncier for BEYOND THE WALL/PILORI.

    The Stimuleye's BEYOND THE WALL/PILORI for Hyères

    Jason Last & Jaime Rubiano for BEYOND THE WALL/PILORI.

    Simone Fehlinger for BEYOND THE WALL / PILORI.

    Filep Motwary: What is your video about?
    Simone Fehlinger: my videos visualize the stories of walls. Parts of these walls are broken : colors, wallpapers peel off and uncover it’s past… The videos invite to a personal imagination of what this wall’s history is about… Now, these walls have moved to Hyères 2012 and will be part of a new story…

    Filep Motwary: Why have you chosen white as your “backwards” canvas?
    Surfaces are extremely exciting ! But the interesting part is not the perfectly clean, virgin, new, white layer.
    It’s the layer underneath…

    What is your opinion about Hyeres.
    It’s legendary ! I’m really happy and honoured to be a part of…

    What would be your next projects about?
    My new big project is my own graphic and video design studio in Paris.

    The Stimuleye

    Simone Fehlinger, winner of BEYOND THE WALL contest.

    PILORI at Villa Noailles
    Until May 26, 2012
    Hyères, FRANCE.

    Special thanks to Coralie Gaultier & the Yohji Yamamoto Inc team,
    Simone Fehlinger for her contribution,
    and all the performers who gave their time to participate in this project.

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  • EYEcon

    comme des garçons white drama

    - by antoine

    A few weeks before the Hyères madness, I had the incredible opportunity to once again spend a few days with Galliera curator Olivier Saillard as he put together not 1 but 2 special exhibitions in a brand new space dedicated to fashion in Paris : Les Docks / Cité de la Mode et du Design.

    Alongside a special Cristobal Balenciaga Collector exhibition contrasting the 20th Century designer’s creations with unseen objects in his personal collection, Saillard was putting together a second exhibition more anchored in the present, and even in the future:

    WHITE DRAMA, an exhibition of Comme Des Garçons’ current SS 2012 collection, with an eye-popping scenography by Rei Kawakubo herself…

    a PREMICES FILMS production
    Directed by: Antoine Asseraf
    Assisted by: Thibault Della Gaspera
    Sound by: Pierre Emmanuel Martinet

    COMME DES GARÇONS WHITE DRAMA /
    CRISTOBAL BALENCIAGA COLLECTOR

    Cité de la Mode & du Design / Les Docks
    34 Quai d’Austerlitz, Paris,
    Until October 7, 2012.

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  • EYE CANDY

    hyères 2012 live

    - by antoine

    For the first time ever, follow the Hyères Festival 2012 Fashion Show at the Palais de Tokyo and on The Stimuleye…

    Fashion Show Production: EYESIGHT

    Fashion Show Art Direction: Maida Gregory – Boina

    Live Stream Production: Premices Films

    Live Stream Direction: The Stimuleye

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  • EYE CANDY

    télé hyères

    - by admin

    The Stimuleye presents Télé-Hyères…

    Télé-Hyères
    A The Stimuleye Production
    Directed by Antoine Asseraf
    Filmed by Thibault Della Gaspera & Jason Last
    Postproduction by Clément Roncier
    Interviews by Filep Motwary
    Music by Ça Va Chéri

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