Director • Alex Freund
Fashion • Romina Hererra Malatesta
Makeup • Itsuki / The Wall Group
Hair • Bok Hee / Streeters
Model • Michelle Buswell / Marilyn Agency
Special thanks to • Lafayette House, NYC

Bra • Kiki de Montparnasse
Panty • Agent Provocateur
Garter & Hosiery • Wolford

Lafayette House book available on BarnesandNoble.com & Amazon.com.

Director • Tim Zaragoza
Fashion • Lisa Mosko
Makeup • Tracy Alfajora / Joe for Smashbox Cosmetics
Hair (collection) • Shawn Mount / Artlist
Models • Bo-don, Hannah / Marilyn
Grips • Philip Leff, Ovidiu Hrubaru
Digital Capture and Retouching • Versatile Studios, NYC
Special thanks to • CSI Rentals, NYC

All Clothing • Rad Hourani / Collection #5

Interview • Diane Vadino
Photography • Tim Zaragoza
Fashion • Lisa Mosko
Makeup • Tracy Alfajora / Joe for Smashbox Cosmetics
Hair (collection) • Shawn Mount / Artlist
Hair (portrait) • Hugo Ferrozzi
Models • Bo-don, Hannah / Marilyn
Photography Assistants • Philip Leff, Ovidiu Hrubaru
Digital Capture and Retouching • Versatile Studios, NYC
Special thanks to • CSI Rentals, NYC

All Clothing • Rad Hourani / Collection #5

Gravure: Tell me about your “no-background background,” as you’ve described it. How does that philosophy shape your sense of innovation—of what is and what isn’t possible?

Rad Hourani: I didn’t study fashion. I didn’t study how to make clothing. After I moved to Paris in 2005, to do styling, I erased all of the past in my head, and all of the ways I had been conditioned as a human—how I understood men’s dressing codes, women’s dressing codes, religion, whatever. I started my own way of thinking, by observing what was going on around me, from traveling, from meeting people, from experience. That’s what I mean as “no background.” It’s a background of erasing the past and starting again with my own observations.

G: I don’t know if I’d call it “rebelling,” but would you say you were “reacting” against something?

RH: Maybe “doubting.” I think it’s very important to doubt everything you believe in. You can believe in something, and see a beauty in something, and someone else will never see that beauty. What’s important is to doubt everything, and question everything. Not in a destructive way—it’s not a negative thing, but a positive thing. It’s related to this unisex thing that I started—many people are not used to unisex clothing; they don’t understand it when they see it. But I’ve been lucky because [other] people have been reacting in a really good way—people who react to it using their minds, who are not necessarily trying to be intellectual, but who understand that what I’m doing is erasing the codes of men’s and women’s dressing.

G: Is there a particular piece in your collection that exemplifies this sense of starting anew?

RH: When I began using zippers to create transformable pieces—pieces you can transform into many different styles, masculine, feminine, aggressive, sensual. It shows individualism. It takes someone who understands it—who doesn’t necessarily follow trends, but someone who enjoys a beautiful piece of clothing that can be worn in many different ways.

G: Was there a moment for you when you said to yourself, “This is what I am going to do,” a finished piece, a sketch?

RH: Since I was a kid, I was always attracted to fabric. I never wanted to wear what other kids were wearing—every time my mom brought something home for me, I wouldn’t want to wear it.

G: What did you end up wearing?

RH: I remember wanting to wear these high boots, a kind of black cowboy boots with a high heel—not necessarily a feminine high heel, just a high, unisex heel. I always wanted to wear them with these very long, slim jeans. I took all of my pants to be tailored, to have them made very slim, and [the tailor] was, like, “Are you sure you’re going to be comfortable?” And I was, like, “Yeah, of course.” I was very sensitive, but also very tough, in a way—even if someone said, “It’s too weird, it’s too this, it’s too that,” I was very tough about it, and I’d wear it with comfort.

G: And at some point, that preoccupation with what you wore became an interest in making clothes.

RH: When I was 20—I’ve never said this in an interview before—I started to sketch these dresses. What I sketched had nothing to do with what I’m doing today—except that it was black.

G: Dresses! That’s hard to believe, coming from you.

RH: I didn’t know myself very well then. What I do today is a reflection of the way I see myself and the world. I was in Paris, shopping all the time, looking for the clothes—but what I found was always too rough, too punk, too vintage, too feminine, too masculine. In the men’s collections, I’d find beautiful shapes, but not good fabric, or I’d find good fabric in the women’s section, but [the pieces] had these curvy lines. I never found exactly what I wanted. That’s why I started my line.

G: At that point you understood yourself better.

RH: I really found myself and my own style. I think the most important thing in life is to have a signature—as a writer, when someone sees your text, and knows it’s you, even without seeing your name. If someone sees my jacket and knows it’s mine without seeing the label, I’m thrilled.

G: Your father is Jordanian, and your mother Syrian, and you’ve lived and worked in Jordan, Montreal and Paris. Do you see any value in describing yourself as a Canadian, French, or Jordanian designer?

RH: I’m anti-nationalism. I think it’s very limited to see the world by different countries, or names of cities and countries and boundaries. We exist in a universe, where there is no country called “U.S.A.” or “Canada” or “Jordan.” That’s what creates war between people and all of these social troubles that exist in the world. I’m not interested in doing something where you can say, “It’s so American” or “It’s so Middle Eastern”—or even, “I see the ‘60s” or “I see the ’70s.” I’m not interested in any nationalism or culturalism—it comes, again, from the no-background background. What I’m interested in is a new world of today and tomorrow. It has no nationality. It has one world and one vision—no gender, no seasons, no trends. I’m not interested in one language or one culture. Someone said to me, “Your clothes are made for a niche of people, a certain kind of people.” But I think we’re all the same. My clothes are made for anyone who understands that.

G: I understand that. But I feel like it’s possible that cities—Paris, where you live, or New York, where you show—feed your work in a way that the idea of nationality does not.

RH: Absolutely. It’s not necessary to separate the world by country or nationality or skin or gender or season—but if you talk about different cities, every one has its own charms. What I love about New York is the way people there always move forward—New Yorkers have that mentality of taking something forward and making it big, making it really powerful. That’s what I love about New York—how people will always come together and be excited about new things, and always want to build and move forward. And that’s why every time I leave, I’m exhausted. You really empty everything into it.

G: And in Paris?

RH: It’s a different way of doing things. People like to take their time. Paris is much older than New York, and there is so much more—I wouldn’t say culture, but history. People like to make things, but they like to take their time, for a long time. I can’t live without the way New York does things; I can’t live without the way Paris does things. So creating here and exhibiting there makes sense to me.

G: One of the words I’ve seen used most often in describing your work is “goth.” What do you make of that?

RH: For me, it’s a bit a miss. It’s almost like when people see a black garment with leather straps, they’ll automatically say it’s gothic. It’s not gothic at all. I see everything in one garment—I see everything that I lived in the past, and today and tomorrow. You can see architecture and modernity, sleekness, futurism. My clothes are really a mix of everything that I am and everything in my past. I think my clothes are not necessarily gothic at all. I’m a very happy person — I’m not gothic. I’m not dark at all. It’s not that it’s black so it’s dark—it’s just a graphic, modern shape that makes sense to me.

G: Do you have an ideal client, whether it’s Rihanna or the coolest guy on the street?

RH: It’s a great compliment when you see someone wearing your clothes—it’s very touching. What I’m interested in is that I make clothes that can be adopted to any style of people. Someone said, “You make clothes for skinny people.” But they’re not made for one sort of people. I have a client who is 65 years old—I’m not into age; this client is ageless, and she wears the clothes extremely well. She says, “I feel new, and I feel modern, and I feel so good when I wear your clothes.” Whether it’s the cool girl on the street, or a gentleman, or a cool kid, or a fashion student—or a singer or an actress—what’s very important is to see different kind of people wearing my clothes. They’re made for anyone, anywhere, any time.

G: There’s a lovely sense of otherworldliness to your clothes, and also to the philosophy behind them. But they do reference a world quite different from the one we live in, and a world I would say is often at odds with your vision.

RH: This really is the world I live in, every day. It doesn’t make sense to me that a women can wear a dress, but not a man—or a man can wear a tie, but not a woman. This is exactly the way I see the world. I don’t need to follow what others tell me, but I can adopt what makes sense to me, in my life. You don’t need to follow what I do, but take what makes sense to you and adopt it to yours. It takes people like you and me and more to build this world together. It sounds like John Lennon — but I do believe we can build another world.

Director: Warwick Saint
Director of Photography: Shane Sigler
Styling : Lisa Mosko
Model: Marloes Horst • Next Management
Hair: Antonio Diaz • See Management
Make-up: Charlotte Day • See Management
Set by Nick Industries
Casting: Patricia Zelesnikar
Editing and Color Grading by Industrial Color

Special Thanks to:
Kerry Reardon at Ray Brown Pro
Anthony Kennedy
Hudson Studios
Leigh Crystal and Derek Saathoff at Next

Music: “Werewolf” by Cat Power

Lingerie : Stella McCartney
Handmade Diamond & Platinum Necklace : Manny Winick & Son

Director • Annelise Phillips / Afg Management
Fashion • Priscilla Polley / Magnet Agency
Makeup • Fabiola / The Wall Group
Models • Aris Schwabe / Kathryn Goldberg
Props • Steven Caputo
Digital Tech • Ramon Fernandez
Video Cut & Graded • Swell
Photography Assistant • Greg Haerling
Fashion Assistant • Caitlyn Leary & Catherine Wiley
Special Thanks • Caitlyn Leary & Modesta Zapata

1
On Kay
Gold Embellished Shirt • Marni
White Vintage Slip
Broken Heart Necklace • In God We Trust

On Aris
White Jeans • Diesel
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Cross Necklace • Pamela Love

2
White Distressed Shirt • Stylist’s Own
Burgandy Striped Bandana • Stylist’s Own
Patchwork Necklace • In God We Trust

3
On Kay
Nude Shirt With Pearl Accent • Marc Jacobs
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Name Plate Bracelet • Thea Grant
Floral Leggings • H&M

On Aris
Jeans • Diesel
Red Boots • Doc Martens
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Name Plate Bracelet • Thea Grant
Patchwork Necklace • In God We Trust

4
Patchwork Necklace • In God We Trust

5
Distressed Sweater • Model’s Own
Grey T-Shirt • Current Elliott

6
Tan Cardigan • Current Elliot
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Patchwork Necklace • In God We Trust
Brown Leather Pants • Lost Art

7
Striped Cotton Sweater • Vlas Blomme
Black Shirt With Sheer Netting • Chloe Sevigny For Opening Ceremony
Jewelry Model’s Own

8
Knit Cardigan • Alexander Wang
White Jeans • Diesel
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Name Plate Bracelet • Thea Grant
Patchwork Necklace • In God We Trust

9
On Kay
Tan Knit Jumper • Stella Mccartney
Floral Leggings • H&M
Maroon Bra • Passion Bait
Silver Decay Ring • Pamela Love
Arrowhead Necklace • Pamela Love
Rope Cuff • Pamela Love

On Aris
Tan Cardigan • Current Elliot
Brown Leather Pants • Lost Art
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Patchwork Necklace • In God We Trust

10
Tank Top • Marc Jacobs
Bra • Passion Bait

11
Brown Leather Pants • Lost Art
Tan Cardigan • Current Elliot
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Patchwork Necklace • In God We Trust

12
Shirt • Current Elliot

13
Black Sweater • The Elder Statesman
Jeans • Disel
Name Plate Bracelet • Thea Grant

14
Blue Top With Pearls • Marc Jacobs

15
Sleeveless Sequin Top • 3.1 Philip Lim
Black Shirt With Sheer Netting • Chloe Sevigny For Opening Ceremony
Black Cut Off Shorts • Current Elliott

16
Blue Pants • Lost Art
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Cross Necklace • Pamela Love

17
Grey Sweater • Alexander Wang
Black Shirt With Sheer Netting • Chloe Sevigny For Opening Ceremony
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust

18
Black Sweater • The Elder Statesman
White Jeans • Disel
Bracelet • Thea Grant

Photography • Annelise Phillips / Afg Management
Fashion • Priscilla Polley / Magnet Agency
Makeup • Fabiola / The Wall Group
Models • Aris Schwabe / Kathryn Goldberg
Props • Steven Caputo
Digital Tech • Ramon Fernandez
Retouching • Shin Ono / Pier 59
Photography Assistant • Greg Haerling
Fashion Assistant • Caitlyn Leary & Catherine Wiley
Special Thanks • Caitlyn Leary & Modesta Zapata

1
On Kay
Gold Embellished Shirt • Marni
White Vintage Slip
Broken Heart Necklace • In God We Trust

On Aris
White Jeans • Diesel
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Cross Necklace • Pamela Love

2
White Distressed Shirt • Stylist’s Own
Burgandy Striped Bandana • Stylist’s Own
Patchwork Necklace • In God We Trust

3
On Kay
Nude Shirt With Pearl Accent • Marc Jacobs
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Name Plate Bracelet • Thea Grant
Floral Leggings • H&M

On Aris
Jeans • Diesel
Red Boots • Doc Martens
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Name Plate Bracelet • Thea Grant
Patchwork Necklace • In God We Trust

4
Patchwork Necklace • In God We Trust

5
Distressed Sweater • Model’s Own
Grey T-Shirt • Current Elliott

6
Tan Cardigan • Current Elliot
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Patchwork Necklace • In God We Trust
Brown Leather Pants • Lost Art

7
Striped Cotton Sweater • Vlas Blomme
Black Shirt With Sheer Netting • Chloe Sevigny For Opening Ceremony
Jewelry Model’s Own

8
Knit Cardigan • Alexander Wang
White Jeans • Diesel
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Name Plate Bracelet • Thea Grant
Patchwork Necklace • In God We Trust

9
On Kay
Tan Knit Jumper • Stella Mccartney
Floral Leggings • H&M
Maroon Bra • Passion Bait
Silver Decay Ring • Pamela Love
Arrowhead Necklace • Pamela Love
Rope Cuff • Pamela Love

On Aris
Tan Cardigan • Current Elliot
Brown Leather Pants • Lost Art
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Patchwork Necklace • In God We Trust

10
Tank Top • Marc Jacobs
Bra • Passion Bait

11
Brown Leather Pants • Lost Art
Tan Cardigan • Current Elliot
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Patchwork Necklace • In God We Trust

12
Shirt • Current Elliot

13
Black Sweater • The Elder Statesman
Jeans • Disel
Name Plate Bracelet • Thea Grant

14
Blue Top With Pearls • Marc Jacobs

15
Sleeveless Sequin Top • 3.1 Philip Lim
Black Shirt With Sheer Netting • Chloe Sevigny For Opening Ceremony
Black Cut Off Shorts • Current Elliott

16
Blue Pants • Lost Art
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust
Cross Necklace • Pamela Love

17
Grey Sweater • Alexander Wang
Black Shirt With Sheer Netting • Chloe Sevigny For Opening Ceremony
Broken Heart Friend Necklace • In God We Trust

18
Black Sweater • The Elder Statesman
White Jeans • Disel
Bracelet • Thea Grant

Photography • Diego Uchitel / Jed Root
Fashion Direction • Lisa Mosko
Casting • Laine Rosenberg
Makeup • Stephen Dimmick / L’atelier
Hair • Thomas Dunkin / Sebastian Professional Products / The Wall Group
Set Styling • Lisa Gwilliam
Model • Chantal / Marilyn
Retouching • Wrench LTD
Fashion Associate • Xina Giatas
Fashion Assistants • Seulki Lee, Mercedes Bass

Long Asymmetrical Charcoal Kaftan • A.F. Vandevorst
Blush Cap Sleeve Harness With Metal Bullets • A.F. Vandevorst
Blush Pants With Straps • A.F. Vandevorst
Brown Belt With Fringe • A.F. Vandevorst
Pump With Ankle Strap • A.F. Vandevorst

Tan Sheer Jumper • A.F. Vandevorst
Antique Corset • New York Vintage
Light Blue Sheer Leggings • Shelly Steffee
Chocolate Brown Belt With Bronze Buckle And Beige Tassle Fringe • A.F. Vandevorst
Deer Antler And Tear Drop Swarovski Crystal Headpiece • And I
Necklaces • Subversive
Pump With Ankle Lace Up • A.F. Vandevorst

Blush Cap Sleeve Harness With Metal Bullets • A.F. Vandevorst
Taupe Halter Dress • A.F. Vandevorst
Reddish Brown Belt With Long Fringe • A.F. Vandevorst
Wooden Shoulder Pads • Dean Sidaway
Pump With Ankle Lace Up • A.F. Vandevorst

Blush Cap Sleeve Harness With Metal Bullets • A.F. Vandevorst
Taupe Halter Dress • A.F. Vandevorst
Reddish Brown Belt With Long Fringe • A.F. Vandevorst
Wooden Shoulder Pads • Dean Sidaway
Pump With Ankle Lace Up • A.F. Vandevorst

Long Ivory Dress • A.F. Vandevorst
Feather Necklace • Candace Ang
Pump With Ankle Strap • A.F. Vandevorst

Antique White Corset • Early Halloween
Stone Shirt Dress • A.F. Vandevorst
Pink Folded Newspaper Shoulder Pads With Chains • Dean Sidaway

Long Ivory Dress • A.F. Vandevorst
Feather Necklace • Candace Ang

Brown Slip • A.F. Vandevorst
Blush Cap Sleeve Harness With Metal Bullets • A.F. Vandevorst
Headpiece • And I
Nude Sequin Brief • Vpl
Pump With Thigh High • A.F. Vandevorst

Brown Oversized Button Down Shirt • A.F. Vandevorst
Antique Corset • NY Vintage
Nude Sequined Brief •VPL
Necklaces • Subversive

Blush Asymmetrical Shirt With Crossover Tie And Collar • A.F. Vandevorst
Large Grey Wooden Wing Headpiece • J Smith Esquire

Blush Cap Sleeve Harness With Metal Bullets • A.F. Vandevorst
Taupe Halter Dress • A.F. Vandevorst
Wooden Shoulder Pads • Dean Sidaway

Navy Strapless Dress • A.F. Vandevorst
Crystal Shoulder Pads • Dean Sidaway

Grey Sheer Transparent Dress • A.F. Vandevorst
Beige Harness With Metal Bullets • A.F. Vandevorst
Light Blue Sheer Leggings • Shelly Steffee
Chocolate Brown Belt With Bronze Buckle And Beige Tassle Fringe • A.F. Vandevorst
Pump With Ankle Lace Up • A.F. Vandevorst

Photography • Patrick Ibanez
Fashion Direction • Lisa Mosko
Makeup • Cynthia Sobek / See Management
Hair • Lisa-Raquel / See Management
Model • Sydonie / Marilyn
Digital Retouching • Mudd Seed
Fashion Associate • Xina Giatas
Fashion Assistant • Erica Sanchez
Photo Assistant • Patti Coll
Special Thanks • Claude Grunitzky

1. Pleated Front Pant • Ideen New York
Boyfriend Jacket With Single Button • Risto Bimbiloski

2.  Robe Silk Dress • Hermes
Lace Bra • Eres

4.  Organza Shorts And Jacket • Prada

5.  Black embroidered shoulder silk top  • Rodarte
Black lace briefs • Eres

6. Body Suit • Dolce & Gabbana

Interview by Rozalia Jovanovic
Photography • Tiago Molinos
Fashion Styling • Romina Herrera Malatesta
Make Up • Yuko Mizuno/Rona Represents
Hair • Leon Gorman/See
Model • Arizona Muse/Next
Retouching • Leo Vas

Gravure: You were born in California. Can you tell me something about that, about your upbringing?

Julian Louie: I was born in Santa Cruz, California. Kind of a small university town. A surf town, politically liberal. I grew up a block from the ocean.

G: Did you surf?

JL: No. That’s one of my regrets of my childhood is never learning to surf. I was in the ocean all the time but I never really integrated into that culture. And it was the dominant culture in the town.

But it was a blessed childhood. It’s a very beautiful, idyllic place. And both my parents’ families are from the East Coast, so I was always here visiting family and I fell in love with New York. I always knew that it was somewhere I wanted to be. So upon applying to colleges, I stupidly applied to only one school here and somehow got accepted and came here. New York shaped my consciousness, certainly with respect to fashion. I was always interested in fashion from a peripheral standpoint. I’d sit around with my friends and draw but I never considered it as a career. I had an aunt who was a fashion designer, even then I never thought about it as something I wanted to pursue.

G: Especially when people in your family do one thing, your instinct is to do something else, to be different.

JL: Well, both my parents are writers. My father writes fiction, my mother writes fiction and poetry. Growing up, my parents were university professors, and I was a university brat, running around the campus. But writing for me has always been the most painful process. So I always kind of resisted it.

G: In your first collection, in 2009, you made use of wet-suit material. I’m assuming there was some hometown inspiration in that?

JL: When I was growing up, surf culture and surf fashion were very relevant. It’s a huge industry and there’s a lot of energy put into that, even though the end result is this nonchalance that seems to be embodied by the surfer bum. There’s an interesting look to it.

I was really intrigued by the technical aspect of Neoprene as a fabric. But that was just one element of the collection. I was also inspired by a sketch by [Giovanni Battista] Tiepolo of Perseus and Andromeda, particularly by the color palette. The collection was about this odd contrast: on one hand there’s the technical athleticism and on the other is the baroque outlines. So the first collection had the elements of athleticism–plastic zippers and seaming of the wet suits, but done in silk failles, Swarovski crystals, ruffles, etcetera.

G: Those are very different elements for a single collection.

JL: I definitely have those two sides to me. I’m drawn to those extremes. I’m either completely austere or completely baroque. The middle ground doesn’t interest me so much. I’m always looking for things that are opulent and ornate, or clerical and monastic. I think in a way they’re two sides of the same coin. I’m fascinated with landscapes, and their extremities. I love the desert—the austerity of it. The endless sand and the horizon and sky. But it’s also a very baroque experience in its intensity. There’s a similar intensity to severe austerity. That’s the similarity. With the questions I ask myself, I try to bring those elements together. Severe geometry. Harsh lines. And intense surface detail. It’s an ongoing exploration. Sometimes more successful than others. [Laughs].

G: When did you graduate from Cooper Union?

JL: I graduated in May 2007. And then went to Calvin Klein. I worked with Francisco Costa who brought me in to do a project called The Protégé Project, which was organized by Franca Sozzani and sponsored by Australian Wool Innovation. There were five young designers in total.

G: Did you begin designing while you were at school?

JL: I interned at Imitation of Christ the summer of 2005. [Tara Subkoff] did a couture collection
that was shown in Paris. I spent my summer hand-painting the floral chiffon. And then we went to Paris for the show. That was my first experience in the industry.

The following summer, after my fourth year, I got a grant from [Cooper Union] to do a project in Berlin that was largely about collage. It was basically research on the facades of Berlin. First I just wandered around the city taking photographs, documenting. But it was the way surfaces are manipulated and modulated and kind of scarred. You read the history of the city through that skin. Because of the drastic history of the city with the war with the reconstruction, there’s a lot of rebuilding, encasing old facades in new glass facades. There are facades scarred with bullet marks. It was all about how you read something within that very very tiny space of the façade. Think about facades and building skins as surface. In a way, with fashion I do think of it as a surface thing, but I do think there’s a lot of interest in that tiny depth. It all comes down to the subtle changes, subtle textures juxtaposed and overlapped.

G: What came after the Berlin project in terms of fashion?

JL: The summer after I did the Berlin project, I went to Calvin. For the first few months I worked on the Calvin Klein spring 2008 collection, and then subsequently spent my time designing the Protégé Project collection. The collection I did for The Protégé Project was the first collection I had ever done and it was sink or swim in some ways.

G: Going into the Berlin project, was fashion already on your mind?

JL: I did a lot of research on the writings of Walter Benjamin and he writes about fashion and buildings and facades. Clothing is a motif in his writing. He equates clothing to memory, equates clothing to death, which goes way back to the Berlin war scenario. Looking back on it, it was probably a tenuous link. But I think now my approach to fashion is much more instinctual and much more emotional. And I think in architecture, I was trained to have every move I made be justified and backed up. Everything has to have purpose and intention. It’s intent within a rigorous framework. At that point I knew that I wanted to be a designer, so I started thinking how I should work in that realm while still in the context of my formal education. I think the tendency was to try and work on instinct and that kind of doesn’t fly in architecture school.

G: Architecture to me feels similar to fashion in that you have to keep function in mind. How the creation is going to be used, or worn? To your mind, how does fashion compare to art?

JL: One of the beauties of fashion is that it is that fundamental framework of the body and therefore there is a constraint that you work within. And I think there’s something to be said for the fantasy and the dream but I think it’s also a balancing act: how do you balance the art form and the fantasy with the functional aspect? I think fashion has an art element to it. And I certainly push that in my work but I would never call it art. There’s a very strong pragmatic aspect to it that is the nature of the industry. One can never forget that. How do you navigate all of these things?

G: Do you think coming from a background in architecture as opposed to fashion affected the way you were received in the industry? Was it a benefit or a drawback?

JL: I think it was both. Francisco [Costa] responded to that, that’s why he asked me to do The Protégé Project. Architecture and art are definitely interests of his. And that was the work I showed him. I showed him paintings; I showed him my architecture work. I think that’s why he brought me on. I had no fashion sketches. But just from a logistical point of view, I didn’t know what I was doing. But the best education is working. I’m very happy I have an architecture education and not a fashion education. I’m learning everything as I go. And I think fashion by nature is a discipline that draws on everything else.

G: Are there aspects to your designs that people and critics have noted as being consistent through each collection?

JL: I think as seasons have gone by it’s interesting to hear the reactions and to hear what people perceive as the consistencies and what each season is new for them. And it’s definitely something I think about. I would never want one collection to look like another, but at the same time I want there to be a through-line. I think that’s really important. Otherwise there’s no point of entry or legibility to it if it’s completely different each time.

I think the way of handling embroidery and beading and embellishments is a consistent sensibility that runs throughout. There is a certain color sensibility and a specific approach to seaming, construction, and paneling.

G: What inspired the last collection?

JL: It was a chair I had seen of Marie Antoinette’s. I copied the floral motif of the embroidery. That was the point of inspiration. Every collection happens upon one point of inspiration. And it’s free association from there. But you never want it to be a one note thing. You always have to have things in tension against each other to give it depth and interest.

Photography • Clarence K
Fashion • Annett Monheim / Streeters
Hair • Deycke Heidorn / See Management
Makeup • Claire Bayley / L’atelier
Models • Cintia Dicker / Marilyn
Special Thanks • The Space, Inc.

Look 1 :
Denim Shorts • Cheap Monday

Look 2 :
White Voile Panties With Embroidery • Stella Mccartney

Look 3 :
Chiffon Ribbon • Mokuba

Look 4 :
White Sheer Stocking With Pattern • Falke

Look 5 :
White Mini Empire Waist Dress • Lover

Look 6 :
Ecru Cotton Gabardine Dungarees • A.P.C.

Look 7 :
Lavender Corduroy Shirt And Jeans • Opening Ceremony For Levis

Look 8 :
Cotton Short Sleeve Shirt • Cheap Monday
Stockings • Vintage

LAFAYETTE HOUSE
A Gravure Editions Book
Now available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, & the Gravure Store.
Published July 2010,  186pp, perfect bound.

Photography • Alex Freund
Fashion • Romina Herrera-Malatesta
Hair • Bok-Hee / Streeters
Makeup • Itsuki / The Wall Group
Models • Tiiu Kuik & Michelle Buswell / Marilyn Agency

Look 1:
Dress & Gloves • Paule Ka
Whip • Agent Provocateur
Shoes • Lanvin
Necklace • Model’s Own

Look 2:
Vintage Hat • The Family Jewels NYC

Look 3:
Hosiery • Wolford
Shoes • Christian Louboutin for Davidelfin
Vintage Hat • The Family Jewels NYC
Necklace • Zoe Chicco

Look 4:
Trench • Viktor & Rolf
Bra • Kiki de Montparnasse
Panty • Agent Provocateur
Necklace • Zoe Chicco
Shoes • Christian Louboutin

Look 5:
Dress & Gloves • Paule Ka
Necklace • Model’s Own

Look 6:
Bra & Panty • VPL
Hosiery & Garter Belt • Wolford
Shoes • Lanvin
Necklace • Zoe Chicco

Look 7/8:
Bra, Panty, & Dress • VPL
Hoisery & Garter Belt • Wolford
Necklace • Zoe Chicco

Look 9:
Bra & Panty • Eres
Nude Thong • Calvin Klein
Shoes • A.F. Vandevorst
Hosiery • U.O.
Necklace • Model’s Own

Look 10:
Trench • Viktor & Rolf

Look 11:
Top, Shorts, & Sweater • Dolce & Gabbana
Hosiery • Wolford
Shoes • Fendi
Necklace • Model’s Own

Look 12:
Bra, Panty, & Dress • VPL
Hoisery & Garter Belt • Wolford
Necklace • Zoe Chicco

Look 13:
Corset & Bodysuit • Dolce & Gabbana
Hosiery • Wolford
Necklace • Zoe Chicco

Look 14:
Blouse • Miu Miu
Garter Skirt • The Family Jewels NYC
Necklace • Model’s Own

BIG BANG THEORY
Photography • Warwick Saint
Fashion • Lisa Mosko

LOOK 1
WHITE, BLACK, RED, AND BLUE EMBROIDERED TANK • OHNE TITEL
ELECTRIC BLUE SILK WRAP SKIRT • OHNE TITEL
RED PUMP • GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI

LOOK 2
PURPLE DRESS WITH KNOT AT SHOULDER • VIONNET

LOOK 3
BLACK CRINKLED SHORTS • PRADA
BLACK CROSSED TOP WITH WINGS IN BACK • PRADA
BABY BLUE, PINK, AND GREEN, LACE UP HEEL • CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

LOOK 4
LAYERED TULLE SHIRT WITH INSIDE POCKET • OSKLEN

LOOK 5
RED AND BLACK SILK ORGANZA PARACHUTE PANT • MATTHEW AMES
BLACK JERSEY BODYSUIT • MATTHEW AMES
RED TWO ANKLE STRAP HEEL • STELLA MCCARTNEY

LOOK 6
WHITE HAND SEWN DRESS • THREE AS FOUR
GREY LEATHER ANKLE CUFF WEDGE • PREEN

LOOK 7
MIDNIGHT BLUE DRESS WITH PLEATED DETAIL AND CRYSTAL EMBELLISHMENT • 3.1 PHILLIP LIM
SNAKE SKIN CAGED OPEN TOE HEEL • GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI

LOOK 8
T SHIRT SLEEVE DRESS WITH SEQUINED BODY AND BELT • HUSSEIN CHALAYAN
RED PUMP • GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI

LOOK 9
LIME GREEN CAPE • SUSAN CIANCIOLO
LEMON BRIEF • AMERICAN APPAREL
BABY BLUE, PINK, AND GREEN LACE UP HEEL • CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

PHOTOGRAPHY • WARWICK SAINT / RAY BROWN
FASHION DIRECTION • LISA MOSKO
MAKEUP • ROBERT GREENE / SEE MANAGEMENT FOR MAC PRO
HAIR • MARCO SANTINI / ION STUDIO NYC
MODEL • MICHELLE BUSWELL / MARILYN
RETOUCHING • CATCHLIGHT DIGITAL
FASHION ASSOCIATE • XINA GIATAS
PHOTO ASSISTANTS • TAYLOR KANE SCHWARZKOPF, LAURA EGAN, ERIKA SAVIDGE
SPECIAL THANKS TO HUDSON STUDIOS

MELLOW GOLD
Photography • Clarence K
Fashion • Lisa Mosko
Jewelry • Osanna Visconti
Makeup • Asami Taguchi for MAC Pro / L’Atelier
Hair • Kenshin Asano for Leonor Greyl / L’Atelier
Model • Veranika / Supreme
Shot at Sandbox Studios
Retouching • Joshua Meckes
Fashion Assistants • Erica Sanchez, Seul-Ki Lee

……..

……..

Photos • Emma Jönsson Dysell / New Blood Agency
Fashion • Tekla Knaust / New Blood Agency
Hair • Martina Senke / Mikas
Make up • Sophie Eriksen / Agent Bauer
Model • Linnea / Mikas
……….

BEKAH
Photos • Greg Vaughan
Hair • Greg Bitterman / Jump Mgt.
Makeup • Jodie Boland / See Mgt.
Model • Bekah Jenkins / One Mgt.

Published in Gravure #4
Interview by Alex Freund
Portrait Illustration by Jenny Mortsell • Jed Root
Photography by Spencer Higgins • Jed Root

GRAVURE: You’re both Dutch and are based in Amsterdam. How do you feel being based outside the Paris-Milan-New York axis has affected your work?

V&R: It’s quiet! Being outside allows us a kind of freedom to step outside of fashion and concentrate on our work. It’s easier to see things from the outside.

GRAVURE: How does this affect how you approach your work?

V&R: We work upside down!

GRAVURE: How so? Your collections are always very conceptual, but how do you approach a fragrance project? Can a smell be conceptual?

V&R: We think so. We always start with a word. With our fragrances, we can’t smell it until we know the word, so the idea is very important.

…

GRAVURE: There’s such a strong history and a design sensibility unique to the Netherlands – how does that play into your work? Do you feel burdened by it? Liberated by it?

V&R: Well, the most important thing is be authentic and to have a point of view… to be original. However, being here does allow us to see things differently and it helps us adapt to different locations. In the end, what is most important is to be unique and to have original ideas. We travel a lot so it helps us to be based here.

GRAVURE: It shows in your work – for instance, you show in Paris and the Eau Mega advertising shows the New York skyline. Do you approach your projects with a specific location in mind?

V&R: We don’t have a specific location in mind but we do feel energized when we come to New York.

GRAVURE: Do you think the energy in New York has changed in recent years?

V&R: Yes! Very much. But some things are constant.

GRAVURE: Like what?

V&R: New York is about being aspirational and larger than life, which are two qualities that we admire in the American character.

GRAVURE: Raquel [Zimmerman] is definitely “larger than life” in that ad – in comic books, New York is always the city filled with super heroes.

V&R: [Laughs] Yes. It seems that way!
GRAVURE: Coming back to the subject of ideas, design, and originality, what is the most innovative thing you’ve seen in fashion lately?

V&R: We have been finding the internet and fashion websites increasingly interesting.

GRAVURE: How do you see the internet fitting into fashion?

V&R: The internet also takes away some of the mystery, which is sad. But on the other hand, it is a new reality and it has created a lot of opportunity. It’s definitely changing things a lot. You can be anywhere now.

GRAVURE: Your first fragrance was a bottle that didn’t open. It was all brand and made a statement about fashion branding. Has your point of view changed at all since you started?

V&R: Not really. It’s always a balance of form and content. We think design and branding can have meaning of its own – the bottle is its own content.

GRAVURE: Very meta! Do you think branding leads content or vice versa?

V&R: They’re both important. There has to be a balance.

…

GRAVURE: You’ve previously described your fragrance, Flowerbomb, as “romantic, but volatile” and “glamour, but with rage”. How do you describe Eau Mega?

V&R: Flowerbomb is a much stronger, more powerful scent, while Eau Mega is sweeter and more uplifting and more complex. People need complexity. Especially now…

GRAVURE: Given the state of the world, do you think people need something a bit uplifting?

V&R: Yes. Definitely. People need a bit of fantasy, always.

GRAVURE: Is the need more urgent now with all the “reality” people are facing right now – the economy, war, and so on?

V&R: Well, we always need to dream. We think it’s especially important with the current crisis. We think it comes through in our shows – there is a reality that we’re questioning.

We always have to question what we’re presented.

Published in Gravure #3 / FW09
Photos • Jenny Gage & Tom Betterton
Fashion • Lisa Mosko
Casting • Laine Rosenberg
Models • Patricia Schmid, Tiiu Kuik, Sydonie Herrera / Marilyn Model Mgt.
Creative Direction • Alex Freund / Gravure Projects

Special thanks • Michael Ross, Shawn Brydges

……….

1.
Cotton Panties • Wolford
Patent Leather Platform Pumps • Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche
Mesh Wrapped Gold Chain, Coins & Tassels Neclace • Subversive Jewelry

2.
Sheer Slip Skirt • Tom Scott
Global Ocular Necklace • Subversive Jewelry

3.
Felt Hat • Patricia Underwood

4.
T-Strap Leather Shoes • Fendi
Leather Ankle Boots • Cesare Paciotti for Ohne Titel

5.
Vintage Fishnet Stockings • Stylist’s Own

6.
Silk/Cotton Sleeveless Tuxedo • Jolibe
Lace Panties • Stella McCartney
Spiky Patent Leather Shoes • Christian Louboutin

7.
Vintage Silk Hermes Scarf • Stylist’s Own
Cotton Sofia Dress • Thakoon
Silk Chiffon Blouse • Vicente Villarin
Cashmere Pointelle Knit Briefs • Kiki de Montparnasse

8.
Silk Crepe de Cine Panty • Passionbait
Wool Coat & Leather Platform Pumps • Louis Vuitton

9.
Sheer Black Sweater (Worn Backwards) • Tom Scott
Black Thong • Wolford

10.
Vintage Wool Knit Stockings • Stylist’s Own
Leather Ankle Boot • Cesare Paciotti for Ohne Titel

11.
Lace Dress & Skirt • Prada

12.
Leather Ankle Boot • Cesare Paciotti for Ohne Titel

ACNE

AW10
Director • Andreas Larsson
Models • Emilia Nilsson / Stockholmsgruppen, Max A / Stockholmsgruppen, Zebylon / Marion Vain

Photos • Noam Griegst
Fashion • Tekla Knaust / New Blood Agency
Makeup • Nina Belkhir / Linkdetails
Makeup • Andre Cueto-Saavedera / Mikas
Model • Delphine Francois Keller / Elite Paris

……….

1.
Fur • Quentin Veron
Bodysuit • Noir Illuminati
Necklace • Louis Vuitton
Corset • La Perla

2.
Dress • Rick Owens
Panties and bra • Wolford
Scarf • H&M

3.
Fur • Quentin Veron
Panties • Wolford
Bra and Corset • La Perla

4.
Fur • Alexandre Vautier Couture
Bra • Wolford
Scarf • H&M

5.
Bodysuit • Alexandre Vautier
Scarf • H&M

6.
Fur • Alexandre Vautier Couture
Bra • Wolford
Skirt • Alexandre Vautier
Scarf • H&M

7.
Coat • Louis Vuitton
Shirt • Dior Hommes
Pants • Ida Sjostet
Necklace • Louis Vuitton
Scarf • H&M

8.
Dress • Rick Owens
Panties and bra • Wolford
Scarf • H&M
Shoes • Alexandre Vautier

9.
Fur • Quentin Veron
Bodysuit • Noir Illuminate
Necklace • Louis Vuitton

[simpleviewer id="22" width="860" height ="575"]
160pp + hand-printed mezzotint silkscreen hardcover
Produced in a limited edition of 250 copies
Featuring: Viktor & Rolf, Emma Jönsson Dysell, Honer Akrawi, Tiago Molinos, Timothy Nazarro, Clarence K, Alex Freund, Jenny Mörtsell, Spencer Higgins, Matthew Ames, Hanna Albrektsson.  Special Edition cover art by Deanne Cheuk.

KIKI

Director : Alex Freund
Starring : Kiki • NY Models
Hair : Lisa Raquel • See Mgt.
Makeup : Greg Vaughan • L’Atelier
Casting : Laine Rosenberg

MAK

Director : Alex Freund
Starring : Mak • IMG
Hair : Lisa Raquel • See Mgt.
Makeup : Greg Vaughan • L’Atelier
Casting : Laine Rosenberg

CONSUMED

A Dorian Orange production:
Written and Directed by Bradley Young
Starring: Lydia Hearst
Producer: Nathanial Ruhlman
Styling: Deborah Afshani @ Marek and Associates
Director of Photography: Travis Manning
Editor: Thomas Hoppe
Set Design: Peter Mayer
Music: “St. Louis Blues” performed by Luke Trumble
Design Director: Christian Palma
Color: Travis Manning
Casting: ML McCarthy and Suze Lee for Urban Productions Casting
Make-up: Regina Harris @ See Management
Hair: Mitch Barry for Bryan Bantry Inc.
Assistant director and set photography: Vera Mulyani
1st photography assistant: Micah Stathis
2nd photography assistant: Boanerges Centeno
Fashion Assistants: Brandon Maxwell and Anatolli Smith
Body Double: Nikki B. @ Race Models
PA’s: Matt Dickinson, Flavia Prado.
Equipment: The Space Inc, Handheld Films Inc.
Art: ‘globe 1’ from “The wall,” a video series by Bradley Young
Special thanks: Nadine Johnson, Michael Tavini, Christopher Marich and the team at The Standard, NY and Ryan Brown @ Factory PR.

……….

1.
Dress • Zac Posen
Earrings • RJ Graziano
Shoes • Moschino
Bracelet • New York Vintage
Fur • J. Mendel
Ring • Lia Sophia
Hosiery • Wolford

2.
Robe • Jean Yu
Lingerie • Jean Yu
Hosiery • Wolford
Shoes • Alberta Ferretti
Pearl necklace • RJ Graziano
Ring • Lia Sophia
3.
Dress • Black and white Jean Yu
Underwear • Passion Bait
Diamond Stud Earrings • Cartier
Ring • Lia Sophia

4.
Dress • Black beaded/embroidered Alberta Ferretti
Underwear • Passion Bait
Necklace • New York Vintage
Ring • New York Vintage
Earrings • RJ Graziano
Stockings • Falke
Headband • Jennifer Behr
Shoes • Alberta Ferretti for Lydia and Moschino for lookalike

LYOKA

Director : Alex Freund • Gravure Projects
Hair : Lisa-Raquel • See Management
Makeup : Greg Vaughan • L’Atelier
Model : Lyoka • One Model Management
Casting : Laine Rosenberg

Special Thanks : 3rd Ward Studios

THE PHOTOGRAPH

Writer and  Director : Bradley Young
Co-director : Alex Freund
Starring : Jessica Joffe c/o Craig Lawrence • Ford
Producer : Nathaniel Ruhlman
Fashion Direction & Styling: Lisa Mosko
Director of Photography : Travis Manning
Design Director : Christian Palma
Editor : Thomas Hoppe
VFX : James Gunderson
Casting : ML McCathy and Suze Lee for Urban Productions Casting
Hair and Make up : Regina Harris
Music : “Skyscraper” by Julian Plenti*
Fashion Assistant : Emma Fernberger

Special Thanks to Selete Valazquez and Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises
Photograph courtesy of Jessica Joffe

* Available on the album Julian Plenti is…Skyscraper
Licensed Courtesy of Matador Records

……….

Fashion : Miu Miu

BUREAU OF THAUMATOLOGY

Director : Steve Cohen
Fashion Direction & Styling: Lisa Mosko
Art Direction, Stop Motion Animation & Prop Styling : Lisa Gwilliam
Editor : Wilson Van Law / Post Office Media
Music : Dagomba Music, courtesy of Mandara Music
Fashion Assistant : Emma Fernberger

……….

Accessories :

Blackbird “Aviary” headband • Leah C.
Brown leather studded shoe • Prada
“Moliere” book necklace •  Brian Crumley for VPL
Embroidered necklace • Marni
Tortoise sunglasses • Marc Jacobs
Crystal, Bead & Twine necklace • Subversive
Feather Clutch • Raven Kauffman
Black and nude lace glove • 3.1 Phillip Lim

Photos: Tiago Molinos
Fashion • Lisa Mosko
Hair • Staci Child at Cutler for Factory Downtown
Make up • Yuko Mizuno using Make Up For Ever at Rona Represents
Model • Andressa Fontana at Supreme
Fashion Assistant • Emma Fernberger
Retouching • Leo Vas

……….

1. Black silk tunic, black embroidered metal skirt, spike and chain silver brooch worn as necklace • Ohne Titel. Black leather thigh-high boots with chain and horn detail • Cesare Paciotti for Ohne Titel
2. Grey wool and black nylon knotted dress and necklace • Lauren Kovin. Black leather ankle boots with silver balls at ankles • Marc Jacobs. Black leggings • stylist’s own
3. Black wool boucle plaid harem pants • Matohu, Mirrored and wool ball necklace • VPL. Black turtleneck top • Shelly Steffee. Black leather ankle boots with silver balls at ankles • Marc Jacobs.
4. Black wool micro herringbone jumpsuit • Zero + Maria Cornejo.
5. Black strapless dress • Acne. Cardboard, metal, chain, and glass necklace • VPL.
6. Burnished silver bubble textured cocoon coat • Kai Kühne. Black leather thigh-high boots • Marc Jacobs. Black silk tunic worn under coat • Ohne Titel. Black leggings • stylist’s own.
7. Black skirt suit with attached belt at waist • Dolce & Gabbana. Black leather ankle boots with silver balls at ankles • Marc Jacobs. Leggings • stylist’s own.
8. Pistachio microfiber turtleneck dress and black Swarovski fused felt dress • Julian Louie. Aubergine snake skin and black suede open toes platform stilettos • Nicholas Kirkwood.
9. Violet silk satin bolero and strapless minidress • Paule Ka. Black leggings • stylist’s own.
10. Mustard yellow velvet bandage minidress with metal beading at seams • Marc Jacaobs.
11. Short black wool jumper with attached blazer • Shelly Steffee. Black leather ankle boots with silver balls at ankles • Marc Jacobs. Leggings • stylist’s own.
12. Grey silk jacquard geometric print gown, red and yellow silk jacquard geometric print jacket • Jonathan Saunders. Black leather ankle boots with silver balls at ankles • Marc Jacobs

DÖPPELGANGER

Photography : Alex Freund / Gravure Projects
Styling : Tekla Knaust / NewBloodAgency
Hair : Luke Baker / See Management
Makeup : Stevie / The Wall Group
Models : Darla Baker @ Elite, Zuzanna @ Supreme
Shot at 3rd Ward Studios

……….

1. Shoes • A.F Vandervorst
2. Leather Jacket • Acne, Shoes • Akiko Ogawa
3. Darla: Trousers • A.F. Vandervorst, Shoes • A.F. Vandervorst. Necklace • Vintage Chanel / Suzanna: Trousers • A.F. Vandervorst Shoes • A.F. Vandervorst Cuffs • Iosselliani
4. Dress and Tights • Three ASFOUR, Shoes • Rick Owens
5. Bodysuit worn as dress • Wolford, Shoes • Acne
6. Suzanna: Feather coat • Betsey Johnson Archive, Earrings • Iosselliani / Darla:Top • Charlotte Rohnson, Gold fake nails • Anna-Sara Davik
7. Necklace • Tomoko Igarashi
8. Top • Kai Kühne, Leather pants • stylists own
9. Stockings • Wolford
10. Darla: Velvet Top • Anna-Sara Davikm Shorts • American Appapparel, Shoes • A.F. Vandervorst / Suzanna: Jacket • Kai Kuhne, Pants • American Apparel Shoes • Acne
11. Coat • Kai Kuhne, Boots • A.F. Vandervorst, Sunglasses • Linda Farrow
12. Dress • Anna-Sara Davik
13. Feather Coat • Betsey johnson Archive, Boots • A.F. Vandervorst
14. Suzanna: Boots • Acne / Darla: Boots • A.F. Vandervorst

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME

Photography : Emma Jonsson Dysell / New Blood Agency
Fashion : Tekla Knaust / New Blood Agency
Makeup  : Ignacio Alonso / Agent Bauer
Hair  : Ali Perzadeh / Linkdetails
Model : Emilia N / Stockholmsgruppen

……….

1. Jacket • Acne, Body • Azzedine Alaia, Wedges • Acne
2. Top • Jonna Sjogren, Bodysuit • Azzedine Alaia.
3. Jacket and trousers • Anna Sara Davik, Shirt • Ann Sofie Back, Broach • Konsthantverkarna
4. Bodysuit • Azzedine  Alaia, Top • Anna Sara Davik, Wedges • Acne, Cuffs • stylist‘s own
5.  Leather jacket • Jonna Sjogren, Earring • Jil Sander
6. Leather jacket Jonna Sjogren, earing Jil Sander
7. All Clothing • Acne
8. Dress • Jonna Sjogren, Wedges • Acne
9. Shirt • Dior Homme, Trousers • Acne, Accessories • Anna Sara Davik
10. Coat • Anna Sara Davik, Pants • Acne, Shoes • Jil Sander
11.Coat • Balenciaga, Trousers • Acne, Shirt • Dior Homme, Shoes • stylists own

VIKTOR & ROLF • FLOWERBOMB

Interview by Rachel K. Ward     

Portraits by Todd Cole • AFG Management     Collection Images by Tiago Molinos

Rachel K. Ward: You are based in Pasadena.  The Huntington Estate is such an amazing place.  Is there anything specific about California that has influenced your vision?

Kate Mulleavy: I grew up in Northern California so I think, on the whole, California in general had a huge influence on our perspectives on design.  We grew up in a small town right next to Santa Cruz.  We tell people this a lot, that Santa Cruz is where the movie The Lost Boys was based and filmed.  It is a really great, amazing place filled with so many different characters, like street punks, psychedelic skaters, surfers and yuppies, anything you can think of.  It is a really weird, interesting place, in terms of politics and the extremely beautiful environment.  It is Steinbeck country in a way, like Monterey, Carmel, Capitola and Santa Cruz. My father was a botanist so we grew up with these really amazing redwood forests and incredible greenhouses and always at the beach.  A lot of our early memories are of spending time at tide pools.  Northern California landscape is staggering.  It is probably one of the most beautiful places in the United States. It’s incredible.  Our grandparents and parents were raised in Los Angeles so we always spent a lot of time in L.A. and in Pasadena. After we finished school our parents had moved and so we moved to Pasadena.  That had a huge influence on us as well.  Pasadena is an interesting place because it is one of the older suburbs of L.A. It was originally built as a tourist destination for people coming from the east coast so there are all these older hotels and it is an older community in terms of houses, a place where every house is different.  For L.A. if something survives a hundred years it is a pretty big deal.  In Pasadena, the Huntington Gardens is one of my favorite places in the world.  Laura and I were always really obsessed with “pink perfection,” one of the oldest Camellia trees in California.  The Huntington estate was built on that property because of that tree.  It’s really amazing to see the left over railroad systems that were used to have all the art brought in on trains that led up to the house.  Something that is also interesting to me is the mythology of the west and how it spilled over.  I think of people like Van Dyke Parks, Terry Melcher, and John Lennon and their time in Los Angeles.  There are all these amazing layers to it, so I feel like it definitely had a huge influence on us.

RKW: What are your feelings about New York?

KM: I love New York city. I think Laura and I had an idea of the east coast that was shaped by E.B. White or J.D. Salinger. I would think about the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is hard for me to describe, but I felt like it was some type of contained world, almost like Charles Shultz’ Peanuts. As kids, we never went.  We only visited for the first time because of work.  So it was interesting that the first time I went to New York City was to go show a small collection that we had done.   For me, New York was like having seen a city in a snow globe.  I just had this magical view of it shaped by films and books and the amazing thing about New York City is that it really lives it up to it.  The more I spend time travelling there the more it seems like one of the greatest places, so that is what I think is magical about that city.

RKW: Beyond east or west coast, in terms of the world at large, do you think your work has an American identity to it?

KM: In a lot of ways it does.  The fact that Laura and I started something out of a gut feeling that we felt we were meant to do something.  We kind of jumped into it in a lot ways.  We didn’t have formal training. I think that that is kind of indicative of an American.  Some of the interesting things about America is a naïve quality and then at the same time a more fierce determination.  So I feel like that is reflective of that but also in terms of our sensibility, personally.  I feel like there is a sensibility to our clothes that was shaped so much by where we grew up and the experiences we had. I think we never really polarized the difference between New York or L.A. in our minds; we always wanted to show in New York because was always associated it with the tradition of American fashion.  But in terms of considering ourselves New York, or L.A. , it was never really a question. It was almost like a combination of the two, which is American. 

RKW: So how do you see the positioning of your work among designers?

KM: I think that what we like to do is try to create from a place that is very personal.  Every season we try to discover and push our vision and voice a little bit further. I don’t think we were ever married to the idea that in a few years we would understand what our vision is because I think as a designer you spend your whole life figuring that out and working that out and pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone in terms of those things. I really feel like there is a creative drive.  We have always believed that no matter where you are from, as a designer you are creating your own world.  Laura and I are very tied to this idea of creating clothes that we felt like were very thought out and meticulous and also reflective of what our inspiration and interests are, but I wouldn’t tie it to one philosophy or the other.  There are some American designers and some European designers that I feel a parallel and importance and dialogue with in both aesthetics and approaches.

RKW: Since you are sisters working together, I’m wondering, when you were children, if you had a lot of fantasy play, if you started early in your collaborations?

KM: We were always really connected in a weird way.  My mom always tells this story that she gave us each a journal.  I was six and Laura was five at the time.  I sketched out all these crazy outfits throughout the entire journal.  My mom thought this was kind of weird.  Then Laura went in the house and made maps where everything was, like “the sugar is here,” or where we kept the spoons.  Later in life I realized it was so tied to our personalities.  I can’t see creating without Laura and I think Laura feels the same way.  So in a weird way we are always together in some sense.  I can remember small things like on Laura’s birthday I decided to direct a play.  We were 8. We made all of our friends practice and we designed dresses and costumes and it was this huge thing. I felt like we were always trying to make something together.  I remember building a lot of forts with Laura.  That’s what we did together. We had adventures and lived in our imaginations.

RKW: When did you start actually creating clothes together?

KM: Not really seriously until after college.  We had grown up being able to sell our clothes and things like that.  I knew I wanted to be a fashion designer when I was really young and Laura did too but we also had a lot of other interests and so because of that we weren’t sure. When we were in school I was an Art History major and Laura was an English major and her interest was the Irish modern novel and she was taking art history classes too, plus she was going to do stuff in science.  We just had so many different interests and I think it took us awhile through the experience of being undergraduates in school to really say, toward the tail end of that, that we were certain of what we wanted to do.  We knew we wanted to make clothes and I think at that point we just decided to move back home to do it.  The truth was we thought about going to school at that point and we thought we don’t really want to wait because we thought “now we are sure of what we want to do.” We had taken some costume design classes with the theater department at Berkeley but we had kind of dropped out of that.  I think at that point we realized we wanted to do something where we had complete creative control.  We didn’t want to change the color of our taffeta dress because of lighting director.  We did do some stuff in college but we made that decision at the very end.

RKW: How do you feel about working with other people like an artist or sponsor?

KM: I think the thing that you realize is that in some ways collaborating with different people like the artist…with artistic collaborations when design is important and interesting it helps you grow as a designer because when you’re working with someone else who has an expertise it pushes you in terms of gaining more knowledge and taking your idea to a different place.  But I also think that as collections have become more varied and broad and I think you also become someone in charge of every detail and in that sense you have numerous collaborations to make this thing possible so I think it is part of the everyday working experience in a way.

RKW: In another interview you mentioned that one of my favorite films Metropolitan (1990) was an inspiration for you. What about that film, or other things, inspire you?

KM: This last collection was inspired by the idea of site specific and earth art, someone like Robert Smithson. Laura and I really thought of the aerial view looking at the Spiral Jetty (1970);  it looks like a fossil.  This is the idea of ruins, a futurism that instead of it being about a robot, is the future where what is left are these kind of fossils or skeletal forms. We explored a lot of science fiction like The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) or even something like Donnie Darko (2001), which was a huge inspiration on the collection, so there were varied films that came into play in relationship to this idea of earth art.  In my mind the connection was this incredible movement with earth artists not that long after the first Apollo missions which was the first moment that anyone saw the earth outside of itself which was a huge intellectual shift for an entire world. There was an immediate link in my mind about space travel and at the same time artists like Robert Smithson. So we tied in films like THX (1971), and different science fiction films that were interesting to us and the collection was based on these skeletal forms.  Then the season before it was based on Japanese horror films.  Usually film and art are huge visual references for what we are doing.  I think a lot of the actual ideas for the pieces come out of our own minds.  I can’t really say why we built a dress the way we did, it really is just something we have in our head and we sketch it.  In terms of making a garment, the ideas usually just come from an internal place but the way we tie together the story behind color, which is something we did all hand dying for in the last collection, those kinds of things are guided by the story we are trying to tell.  In terms of the film Metropolitan, that is a good example of trying to create your own world.  I like the kind of claustrophobia of it and the interior world, that is what is interesting with it.  I guess a film like that has a lot of influence for us for the fact we really love it so we will probably do a collection that has really big poofy 80’s dresses and striped teddy bears.

RKW:  Imagine we are looking at a history book about 21st Century fashion, how do you think Rodarte is going to be described?

KM: I think the thing that we would hope that people would describe about what we are doing is that it felt like it somehow belonged to us, in a sense that there was something that was unique enough about it that it looked like our vision that was a specific voice and that we had a place among the designers that have done something that is recognizable to the designer. But to me the thing that we seem to be drawn to doing is a balance between something that is very fragile and delicate but also beautiful but also slightly strange.  I feel like that tight rope act, between doing something that has such delicate beauty but that is also slightly off kilter or weird, is the balance that I hope people associate with our work.

RKW: Where in the world would you like to take your clothes that they are not yet available?

KM: We are small enough there are a lot places that would be very cool.  We don’t sell in Mexico City yet. That would be really fun for us. Laura and I are part Mexican so it would be cool to have our clothes in Mexico.  That is one place that comes to mind. If we could go back in time, that would be cool and take our clothes by time travel.  Maybe we can get a shop on the moon which I know is really evil, but there are just so many different places. But the first answer is Mexico City.

. . . . .

Director : Alex Freund • Fashion : Avena Gallagher

Hair : Luke Baker • Makeup : Yuko Mizuno

Model : Lais / Supreme

All clothing Kai Kühne SS/09

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Appeared in Gravure Issue #3

Photography : Alex Freund • Fashion : Leslie Lessin/Brydges Mackinney

Hair & Makeup : Erica Moneiro/1500 Brasil

Model : Daiane/Supreme

All clothing by VPL

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IN THE FLESH
Director/Director of Photography : Gösta Reiland / Sandberg & Timonen
Producer : Magdalena Larsson / RenckAckerlundFilms • Stylist : Ellen Af Geijerstam
Editor : Henrik Hansson
Music : Yourhighness / Rollerboys Recordings

All clothing Nakkna SS/09

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Appeared in Gravure Issue #3

Photography : Kent Baker/Brydges Mackinney • Fashion Direction : Lisa Mosko

Hair : Pasquale Ferrante/ION Studio

Models : Matthew/Wilhelmina, Camille/NY Models

Fashion Assistant : Kay Mattutat

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Appeared in Gravure Issue #2

Photography : Robin Broadbent • Produced By Michael Reynolds

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Appeared in Gravure Issue #1

Photography : Ellen von Unwerth/Art & Commerce • Fashion : Leith Clark/Balcony Jump Mgt.

Hair : Lyndel Mansfield/CLM • Makeup : Charlie Green/Bryan Bantry

Models : Karen Elson, Zooey Deschanel, Sara Sophie Flicker, Vanessa Traina, Victoria Traina, Lynn Yaeger, Catherine Holstein, Leith Clark, Erin Fetherston

All clothing by Erin Fetherson

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A Susan Cianciolo Film

Director : Alisa Lipsitt

Starring : Frankie Rayder & Sunny

Director of Photography : Sara Ivicevich

Music : No Age

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Director : Alex Freund • Fashion • John Tan

Grooming : Joey Maalouf / Joe Mgt

Model : Joe Edney at Ford Models, Jumprope Champion and member of the Bouncing Bulldogs.

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