WHERE ARE THEY AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING? Interviews with former finalists of the past editions of ITS
June 16, 2005
Three editions completed and the fourth one behind the corner. 81 young fashion designers have come out of ITS# in these 4 years: 31 finalists at ITS#ONE, 27 at ITS#TWO, 23 at ITS#THREE. Counting ITS#FOUR, through the years we have selected more than a hundred young creative talents, and more are yet to come. Now the question is: what happened to them afterwards? I mean, our main purpose is to support them and help them go on pursuing their goals, right? We search for work experiences, put them in contact with the fashion houses, invite talent scouts at the event…what results has all of this work brought?
To discover it, we chose the most direct (and obvious by the way) method: sit down with a phone on one side and a list of phone numbers of ex-finalists on the other. In the middle, pen and paper. Not all of them answered on the phone, and some answered only to tell me they were at work at the moment and if I could send them an e-mail with the questions. So what you are about to read is a series of interviews with a number of them (I couldn’t write a 50 page article, so I just picked and chose random) done both with a classical phone call and with the more up-to-date internet, asking the same questions to all to have a general overview:
- How’s things going? Is it a good period?
- What are you into? What are you doing at present?
- What do you wish for your future?
Erik Jan Frenken (ITS#ONE) is my first call. But he was at work, couldn’t speak a lot, so we passed on to e-mails. He tells me that things are going actually very good at the moment. He really sees this as a necessary period for him. After his MA graduation at Central St.Martins in 2004 he had wanted to start his own label directly, but many people advised him the same thing: get work experience before! So at the moment he is working for Victor&Rolf, a job he is very happy about. He works with a fantastic group, it is tough, but he’s really learning a lot, creative wise and business wise. In his future there’s still Victor&Rolf, at least for a while. He would like to have a work experience also at Lanvin (he loves Alber Abaz’s clothes), and then, sooner or later, work on his own label. He’s taking the steps one at a time and following advices. Gaining experience will only be helpful afterwards when he wants to start his label!
Things are very fine also with Peter Pilotto (ITS#THREE). His a/w 05-06 collection and video-installation that accompanies it is exposed at the Centro Cultural Andratx in Mallorca (www.ccandratx.com) until July 24. He is also very busy in developing his new s/s 06 collection and planning the installation that will go with it to present its atmosphere, so it is actually a period full of work for him. Peter hopes that in his future he will be always able to make his ideas come true as he is doing now. At present his work is what is important for him, together with someone in his personal life he rightly keeps for himself…
Via e-mail, Joline Jolink (ITS#TWO) writes me about how things have been not so easy lately in her personal life. She had to leave work aside to focus on more important matters for a while. Luckily though, timing was great, and while others were presenting her abroad she had time off to concentrate on herself. Now she is waiting for an answer from Diane Von Furstenberg Studio in New York. They’ve had her file for months now, and since she is now back and eager to work, she is calling every day to have news. She tells me she’s just come back from Paris where she stayed for two weeks, taking part in the range of exhibitions of Dutch Touch (a selection of the best fashion talents from Holland showing in Paris until July 18), visiting head hunters and arranging a photo shoot with her latest collection. For the future at the moment she really wishes to be in New York this summer, to learn and work at a fashion house. Absorb the atmosphere there, be on her own and discover.
It is still the internet that puts me in connection with Takashi Sugioka (ITS#THREE). When I think about him, I see him playing with plastic self-made breasts at ITS#THREE…truly amazing. Takashi’s smile is contagious: when he laughs, you do also. This is a good period for Takashi, he is doing fine. He has just come back from Italy where he had an interesting meeting with a fashion company. They had first met in London, then Takashi flew to Prato in Italy where they talked about working together. He will be supported by them for the production of a collection. Still many things have to be discussed and cleared, but if things go as they should, Takashi will be working for them. When we start talking about his future, about what he would like to be and have, his ideas are quite clear: he would love to be a millionaire with a big villa in Malaga, Spain, and live there with his wife and lovely cat. Finally someone that shares my objectives! Guess me and Takashi are the only ones with serious projects for our future…
Fabrizio Talia (ITS#ONE, ITS#TWO), the only one who has been a finalist in two editions of ITS#, wrote me about how he has recently moved to Milan, where he’s not so upset as he would have thought at the beginning. The reason why he moved there is his new job at Moschino Couture. For the first time he is working on an entire collection (which is generally around 60-70 pieces), and he is very happy about it because he is learning a lot and learning fast. He’s also having gratifications from all the CVs he sent around: many of those to which he sent them have answered, but he’s very happy about how the Moschino family have welcomed him in their group that he’s not interested in accepting any other offer at the moment. He likes the human relations there and the creative atmosphere. The important thing for him is to never forget poetry and culture in his work, things he has always tried to defend. About his future, he doesn’t believe a lot in previsions or in talking about it. All he knows is that he loves his profession as he would an ideal partner. It’s his life, and he does all his best to make it perfect.
For Sophia Bentoh (ITS#ONE) things are going very well at the moment. In her e-mail she tells me that in the last three years she has worked on some design projects, mainly in sportswear, for different clients and organisations. Two years ago she started working also on fashion styling, and since February 2005 things in this field are going well for her: nowadays she works as a freelance fashion stylist for several Dutch magazines. So at present she’s doing styling jobs for magazines such as Marie Claire, Starstyle and Viva. It’s good for her to build up different styles with different magazines, because she likes variety. Also, in this way she can show her work to a wide audience, in different target groups. Even though she’s very satisfied at the moment, Sophia would like to work for more magazines, but also on projects together with designers, photographers, commercial agencies and television. Her future? Sophia believes it lies in foreign countries, not in Holland. She would like to move in a few years to Paris, London or New York, and she knows that patience, trust, creativity, positivity and hard working will be necessary to achieve this goal.
After these e-mail contacts, it is a pleasure to finally find someone on the phone and have a chat! Kiho Kim (ITS#THREE), who didn’t speak very good Italian when I first met him last year, is now actually quite fluent! It’s a very good period for Kiho. How could it not be? He’s in Sardinia, working for Antonio Marras, a designer he loves and admires. He’s living a wonderful experience there and learning a lot. In the future, as most (almost all) of those I interviewed, he would like to design his own line of garments. At the moment he’s focusing on three things: work, love and art. Kiho has discovered a passion for painting: when he’s over with work, he goes back home and paints something out of his instinct, without bothering a lot if it looks good or bad, just trying to express his feelings and his mind. He tells me that Sardinia is a great place to stop and think. The sea, the wind and the nature are truly inspiring. So in these days Kiho is painting his thoughts. In Sardinia. By the sea. Working for Antonio Marras. I think I hate him….
I never had the pleasure to physically meet Einav Zucker (ITS#ONE). I mean, I physically saw her at ITS#THREE, but nobody physically presented her to me…I don’t even know her voice, and I had hoped to fill this gap at least with this interview…but I’ll have to wait for the next chance. In her e-mail, she writes me that after her work experience with Diesel, ended about 6 months ago, she has been working on her personal label, a s/s ‘06 collection that is in production and should now be finished. She is obviously very excited about it, as she will be presenting it in New York in September and in Los Angeles in October. There’s also another project on which Einav is working, a very very interesting one…but I don’t think we’re still allowed to talk about it…so you all will have to wait and see (keep checking the IN FOCUS section…).
I met Cathy Pill (ITS#THREE) last year and I talked to her. So she knows me (she should at least…) and I know her and her voice, which I haven’t heard ever since. She writes me that things are going great at present: she has just discovered she has won the scholarship from Yves Saint Laurent as well as from the Pierre Berger and Yves Saint Laurent Foundation. She is very happy, because this means she will be presenting her first ready-to-wear collection in Paris. It will be a womenswear collection, modern, maybe avant-garde, with lots of prints, many dresses and sort of t-shirts. For her future, she hopes it to be as her present, and always with the important people who are close to her and who she loves very much, like her parents, her sister and her boyfriend. We will always help you get closer to your dreams, Cathy.
I now know how you write Yoshikazu Yamagata (ITS#THREE) in Japanese: it’s in his e-mail address. His name is represented by 4 (or is it 5?) ideograms. I love the second one: it looks like a chair with a pile of books on it, and gives me the idea of someone who reads a lot and has no space for his books. It is a very busy period for Yoshi at the moment. During May he’s been working hard on his graduate Collection for Central St. Martins, and he’s also been asked by Kokontozai to make a shop window display in Paris and London with pieces from his ITS#THREE Collection (he had already used them in his exhibition "A Long Story?" in March this year, set in an apartment in Paris). He’s proud of the work he is doing, even though he is a bit too busy! For the future he would like to go on presenting new ways and new possibilities in fashion design. He also would like to show his Collection during Paris Fashion Week one day. I bet on his success!
With Christian Boaro (ITS#THREE) I really feel at ease, partly thanks to him and partly due to common north-east Italy origins that bring us even closer. When I called him on the phone he was working, so we passed to e-mails. He’s at Dolce & Gabbana in Milan at present, working as a designer for the Womenswear Collection in a team of 7. Together with one of his colleagues, he works on putting in practice the ideas to see if they can be produced. We could say that he checks that the creativity coming out from Dolce and Gabbana can be materially brought to life. He’s happy for the many things he’s learning there, since he works in direct contact with the designers that are teaching him a lot. He would like to go on working and learning there, until he can try his own line. I understand why everyone wants to have their own label: they want to express their own fashion, not someone else’s. I guess it’s as simple as that.
When I talked to him on the phone, I could hear it in his voice: Slobodan Mihajlovic’s (ITS#TWO) personal life is going great. He’s in Florence and in love. Does anything else make any sense? I don’t think so. Journalists have to write down as much info as they can though, so I’ll tell you that he’s working for Mina Poe Haute Couture, where he is responsible for the knitwear. In the meantime he’s also doing some styling for magazines and videos. For the future, he would like to do some more experience with other fashion labels before trying his own way. Anyway, he’s already got the thing that counts the most, and I’m really happy for him.
On the phone, Veronica Wunderlin Neuman’s (ITS#TWO) voice is very relaxed. She is thinking about her future in this period: she has been accepted at Central St. Martins MA course in textile, and she’s starting in October, so obviously she’s thinking about how this is going to change things in her life. Meanwhile, she is at home in Colombia working with her mother on a line of clothes for kids that is sold also in the US. Even though her country might be out of the so-called "Fashion World", thus without the exposure and visibility of fashion centers like Milan, Paris or New York, Veronica is the clear example that fashion has to search creativity in the whole world, because those so-called centers are more like huge magnets for fashion designers: visibility is certainly there, but creativity is everywhere. And for Veronica, creating is the most important thing. And for us the most important persons are those like her, who are everywhere.
I had a pleasant chat also with Monique Van Heist (ITS#TWO), who is in a quite good period. She is one of those who succeeded in starting her own line. The first presentation of her Collection in January this year during Amsterdam Fashion Week went well, and now she is working hard on her next collection, a s/s 2006 that will be presented in July. Her objective for the future is to establish her label and get bigger. She works very hard for this, always keeping in mind though that work is not everything: to her both private life and work are equally important.
Similar ideas shares Gitte Amalie Hempel (ITS#ONE), blonde fashion designer with an established label, d’AHrling, started in April 2004 and now at its 6th collection, which will be presented during IFF Fashion Fair in Tokyo, Japan, from 20 to 22 July 2005 (I guess she won’t be able to come at ITS#FOUR…). I like Amalie’s positive attitude, how she laughs about life…we had a very pleasant talk! She hopes to strengthen her label more and more in the future, and just like Monique, important for her in life is both her profession and her private life. It’s a combination.
Ajit Kumar (ITS#ONE) and Arunabh Sharma (ITS#TWO) are the two ex-finalists I know better, since we had the chance to spend some time together when we were in Presenting Tour in India. I’ve had such a wonderful time with these guyI didn’t hear them on the phone, but reading their mails was a bit like talking to them. It’s definitely a good period for Ajit, and I like the metaphor he uses: it’s like being on a bumpy road, where you have a slight idea of where to go but at the same time you enjoy the bumps. He works with a buying agency and is trying to grow business there, looking for new buyers who want to get their production done in India. At the same time, he’s also making his mind to start something of his own, since he likes challenges and new, exciting work. He wishes one thing for the future: to keep the kind of energy he has today towards everything, whether it’s his work or his reaction to things. He wants to keep that energy for his whole life, and never let it die. And to keep this energy his friends, his family, his surroundings, are all important, because they make him believe that he can do lots of worthy things. He would like to travel also, but he wants to work in India, because he believes that there are lots of opportunities there.
Arunabh is of the same opinion of Ajit concerning the Indian Fashion Situation. There are no particular problems he faces being a fashion designer in India. He just believes that India lacks the exposure that Europe for example has in terms of fashion. With their colors, their textiles, their techniques, he believes that one day India will be a leader in fashion. Arunabh’s life is rushing at the speed of light at present. He’s been at the head of a Design Team of 7 designers for the label Kavita Bhartia, the in- house label from the house of Ogaan, New Delhi. Now, and this is quite exclusive news, he’s moving to Duabi to join a retail giant there as their designer. With his life running so fast, the important thing for him at the moment is to not loose his focus. Ideally, he would love to go back to his small town in North East India and live there, surroounded by hills, rain forests rivers…as he talks abuot it, I can feel he misses his home. Time is his "enemy". But this doesn’t stops him, it just slows him down sometimes!
As you can see from these interviews I made, most of the young creative fashion designers who have been finalists of ITS# are now working, be it for a fashion house or on their own projects. They are still there, all trying to find their space and the possibility of giving form and shape to their idea of fashion. A few of them have already succeeded, but the road is hard. As we endlessly repeat, fashion today is really tough. It’s not only a question of talent, you need experience (that’s why we work so much to find work experiences), you need to be focused on your goal and never give up, you need visibility, and you need also a bit of luck: being in the right place at the right time. Anyway, it doesn’t matter if you’re doing big projects or small ones. What is important is to never forget why you decided to walk this road: the passion and the love for what is beauty. And beauty can have infinite expressions according to what you, as an individual, consider beautiful.
We have also lost traces of some of the ex-finalists. We don’t know for example where Carole Lambert, Claudette Zorea or Hamid Ed Dakhissi, all former ITS#TWO finalists, are. And this is just to mention a few: they are not the only ones whom we know nothing of. I like to imagine they have totally left aside fashion for new exciting projects through which they go on expressing their creativity. Some of them maybe hate fashion now! I wouldn’t blame them, it’s such a difficult world…I just hope that all of them remember their experience at ITS# with a smile, just like good memories do when they come to your mind. Anyway, it’s great to see that things have not finished after ITS# for most of them. Their happiness is also our own.
