ITS#3 plus 1 equals 4
July 25, 2005
| Last year, at ITS#THREE, Demna Gvasalia, facing the sea from behind his table in the hall of the Hotel Riviera, presented his portfolio. The pass around his neck said "competitor", and a place card in front of him specified his name and country: Georgia. Just like the song by Ray Charles...And that year Georgia was in the mind of everybody: his sock-shoes, his dungarees crossed braces, his three piece costumes in one single piece, his oversized, straight jackets weared tight, crossed on the chest, his cotton rompers visible through the cuts on the trousers. The Jury loved everything and gave him the 1st prize. But there, behind his table at the Riviera, he still knew nothing and would explain his collection very humbly saying it started from "classical elements and their reinterpretations". There, facing the sea, who knows if he dreamed about ITS#FOUR? Would he have come back with a "guest" pass? Or would he have come back with a "Jury" one? One year later, in the MINILimousine, we interviewed him as we ritually did with all of the members of the Jury. He talked to us about his experience as a finalist, about his fashion and expressed his dreams... |
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What was your idea of the fashion industry before you came to ITS ? I think that both fashion industry and Trieste's festival are about communication. I think it is very important. You have different kinds of communication. Here, during the contest, it's about meeting people that come from all around the world to share this experience. Was it something you were missing at school ? Yes because at school we work with the same people, we share only with small groups, we don't go further and I think ITS gave me a chance to show my work and see the work of other people. Being an International Contest, there are so many people from so many different countries, I think it's the most amazing thing about the festival. Between Tbilissi, Antwerpen and Trieste where is your fashion home ? My fashion home is? [laugh] ? I think it's in my appartment. It's where I live. It does not matter if it's Antwerpen, if it's Trieste. It's where you live. |
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Apart from the money what did ITS#3 give you for making this new collection ? I think it gave me more confidence in my work. And I realized what I wanted to do, what I really liked, and that the direction I had taken in menswear was appreciated. People liked it, and the confidence was very important because it gave me another motivation for this year's collection. I felt more sure about what I wanted to do. Before it was more like an experiment for me: something I wanted to do but was not sure about what people would have thought. Would they find it boring, or too close to the existing fashion? But with ITS, I realized that it was the right direction for me to take. Not so much because I won, but because I participated: there were so many people, before the award teeling me « I like your collection », press, organizers, other competitors? For this year you worked on the same direction ? Basically the direction is the same because I worked again in menswear and I did again basic of classical men clothes reinterpreted. But for me last year was more of an exercise with patterns and technics, while this year it was more about the image of the man. The collection is called "No title : part one" because I had very big problems with finding a name: I really don't like the big names, the sentences? So first, I thought just to take "no title"but then I realized I will have another collection probably with the same inspiration so it had to be "part one". To leave the door open. How do you feel about being in the jury ? Very exciting, because it is something so new. I don't know what it's like so it's something to discover. It's quite a responsability, especially because I'm still a student having the chance to see the work of other people. But I think also that as a student I can understand quite well what the young people are showing and what they want to do. It's easy to communicate. I expect it to be an exciting experience as last year but from the jury's point of view. I know there is a lot of stress when presenting your collection in front of the jury. Maybe the negative part is this. But this year I don't think I have to stress anymore. |
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How important is it to be creative in the fashion industry as it is ? How can we find the right balance between creativity and business ? I think the creativity should be very very isolated from the economic or the commercial part. When they interfere with one another they both go down. We should keep as much as possible the distance between the two. But of course when you start working you need to sell your collection and you have to think about marketing or what ever wich I think is the difficult part of it. And that's why I very much enjoy being at school this year because it is probably the last chance to do just what I want, do it without thinking that I need to sell it. In this fashion business, it is not possible anymore. You have to adapt yourself to the market. What will you do next ? I hope to start working. I think it is quite the time?. I'm going to do a work experience in October. I definitely don't want to work on my own because I think it is very good to have this experience first before working with the people. Actually of course there are some fashion designers whom I like very much and I would love to work with them but the situation is so difficult? Probably there's no such a big choice. Sometime you have to find a compromise. I don't want to work in a big fashion house, with big names? I really want to try to work with some new designers that are starting because there is always a smaller group of people working and you can contribute much more than when you have 30 designers working on one collection. by Jerome Hanover |
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