ITS
ITS their way to support you, young talented people.
July 08, 2004
The apple is full of worms. Nobody knows how they got in there, and yet the core is marred, the fruit is rotten. The end of the world is nearing. It's ar-ma-ged-don. Actually, not. Definitely not. No upsetting prophecy. This time Cassandra must be mistaken. Social structure is crumbling, indifference is spreading, the planet is warming up, personal liberties are being infringed and hatred is rising: say a hundred times no.
Loulou de la Falaise says to us with very much conviction: « There are critical situations everywhere, but if there are enough people willing a change, then it's going to happen » Of course, she is referring to fashion, as that little world, like the big one around, worships profit, somewhat disdains individuality and snubs the youth. Well, of course, to a lesser extent, for artistic foolish ambitions change the vision of things, calm down and open the way to others. Fashion then is making a lot of effort, and initiatives are multiplying. Festivals allow creating connections between the upper fashion and the lower fashion - by students and by professionals. Don't ask who makes what? What is the use of experience without a new wave? What is free creativity without a real culture of the past? What are they use the ones without the others?
We might sound utopian, but let's stand up!
For the fashion world must be the image of fabric, where every single thread makes sense in connection with the others, as the pattern is the result of the whole.
For fashion must be aware of its social and environmental role. Everywhere must children be involved into it, yet at school through their eyes and not by working in a factory. More initiatives like Ingeo's vegetal fibre fabric must come into being. The artistic process should take problems like overproduction into account, like the handmade collections of Martin Margiela, who conceptually gives objects a second life, by technically recycling them as raw materials.
Because fashion must allow designers to express their individuality and support their talent, without restraining them to what is believed to be the public expectations. As Sylvie Vaulet does in her Press Office - she takes care of young designers, such as Number (N)ine, Xuly Bët, Richard Sing and so forth, with passion and conviction. As fashion must be a platform for mutual aid. Journalists must realise that if they just keep on sustaining the establishment, creation will reach an impasse. However, they must be backed up by a general awareness. That will take some doing!
Loulou de la Falaise, Sylvie Vaulet, Pierre Hardy and the Maison Martin Margiela set an example. No doubt, you must have something to say in order to do this business. You also need luck, and to meet the right people. Seniors' admiration reveals the desire. But it can only work if exchange is implied. That's why these four big names in the fashion world are willing to tell you what they think of you. In a moment, when 'les jeunes créateurs' [young designers] applies to institutions under the market rules, without any reference to the rising generations, they ask themselves about the meaning of the two words. Find below their advice, impressions and statements of fact. Well, all right then, young designers do have good prospects. Let's start communicating!
ITS their way to support you, young talented people.
Loulou de Falaise
'Jeune' means that you have been recently discovered. Sometimes it has nothing to do with age. It just denotes that you are a newcomer. 'Créateur' is quite a blurry word, very popular and in common use now. But it probably means inventor of a new style, someone who introduces new ideas. By 'jeune créateur' you often refer to those who have not made much money yet, because they are somewhat marginal. They are not part of the establishment yet. It's quite a nice buzzword. It implies that you still have youthful dreams, and that you have not settled down. From the very moment you enter the system, you are told what to do. For instance, you are praised for your printed dresses, and suddenly you are stuck with that image and you hardly manage to get rid of it. When you are a young designer, you are still free. People can still expect a lot from you.
Who is the youngest designer you like?
I really like Andrew GN. Actually, I don't know whether he's still a young designer or not, but I like him a lot. He's now making a mark. It also seems to me that something is going on in Asian countries. I suppose there must be a strong desire to make new things in countries that were rather close.
I tend to go to Maria-Luisa...'s ? I don't have much time to have a look around. So I rely on her selection. I wear some mysterious labels, the names of which I don't always remember. I like Jean-Paul Knott very much, as well. He had been working for Saint Laurent a long time and then started his own business. His cutting technique is very good. The way you cut is really important: you know, making garments with the least number of stitches...
In your opinion, how could we promote more interaction between professionals and students?
Trieste, for example, has had a very good idea. I remember Vivienne Westwood being very active. She used to collect fabrics from everywhere and help the young by providing them with materials to work with. I think people need to talk, to meet. They need journalists. In my opinion, communication is the best way to talk and meet. You must organise something where means of transport are not that expensive. Where everybody can get together and make friends in the business, and meet the parties concerned. Not only the stylists, but also those who are involved in manufacture, production and financing, in all aspects of the business. You need marketing ideas, you need to get the young together. You should set up a sort of Colette with very young people, what Didier Grumbach did a long time ago. It's a pity that it doesn't exist any longer. It may not be very profitable but certainly it will help young people to make their marks, and you must run the risk.
Which international schools do you hold in high regard?
My daughter, who wants to work in fashion, is interested in St Martins. Being myself half English, I'd rather she went to England, if she wants to do that business, so that she can improve her English. When I was at Saint-Laurent, I used to meet a large number of students who had just left school. I was quite well known to be open and willing to see them. I met plenty of them. And actually, it's true that those from St Martin are very funny. They arrived in roller skates, really crazy. When you are very young in fashion, it's quite a shame not be a bit eccentric at the beginning. You have all the rest of your life to get wiser. I'm always a bit scared when young people look older than their age. Students used to come with their book; I used to give them some advice. At a certain time, everybody wanted to work in high couture. I used to say "you have got the knitwear industry, the lingerie one, you don't have to sew Mr Lesage's embroideries".
We take a large number of interns here, we just let it know and then students are passing on the message. They work in the Press Office, in manufacturing... every type of position. Despite the little space, we have always had interns. We know people from Studio Berçot well. Any of us has been to a school and has their own contacts.
It's great having interns, both sides have fun. There are different types of training courses. It depends on your personality as well as on the technique you want to learn. If you want to learn how to make a bespoke garment, you'd better stay with the same person, as learning the technique takes quite a lot of time: how to make it from a design, a pattern, a textile and so on. This type of internship is far more useful if you stay at least two or three seasons in the same house. But as far as style is concerned, you ought to move on, get in touch with different universes. And it's funny to see how designers deal with the same subjects in different ways. It's curious how the same thing can be hateful to someone but beloved by others.
Still a lot remains to be learnt after school. The real business, and the pressure, as you must be technically very skilled so to be quick, react pronto, and make last moment's changes, whereas you may have been taught old-fashioned techniques at school. That's why it's worth attending many internships, as you find out different ways of doing. And you must get flexible. In short, you need to learn a lot.
You might be working this way for a long while, as it's quite hard to make a name for oneself. You need means, and during your training course you can see what you are talented for, whether you fancy to work for a big house, or an Italian knitwear company... There are so many things in the fashion business.
Which international festivals do you know? Could you name any of their laureates?
I don't know much. I delivered some lectures in Paris, Marseille and New York. It's interesting to meet students in this way. But you can't do everything. I don't feel comfortable teaching, speaking, lecturing. I'd rather pick up a known subject, and explain it through examples, and then answer questions. Actually, I'm not like Lagerfeld, I can't stand up and give lectures.
According to you, what does the future hold to young designers?
I think fashion will have better and better prospects. There are more and more openings... When I was young, it used to be rather a close milieu, but now everybody is interested in fashion, and buys magazines. So I suppose that, if there's no serious financial crisis, the future will be quite bright. As more and more young people are concerned with fashion, there are more and more stylists and 'jeune créateurs' stepping up to dress their generation. There are a lot of new markets. For instance, the teenage market did not exist before. It's very profitable now.
Even T shirts in London keep coming out all the time. In shopping arcades, in little shops, which are actually getting very famous, they say funny things on quite simple items. Anyway, it's fashionable. It's a way of speaking, expressing themselves, saying something...As the young are fond of them, fashion must get interested in them too. We have to trust the young.
What traps shouldn't they fall into? What would you advise them?
Of getting labelled too soon, as the worst danger in fashion is to be supposed to do the same stuff. Of course, all ageing artists tend to be repetitive, like Matisse and his collages. It's easy to recognise someone's touch, but when you are young it's very tricky. In addition, beware of the marketing people, who tend to ask for the same stuff that has already been sold. In any case, it is not even stimulating.
What memories do you have of the time when you entered the fashion business?
I was in New York, in the '70s. I started drawing fabric patterns. I have always been working with colours and fantasy. I remember going around with my book and showing my drawings. My mother delivered lectures on textiles at the F.I.T., and I used to be her assistant. I was quite lucky, because I was born in that milieu and I soon met the right people. Many things occurred at night, many while dancing. Luckily, fashion was less à la mode, and there were fewer people on the market. When I was young, there used to be important figures like Diana Vreeland, who did a lot for fashion, photographers, models, couturiers and so on.
It's also a sort of vicious circle today - if you can't afford advertising, you don't get published, and your sales go down, whereas in the late '70s and throughout the '80s, everything was suddenly so stimulating! Everybody was putting ads in the press. There again, as I was seventeen-eighteen years old, working for a fashion magazine in London, called Queen Magazine, later on renamed Harper's and Queen, there was already that pressure. They used to say "Who's that Ossie Clark? He's not advertising!". Therefore, we joined to buy small adverts, this big. They were £5 each. Everybody used to give a pound, and they said "Look, he's an advertiser". When you are young, you should be supported by the press, be given some pages. Some magazines do so, but not many. Outrageous! They are rather compliant. About fifteen years ago big newspapers were more critical. Some articles were fierce, pointed and quite funny to read. The Libération is still a bit critical. Now, everyone is believed to be good and very talented. Nobody realises what is really going on.
What is a 'jeune créateur'?
'jeune créateur' doesn't mean anything. 'Jeune' should mean new (some 'jeunes créateurs' have stayed young till their 50s!!), 'créateur' should imply setting new shapes, new materials. There's some confusion between designer and stylist.
Who is the youngest designer you like?
Olivier Theyskens and Undercover.
In your opinion, how could we promote more interaction between professionals and students?
Through long-lasting training courses, so to combine theory and practice (six months at least).
Which international schools do you hold in high regard?
The Académie in Antwerp and the St Martin's School of London.
Which international festivals do you know? Could you name any of their laureates?
Gent laureate Raf Simons.
Sometime-ago Hyères laureate, Xuly Bët.
According to you, what does the future hold to young designers?
Quite hard times. Having their first catwalk is not the point. But having the second and third ones is. And, above all, you need a supporting structure behind you. Such as marketing, manufacturing, good delivery times... without the help of LVMH, PPR, Prada and so on... young design could fade away like in the US and in Italy.
What traps shouldn't they fall into?
Of making collections which are mostly intended to shape an image, and therefore remain unsold. It's essential that you should find a balance between image and sales. There's no further development without the two.
What would you advise them?
Be self-centred. Express your individuality.
What memories do you have of the time when you entered the fashion business?
Thanks to Helmut Lang, I understood that the person is more important than fashion and not the other way round. Personality intensifies the garment.
Pierre Hardy
What is a 'jeune créateur'?
'I would like' that each word was understood in their full meaning: 'jeune' of age, or as a newcomer, that is to say new, without 'mannerism', 'fresh'. And 'créateur': someone defining a new lexicon or a new syntax, a new way of planning things and, perhaps, of producing them. I've got fed up with the '80s eternal 'jeunes créateurs'.
Who is the youngest designer you like?
Nicolas Ghesquière.
In your opinion, how could we promote more interaction between professionals and students?
I think professionals should take the first step. They should be more receptive and consider creation as 'profitable'. Professionals should more often visit schools (delivering conferences, taking part in juries, giving seminars, organising workshops...). For their part, schools should encourage long-lasting training courses (six months) in successful and creative companies.
Which international schools do you hold in high regard?
They all have some qualities and drawbacks.
Which international festivals do you know? Could you name any of their laureates?
I have only attended and taken part in the Hyères' one. Its laureates: Viktor and Rolf, Gaspard Yurkievitch and Alexandre Matthieu.
According to you, what does the future hold to young designers?
In spite of self-financing, personal wealth or contracts, being independent is almost difficult, yet possible. On the other hand, working in big groups demands such a lot of constraints which seem to me hard to deal with at the beginning of a 'career'.
What traps shouldn't they fall into?
Of glorifying themselves.
What would you advise them?
Nothing. Well. Try and do exactly what you like. And before, try and find out what you really like. And first, improve your mind anyhow, anywhere.
What memories do you have of the time when you entered the fashion business?
I was really 'reckless', or better 'happy-go-lucky'. I loved drawing, and some people loved my drawings. That's all! No doubt, I can't recall 'struggling'! Actually, I might have done something else, but that's what has been working the best, so...
Maison Martin Margiela
What is a 'jeune créateur'?
JEUNE: a great deal to learn, a lot of talent and a strong will.
CREATEUR: a personal creative vision.
Who is the youngest designer you like? What do you like wearing?
There are too many creative expressions rising to answer this question exactly. Even if it is harder today to find a medium of transmission for a creative way and vision, there are now plenty of them!
In your opinion, how could we promote more interaction between professionals and students?
It's easy to do: more meetings, dialogue, sharing, encouragement, listening and transfer of passion (in either way, actually).
Which international schools do you hold in high regard?
For all those who listen to, support and encourage their students' talents and visions, without imposing a style, a method or a creative 'dogma'.
According to you, what does the future hold to young designers?
Quite hard times! But they will manage it. Passion and creativity will always make it.
What traps shouldn't they fall into?
Into the trap of leaving aside their vision just to get famous too quickly, of acting as a brand too soon... You have to proceed in stages in every career.
What would you advise them?
Having courage, keeping on, listening to, sharing, enjoying and above all giving time and space to considerable passion.
The support of a great staff, of fantastic boutiques as well as the fact that, despite the big challenge, it's worth doing all over again.
By Jérôme Hanover
Translation Robert Salvestrin
