01/06/2012

Guest Interview n° 41: Tamsin Cook

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Guest Interview n° 41: Tamsin Cook

Design consultant Tamsin Cook was born on a farm in the UK and now lives in Belgium. Other than rummaging through quirky little markets and antique shops in Brussels and Antwerp, her daily routine consists of traveling and scouting for fresh trends in cities such as Paris, London and Amsterdam.

You currently work as Senior Design Consultant, would you care to develop that for us?
I have always worked in-house for companies until last year. Now I am starting out on a freelance basis. This includes designing and trend researching for different customers, it can be on a short or long term contract, depending on the needs of the client.

What is your background in fashion?
Well, I grew up on a farm in Devon, UK. I was always into making my own clothes, styling friends and my brothers. I have a big love for denim and workwear, I believe this came from my roots when growing up. I still like to check out my dad’s work jeans for finishing ideas actually! I studied a BA (Hons) in Fashion at the Surrey Institute of Art and Design just outside of London.

Your job includes scouting for new up-coming trends, how does one go about that, lots of travelling?
It’s an on-going process. Travel is a big part; this can be to city visits around the world to shop, visit stores, exhibitions and photograph people on the street. Visits to trade fairs where the newest developments in fabrics, yarns and prints are exhibited are important. Plus every day research, magazines, blogs, music, festivals, catwalks, art and exhibitions…

Brussels and Antwerp have quirky little flea markets and antique shops; I love to rummage through these on a Sundays. It’s great being so close to a lot of amazing cities as well, I can easily take the train to Paris, Amsterdam or London for the day for some fresh inspiration and people watching.

Is there a special source that often tends to provide trends, for example youth/street culture?
For sure youth, street culture and music are huge influences on fashion. Again, it depends on who you are working for. At Lee, where I worked for 7 years, a large part of the research was vintage denim and finding inspiration from great second hand pieces. I think so many people influence the fashion industry, from the film industry and artists to musicians, bloggers and photographers, the list is endless. The key is to keep your eyes open and not to get stuck with the same sources. I try to find new blogs or emerging artists/music every day. There are endless micro-trends emerging all the time.

How is the trend spotting applied in practice, have you recently for example found something in a vintage shop that later on turned into a design idea for one of the brands you work for?
At Lee when I was working on the kid’s collection, I found some great vintage pieces, like cute little dresses or blouses, we translated these into the collections. I always think you get a better result if you mix eras and ideas. Vintage buttons, trims, vintage denim, all these are huge sources of inspiration for the collections I have worked on. Second hand items are such treasures.

If you pick up a trend in, let’s say, an Asian country, is that one later applied to the Asian market, or do you experiment between the different continents?
That’s an interesting point! In a way it is a big melting pot. Everyone is taking ideas and inspiration from each other. Japan and Asia influences European style and vice versa. But that is great, and that is where you can really make some individual fusions and looks. A lot of Japanese brands have the most amazingly beautiful collections but would not necessarily be commercial to mass market here in Europe, but if tweaked, adapted and personalised you can create some interesting trends.

How do you look at the future of your business, and your own, any dreams waiting to be fulfilled?
People are much more confident and savvy in creating their own style and much more aware of trends than previously with all the social networking and online media available today. The fashion industry is going to have to get smarter, the consumer needs surprising and seducing in new ways. There has been the trend of pop up stores and now home shopping and styling parties are starting to be hip…What’s next, I think the consumer will decide!

For my own future, I like having the freedom of working freelance, I wouldn’t say no to work for a brand again though. I sometimes miss the daily interaction with people and the connection you make with a brand. Right now I have nearly completed my web page for my blog Rue des Bleus. It’ll be my platform for things which inspire me and also where I plan to build on some styling ideas. I’m intrigued by people and their look/style, so I’m hoping to scout some models which I can style for my blog.

Petsy von Köhler – Image courtesy of Tamsin Cook & The Vintage Showroom

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30/05/2012

Electrik-Shrine In An Insomnolent City

Electrik-Shrine In An Insomnolent City

Slowly climbing down the narrow stairs, we visited Electrik-Jinja (literally means ‘Electric Shinto Shrine’) located in the center of Roppongi, the massive nightlife mecca and the melting pot in Tokyo.

Happy birthday Kenji, the owner of the place. The celebrations were well underway, the underground skeleton box was jam-packed with his friends, bare wall to wall. Amongst them, the distinguished jazz bassist Christopher Thomas from St.Louis. The place itself was newborn last April.

Why “Electrik-Jinja”?

“For me, the two terms are actually synonymous. In ancient times, spirits were everywhere, and certain places were designated for the interface of this world and the sacred. Even monuments were not always necessary, it’s all about the vibration of energy. Energy is electric, something invisible, but does exist. You don’t see it, but you feel it. And we humans are also electric, right? I love to see people’s vibes generating spontaneous Jinja here.”

Suddenly, we felt an amorphous mass of billowing vibes, which lulled us into the illusion of wriggling luminous red sea slugs in the blackness. Hung Electro-Voice 15 inches were blowing Miles Davis’ The Man With The Horn.

“Something raw, greasy, chaotic… Once Mishima said (in an essay For Young Samurai by Yukio Mishima, 1969) that ‘culture is yourself’ and ‘be more proud to be savage’, it took me long time to understand his words. Now, I believe in those things deeply rooted in one’s raw emotions based on real life, you know, something far beyond right or wrong.”

Kenji continued, “Every time when my friends come from overseas asking me where they could discover Japanese culture, I always say, go to Harajuku area, you will find those girls in odd fashion called Gothic & Lolita walking around Meiji Shrine.”

A profound embracement to let something vulgar move around in the holy ground. It was already around 7 AM when we climbed up the stairs, fresh air after the rain welcomed us with a sight of a little shrine, coincidentally named ‘Morning Sun’, just then a Shinto priest in white was entering through the concrete Torii (gateway), while three young drunk boys were playing next to it.

Ai Mitsuda

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25/05/2012

Johanna Pihl – The New Rookie In Town

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Johanna Pihl – The New Rookie In Town

Swedish designer Johanna Pihl is one of the 5 hopeful nominees for The Swedish Fashion Council’s Rookie Award 2012.

Since 2005, S.F.C has organized the competition in order to promote young talents in the Swedish fashion industry. “Passion for design, interesting concepts and promising brand value” are what the jury with H&M’s head designer Margareta van den Bosch in the lead are searching for, and winning the competition means heavy exposure, networking support and PR-activities en masse. The coronation will take place during Stockholm Fashion Week the 15th of August.

“Being nominated for The Rookie Awards feels amazing, since it gives you opportunity to meet people in the business. At the moment, I’m in the middle of the process of creating my S/S 13 collection, and when you have a recently established fashion brand it’s so important to get the word out”, Pihl acknowledges.

Stockholm-born Johanna Pihl has studied fashion design at London College of Fashion, worked for avant-gardist Ann-Sofie Back and had an exhibition at The Victoria and Albert museum. Last year, she won the Young Fashion Industry Award which gave her the chance to present her collection during Stockholm Fashion Week. Along with brands such as altewai.saome and Alice Fine, Pihl has been named ‘the future of Swedish fashion’.


“The people in the business have always been very kind and supportive, it makes you feel appreciated. The hardest part, which is also the most intriguing part is that there’s always so much to learn every single day, there’s always a new challenge to face, but the performance pressure forces me to break boundaries, which I think is very important in this business.”

With her current collection, she introduces a contemporary tomboy-woman, with the most prominent piece being a cut-out leather jacket with detailing reminiscent of ancient day’s war breastplates. Behind every garments is a journey into the relationship between the anatomy of the body, and the ambivalent curiousness with body modification through plastic surgery. Sharp silhouettes, manipulated fabrics and high technical finish are three details to summarize Pihl’s design philosophy.

“The Collection is to be worn as a second skin. The garments represent our cast, stretched and distressed over our mechanical form. By using trapunto techniques the garments demonstrate that our anatomy is engineered and calculated like an engine, showing that by altering and reorganizing our appearance through plastic surgery we diminish our human design.”

Petsy von Köhler – Image courtesy of London College of Fashion, Patrick Lindblom, James Finnigan & Timothy Hill

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23/05/2012

Dual Colours – A Trend That Sticks

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Dual Colours – A Trend That Sticks

Fashion forecasters say that a trend goes through three stages. Fringe, the phase where it’s novel, inventive and only the top trendy people or companies are taking part in it. When the trend then moves in to the stage of trendy, awareness is built and fashion-forward companies and retailers dare to enter the arena. Then comes the mainstream – the public join, the visibility of the trend increases and after a while in the spotlight, micro trends are born out of it; countertrends, backlashes, twists or reinventions.

The two last mentioned are particularly true with the dual hair colour trend; dip-dying, bi-colouring, bleaching, washed out colours… It has been seen throughout the last seasons in various combinations, with the ombré trend (dark roots with light ends) being one of the larger ones to hit the mainstream. Colours come in cycles, and the repetitions in colour popularity and preferences are the machinery of boredom; the market gets tired, so new colours are introduced. It’s a phenomena that works the same in fashion as for hair colours. Just when you thought this bi-coloured trend was starting to get tired, large fashion houses like Prada and Jean Paul Gaultier brought it back to the catwalk for Fall/Winter 2012, with a twist.

The models walking the runway in Milan and Paris have been compared to virtual dolls being the ‘avatars of fashion’s digital age’. Leyla, a colour technician at Toni&Guy in Stockholm, confirms that the trend is taking a slightly more powerful and futuristic turn during fall.

“Absolutely! If you take a look at the Jean Paul Gaultier and Prada shows, you will see the same colour pallet but with a slightly different approach where Gaultier used colour spray in the roots, creating a quite powerful colour statement”. When asked why she thinks this particular trend keeps on reappearing the response was: “Because it works! The trend for hair colours is still that it shouldn’t look too ‘alone’ and this is a colour style that doesn’t get a re-growth. Also, it keeps on coming back in different modes. Last season it was more pink and yellow and at the moment it’s more red and blue. The techniques vary as well; now we’re using a lot of extensions and colour spray that washes right off”.

The fashion weeks in Milan and Paris showed that the trend is growing stronger and coming back for the fall, but it’s not withdrawing for summer either. The creative team at Toni&Guy writes in their trend report that one of the biggest trendsfor SS 2012 is the stretch roots and dip-dyed colours, taking us back to the 90’s and 70’s, before progressing into the fall trends. Summer earth tones will be replaced by less low-key colours like eccentric orange, cobalt blue and icy whites. When talking about the trend working both ways for men and women, Leyla explained us: “There are not that many men that can carry so many colours, but the ones who can; go all in! We will be playing with full bleach, silver tones”.

Fringe, trendy or mainstream, this style has been reinvented, swivelled around and gone through the evolution of a trend more than once. The runway inspiration allows the interpreter to play whole new vibrant colour game and it will be intriguing to see how far one tendency can take a whole trend.

Lisa Olsson Hjerpe – Image courtesy of style.com

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14/05/2012

The Future of Indian Fashion

Forecasts talking about Asia as the emerging fashion area and a booming luxury market have had the industry eyes pointed east for quite a while, and over the past years India has become a burning topic in the discussion. It has been a discussion that’s now starting to cool off; the progress isn’t as fast as expected, cultural differences are putting spanners in the works and influential names coming back west are saying that the Indian fashion scene isn’t happening, yet. In New Delhi – the city where opposites collide with an immense energy, the avenues are lined with chauffeur-driven cars, and local star design costs as much as Parisian couture – the Blogazine met with Creative Marketing and PR Consultant Anubhav Jain to talk about the future of Indian fashion.


Fashion, beauty and splendour have throughout the history been a crucial part of Indian culture, and for long the high-end products were reserved for a selected few. “The ‘maharajas’ [royalties] started the trend of luxury! We have a history of royals and jewels, that is our roots and it’s foremost where our fashion inspiration comes from,” says Jain. “Though, now the country is a part of the globalized world and we find sources of inspiration also from the Western part, especially in terms of detailing and quality,” he continues.

The main focus for the Indian fashion industry is growth and even though the business has witnessed a steady rise of attention from international stakeholders and fashion voices, the numbers are small when compared to the horde of buyers and brands represented during the major fashion weeks in London, Paris, Milan and New York. “As the Indian customer is becoming more brand conscious, it becomes imperative to further recognize the importance of craftsmanship, its value, and the value of its price to the customers,” Jain comments. He talks about the pricing levels as a big factor affecting the luxury market, where the ‘boom’ of attention for high end companies entering India principally relates to the brand names rather than generating in sales and profits. Taxes and import duties have reduced the saleability of luxury, and even though the ‘local socialite’ can afford the high end products, it’s a question of how these couture garments are worn. Jain means that if the brand doesn’t have a well-known and luxurious image, or if it hasn’t been seen on models, actors, politicians or other socially high ranked personalities, the company will have a much harder time getting through to their target clients in India.

Though, after some years along the line, now the luxury brands are really pushing it hard in India. The industry has been experiencing a great transformation through social media, fashion bloggers and e-commerce. “Yes, e-commerce in retail and on the high end will be the next big thing here,” Anubhav Jain confirms. He talks about fashion communication inspired by the Western ‘model’ as an important point to boost versatility and means that in a country like India, where various cultures and languages have to get along with each other, the fashion industry and its ‘language’ through garments, colours and trends is what binds them all together. Even though the country is becoming more liberal culturally, the ‘crazy fashion outfits’ that you would not only see during fashion weeks but on an everyday street in London, Paris, Milan or New York is not what you would come across even at the most fashionable event in Mumbai or New Delhi. “People are still rather reserved even though the market is opening up for new styles.”

When turning the conversation to a talk about the point where Indian fashion is directed towards the industry around, Jain thinks that it might be these various cultures, traditions and the history that the country holds that fascinates the western world. “They get influenced from our bright colours and textiles. The European preferences are often in the range of black, grey, navy and brown, but we feel there is a big demand of colours in the European market, and we could supply the Indian fashion products.” Even though the increasing number of international buyers who attend the Indian fashion events demonstrates that there are expectations on the country, the number of actual business that is carried out over the boarders are lower than one could hope, when talking about the American and European markets. Buyers are intrigued to take in the collections, and Indian top designers are chasing foreign markets. A big part of the Indian design generates trading with nearby markets such as the Middle East, where the aesthetics and the style preferences are more similar to begin with. Though, young artists come with young minds, and while the markets are slowly moving closer and finding inspiration within each other, many designers are still longing for the shot in the west.

The industry eye might have taken a minor break from the close watch on India, but with e-commerce companies making an effort to enter the market- as well as Indian e-commerce doing the same towards the world and with social media and fashion blogging on the rise- the reasons for going back to India might become additional, sooner than expected.

Lisa Olsson Hjerpe – Image courtesy Lakmé Fashion Week 

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09/05/2012

The First Note On The Horn – Ichigo-Ichie

The First Note On The Horn – Ichigo-Ichie

Welcome to the second part of The First Note On The Horn series from the sizzling music scene of Tokyo. Ai Mitsuda takes us to the backstage with Kuni, the talented trumpetist of Sly Mongoose. Read the first part of the story Tokyo Burning here and the second part The Misty Urban Rain here

Ichigo-Ichie is a Japanese old saying derived from Zen Buddhism, which literary means One time, one encounter; Cherish this very moment, for the same stream will never cross again, may the encounter be fulfilled with the wholehearted gratitude, for it will never happen the same again.

“A vast amount of human energy and soul has lost in a moment.”

Kuni recalled the 3.11 disaster in Japan. “I’ve always believed in Ichigo-Ichie, but that day was an intense moment to realize it. Maybe we meet again and spend more time together, but maybe not, this time could be really the last time.” Kuni told that he has a lot to be thankful for in his life, and meeting different people is the most important one of them all.

For him, Terence Blanchard has always been a wonderful source of inspiration and a precious presence as a person. To begin his new life in New York after graduation, Kuni went to see Terence Blanchard Quintet at Village Vanguard one night.

“How you gonna survive?” Terence had asked him. “Well, I’ve just arrived in the city, I don’t know yet…” He couldn’t provide a better answer.

Two weeks later, when Kuni came back home, his roommate handed him a phone slip. “Do you know a lady, named Robin?” “Of course,” Kuni had answered. “Robin, she is the manager of Terence!” What a beautiful surprise it had been, a warm welcome to join Terence’s team as his assistant. “I was deeply moved, surprised and got a little nervous to be honest, you know.” Kuni continued, “Everyone knows how hard time Terence would spend to evolve into a new stage of creation, I deeply respect Terence as an artist, most important thing is, I learned so much about life itself while being with him. I remember, once we were at The Manhattan Center recording a film score, Terence was making sure that he saw various kind of nationalities in the ensemble. He’s always mindful about these things, always open to listen to people. He makes his statements simple and direct but you can feel his warm and profound heart right there. His music really reflects his way of being, I just love the way his harmony goes.”

‘Be Who You Are’ : it was a simple but a strong message from Terence. Since the question of doing Jazz as a Japanese started smoldering in his mind, consciously or unconsciously, Kuni has been on the road. “Before being a Japanese, I am Kuni myself. It’s quite simple but important for me. I was brought up in circumstances where Jazz was very close. I had a warm and close feeling about its culture, and it was quite natural for me to step into it. But first, there’s Jazz as a cultural heritage and I wanted to learn and pay full respect to its history as much as possible. In general, I have always believed in the trees standing on their roots, leaves are not just accessories.”

“Now, I feel like doing simply music, through my one and only eyes.”

And it seems it doesn’t have to be categorized into one specific genre of music. In Kuni’s gorgeous nomadic piece called nebula (from the album of Sly Mongoose, Mystic Daddy, 2009), as the first note on the horn echoes, every instrument starts playing with its different meter, some goes in three-four, some in two-four, some in five-four, shaping an unformed cloud of dust, diffusing haunting refrain in the air, moment after moment.

Why not getting lost in this floating cloud for a while.

Ai Mitsuda – Image 1 with Terence Blanchard, at The Manhattan Center, New York City, 1994; 3 his trumpet is his own ‘voice’, courtesy of Kuni.

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30/04/2012

Kurdish Stockholm Electro by Zhala

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Kurdish Stockholm Electro by Zhala

Zhala Rifat is the most recent act to emerge from the Stockholm electro-scene. After having been the back-up girl to Lykke Li during her American and European tour, she’s about to drop her first album during the year. But Zhala isn’t a newcomer in the industry. Already In 1998, at the age of 11, she was nominated for a Swedish Grammis Award along with composer Klas Widén. However, the release date of her album debut is still, after 1,5 years of production, yet to be set.

“I already have many songs recorded, but I’m not sure how I want to put together the album, I’ll take my time. Since you only get to make one debut album I have to make sure I spend enough time on it. Lately, I’ve just been trying to get all the melodies and sounds in my head into songs.”

The Rifat family is of Kurdish-descent, thus; Zhala was raised to the sounds of Kurdistan, a heritage that is very much present in her own tunes.

“Kurdish music has a very repetitive rhythm. I grew up with kurdish music so its a very natural part of me now. I love the feeling kurdish music brings, and the melodies, more than the texture, it feels like techno!”

The other week, her first video was released – “Slippin’ around”. Any efforts of trying to refer the visuals to anything else in popular culture would be somewhat redundant, unless you go for the “Björk circa Volta”-card. The video features Zhala herself as a mix between a surrealistic Middle Eastern-geisha and a Hindu-goddess, and was directed by Makode Linde, the artist which stirred quite a scandal with his anti-racist “Painful cake”-exhibition at Moderna Museet in Stockholm last week during World Art Day.

“I love cake! Makode really understands me and my music, he can express it visually. I try to mirror my experiences with sound, and my experiences are unique. And there’s a reason why he’s the world’s most talked about artist at the moment…”

At the moment, Zhala is busy performing, recording and booking gigs for the summer festivals, and still makes time to organize the lesbian club Donna Scam once in a while. Rumour has it that we haven’t seen the last of this woman.

“The greatest memory I have of performing is at Gagnef-festival in Sweden, performing with my friend Shamoun a couple of years ago. We had a big loving party on stage and I think everyone was peaking at that point. I’ve been practicing music in different ways since forever. The music always takes different forms, that’s just a natural part of my development.”

Petsy von Köhler – photo courtesy of Zhala Zhino Rifat

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24/04/2012

Guest Interview n° 40: KALDA

Guest Interview n° 40: KALDA

Undemanding but slightly seductive. The garments by London based brand KALDA are fashioned with a lot of realism while combining contrasting elements to bring out an individual touch. KALDA is the creation of sisters Katrin Alda and Rebekka Rafnsdottir, originate from Iceland. The Blogazine caught up with Katrin, who is also the one heading the design, to talk about the inspiration, the style, and London Fashion Week.

KALDA started out as a few pieces project to sell in your concept store, Einvera, back in Reykjavík. Was the objective with the store to be a first step for the brand?
No, not really, the whole thing kind of just happened, almost accidentally, but in the best possible way. I had known for some time that I wanted to have my own brand but it was not done in a strategic way. The shop first started in the basement of our home and then evolved to what it is today.

AW12 is your third full collection. How has the aesthetics of the garments evolved over time?
For me personally AW12 is the collection where it all came together and made sense. I think the aesthetics are pretty much the same, especially for the stranger’s eye, but something changed with me personally in this collection.

KALDA is a lot about contrasts and opposites, in the same time as the style is very free and easy going. How is the creating process looking?
The creative process is very intuitive, some base idea comes along and that will be the starting point; normally it is about fabrics. I love the idea of combining different aspects in every single garment. The objective is always to create something realistic and individual.

For your SS12 campaign you worked with the Swedish model Caroline Winberg. Do you wish to keep a Scandinavian touch to the brand?
No, not consciously at least. We had gotten to know Caroline through a friend and as she is one of the hottest women I’ve seen, we had to ask her to work with us!

Your campaigns are a mix of laid back, chic and rock n’ roll. Is this how you would describe the attitude of the brand?
Yes, we create the images to give our costumers an idea of what we are about. We are lucky to work with photographer Silja Magg on our shoots and she really understands the brand identity.

You started out in Reykjavík but have along the road relocated to London. What elements of inspiration have you taken with you from Iceland?
I think growing up there has definitely shaped my aesthetics in ways I am not really aware of. Rebekka and I grew up in a town of 300 people and spent all day every day outside in the nature. Also our team comes mostly from Iceland and they are a great source of inspiration. We just appointed a new Creative Director, Regina Rourke, who is an Icelandic artist so we are very happy with our roots!

Your collection is sold through the iconic London store, Liberty. Do you have any other favourite stores in London, or back in Reykjavík?
I have always thought of Liberty as my favourite store, even more after they picked us up and I’ve gotten to know the way they run their business. Otherwise Natalie Massenet is someone who I think is a great inspiration for young professionals due to her self-believe attitude; Net-A-Porter is one of the best in the business.

From a business point of view it must be easier to be in the midst of it, in an acknowledged fashion city, than on a somewhat isolated island. Was this your main reason for moving the company?
I studied in London and got to know the fashion industry quite well while living here. I think London offers one of the best support systems for young designers in the world and I always knew I wanted to be a part of that. It is very important for me to surround myself with the best to push myself further.

And the plans for the future… What is the next step for KALDA? London Fashion Week perhaps?
Yes, loads of plans! We are just setting up our studio in London now and getting more people involved, which is very joyful! We are also planning an event for LFW in September, which we are all very excited for.

Lisa Olsson Hjerpe – Image courtesy of KALDA  

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12/04/2012

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05/04/2012

Meeting Tim Coppens

Meeting Tim Coppens

Another time around, Tim Coppens created some hard-earned murmur about the eponymous brand during New York Fashion Week. With references drawn from the film ‘Drive’, tailoring marked by extreme care in details and a color palette adding sophistication to the otherwise dynamic and slightly aggressive aesthetics, Coppens presented his third menswear collection, FASTER, for Fall/Winter 2012/13. His image of the modern man goes beyond the classical structure for menswear. “I don’t think there is one specific clothing that fits every man”, the designer said when the Blogazine caught him for a quick chat somewhere between New York and Belgium.

In your F/W12 presentation, details from motocross and ice hockey gear had a strong influence on the details and athleticism is reflected in your collections. What is your personal relation to sports?
I grew up riding BMX and skateboarding and did that for about 14 years. The reason why I went to certain cities with friends was to skateboard and find the best spots. The last couple of years I have been into long distance running and cycling. I am attracted to individual sports where it’s more about going further and further, getting to know your limits. For me it’s a really good way to think and structure ideas. I’m not a big fan of group sports but I do like sports like ice hockey, rugby and American football where it’s more about the warrior athlete dressing up in battle gear getting ready to defeat the other team. The dress code and the protective armor are really interesting objects.

Does any specific type of music or places inspire you in your work?
I listen to a lot of music. But I also notice that I filter a lot more than I used to do, and doing that I also realize that I go back to the old records that I bought and loved to listen to, whether it’s Kenny Larkin or the Screaming Trees. I don’t have a favourite band. Places and music are connected.

The Fall 2012/13 collection is beautifully composed with the materials complementing each other and the meticulously worked-over details catching the eye. “I like compact materials, whether they are cottons or wool, et cetera”, Coppens said when we talked about what combinations of materials her prefers to work with. When talking about Tim Coppens, it is impossible to not speak of colors. His previous collections have been noted for some of the graphical elements that we don’t see for Fall. Instead we find the continuous subtle feeling of color blocking, given some extra vivacity through a few well-placed dashes of bright blue. The collection, which is described to have an aggressive edge and is very masculine and active, yet have a sophisticated side to it. We asked Mr Coppens if this somehow reflects on how he sees the ‘Tim Coppens man’: “I think so, yes. The masculine and sophisticated edge is something that is really important to me. Although, I have noticed that a lot of women like wearing my bomber jackets.”

Coppens, who was born in Belgium, graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerpen, and 2012 he is being noted as best new menswear designer of the year with the Ecco Domani award. Antwerpen and New York are both renowned fashion cities and the home of several noteworthy designers. Today he has chosen to live in New York, where he, as previous mentioned, also shows during Fashion Week. “I prefer spending my time in New York because it’s home for now. But I do like going back to Belgium from time to time.”

Lisa Olsson Hjerpe with a special Thank You to Tim Coppens

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