J'N'C Magazine 3/2013 by J'N'C Magazine

STYLEGUIDE ANTWERP INTERVIEW BRUNO PIETERS 3/ 2013

FASHION BUSINESS, BRANDS AND URBAN CULTURE

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ENGLISH EDITION

CONTENT

03/2013

19 STANDARDS 8

Column Fab or Fail?

Booklookin’ Cool Aussehen / Looking Cool & Once a Year

Street Styles International

CONTENT

CITY GUIDE ANTWERP 19

Hot Spots Fashion Concentrated

Street People Antwerp Twelve

BRAND FEATURES

Fashion and humour Fashion is ... Having The Last Laugh

Interview Bruno Pieters Honest Man

GRP Restyling Instead of Recycling

Interview Nick Ashley, Private White V.C. Local Hero

Interview Javid Alavi, Merc The Modfather

Interview Robert Theijssen, PME Legend Up in The Air

Avil Shirts With Eco Charm

Interview Giovanni Peracin, Playlife Don’t Dream Your Life ...

G-Shock Hip Hip Hooray!

Interview Mark Batista, Jacket Required Happiness is ...

080 Barcelona Fashion Moda a la Catalana

50 46

Editorial / Contributors

CONTENT

03/2013

126

106 RETAIL 74

Couverture & The Garbstore, London

My o My, Helsinki

Hit Gallery, Hong Kong

Schwittenberg, Munich

FASHION

CONTENT 84 92

Mattis Hütte Erwin Wenzel

Kick & Ultra Gunnar Tufta

100

Fritz, Albert und die Anderen Julian Niznik

106

Stray Cats Philipp Rathmer

114

Garden Paradiso Swantje Neubohn

120

Sister Tribes Muriel Liebmann

126

La Peau Douce Björn Giesbrecht

134

The Ammanns Nadia Del Dò

Imprint

144

Where to find us

146

Index

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EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS

03/2013

EDITORIAL Are humour and fashion mutually exclusive? The line between ‘laughing with’ and ‘laughing at’ is far too fine for many of us to even dare to navigate with fashionable wit. And anyway: is being funny and cool at the same time even possible? Our Berlin-based author Fredericke Winkler mulled the question over – and discovered that humour and a healthy portion of self-irony have certainly earned a place in the world of fashion. Living proof of this is Walter Van Beirendonck. The designer achieved renown in the early eighties as one of the members of the Antwerp Six. Together with his student colleagues from the ‘Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten’ he revolutionised Belgian fashion. Van Beirendonck is famous for his vibrant and witty designs, a factor that certainly hasn’t held him back in the fashion stakes. In 2007 he became head of the Academy’s fashion department, a real hotbed for upcoming talents. His influence, and that of the rest of the Antwerp Six, can be witnessed on the streets of the cosy city on the banks of the Scheldt River. Considering the size of Antwerp, its density of high-end fashion stores is extremely high. The 50th birthday of the famous fashion depart-

ment provided the perfect occasion for us to head over to Belgium with Hamburg-based photographer Gulliver Theis and take a sip of the fashion elixir for ourselves. Our top 20 tips for the perfect Antwerp trip, including stylishly designed restaurants, hip bars, down-to-earth pubs and top-notch museums, can be found from page 19. Bruno Pieters also hails from Belgium, but prefers to do his own thing. Until 2010, in addition to a collection under his own name, he was also responsible for the young Hugo line at Hugo Boss. After leaving the label, he is now back with his latest project: Honest by is the name of Pieters’ new label, which truly takes transparency to a new level by revealing all relevant information to the customer, from the manufacturing process down to the pricing policies. J’N’C author Oliver Horton met up with the smart supporter of transparent business for an interview. Oliver also took some time to wander round his hometown London for us. He not only met up with Mark Batista who is the co-initiator and co-curator of the young menswear tradeshow Jacket Required, but also spoke to Javid Alavi, the founder of the sixties cult label Merc, along

with his daughter Soraya Alavi and team member Miles Gray. Equally rooted in British fashion history is Nick Ashley, the son of the legendary Laura Ashley and designer of Private White V.C., one of the few British labels that still manufactures its products at its own factory in Manchester. But getting back to the Thames: the fact that some of the most inspiring international store concepts can be found here, is proven beyond a doubt by shops like Couverture & The Garbstore. And despite this issue’s London bias, we also allowed ourselves to venture further afield to destinations like Hong Kong, Helsinki and Munich. And speaking of what’s allowed: when it comes to fashion, there are no rules. Which is why this issue’s fashion spreads feature everyone from rockabillies and Amish people to ‘grungies’ and minimalists. After all, it’s about time we started seeing the funny side of it all! On that note, we hope you have a lot of fun browsing the pages of this current issue!

Ilona Marx

CONTRIBUTORS BUSY BEES

OLIVER HORTON

BJÖRN GIESBRECHT

KAREN MUNNIS

ADELAIDA CUE BÄR

As a writer, Oliver Horton spends a lot of time in front of his MacBook. In order to keep fit and boredom at bay, he’s taken to sports with a vengeance: surfing in Waikiki, diving for sharks or paddleboarding in Florida? Check. While he was in the Sunshine State he visited the Kennedy Space Center and took a trip in the space shuttle simulator. But motion sickness wasn’t a problem for him, as he is always on the move and busy training anyway: for the past five years he’s been taking weekly contemporary dance classes. Oliver doesn’t see himself as unconventional though; after all he lives in London, the home of eccentricity. For this issue he took a closer look at the fashion scene in the English capital.

Born in the German town of Kassel, Björn Giesbrecht loves French salami and, in a nutshell, is a pretty uncomplicated kind of guy. If he can pack his surfboard into his VW bus and drive to the coast he’s perfectly content. But in his role as photographer, on the other hand, he can be a real stickler for detail. That’s because working behind the camera isn’t just a job for Björn: it’s his one true passion – including the eternal search for the perfect shot. As a fan of Vogue photographer Lachlan Bailey, who he dubs a ‘modern Peter Lindbergh’, Björn’s work can certainly be elegant, but is never lifeless. Basically there’s only one thing he really can’t stand: and that’s having his photo taken.

British Vogue, Glamour, Vogue.com – the London stylist kicked off her career by climbing straight to the top of the success ladder. Even style icons like Lou Doillon and Chloë Sevigny were always grateful when Karen found the right look for them. Karen Munnis considers herself very lucky to be working for international magazines, films and music video productions, as well as getting to be around actors and musicians all the time. She never feels like she needs a holiday from her job: a speedy cycle through the metropolis on the Thames with a small detour through the Columbia Road flower market is holiday enough. However, Karen still has plans to head to Hawaii this summer, where she’s planning a big get-together with family and friends.

More than anything else, the Hamburgbased stylist and artist adores Madrid, the city she was born in, and is an expert on the local nightlife. Her style icon, however, is Italian: the fashion journalist Anna Piaggi, who always caused a sensation with her outrageous outfits and who sadly died last year. If you’re constantly creative and on the move like Adelaida, you need to unwind every once in a while: so her favourite pastime is camping out on northern Spanish beaches with her kids and eating octopus, or ‘pulpo a la gallega’ as it is known in those parts. This helps her to recharge her batteries for the work in her artists’ collective ‘La Roquette’ which, on the other hand, is French and means ‘rocket’.

COLUMN CHEEKY TONGUE

03/2013

FAB OR FAIL? WHO GIVES A HOOT?! TEXT GERLIND HECTOR ILLUSTRATION MATHIAS SUESS

Mainstream sucks! There’s absolutely no way we want to look like everyone else – that’s obvious. Of course we want to come across as hip, cool even, but by no means as a fashion victim. You know what we mean, right?! But what’s the best way to walk that fine line between cool and uncool? You know the story: you’ve barely worn that super cute T-shirt from the famous chain store whose name consists of two capital letters – okay, fair enough, there are other options available, but that’s irrelevant here – and bam, suddenly everyone is running around town sporting the very same tee. Embarrassing to say the least! You can witness the same phenomenon amongst the hipsters frequenting the ‘über-hip’ neighbourhoods of large cities: pounding the pavements with their geeky hornrimmed glasses perched on their noses, sporting nerd hairstyles, the skinniest drainpipe jeans and canvas tote bags, completely convinced they are crazy trendsetters. But in reality they look as if they’ve been cloned, which is actually pretty damn uncool. Individuality is not an easy feat. We’re better off searching for our new summer clobber on the internet in cool blogs. “I bet no one will have that,” we shout out in glee! But the second we click on it, the inevitable ‘You may also be interested in the following products’ pops up. We’re pretty transparent and our consumer decisions are rather predictable to say the least. Perhaps we should pause for a second and really think about what we actually like. If you dare to start mulling that over, you’ll quickly open up the floodgates to a deluge of questionable choices. After all, if we are honest, we’d really prefer to wear a fluffy onesie with elasticated cuffs and ankles 24/7. So comfy and cosy! And we wouldn’t get cold feet or blisters if we paired our posh new strappy sandals with tennis socks. And anyway: cotton knickers fit best if you can pull them right up to your bellybutton. That’s a fact, just a shame it also looks ridiculous. But so what? Just because everyone is calling their sprogs Amelia or Harry, it doesn’t mean we can’t swim against the current and decide to christen ours Brenda or Walter. They are nice names after all – even if they don’t happen to be ‘in’ right now. Why do we even let it bother us? Sociologists talk about so-called peer groups, with whom we feel the need to identify. That gives us a feeling of belonging and makes us feel safe. Aha! See, at the end of the day we are all just herd animals after all. Following the flock and wanting to belong. Which explains why we are more than keen to chase after the next new trend that comes our way. But if you really want to be brave, you can start off small: for example with the knickers. Or are there any of you out there who have been secretly rebelling by wearing belly-warmers for years already? Perish the thought!

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BOOK LOOKIN’

03/2013 Photo: Rico Scagliola & Michael Meier

DIANA WEIS (PUBLISHER) COOL AUSSEHEN – MODE & JUGENDKULTUREN Looking Cool – Fashion and Youth Cultures Once upon a time … there was a black leather jacket. That’s how a tale of youth culture might begin. And with this “uniform of non-conformists” begins the anthology dedicated to the subject, which fashion theory lecturer Diana Weis has published for the Berlin Archiv der Jugendkulturen (Berlin Archive of Youth Cultures). Made famous by Marlon Brando in the 50s film classic ‘The Wild One’, passed on to John Travolta, before finally landing on the much narrower shoulders of the Ramones – that’s the way it can go in a world that is definitely not as anti-fashion as it perhaps first may seem. On the contrary. Even in the mid-20th century the once fringe group of the ‘Halbstarken’, or the rebels without a cause – mostly male adolescents from working class families who appeared in public in an aggressive and provocative way during the 1950s in Germany – were discovered by the fashion industry. Not only as a worthwhile target group, but also as a creative source of ideas and willing icons. Today even the most mainstream fashion retailer knows that you won’t get very far in the business without some street-credibility. Styling as a method of rebellion as well as a sign of belonging – ‘Cool Aussehen’ (Looking Cool) illustrates this dichotomy. The 240-page publication, which was financed in part by crowd-funding, is divided into 24 chapters that follow a loose chronology, but by no means claims to cover all bases. Thus the 22 authors often combine their own biography with the subculture to which they are dedicating their text. The spectrum ranges from mods, dandies, poppers (who listened to mainstream pop) and punks down to hip-hoppers, riot grrrls and the lolitas of the 21st century. As well as subcultural groupings and their styling, individual iconic outfits are also examined more closely. There are, for example, chapters about the ‘kutte’ or ‘battle’ jacket (worn by bikers and punks), the bomber jacket, the Palestinian scarf (the original and the cashmere version by Lala Berlin), as well as skinny jeans. And there is also some philosophising about the significance of individual brands over the course of time, including Ben Sherman, Dr. Martens and Fred Perry. Numerous photos come from the Archive of Youth Cultures, a public library in Berlin, which collects testimonials of the past. And if you’re old enough to have experienced it all live, you won’t only appreciate the photographic evidence, but also the headlines like ‘Was lacostet die Welt?’ (What does the world Lacoste?) and ‘Pretty in Pink’. The fact that the book concludes with the chapter ‘Die Jungen sehen alt aus’ (The Young Ones Are Looking Old) does not contradict the project as such, but instead underlines the complexity of the youth culture phenomenon. /ew

‘COOL AUSSEHEN’ IS PUBLISHED BY THE ARCHIV DER JUGENDKULTUREN, BERLIN, AND COSTS 36 EUROS. AVAILABLE IN GERMAN ONLY.

AXEL HOEDT ONCE A YEAR ‘Once a Year’: the title says it all. This 104-page photo book compiles a selection of costumes, typical of the Swabian-Alemannic carnival tradition. And what makes it so unusual: the photos do not convey any of the noisy commotion, the smell of beer or the feel of swaying elbows digging in your side. On the contrary, the costumed people, photographed in the studio or in front of various other non-carnival backdrops, almost appear somewhat introverted. Their faces are smiling, but they are lost in reverie and often gazing into the distance. In their hands the harlequinesque revellers, masked people, witches or mythical creatures can be seen holding large bells, whips and other noise-making instruments, but they are not using them. Fashion and portrait photographer Axel Hoedt originally comes from the Breisgau region of Germany but is now based in London. In his photos, which were awarded the Otto Steinert Prize, he deals with a centuriesold tradition from his native region, which seemed dubious to him when he was a child, but went on to fascinate him as an adult. For three weeks he travelled through villages in southern Germany, taking photos of the costumes, some of which are over five hundred years old, of the local carnival revellers. But he succeeds in removing them from the raucous merrymaking and cheerfulness of the moment. Traditionally, the end of the exuberant ‘fifth season’ marked the beginning of Lent and a six-week fast. On the eve of this traditional fasting period, with the church’s tacit approval the people had the chance to really let their hair down before the long period of abstinence. With its excessive exaltation, according to Christian beliefs the carnival season stood for the ‘civitas diaboli’, the kingdom of Satan, and with it for transience. The photos also brilliantly illustrate the morbid aspect of the ‘mummers plays’, the folk tales performed by masked folk, in which the traditional character of the jester, who despite his brightly coloured garb, always wears the face of tragedy. In ‘Once a Year’, the German carnival tradition is brought to life as a time in which people shed their standardised identity and live out different sides of their persona – existing only in the moment, as if there were no tomorrow. That is exactly the image that Axel Hoedt sensitively captures, of this long-since commercialised custom, not by showing the excesses but by creating a reflective moment. Which also has a lot to do with the fact that he combines his portraits of costumed revellers with colourreduced shots of regional forest landscapes, as well as abandoned streets and buildings. /fw

ONCE A YEAR IS PUBLISHED BY STEIDL, GÖTTINGEN, AND COSTS 28 EUROS. AVAILABLE IN GERMAN AND ENGLISH.

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STREET STYLES INTERNATIONAL LONDON

03/2013

STREET STYLES INTERNATIONAL

LONDON Fotos Axel Siebmann

STREET STYLES INTERNATIONAL BERLIN

03/2013

STREET STYLES INTERNATIONAL

BERLIN

STREET STYLES INTERNATIONAL COPENHAGEN

03/2013

STREET STYLES INTERNATIONAL

COPENHAGEN

03/2013

STREET STYLES INTERNATIONAL PARIS

STREET STYLES INTERNATIONAL

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:: BOUTIQUE HOTEL :: 24 UNIQUE ROOMS :: :: LOCATED IN THE CENTRE OF ANTWERP - BELGIUM :: :: RESTAURANT :: BAR :: ROOFTOP TERRACE :: :: MEETING ROOMS :: WWW.HOTELLESNUITS.BE SLEEP@HOTELLESNUITS.BE

CITY GUIDE ANTWERP

03/2013 ILLUSTRATION ROMAN KLONEK

CITY GUIDE ANTWERP HOT SPOTS FASHION CONCENTRATED

STREET PEOPLE ANTWERP TWELVE

CITY GUIDE ANTWERP

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FASHION CONCENTRATED TEXT ILONA MARX PHOTOS GULLIVER THEIS

Why Antwerp? What exactly does the compact little city on the Scheldt River have that predestines it as a centre of fashion? Why is there such a surprisingly high density of progressive designers, ingenious and extravagant store concepts, beautiful small boutiques and, first and foremost, the renowned fashion academy, which is regarded as one of the most important breeding grounds for talent in Europe? If you listen to the people who live here, it soon becomes clear: the question should be reworded as: what doesn’t Antwerp have?! And the answer to that would be exorbitant rents, distraction caused by excessive entertainment offers, competition from more established colleagues moving in on your patch, the hectic pace of a big city, long distances or anonymity. Without all of these negative factors, according to those who have set up camp here in Antwerp, the city, in the shadow of the Cathedral of Our Lady, is a wonderful place to earn one’s crust. The focal point of the local fashion scene is, and remains, the ‘Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten’, which is celebrating its impressive 350year anniversary this year, along with its fashion department, which can already look back on 50 years. Half a century during which the famous university, renowned for its demanding courses, not only yielded the legendary Antwerp Six, but also many other talents who have contributed to putting Belgian design up there on the international stage and making it a major export hit. Martin Margiela, Stephan Schneider, Tim Van Steenbergen, Christoph Broich, Sofie D’Hoore, Bruno Pieters, Veronique Branquinho – the list of melodious-sounding names is endless. It also says a lot that many of the former academy students have remained faithful to Antwerp to this day. And of the Antwerp Six the majority have stayed: Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene and Walter Van Beirendonck still have their ateliers here. And Van Beirendonck has progressed from former student to director of the fashion department, where he is actively involved in shaping the university’s fashion education. The others enrich the city with their collections and flagship stores. Avant-gardist designs also influence the streetscape: inspiration can be felt everywhere – and transfers to other disciplines. After all, the fashionistas also ensure booming business in the cool antique shops on the Kloosterstraat. They populate the cafés, restaurants and bars, which have established themselves south of the Old Town around the Museum of Fine Arts. Still going through a phase of self-discovery is the area north of the cathedral, which is currently being transformed from a no-go area into a real hotspot. Since it opened two years ago the MAS, the impressive Museum aan de Stroom, has been acting as an accelerator for development. The exhibits focus on Antwerp’s history as a harbour and trading town and the museum itself has become a new landmark in the city with its architecture reminiscent of a gigantic warehouse, its 360-degree panorama roof at a height of 60 metres and the ‘Dead Skull’ mosaic by 20

Luc Tuymans on the square in front of the building. Which brings us on nicely to the topic of art: as well as the Museum of Fine Arts, the M HKA Museum of Contemporary Art, showing works from 1970 to the present day, is a must, as well as the Photo Museum and the Fashion Museum – and for citizens of the world, a visit to the Rubens House is, of course, compulsory. But visitors will also stumble upon many an artistic gem on the banks of the Scheldt without having to pay an entrance fee: the Huis van Roosmalen for example, which was designed by Bob Van Reeth, and the art deco buildings in the Berchem neighbourhood. So you see, there’s a whole lot more to discover than the modest size of Antwerp first suggests. The city is rich, and not only because of its diamonds. We could even go so far as to compare Antwerp with a Belgian praline: the most exquisite filling condensed into the smallest of spaces. A real treat which J’N’C editor-in-chief Ilona Marx and the Hamburg-based photographer Gulliver Theis quickly acquired a taste for. With Mediterranean-like temperatures, their search for 20 Antwerp hotspots turned out to be an extremely enjoyable task.

CITY GUIDE ANTWERPEN

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HOT SPOTS ANTWERPEN NICHT NUR MODISCH, SONDERN AUCH ARCHITEKTONISCH HAT ANTWERPEN EINIGES ZU BIETEN.

SHOPPING

Kl GARDE-ROBE NATIONALE Km RENAISSANCE Kn GRAANMARKT 13 Ko DVS Kp ANN DEMEULEMEESTER Kq STEPHAN SCHNEIDER Kr SEVEN ROOMS Kt ARRANGERIE 13 Lk HENRI Ln MAGAZYN Lo LOFT STYLES Lp BEYOND FASHION Lq STEP BY STEP Ls VIKTOR

S. 22 S. 22 S. 24 S. 25 S. 26 S. 26 S. 27 S. 29 S. 31 S. 32 S. 33 S. 34 S. 34 S. 35

EAT, DRINK & SLEEP

Ks HOTEL LES NUITS Ll DÔME SUR MER Lm ZUIDERTERRAS Lr FELIXPAKHUIS Lt HOTEL O SUD & KATHEDRAL Mk FISKEBAR

S. 28 S. 31 S. 31 S. 35 S. 36 S. 37

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CITY GUIDE ANTWERP — HOT SPOTS

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Km Kl

GARDE-ROBE NATIONALE

RENAISSANCE

Even if Garde-Robe Nationale is surrounded by spectacular shops, like Renaissance or Seven Rooms, and somewhat obscured by various small and middle-sized fashion boutiques, Garde-Robe Nationale is a pioneer. The owners of this multi-brand store were the first to recognise the potential of the street and knew how to use it. It’s only recently that Nationalestraat has been refurbished and beautified. Before that, very few shoppers ventured beyond Dries Van Noten’s Modepalais, from where they would automatically turn the corner onto Lombardenvest or Kammenstraat, streets famous for their vintage shops and young fashion stores. But times have changed and the owners of Garde-Robe can give themselves a pat on the back for having had such good foresight almost eleven years ago and for persevering for so long. With collections by designers like Tim Van Steenbergen, Bruuns Bazaar, Magdalena, Closed, Humanoid and Just in Case, they continue to meet the taste of their female clientele. The team, which has hardly changed since the early days, very much identifies with the store’s range; no doubt a considerable contribution to their success. “We advise our customers with absolute honesty,” says the Garde-Robe Nationale team. “It’s no use to anyone if our customers go home unhappy with their purchase.” Not only has the street outside the shop been revamped, but with the help of young architect Dieter vander Velpen the interior of the shop was also renovated – so Garde-Robe is currently sparkling with a new sheen. Here’s to another successful decade.

A true renaissance. The ground floor of this building on Nationalestraat has already been home to a spectacular fashion store: none other than Yohji Yamamoto, whose collection was presented on an expansive 800 square metres. Since his successor ‘Renaissance’ moved in, things are being run somewhat more democratically. Labels like Acne, BLK DMN (a new basic collection by Johan Lindeberg), Alexander Wang, Unconditional, MM6 by Martin Margiela and Kenzo share the large, light-filled space. “We want to be innovators and bring new labels to the city,” they say at Renaissance. That’s why, along with the more established labels, designs by young, unknown talents play an important role. The owner of this impressive multi-brand cornucopia is the Lampis family, a well-known name in Antwerp. This family has been running the fashion emporium ‘Princess’ on the main shopping street, the Meir, since 1960. They also own a number of restaurants. So what could be more fitting than devoting part of their expansive area on the Nationalestraat to culinary pleasures? Adjacent to the Renaissance is a ristorante serving fine, Italian-inspired cuisine. So visitors to Renaissance are well catered for, in addition to knowing that they are in the best of company – the same building also houses the fashion museum, Momu, the Flanders Fashion Institute FFI, the Copyright bookshop and the fashion department of the famous Royal Museum of Fine Arts. As you can imagine, this house is the main hub of the city’s fashion scene. So those students brooding over their designs on the upper storeys of the building could well be Renaissance’s celebrated newcomers of the future.

GARDE-ROBE NATIONALE NATIONALESTRAAT 72 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 4858687 WWW.GARDE-ROBE-NATIONALE.BE

RENAISSANCE NATIONALESTRAAT 28-32 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 3690108 WWW.RENAISSANCE-ANTWERP.COM

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CITY GUIDE ANTWERP — HOT SPOTS

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GRAANMARKT 13 Another concept store anyone? The more experienced city hoppers amongst you will muster only a tired smile at the idea of bringing mixed disciplines in design, food and fashion together under one roof. Too many copycats have followed in the rather large footsteps of Colette in Paris. In the last few years there’s been way too much intention and not enough actual concept. But that’s not the case with Graanmarkt 13: here, the principle has not only been understood but also developed and fully owned. So excessively in fact, that one could even talk about a kind of conceptual way of life. The owners themselves prefer the term “open house”, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The first things on the checklist are: fashion and interior design? Check. Isabel Marant meets Marni meets Raquel Allegra meets Nymphenburger porcelain. Food? Check! The awardwinning young chef Seppe Nobles cooks up a storm down in the basement. And this is where it gets interesting: the vegetables that end up in the pots down there are grown up on the rooftop. The dishes are seasoned with home-grown herbs and sweetened with honey from their own bee colony. Still not enough? Okay then, the two brains behind the Graanmarkt 13, Ilse Cornelissens and her husband Tim van Geloven, also live in the building. Together with the bees, the veggies and all the beautiful things. The fact that this won’t be the case for much longer, since the couple are moving to the countryside, doesn’t harm the concept in any way, on the contrary in fact. The upper floors of this fantastic old building are being turned into apartments and will soon be available for rent for styleconscious visitors to Antwerp. The question worth posing here is whether these future tenants – in view of the bountiful opportunities and delicious food in the building – will actually manage to leave Graanmarkt 13 at all. A truly luxurious problem that we’ll leave you to discuss amongst yourselves. GRAANMARKT 13 GRAANMARKT 13 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 3377992 WWW.GRAANMARKT13.BE

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CITY GUIDE ANTWERP â&#x20AC;&#x201D; HOT SPOTS

DVS Walter and Dirk are a dream team. As members of the Antwerp Six, the famous Antwerp Academy graduates from 1980-81 who attained avant-garde fashion rock-star status, Walter Van Beirendonck and his business and life-partner Dirk Van Saene are partly responsible for making Antwerp what it is today: a small and exquisite fashion Mecca that provides bountiful inspiration in a very small space. What immediately catches the eye is the unusual density of upmarket shops, which is exactly what these two Belgians have most contributed to. In 1999 Walter Van Beirendonck opened his legendary shop, located in a former parking garage. This is where his spacious and decadent interior design managed to set new benchmarks. A legal wrangle with the landlord meant that the shop had to close after 13 years. But now Dirk is going on the offensive. With DVS, he is setting modern standards with his salon-like store on Schuttershofstraat, discretely tucked away on the first floor of an old building with elegant shuttered shop windows. Above Coccodrillo, a shoe shop, which is well known by insiders, there are three spacious interconnecting rooms. Since February this year, they have been home to the collections by Sofie Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hoore, and Veronique Branquiho who is currently celebrating a comeback. And next to them of course are the designs by the masters themselves. Despite the fact that the collections radiate elegance, a sense of fun has not been forgotten at DVS. This is where the Dutchman Maarten Bass comes in, whose clothing racks, lamps and vases made from synthetic clay that seem to be awkwardly made by an inexperienced hand, manage to perfectly round off the fashionable high-end design in a tongue-in-cheek way. DVS SCHUTTERSHOFSTRAAT 9 2000 ANTWERP T +32 488 492814

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Kq Kp

ANN DEMEULEMEESTER

STEPHAN SCHNEIDER

Not only does she look like she has just stepped out of a Flemish painting, she is also an icon of Antwerp fashion. Unerringly following her own style, carefully, but constantly moving forward with an unpretentious, very Belgian attitude, Anne Demeulemeester has managed to thrive in the fashion business for a quarter of a century. With her former student colleagues from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Dries Van Noten, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs and Marina Yee, she helped Belgian design rise to international renown: The legendary Antwerp Six were born. Antwerp, having long been a blind spot on the fashion map, offered fertile ground for unconventional ideas. Unhampered by high prices, the hard competition and the stressful life of the Paris fashion scene, Anne Demeulemeester could flourish here freely. Her first ladies’ collection was released in 1987. In 1996 the menswear collection followed suit. In 1999 she opened her first shop in a former laboratory of the Ministry for Agriculture on Leopold de Waelplaats with a view of the stunning Museum of Fine Arts. The location may be coincidental, but the fact is that Demeulemeester has always sought contact with the art world for inspiration. Her work has been shown in many international museums and galleries, including the MoMA in New York, the Louvre in Paris, the Boyar in Brussels and the Haus der Kunst in Munich. These days she is currently focusing more of her attention on the East, and with her shops in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo, she is showing just how much the European avantgarde sets the tone in fashion-hungry Asia.

In the case of Stephan Schneider the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts has also been able to fully live up to its reputation as a breeding ground for talent. It was from here, after graduation, that the German designer made the leap into self-employment. The designs, with which he graduated in 1994 as the best in his class, not only brought him a prize, but also the opportunity to present at Paris Fashion Week. It was there that he attracted the attention of several international buyers who ordered his first collection – and the business was born. Since then Schneider has regularly shown his designs in the city on the Seine and sells his fashion worldwide in 70 high-end fashion shops. In 1996, with the help of his old uni friend, the architect Dirk Engelen, he opened his first flagship store in the historic centre of Antwerp. Another store followed in 2001 in faraway Tokyo. ‘Conservative avant-garde’ is how Schneider describes his style. The designer envelops men and women in the same materials, which gives both sexes exactly the portion of androgyny that is currently so en vogue. Another secret to his success: the workaholic leaves nothing to chance, developing details and the patterns of his fabrics himself. The garments are produced in Belgium. Only then can Stephan Schneider guarantee hand-cut cloth and high-quality finishes. Developing understated design on the interface between nostalgia and the present day, which, despite its simplicity, has a high recognition value – that is the fine art he masters to perfection. And thanks to a guest professorship at Berlin’s University of the Arts from 2007 to 2012, he has also been able to pass his skills on to Germany’s new generation of fashion talents.

ANN DEMEULEMEESTER LEOPOLD DE WAELPLAATS 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 2160133 WWW.ANNDEMEULEMEESTER.BE

STEPHAN SCHNEIDER REYNDERSTRAAT 53 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 2262614 WWW.STEPHANSCHNEIDER.BE

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CITY GUIDE ANTWERP — HOT SPOTS

SEVEN ROOMS The fictitious couple Mr and Mrs Fox, who recently moved into ‘Seven Rooms’ on Sint-Antoniusstraat, lead an incredibly interesting life. They love to travel and fortunately have the necessary funds to be able to pick up the most unusual souvenirs on their trips. These are then used by the glam pair to decorate their loft-style shop, giving the Antwerp clientele an insight into their good taste. And as the Foxes are seemingly very sociable, every second Thursday in the month they also invite guests to a special event in their light-filled premises. And that’s the story so far. The idea is a product of the imagination of the real owners of ‘Seven Rooms’, the Belgian Gustav Bruynseraede and the Italian Aldo Torelli, who took the location on from the previous tenant Walter Van Beirendonck in January 2013. The former parking lot, which was also given a highly creative makeover by Van Beirendonck, was crying out for an unusual concept – so the idea with the Foxes fitted the bill perfectly. Driven by voyeuristic curiosity and at the same time curbed by respect for the couple’s supposed privacy, first-time visitors will enjoy wandering around the open kitchen, the spacious bed and the stylishly arranged bathroom. And of course things get really exciting in the dressing room where collections by labels including Comme des Garçons, Petar Petrov, Prabal Gurung, Au Jour le Jour and Torelli’s own label N8 fill the rails. Of course in reality they weren’t bought in by Mrs Fox, but are the discoveries of Mie Sazen, the Japanese wife of the store’s Italian fashion consultant. The appearance of the shop is known to change on a regular basis, which is not only down to the fact that the furnishings are also up for sale. But that’s absolutely no problem for Mr and Mrs Fox as they love variety! One of the reasons why recently announced plans to make the location available for concerts, private parties and exhibitions were met with an enthusiastic response from the cosmopolitan couple. SEVEN ROOMS SINT-ANTONIUSSTRAAT 12 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 2271200 WWW.SEVENROOMS.BE

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HOTEL LES NUITS Lots of things are better à deux – and that not only applies to people, but also to business. This is the same principle the Hotel Les Nuits, a four-star establishment at Lange Gasthuisstraat 12, followed over a number of years with their profitable partnership with interior design specialist ‘Flamant’, housed in the same building. And using the in-house products, the stylist of the interior design shop on the ground floor designed the 24 rooms and suites of the boutique hotel on the upper floors. They recommended each other’s businesses and were able to perfectly maximise the synergies thanks to the close proximity of the two premises. But at the beginning of 2013 the interior designers moved to an even more prestigious setting, or to be precise to the ‘Paleis op de Meir’, a royal city palace from the 18th century. And this also heralded a new era for the Hotel Les Nuits. A new partner was sought and found with the new tenants – another furniture shop – who have recently moved into the ground floor. An extensive renovation of the in-house restaurant and a revision of the concept were also on the agenda. The former ‘Flamant’ restaurant is now ‘Bar Cesar’, which, together with the hotel’s reception, is located on the first floor of the building and designed in the style of a New York lounge. Whether for lunch, afternoon tea, an aperitif, dinner or a live concert – in future Cesar wants to welcome its guests with open arms whatever the time of day. Especially in summer, when the large sun-drenched terrace is open, it’s sure to be packed. But no need to worry: the personal service will ensure that hustle and bustle won’t be too much for guests of the small and familiar hotel. After all, even though you’re actually in the middle of Flanders, it’s kind of nice to imagine for a moment that you’re being served one for the road in a New York bar. HOTEL LES NUITS LANGE GASTHUISSTRAAT 12 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 2250204 WWW.HOTELLESNUITS.BE

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CITY GUIDE ANTWERP — HOT SPOTS

ARRANGERIE 13 Three friends and one ideal that will unite them for the rest of their lives. That is the story behind Arrangerie 13, a workshop for furniture and home accessories located in a side street of the Kloosterstraat, dotted with antique shops. It all began in the seventies, when the three enthusiastic handymen Guy Gruyaert, Johan De Bruyn and Chrisosthôme Baillieux, who met each other in a workshop, got together to restore rustic furniture – which was a huge hype at the time. Even before the first antique shops opened in the neighbourhood, the three had conquered the market. Both private individuals and business customers came to Arrangerie 13 to have their favourite pieces of furniture restored or made on site. The trio was never in it purely for the money. They were simply enthusiastic about their job and working together, which is still the case today – for at least two of them: Guy and Johan are still actively involved in the business, while Chrisosthôme is meanwhile retired and spending his twilight years with his African wife in Togo. Young carpenters have joined the team, and the chances are good that they will continue running the shop in the way the owners would want, even long after they have left, which would involve the following formula: no excessive prices, honest work, plenty of idealism and good taste. It’s a principle that is paying off: for years now Arrangerie 13 has been regularly designing the shop windows at Dries Van Noten, the city’s most famous designer. Even the colleagues from the Kloosterstraat bring their little gems to the store – as for most of them it would be too expensive to run their own workshop. As well as restoration and restyling, another of the company’s mainstays is the purchase and sale of vintage furniture. This means that Arrangerie 13, which is spread over three floors, is a veritable treasure trove for interior design pieces from 1950 to 1990. And it goes without saying that in the hands of the honest, down-to-earth craftsmen Guy and Johan, you most certainly won’t be paying through the nose. ARRANGERIE 13 MUNTSTRAAT 13 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 2312161 WWW.ARRANGERIE.BE

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CITY GUIDE ANTWERP — HOT SPOTS

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HENRI Henri is new to the city, but he has already made a lot of friends. Which isn’t actually surprising, as Henri is a good guy, who knows exactly what is currently on trend. He has a real nose for business, loves the exclusivity, but is not willing to pay exorbitant prices for any old, senselessly hyped product. In a nutshell: Henri is cool. And Sarah van Hove and her partner Sebastiaan Bas, who manage the new concept store on Volkstraat, very much agree. The owner of the shop project prefers to stay in the background – but we can reveal that his middle name is ‘Henri’. The managers of the two-storey shop were content with temporary stores for a while, but at the end of March this year, the time had come to find a fixed abode for Henri and his favourite products. And now they are all together in one place: suits, knitwear and shirts by Pablo Nero, denims by G-Star and 7 For All Mankind, wooden eyewear by Kerbholz, shirts by Add My Berry, colourful bags by Skimp, cosmetics by Kyoku and Baxter of California and fantastic bicycles – the visual highlights of the store, which sparkle not only inside, but also out front in the springtime sun, which has a lot to do with their golden wheel rims. Henri has his own small bike label. Customers can tailor them to their own tastes, choosing from every conceivable colour and feature. So although the wish for an eggnog-yellow frame combined with white wheel rims, a white saddle and canary-yellow handlebars may seem rather extravagant, it will be acknowledged with a knowing nod by the guru of good taste Henri – for him no combination seems too whacky or absurd that he wouldn’t be willing to try it out. The same goes for the drinks: on the self-made wooden boxes in front of the shop, where you can shoot the breeze and discuss the coolest bike features, he serves his friends Fever-Tree Cola, VL92 gin and Ibizan beer.

It’s a well-known fact that Antwerp has a cathedral. But only a very well-informed number of visitors to the city are aware that another ‘Dôme’ exists. Most of them are gourmets, as the establishment is an exquisite restaurant, tucked away in a chic residential neighbourhood. Strictly speaking, there are three ingredients contributing to this establishment. First of all: Dôme, an upmarket restaurant, which does actually have a domed cupola. Located right opposite is Domestic, a bakery selling delicious treats. Third in the trio is Dôme sur Mer, a fish restaurant right next to Domestic, where uncomplicated, but delectable dishes await diners. The signature dish of this attractive corner restaurant is the calamares, prepared here Basque-style ‘a la plancha’. While the asparagus, which is served with eggs, parsley and plenty of good butter, is very Flemish, the salmon, seasoned with dill, mint and lemon is more Nordic. But the half a dozen oysters, or even better, the full dozen, will transport you to France. And everything is prepared before the eyes of the fresh fish-fanatic clientele – the open kitchen and the large windows mean that there can be no secrets in the preparation. And even the fish see everything here. The little guppies swimming their lengths in the restaurant’s own aquarium, which covers the whole length of one wall, cast a suspicious eye on the goings-on outside. But they don’t have to worry: there’s no fear of little fish like them ending up on the plates at Dôme sur Mer.

From a town planning point of view, it does make you wonder. The people of Antwerp have a beautiful, quiet river flowing through their city, flanked by wide sunny banks – and what are they doing with this great natural asset? Instead of trying to squeeze a buck out of it, they’re hiding it under tin roofs and parking their cars there. But wait, there are two exceptions. The Noorderterras and the Zuiderterras are two restaurants much like two non-identical twins, breaking up the parking lots with 700 metres between them. While the Noorderterras rises from the Scheldt like a splendid city palace, the Zuiderterras is a shining example of contemporary architecture. Designed by the famous Antwerp architect Bob van Reeth, also responsible for the Huis van Roosmalen and other local gems, the Zuiderterras was built in the nineties on the ruins of the previous building that burnt down in 1973. Too soon, according to the restaurant owners. The people of Antwerp weren’t ready for the architecture of the forward-thinking van Reeth, which is why the building caused quite a lot of controversy in its time. Now, however, the building is an Antwerp landmark and the restaurant is popular amongst locals and tourists alike. And it’s no wonder: whoever experiences the light-flooded and elegantly mirrored interior design or the adjoining terrace, shaped like a ship’s bow, while savouring a “Salad du luxe” with marinated tiger prawns, crab sushi and perfectly fried scallops, and perhaps sipping a glass of Chardonnay, enjoying a view of the Old Town or of freight ships heading towards the North Sea, will soon be won over by this location in every sense.

HENRI VOLKSTRAAT 11 2000 ANTWERP WWW.HENRI-ANTWERP.BE

DÔME SUR MER ARENDSTRAAT 1 2018 ANTWERP T +32 3 2817433 WWW.DOMEWEB.BE

ZUIDERTERRAS ERNEST VAN DIJCKKAAI 37 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 2341275 WWW.ZUIDERTERRAS.BE

ZUIDERTERRAS Ll

DÔME SUR MER

CITY GUIDE ANTWERP — HOT SPOTS

MAGAZYN How appealing is the idea of endless beige? In this case: very! Because the city’s most beautiful home furnishings shop doesn’t need any special colour effects. The whole product range in Thomas Haarmann’s spacious Magazyn shop on Steenhouwersvest utilises natural colours and radiates a wonderfully timeless aura. This could well be the reason why big names play a small role here. For Haarmann, what really counts is the “feeling”. This is exactly what his clientele appreciate about the subtle tastes of this native German. And it’s certainly working for Haarmann: this very likable Belgian-by-choice has been running his business for the last five years, combing trade fairs in New York, Paris, Milan and Stockholm for the most beautiful objects and furnishings. He often finds what he is looking for from companies like Society from Italy, Pott from Germany and Lobmeyr from Austria. Haarmann is not at all elitist; he’d rather create his own designs. This man is an all-rounder who started off by designing a candleholder, and now his own sofa is being released on the market. After a glance at his curriculum vitae, it becomes quite clear that he is not afraid to take a few risks. Haarmann has worked for a furniture company in Amsterdam, as an art director for a shopping centre in Malaysia and as a stylist in London. It was his clientele that brought him to Antwerp: “My target group lives here. The city is not too big, the shops are affordable and I like the style of the Belgians.” His latest move to a larger location and the many excellent press reviews for Magazyn only serve to confirm Haarmann’s faith in his choice of location. MAGAZYN STEENHOUWERSVEST 34A 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 2266606 WWW.MAGAZYN.BE

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LOFT STYLES The industrial vintage trend that has dominated design for a number of years has already assured Freddy Morel a constant flow of customers. Whether it’s Levi’s, Replay, Hugo Boss or Hackett, they all queue up at the dynamic Belgian’s shop to get their hands on a few heavy metal cabinets or massive workbenches. And Freddy believes that no distance is too far to keep his fans supplied and happy. Twice a year he travels to an old aeroplane graveyard in Tuscon, Arizona to get parts for the furnishings he designs himself. Considering his great passion and considerable success, you would hardly believe that he worked for a multinational company until he was 40, before finally fulfilling his dream of owning his own vintage-style furniture business. “I’ve been going to flea markets since I was five years old,” he says with a grin. Nowadays he finds more usable industrial chic at old bakeries and butchers shops – but he still enjoys it just as much. When he got the chance to buy the skeleton of a grizzly bear from a private collector, which now takes pride of place in the Loft-Styles storefront, it gave him a childish sense of pleasure. Now this Canadian bear, with all of its relevant paperwork of course, is priced at 3500 euros. But judging by the glint in Freddy’s eye, he doesn’t actually want to sell it – after all, there isn’t much that could take its place. LOFT STYLES KLOOSTERSTRAAT 55 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 2978011 WWW.LOFTSTYLES.EU

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BEYOND FASHION

STEP BY STEP

The couple Karin de Buysere and René Darmont work in the realm where fashion ends and art begins. They are both graduates of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and for more than twelve years their aim has been to offer a suitable platform to modern jewellery designers. Originally from a fashion design background, after her degree de Buysere specialised increasingly in goldsmith work at the cutting edge between accessory and objet d’art. What she missed was the opportunity to showcase her creations in a suitable manner – ergo the birthing hour of her gallery, the portfolio of which has long since been expanded with designs by colleagues from Germany and abroad. “In Antwerp we are the only ones occupying this niche,” reports business partner and husband René Darmont. “We started off by presenting mainly Belgian artists, but these days we have an international selection of goldsmiths.” And the list also includes a few Germans, such as Tamara Grüner from Pforzheim for example, and the Düsseldorf duo ‘Privat’. The protagonists of the exhibitions are tracked down during the couple’s frequent business trips and on visits to tradeshows in Amsterdam and Munich. De Buysere and Darmont meanwhile represent around 30 jewellery artists. But the fact that their own creative work has had to take a back seat to the time-consuming search for new talents is a sacrifice that they are willing to make at Beyond Fashion. But meeting new people and making their exciting work accessible to the public is far too much fun to let that worry them.

Chantal Rochey and Julie Marynen have been expanding their fashion portfolio step-by-step (hence the name of their store), and obviously in the right direction over the last seven years. The two fashion-inspired owners of the shop on Lombardenvest find their favourite items mainly in New York and Paris. “We were the first ones in Belgium to stock Current/Elliot,” says Chantal with a touch of pride. Back then no one could have guessed how popular the label was going to become. The dynamic duo also stumbled across the sneakers label Golden Goose – which, true to its name, turned out to lay golden eggs: “We have sold over 400 pairs of sneakers from Golden Goose. A fantastic label,” raves Chantal. Chantal and Julie also swear by Marant, Vanessa Bruno, James Perse, Phillip Lim, Band of Outsiders and Alexander Wang. “At the moment we are cultivating a kind of ‘bohemian chic’ look: a seventies-hippieWoodstock-ethno style interpreted in a very elegant way. Isabel Marant embodies this look perfectly.” Nevertheless, Step by Step is constantly on the lookout for new labels. They have a good working relationship with the owners of the showroom ‘The News’ on Broadway, whose brands almost always seem to suit Julie and Chantal’s tastes. And there is always plenty to be found each season at Capsule and Coterie, two trade fairs that also lure the fashion-loving duo to New York on a regular basis. And what the two business partners can’t find, they just make themselves. Their own label Leo rounds off their international range perfectly.

BEYOND FASHION POURBUSSTRAAT 7 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 2378541 WWW.BEYONDFASHION.BE

STEP BY STEP LOMBARDENVEST 18 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 2131854 WWW.STEPBYSTEP-ANTWERPEN.BE

CITY GUIDE ANTWERP — HOT SPOTS

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Ls Lr

FELIXPAKHUIS

VIKTOR

“It’s a well-known fact that Felix means happy. And that’s exactly our aim: to make our customers happy,” is how Tom Le Clef, co-owner of Felixpakhuis, summarises his success strategy in one sentence. And the former marketing manager is only too happy to explain how this happiness comes about: “On the one hand we offer fresh, seasonal and substantial Belgian cuisine here in our restaurant ‘Living’ and next door in the so-called ‘Markt’, where all of the products we use can also be purchased and taken home or enjoyed here for the same price – wines included. On the other hand we see ourselves as an event location. Concerts and readings, poetry slams and short film festivals take place at Felixpakhuis, which enables us to enhance the city’s cultural offer.” Which fits in nicely, as the location is in the city’s communal ownership: it’s a listed former warehouse where goods arriving at the harbour, like flour and citrus fruits, were unloaded and awaited further transport. And so the city archive is also housed on the upper six floors of the impressive building. But Felix manages without any local funding. “We invest the money we earn with the food into the events,” explains Tom Le Clef, adding: “The area here in the harbour is considered expensive. Exclusive lofts, chic restaurants. We want to set ourselves apart from that and appeal to a healthy mix of younger and older people from all social backgrounds.” And they certainly have enough space to do just that, with an area of 4000 square metres, plus a huge terrace on the harbour docks and a salon that can be hired for private gatherings. And the circle of happy people is set to grow when the planned wine and whisky cellar with two adjoining bars opens its doors.

Lotte Stofs and Yannick Moonen wanted to get a dialogue started between gallery visitors and exhibiting artists. And the tool which the young interior designer and furniture designer use to achieve this in their ‘Viktor’ gallery at Falconplein 45 may seem oversimplistic at first – simple coffee serves as the vehicle for bringing artists and art lovers together. But what can we say: it works! While at the beginning of the project the dedicated duo only had the goal of creating a platform for their own designs, they have meanwhile organised several successful exhibitions with different protagonists. And even between previews, closing events and more previews, thanks to the hissing espresso machine and the changing range of art on offer, which also includes furnishings, jewellery and selected accessories, there is always something going on at Viktor. Even during their studies, Yannick and Lotte were aware that unique ideas and plenty of commitment are required in an economic crisis if you’re a small, independent creative looking to draw attention to yourself. “We only support those who need it. If you’re already a big name, then you’ll be getting enough attention elsewhere,” says Yannick, before adding: “All of the interior design pieces and fashion accessories that we show and sell here are handmade.” And as they’re all young and open-minded, nothing stands in the way of cross-disciplinary projects either: whether it’s a pop-up shop or a CD release party, a graphic design workshop or breakfast with like-minded folk – the list of possibilities at Viktor is long. And the surrounding area, which is currently being transformed from being a no-go area to a trendy hotspot, is profiting from this, something which fills Lotte and Yannick with pride. “We love Berlin. And if we can manage to bring even just a tiny bit of this spirit to Antwerp, then we’ll be more than happy.”

FELIXPAKHUIS GODEFRIDUSKAAI 30 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 2030330 WWW.FELIXPAKHUIS.NU

VIKTOR FALCONPLEIN 45 2000 ANTWERP T +32 474 272785 WWW.VIKTORANTWERP.BE

CITY GUIDE ANTWERP — HOT SPOTS

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HOTEL O SUD & KATHEDRAL Close to two of Antwerp’s most remarkable locations – the Cathedral of Our Lady and the Royal Museum of Fine Arts – an enterprising architect going by the name of Jo Peeters has turned his dreams into a reality. Peeters, who is just over 50 years old, always wanted to open his own hotel. And now he has opened not just one, but two upmarket establishments within the same year. The first to open was the HotelO Sud in the well-to-do south of Antwerp – a boutique hotel with 16 luxuriously furnished rooms. Then, just a few months later, he opened HotelO Kathedral, where many of the 23 rooms boast spectacular views of one of Antwerp’s most famous buildings. Needless to say, Peeters and his team were responsible for most of the modifications themselves, and the Belgian was also responsible for the interior design. Equally evident in both hotels is his penchant for matt and glossy black, fine wood and stone floors, open-plan bathrooms and inviting beds, whereby HotelO Kathedral has the additional attraction of some gigantic Rubens prints. Since they are planning to specialise in tourist groups, which is fitting for their location in the heart of the old part of town, the hotel will soon be extended to 35 rooms. The HotelO Sud, on the other hand, mainly attracts younger couples. This area around the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, a little south of the city centre, is the most popular for nightlife in Antwerp. The in-house restaurant ‘Nero’ on the ground floor of the building is booming in much the same way as the neighbouring establishments, the artists’ café Hopper, and Ferrier 30, where fine Italian food is served. This is no coincidence: Peeters knows the local scene inside out: he already owns half a dozen cafés and restaurants in the city, including Hangar 41, Café UFO in the FoMu (FotoMuseum Provincie Antwerpen) and Brasserie Berlin on the Kammenstraat. HOTEL O ANTWERPEN – SUD LEOPOLD DE WAELPLAATS 34 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 2926510 HOTEL O ANTWERPEN – KATHEDRAL HANDSCHOENMARKT 3 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 5008950 WWW.HOTELHOTELO.BE

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CITY GUIDE ANTWERP — HOT SPOTS

FISKEBAR Everything but an insider tip. Fiskebar on the beautiful Marnixplaats has developed into one of Antwerp’s top places to be – which isn’t just down to the cuisine. Yes, the restaurant has an impressive culinary offer, which ranges from freshly caught, simply prepared fish down to shellfish and crustaceans, also served without any unnecessary frills. But the city’s favourite meeting place, which opened in 2007, also boasts an ideal location – the Fiskebar is surrounded by cool bars. And even the unpretentious décor with a Scandinavian touch is sure to have contributed to the fact that the eatery, after just five years, has attained something of a cult status. Another plus point here is the genuine harmony in the team. Karin Schrauwen, Nikolaj Kovdal and Daas Ramasamy worked together for a while before they decided to become self-employed with Fiskebar. And even their service staff, many of whom are aspiring musicians who only work part-time, exude an informal, almost familiar spirit. The fun that the little troop seems to have at work automatically transfers to the guests. “There’s a bit of a rock ‘n’ roll feel,” grins Karen, who is responsible for the service and was just as surprised by the success of the Fiskebar as her fellow colleagues. “We’ve still got all our hands full dealing with the stampede,” admits the likeable blonde. But guests shouldn’t notice that in the slightest: after all, when you’re busy seeing and being seen at Marnixplaats, the time just flies by. FISKEBAR MARNIXPLAATS 11 2000 ANTWERP T +32 3 2571357 WWW.FISKEBAR.COM

CITY GUIDE ANTWERP — PEOPLE

03/2013

BOUCHARA, 29, SHOP ASSISTANT

DAVID, 25, HISTORIAN

DAAN, 40, PHOTOGRAPHER

SHIRT BOY. BY BAND OF OUTSIDERS TROUSERS CURRENT/ELLIOTT TIGHTS FALKE SHOES GOLDEN GOOSE GLASSES VINTAGE

JACKET & TROUSERS VINTAGE PULLOVER COS SHOES NEOSENS GLASSES TIM VAN STEENBERGEN

LEATHER JACKET LIEVE VAN GORP T-SHIRT PETIT BATEAU TROUSERS HUMANOID SHOES OFFICINE CREATIVE BAG ELLEN TRUIJEN

There’s more to discover here than the famous Antwerp Six!

I think fashion here is quite normal. People just wear what they like!

We live in Holland in the countryside, and have our own farm there. Trips to Antwerp are always a mix of inspiration and holiday for us.

MARNIK, 20, ARCHITECTURE STUDENT

ASHNA, 28, FASHION BLOGGER

EDMUND, 25, FASHION DESIGNER

CARDIGAN FILIPPA K SHIRT COS TROUSERS ZARA SHOES MARTIN MARGIELA FOR H&M GLASSES KRIS VAN ASSCHE FOR LINDA FARROW

TROUSERS MONKI BELT & GLASSES H&M SHIRT, SHOES, SCARF & BAG VINTAGE

JACKET BALENCIAGA PULLOVER RAF SIMONS TROUSERS CHEAP MONDAY SHOES GIVENCHY BAG JIL SANDER CAP KENZO GLASSES DRIES VAN NOTEN

Before I came to Antwerp I didn’t know much about fashion. Here you learn all about it just by being in the city!

I’m here for the fashion too. People here are much more stylishly dressed than in Amsterdam – I can breathe here!

Antwerp gives you plenty of room to develop your own personality.

CITY GUIDE ANTWERP — PEOPLE

03/2013

ANTWERP TWELVE PHOTOS GULLIVER THEIS

NUNO, 24, JOURNALISM STUDENT T-SHIRT, TROUSERS & BELT DIESEL SHOES VANS HAT FROM FLEA MARKET It’s easy to get noticed in Antwerp.

ANAIS, 28, INTERN AT RAF SIMONS SHIRT & BAG COS SHORTS AMERICAN VINTAGE TIGHTS KUNERT SHOES PARLANTI MARJOLIJN, 28, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER SHIRT ACNE SHORTS LES PETITES TIGHTS FALKE SHOES COS SUNGLASSES RAY-BAN BAG RABEANCO

Quite a bit of water has flown under the bridge on the river Scheldt, since the famous Antwerp Six left the city’s Academy of the Fine Arts. Despite this, they are still omnipresent in the city and still very much loved, admired and worn by today’s fashion students. The spirit of the Six lives on, as proven by our selection of the twelve coolest street people.

LONNIE, 22, DESIGN STUDENT TOP BRANDY MELVILLE SHORTS ZARA BOOTS TOPSHOP STOCKINGS H&M BELT MANGO WATCH MICHAEL KORS BRACELETS MANGO & DJIDJI BAG PALAIS DE TOKYO LIPSTICK YVES SAINT LAURENT Modesty reigns Antwerp. Whether ones outfit costed two euros or 2000 euros; modesty and decency always seem to be king and queen to the people of Antwerp.

SEO, 27, FASHION DESIGN STUDENT

BARBARA, 31, PHARMACEUTICALS MANAGER

SWEATER & SHIRT RAF SIMONS TROUSERS OWN DESIGN TRAINERS NIKE

T-SHIRT MISS SIXTY SKIRT TED BAKER SHOES MICHAEL KORS BAG FROM MARKET HEADBAND HEMA EARRINGS FROM MY GRANDMOTHER WATCH CASIO

In Antwerp I can really concentrate on myself and my work.

I life in Gent and see a very clear difference between my hometown and Antwerp. People here are so much hipper!

In Antwerp we have the stock sales where the designers sell off their old stock – so we consider ourselves very lucky! 39

MEX I C ANAS PROD U CTIONS PRÄ PRÄSE SENNTI TIEERT RT

DI E FÜHR EN DE INTERNATIONAL E M OD EMES S E

6.-9. JULI 2013

2000 M MO O D E - UUND ND A C C E SSOIRE S- MA RKE N

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BRAND FEATURES

FASHION IS ... HAVING THE LAST LAUGH FASHION AND HUMOUR

HONEST MAN INTERVIEW BRUNO PIETERS

BRAND FEATURES

RESTYLING INSTEAD OF RECYCLING GRP

UP IN THE AIR PME LEGEND

HIP HIP HOORAY! G-SHOCK

LOCAL HERO PRIVATE WHITE V.C.

SHIRTS WITH ECO CHARM ANVIL

HAPPINESS IS ... JACKET REQUIRED

THE MODFATHER MERC

DON’T DREAM YOUR LIFE ... PLAYLIFE

50 52

60 62

68 MODA A LA CATALANA 080 BARCELONA FASHION

ESSAY FASHION AND HUMOUR

03/2013

ESSAY FASHION AND HUMOUR

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FASHION IS … HAVING THE LAST LAUGH Text Fredericke Winkler Illustration Frauke Berg

If there’s one thing we’re not trying to do with our outfits, it’s make people laugh. Fashion can be a lot of things: provocative, scandalous, surreal, strange, yes, even unacceptable. But funny? No thank you. Cheerful clothing is so provincial. If an outfit is described as funny, then that’s just a polite way of saying it’s “not up to much”. If a certain fashion makes you giggle then it’s already past its best. But at the same time, according to psychologists and medical experts, it is humour that makes us happier in our lives, as well as smarter and more attractive. So why does fashion take itself so seriously? Or are we just not getting the joke? Recently I had the honour of joining a panel to judge work by some fashion students. Some was good, some less so. But one collection in particular stuck in my mind due to the fact that it was impossible to top for its sheer ugliness alone. Textiles that had started their lives as cheap and inferior were sewn together into textile creations that seemed neither wearable nor meaningful in any way. And while I tried my best to control my facial muscles, I listened to the deeply serious description of the intellectual superstructure of the project, which the student delivered with panache and grandiloquence. The situation was by far the most comic I had experienced in a long time. And it was funny because of the complete dissonance between what was being said and the work I was seeing in front of me. “Humour is the inversion of the sublime. It debases the great, in order to place the small next to it, and lifts up the small in order to place the great next to it,” writes Jean Paul in his plea for us to see things with more humour. When a situation seems bad, we try to put things in perspective along the lines of ‘it could be so much worse’, which suddenly puts everything into perspective. Even if the aforementioned fashion presentation is a classic example of unintentional comedy: the literally absurd idea of placing an obviously dilettantish collection on the same level with genuine quality work nevertheless fascinated me. Why? Because it challenges the basic tenet of the sublime nature of fashion. The situation reminded me of a comedy sketch by German comedian Hape Kerkeling for his television show ‘Total Normal’. In it, Kerkeling plays a Polish opera singer doing an experimental musical piece, which ends with him shouting out the meaningless word “Hurz!” What makes this successful parody of the (pseudo) intellectual art scene so clever is the fact that the audience is listening to his cultural offering with benevolent recognition. If my student had ended his presentation with a loud “Hurz!”, his work would have no doubt received the highest grade. Not as a fashion collection, but as an artistic work credited for satirising the excessive seriousness of the fashion business. Because after all, the main purpose of fashion is to adorn the body and not – for whatever reasons – to disparage it. PARTLY CLOUDY WITH FASHIONABLE SPELLS As a wingman to the prevailing ideals of beauty, fashion should not endanger its sublime position. After all, the only reason it works is because of the human instinct to imitate the “superior”. At least that is the conclu-

sion one comes to after reading Immanuel Kant’s ‘Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View’. Georg Simmel’s essay ‘Fashion’ also supports this notion. Roman Meinhold describes this quest for improvement in ‘The Fashion Myth: Lifestyle as the Art of Survival’ as an act of “melioration” combined with the aim of aesthetically upgrading the human body. With the help of clothing, we can optimise our appearance and enjoy increased social recognition. In order for fashion to fulfil its purpose, the wearer must have the option of beautifying themselves, according to the norms of their environment. One of comedy’s basic tenets, however, is to break the rules, and an active distancing from accepted norms and expectations. A funny person doesn’t want to improve themselves; they want to juxtapose, by means of language and other forms of expression which they deem to be of interest. They have fun with the senselessness of it all and can discover a new purpose. They bring together things that, on first sight, have no connection, and then reveal small truths within these abstruse creations. According to the Duden dictionary, humour is an attitude of “cheerful equanimity”. Equanimity toward the vicissitudes of life. In short: humour reveals the imperfection in the world and helps the humorous person to deal with it in a positive way. Fashion, however, is always striving toward perfection. Its job is to conceal flaws and to steer the attention to more advantageous parts of the body. With these contrary assignations, how on earth should these two principles of presentation come together? LIFE IS TOO SHORT FOR SIZE ZERO First we have to differentiate between the subject, which finds something amusing, and the actual object of amusement. So it is not a prerequisite that fashion has to have humour in order for us to find it amusing within a certain context. On the contrary: experience shows that, above all, the overly serious is screaming to be made fun of. So whose fault is it that fashion seems to be missing the laughs? The wearer’s, of course. Because fashion certainly fulfils its purpose of optimisation, especially if you try and find a spot of ironic potential here and there. “All higher humour starts from the premise that you don’t take yourself too seriously,” is a quote Hermann Hesse had his character Pablo say in his novel ‘Steppenwolf’. Before you are able to have a hearty laugh about others, you also have to learn to laugh at yourself. The crux with the self-irony? It’s easier for a classic ‘Steppenwolf’ or a person from a fringe group or a subculture than for people who see a realistic chance of riding on the wave of the mainstream. Women with a higher than average body mass aren’t risking their chance for melioration by sporting a T-shirt with the slogan: ‘Life is too short for size zero!’. On the contrary. By ignoring generally accepted ideals of beauty and ensuring that they are invulnerable when it comes to sizing – not without the subtle clue that they are able to shine with other qualities. In this way, they are still attached to the principle of fashion, which is always an interplay between revealing and covering up. However, the attribute of mass compatibility is missing. First of all, the prerequisite is a certain amount of curves for the T-shirt even to make any sense. Secondly, you have to find the mes43

ESSAY FASHION AND HUMOUR

sage amusing in order to buy it, and thirdly you also have to have the guts to wear it. The group of people who fulfi l all three of these criteria is simply too small to be able to constitute a fashionably significant phenomenon. True fashion fun can therefore only be had when a group of people share a common style and have a similar sense of humour, as well as fi nding someone who can create a collection out of it. And if the recognition value is there, one can succeed in delightfully distancing oneself from perceived deficits in the comfort of collective company. When the eco-fairtrade label Greenality produced a T-shirt with the slogan ‘I can dance my name’ onto the market, it was poking fun at the clichéd image of a new generation influenced by the alternative lifestyles of their ecoactivist hippy parents. The T-shirt is an absolute top seller for the young label, which would suggest that there might really be some truth in the cliché, as well as also suggesting the ability of this demographic to laugh at itself. Meinhold describes the phenomenon of fashionable self-ridicule as follows: “When fashion attempts to imitate ‘the inferior’, it becomes a comedy. This certainly doesn’t happen often, but it does for example apply to classic carnival attire when people choose to dress up as criminals, prostitutes, clowns or tramps. However, the question needs to be asked whether such characters do perhaps seem ‘superior’ from the certain point of view of each costumed individual, or why else would they have dressed themselves up like that? Because within each social contact and within the ‘rationality’ of the individual forethought, the ‘inferior’ nevertheless appears as superior.” PERFECTLY IMPERFECT If the imperfect is part of the guiding aesthetic principle of a certain group and the humorous handling of it is part of their communication culture, then fashion must have an ironic undertone. It must be able to fi nd the perfect in the imperfect, so that one can be perfectly adorned by it. That at least would be a fantastic explanation for the success of brands like Comme des Garçons, Jean Paul Gaultier and Gareth Pugh. They play with scale and proportion and exaggerate aspects of the human silhouette. It is a stylistic method with which they challenge generally accepted concepts of beauty. And how exactly is Emma Hill’s beautiful but somewhat shaggy collection for Mulberry from last autumn/winter to be interpreted, when, according to the designer herself, it was inspired by the classic children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak? In order to be aesthetically recognised, a collection certainly doesn’t have to stick to all the rules. It doesn’t have to adhere to physical ideals of beauty, seasonal colour schemes or demands on wearability. So why not use that freedom in order to tell a good joke? If the designer Franco Moschino, who, before his premature death in 1994, was considered the biggest ironist of high fashion, is to be believed, there is really only one rule to be followed: “Funny clothes have to be extremely well made because that is where you fi nd the chic. It’s easy to be funny with a T-shirt, but it’s much cleverer with a mink coat. After all, if caviar were cheaper it would taste much less interesting.” (from the August 2009 issue of British Vogue). When Franco Moschino talks here about ‘well made’ he isn’t merely referring to the quality of the fi nish and the material but also to the design. Because even if a jester is concealed in its folds, it still has to fulfi ll its purpose. It can neither come across as laughable nor sarcastic, but has to be open to the wearer and charmingly fulfi ll their needs in terms of melioration. Otherwise fashion would become separate from the wearer. But fashion is parasitic. Once it loses its direct contact to its host, it shrivels like a flower. A problem that the high-fashion label Prada deals with fullon in the short fi lm ‘A Therapy’. The four-minute commercial (directed by Roman Polanski) is about an upper-class lady (Helena Bonham Carter dressed to the nines in Prada), who goes to her therapist (Ben Kingsley), lies down on the sofa without looking around and starts talking. So she doesn’t notice when her therapist becomes increasingly drawn to her Prada fur coat hanging on the coat rack. In the end he simply can’t resist and slips into the coat himself – an ecstatic moment that is accompanied by the dry commentary: ‘Prada suits everyone’. The fi lm exudes charming self-irony, but nevertheless retains its ‘Prada-esque’ elegance at all 44

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times. It received acclaim not only from the fashion label’s clientele, but also the audience at the Cannes Film Festival. Karl Lagerfeld also manages a light-handed approach to his own weaknesses by making himself the butt of a joke once in a while: “Thank God I am able to make fun of myself. That doesn’t however prevent me from also poking fun at others,” he explained in an interview with German magazine ‘Stern’ in December 2006 (issue no. 51). At the very latest since his last appearance on the popular German television show ‘Wetten, dass …?’ in October 2012 he’s been known and loved for his talent for spur-of-the-moment self-parody. That’s where he uttered the words “It’s not that I think I’m great … but it could be worse.” We can certainly only nod in agreement, because despite his dry-as-a-bone bitchiness, everyone enjoys laughing about King Karl, even those he is making fun of. In an interview with Berlin newspaper BZ on 28 May of this year he expressed his surprise at the benign nature of public opinion about him, although he is known for his “critical words”. He feels he has a kind of poetic licence to be able to say anything, but still be liked despite it all. Despite? Perhaps it is exactly that – after all, the master doesn’t exactly beat around the bush when it comes to his own work either. It would almost seem as though Karl Lagerfeld had read Sigmund Freud’s essay ‘Humour’ written in 1927, where, on the topic of purpose and sense of derisive behaviour Freud writes: “The grandeur in it clearly lies in the triumph of narcissism, in the victorious assertion of the ego’s invulnerability. The ego refuses to be distressed by the provocations of reality, to let itself be compelled to suffer. It insists that it cannot be affected by the traumas of the external world; it shows, in fact, that such traumas are no more than occasions for it to gain pleasure.” In the year 1905 Freud had already spend a fair amount of time researching the concept of humour. ‘The Joke and its Relation to The Unconscious’ is the title of a work in which Freud examines this strategy for increased pleasure and confl ict avoidance more closely. With jokes we overcome our inhibitions, free ourselves of shame and decorum and can briefly dedicate ourselves to the boundless, but nevertheless socially acceptable, pursuit of pleasure. We reduce tension and build solidarity with our counterparts, who understand our humour and share in the increased pleasure. In other words: humour creates intimacy between like-minded people and protects us from attacks on our personality from outsiders. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful defi nition for fashion? In this sense I congratulate the brave creatures who are not too self-involved, despite all seriousness, to indulge in the odd ironic nod when dealing with the topic. A special shout-out to all those labels that support their fans in facing life with cheerful equanimity. For everyone else all I can recommend is shouting out the word “Hurz!”, or a similar, nonsensical alternative, really loudly on the odd occasion. If there’s one thing we’re not trying to do with our clothes, it’s send people into fits of laughter. So we might as well have the last laugh ourselves. FREDERICKE WINKLER IS A QUALIFIED FASHION DESIGNER AND COLLEGE LECTURER FOR MARKETING AND SOCIOLOGY. AS CO-FOUNDER OF THE AGENCY BEYOND BERLIN, SHE DEVELOPS NEW MARKETING STRATEGIES AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF ETHICS AND AESTHETICS.

BREAD & BUTTER tradeshow for successful brands

AIRPORT BERLIN-TEMPELHOF

02.–04.07.2013

www.breadandbutter.com

BRAND FEATURES BRUNO PIETERS, ANTWERP

03/2013

HONEST MAN Interview Oliver Horton

Bruno Pieters

Designer Bruno Pieters is on a mission to save fashion from itself. His brand Honest by, launched last year, is a high end collection whose every component can be traced back to an ethical producer, from thread and buttons to cut and sew. The transparency even addresses the prices, with consumers given a full breakdown of their garment’s expense. Only a few years ago Pieters was art director of Hugo Boss and his own womenswear collection graced the Paris catwalk, but a year off travelling in India inspired him to rethink fashion. On his return to Antwerp he began his research: to find manufacturers who could realize his clean, green vision and collaborators to join him in designing the products. The search has more than paid off: Pieters now sells Honest by via the internet platform of the same name, side by side with fashion and accessories by designers who share the former student of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts’ passion for sustainability. What’s your earliest fashion memory? Watching a Paris couture show on the eight o’clock news with my mother. What I love about her is that she enjoys fashion, but she was always able to have an objective point of view and see it for what it is. Neither she, nor any other woman in my childhood, was ever a fashion victim. They were very strong and opinionated people who were not impressed by the machinery behind it. When I was young that sometimes bothered me but now it’s something I admire.

What garment do you wish you’d designed? I don’t think there is a garment that has been made in the past that I wish I’d designed. I probably designed everything I wanted to design. Do you have an item of clothing that you particularly like to wear? A kind of uniform that typifies you? No I don’t have that kind of thing. When I’m going to an event and I’m there as a designer I usually wear a white shirt and black trousers. Lately, my idea of dressing up is showing up showered and looking clean. How has the Honest by concept evolved since you first imagined it? Honest by is as honest as it has been since the launch one year ago. I haven’t made any compromises. I had a moment when I wanted to sell to other retailers, but I cancelled all orders when it became clear they wouldn’t accept my terms and conditions. Another thing that I don’t do anymore, is invite designers to do a collaboration. When I meet a designer and the contact is good there is a collaboration, but I don’t invite people I don’t know anything about any more. I’m interested in working with people who are proud of what they do and want to share that with the world. I like to live and let live. Has it become easier to achieve the Honest by goals over time? It has never been difficult.

When did you know you wanted to be a fashion designer? When I was about 17 or 18. What I always loved about fashion is that it combines so many art forms, not just design, but also photography and graphic design etc. I like being involved in all those things. And the best thing is that fashion can be a very important tool for change. Because it is something people can follow when it feels right. 46

When you introduced Honest by to the market, were there any surprises? People surprise me every day. Our customers, their enthusiasm: that is what surprises me most. Women and men from all over the world have been discovering Honest by every day of the week for the past twelve

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months and their reactions are so encouraging. It is wonderful to feel the support that is there. And I love how fast the awareness is growing in the entire industry. Things are changing so rapidly now. Which I do think is normal. It’s almost insulting towards your customers now, not to address issues like sustainability. Who is your customer? Someone who is aware of their humanity and simply loves what we do. How would you characterise the people who are hardest to persuade of Honest by’s principles? If there is something I learned last year, then it’s that life is not about trying with all your might to persuade other people of one’s own perspective. It’s like endurance. Endurance is overestimated. In my opinion when we suffer or when we face difficulties, life is telling us that we are not on the right path. I’ve learned to listen to the signs and adjust accordingly. How would you sum up your attitude to the mainstream fashion industry? I created Honest by. That is my statement on the fashion industry. What is the future of fashion? I’m very happy that a company like Honest by can exist in the present. The future of fashion is what the consumer will want it to be. There is no one more important than the consumer in this business. There is no other purpose. Designers are there to supply us with ideas; editors are there to help us buy the offering; the CEOs are there to take care of the finances of the brand and the shareholders are there to cash in. But at the top of that chain is the customer. That is where the cash comes from. Nothing is more powerful than that. Any law, any situation, is irrelevant when one understands their importance in the world. Anything we want

BRAND FEATURES BRUNO PIETERS, ANTWERP

as a consumer, we will receive and will happen. But we need to ask for it. As long as we keep paying companies to be unsustainable, unethical and non-transparent, they will be. Some of my friends get upset when I say these things because they assume I mean that they are responsible for everything bad that is happening in the world. Which saddens me because it is not about who did something wrong but about what we can do to make things right. How do you feel about the marketing of concepts such as sustainability, organic and recycled? The word marketing makes me cringe. There is nothing to market in my opinion. I think people know what they want, who to trust and where to get it. Why is transparency such a hard concept for the industry? A few weeks ago I read some interviews with colleagues of mine and I noticed that no one ever asks them about sustainability or transparency. How can you expect a designer or CEO to start thinking about these things when no one asks him/her about it. Journalists always tell me how concerned they are about our planet, but they never ask or confront designers with these issues. I’m sure it would be very interesting for the public to know what their favourite brand is doing to create more sustainable collections today and not somewhere in the future. Maybe it’s time to start asking them. Does the dominance of Chinese manufacturing worry you? I have incredible faith in myself and in other consumers. We don’t need to boycott products that are made in China or any other low wage country. We only need to pay attention to what we are buying and buy some products that are made in the USA or Europe – as often as we buy from other countries. Just to find that balance again.

BRAND FEATURES BRUNO PIETERS, ANTWERP

You just returned home to Antwerp from a show in Paris. How is Antwerp as a fashion centre? I’m not sure it is a fashion centre at all. And it doesn’t need to be in my opinion. It’s peaceful and unpretentious, and it seems to be working that way. What do you miss most about Paris? I miss the people who live there. Do you have any other projects on the go, parallel to Honest by? I’m working hard on learning to say no to projects. And every time I do, I feel like I’ve accomplished something. Thank you for talking to us. www.honestby.com

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BRAND FEATURES GRP, CARMIGNANO/ITALY

03/2013

Gianni Cappuccini, head of GRP

RESTYLING INSTEAD OF RECYCLING Text Svea Jörgens Photos 7daysisaweekend

Knit one, purl one, drop one: knitting is currently back en vogue. There aren’t many hipsters who haven’t scoured the secondhand stores of the world, looking for scratchy woollen knits, or dug granny’s old needlework out of the attic. A lot of them are even picking up the needles and wool themselves, meeting up to get creative together or to spruce up the country’s lampposts as guerrilla knitters. But the aesthetics of the retro knitwear have yet to be approved by the style police. GRP, a small knitting factory not far from Florence, is showing us how the vintage trend can be interpreted with style. In the Tuscan village of Carmignano the clocks tick slower than elsewhere. Work is done at a relaxed and leisurely pace here, amidst the hilly landscape. This area is close to the well-known Chianti region, where Italy’s most popular zesty dry red wine is produced. The local wine-growing business has shown the residents that quality needs time. And they certainly take their time at GRP. GRP has been producing knitwear of the highest quality since 1973. For a long time they were commissioned by external companies who value their expertise and passion. Only in the year 2002 did they have the idea of setting up their own label. They place the focus on original Italian knitwear, based on GRP’s centuries of experience and the region’s handicraft. But the GRP style is anything but outdated. The brand’s maxim is combining tried-and-tested production methods with contemporary design. In the tiny factory, which, from the outside, looks much like a normal garage with its nondescript rusty metal door, it is loud: very loud. The clatter of the solid, hand-powered machines, on which all of the samples and prototypes are created, never stops. They date back to the fifties and sixties, which means they have more years under their belts than the factory itself, yet they still work like clockwork. 50

Once the garments have passed the quality check, the size and pattern is entered into the computer, from which point the production becomes automated. But the sewing together of the pieces to make the finished item is carried out by hand only. Almost all employees in the factory are spectacle wearers. Unfortunately the young generation is lacking. The region’s youngsters are drawn to the city instead, where a workplace with a desk and a computer beckons. The ones who stay here have never done anything but produce knitwear their whole lives. Highly concentrated, every single stitch is checked. Although mistakes are rarely made at GRP, the quality inspections are essential. After all, they are currently producing the samples for the upcoming Pitti Uomo so they obviously want to show themselves at their best. It is not only the entire production that happens here under one roof; they also take care of their own distribution and communication. The warehouse, office and showroom are all concentrated in Carmignano. No task is voluntarily outsourced. Even when it comes to style they prefer to rely on their own intuition. GRP isn’t trying to be fashionable; the brand is rather trying to orientate itself on the classic men’s look of bygone days. ‘Restyling’ is what they call it. Plain jumpers, cardigans and waistcoats are the key pieces of the collections. And they avoid experiments when it comes to the colours and patterns too: marine blue, off-white, fir green and mocha make up the colour palette of each season. In addition to the men’s collection, step by step, GRP is currently developing a selected range for ladies. Some of the jumpers in the spring/summer collection take their inspiration from the casual US style of the fifties. Despite such nostalgic reminiscing it is obvious that GRP’s priority is on timelessness. Here in Carmignano, they only use the world’s best Italian and British yarn suppliers who select the highest quality wool

from Australia and New Zealand and alpaca from South America. Great attention is also invested in the sourcing of the other materials, such as the characteristic buttons made from real horn or hand-carved olive wood. So it’s hardly surprising that a ‘Made in Tuscany’ knitted garment comes at a price. And they take just a critical approach when it comes to retail: only hand-selected boutiques stock GRP. Despite the crisis, Italy remains the most important market. After all, it’s a wellknown fact that the Italians are always willing to pay slightly more for good style and quality. Germany and Switzerland follow in second place and GRP also sells well in Austria. Not to mention on the Asian market: the vintageloving Japanese would like to order more of the knitted creations by the Tuscans, according to the management, but the aim is to focus on sustainable growth. This is why no further expansion is planned for the time being. The cautious development of existing markets is their top priority. GRP is defending its tradition, fighting for good style and quality. So bearing that in mind, the long sword-like stiletto that features in the company’s logo can be interpreted as a symbolic declaration of war against the fast fashion of our times. And as if that’s not enough: GRP is also developing another brand for which high quality and handcraftsmanship are priority: ‘Casa Isaac’, which is presenting a small collection in 100 percent cashmere. The yarn is spun in Tuscany and turned into sweaters on traditional hand-knitting machines. This small collection adds a high value of poetry to the already very romantic concept of the GRP project. www.maglificiogrp.com

11.-13.09.2013 d端sseldorf, germany

www.gds-online.com

BRAND FEATURES PRIVATE WHITE V.C., SALFORD/ENGLAND

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LOCAL HERO Interview Oliver Horton Portraits Bernd Ott

The Private White V.C. clothing brand was created two years ago, born out of the last remaining coat factory in Manchester. Design director Nick Ashley crafts modern purpose from military, workwear and motorcycle influences – and every piece is made in the UK. J’N’C met him at the brand’s flagship store on London’s Lamb’s Conduit Street, where the bare bricks and wooden display cases hint at Private White V.C.’s industrial past. The son of Laura Ashley, the famous British designer, Nick Ashley is relaxed and ebullient, quick to laugh. He loves clothes and he loves motorcycles – his mobile phone rings with the sound of a bike revving up. Private White V.C. must be one of the few British brands to retain its own factory … And we just added our own mill. So we can make our own cloth and make our own clothes. The mill’s in Huddersfield – halfway between Yorkshire, a traditional wool weaving district, and Lancashire, the centre of cotton weaving during the Industrial Revolution. And I like to mix the two: 100 percent wool is quite compromising because you have to dry clean it. If you introduce cotton on the weft it stabilizes the wool, makes it machine-washable. The mill can weave anything. I can have fun designing the actual cloth, do silk-cashmere mix, which is very thermal if you want to go skiing and climb mountains. We can do jerseys. All sorts of stuff. What’s the history of the Private White V.C. brand?

Owner James Eden’s great grandfather was called Jack White. He was a Private in the army and got a Victoria Cross for bravery. And James was working in the city, all fat and happy, with big bonuses, about to order the Porsche, usual thing. And then he thought, I fancy a bit of a challenge, a bit of integrity. So he went up to Manchester and took on his great grandfather’s factory, which was about to close. It’s the last coat maker in Manchester. There used to be 5000. The factory produces for other people – over the years clients included Burberry, Chanel, Holland & Holland. Now, 25 percent of the output is Private White, and growing. What’s your background? When I left the family business (Laura Ashley; editor’s note), I opened my own business, had a shop in London selling my own outerwear and workwear collection, all made in Great Britain, because I’m a bit of a romantic old fool. We were supplied by about 20 different factories, one of which was the Private White V.C. factory in Manchester. So they’d been supplying me for 20 years. When it was threatened with closure, I got on the next train to have a chat with James, who was the last lifeline. And so, as mentioned, he took on Private White and saved it, hallelujah.

actual mill. And that, to me, is a higher status than a designer brand. Designer label, it’s a bit in the past. Where is Private White V.C. available? Because the sales are online, it’s international. And because it’s online we’re discovering where the customer is that wants to buy the product. Ten years ago we’d have had to open a bunch of shops, London, New York, Tokyo. That wouldn’t have worked. We didn’t even have Germany in our sights. But because we’ve gone online, a lot of Germans have bought online and we’ve realized, ‘Germany! These guys love us.’ But online is a challenge when you’re selling performance and craftsmanship. It is working, but it’s limited, because we make really high performance fabrics and that’s hard to communicate. How has the brand evolved since launch? Things have changed in two years. The military thing is still a theme, as Private White was a soldier. And when it comes to functionality, designing for soldiers really demands all you’ve got, and so Private White V.C. is really top in that respect. But the scene has changed. Now it’s more techno retro, which is more my kind of area: before it was just retro.

What happened to the Nick Ashley business, after the launch of the Private White V.C. brand?

What’s the definitive Private White V.C. piece?

I let that lie. Because basically Nick Ashley was a designer brand. Private White V.C. is a maker’s brand; it’s got an actual factory and an

The factory has been producing the SB4 for 100 years. Single-breasted, 4-button raincoat. An iconic Manchester coat, made in the fac-

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BRAND FEATURES PRIVATE WHITE V.C., SALFORD/ENGLAND

influence comes in, because they use silk as a base layer. It’s a hydrophilic material: it accepts water, deals with it and dries off quickly. That’s much more like modern life. I think these aspects have to be taken into consideration – especially as a menswear designer. After all, men like to be well-equipped, and that applies to their clothing too. People seem to be consuming a lot less now. Something connects them to the products that surround them. These products are their friends, they help them to get through the day, and this connection is the reason why people want to know where the products were made. Are local production methods becoming repopularised?

Nick Ashley

tory from a Manchester cloth, a heavy cotton gabardine. It really sums up the entire knowhow behind Private White. Everything else is an extension of the brand. Including things we can’t make ourselves, like knitwear – we go down the road to our friends John Smedley for that. And we go to our friends Cheaney and Tricker’s for the boots and shoes. Other bestsellers? The twin-track motorcycle jacket in waxed cotton. We work with British Millerain, same supplier as Barbour, but use organic beeswax. The regular petrol-based wax is very smelly and it sheds. The Japanese don’t like it because it’s environmentally unfriendly – and environmentally means when you’re in the underground you brush against someone and you transfer your environment to their environment. And that’s just not done in Japan. We also do a

workwear jacket in military twill, the pre-chino fabric. And we have a bomber, which is an American style but the original design started in Belgium. How will you develop Private White V.C.? The way that I’m taking the brand forward is not as a heritage brand. I don’t want to be a particular style, just good quality general clothing. And then how people style it – if they wear it with an old-fashioned hat, that’s up to them. I believe in the old-fashioned British principle that when a man walks into a room you should notice the man and not the clothes. I’m going to make the products even more simple. And of course the performance aspect is at the forefront too. If you’re living a modern life, like today, running here for the interview: it’s a hot day, I don’t mind if I get wet and clammy so long as I dry quickly. And this is where the military

Underwear, T-shirts, stuff you wear every day will be made in the Far East. You’ll have a few specialist underwear companies like Schiesser in Germany, but people aren’t going to buy bundles of that, ten at a time. People who work in offices will be wearing underwear ‘Made in China’. But they might have a nice shirt, and they’ll definitely spend money on shoes because that’s their status and that’s what gets them laid. When they leave the office and go outside, the outerwear is what says something about them. Because fashion is how a man feels on the inside, reflected on the outside. And this outerwear will increasingly have a local connection. I could imagine that if you’re an American, you want to express your American identity by wearing American-made clothing. Where are you inspired? Besides people watching, I like to go to the Imperial War Museum, downstairs: phenomenal. A clothing archive that’s displayed like that is so good. The only trouble is, it doesn’t change much. But I can’t complain: it’s a onestop shop; it’s only a stone’s throw away from our headquarters and so if I’m short of an idea for a pocket I’ll just take my motorbike and go there, easy. 53

BRAND FEATURES PRIVATE WHITE V.C., SALFORD/ENGLAND

And what do you do for fun? I’ve been racing dirt bikes for about 40 years. Being brought up in Wales I had a choice between rugby and dirt bikes. I’ve done a lot of races over the years. The jewel in my trophy chest is the Dakar Rally, two weeks across Africa. And I finished. But in a car, rather than on a bike, as planned. I qualified for the motorbike race, but then my wife said please don’t do that. And my friend that I’d been training with, he got killed. Then I got 100 percent sponsorship from Toyota to drive it. It was like watching it on TV, watching it through the windscreen, compared to a motorbike it’s like nothing. But once I’d done Dakar I could calm down and race less. Next time I want to drive it with one of my daughters, so we can talk while I drive. Did you discover fashion through your mother, Laura Ashley? In 1967, my mother took me to Carnaby Street, to a shop called Kids in Gear. I was about seven years old. And she kitted me out in the most groovy gear. I walked in – duffel coat and wellington boots, pudding basin haircut. When I walked out I had these jumbo cords, big patent leather belt, flowery Engelbert Humperdinck shirt, shades that were like star shapes. I was just transformed. And I’ve just been in love with clothes ever since. And if I didn’t make any money out of it my wife would just chuck me straight out. My wife is a fully-fledged tomboy, so the fact that I actually care about what I wear is well poncy. And what came after Kids in Gear? Since I was 16, I’ve worn Hawkins shoes, Levi’s 501, Brooks Brothers shirt and an A1 leather jacket. And that was originally all from vintage shops in London and America. And that’s pretty much the uniform through the years.

What did you learn during your years at Laura Ashley? That clothing is more often than not about practical solutions. And I was trained in women’s clothing for 15 years. And you’re addressing grown women who don’t have the figure of a 13-year-old. You have to come up with elegant solutions. And it’s the same for men. I’m not designing for young men; I’m designing for all men. But men who have enough money to buy our gear are grown up and are looking for stuff that works for an active or stressful lifestyle. So it’s back to solution dressing. It’s going to be stuff that works when you’re late running for a flight, or got loads of stuff to carry and don’t want to take a bag. That’s when you’re grateful the designer has come up with a few good pocket solutions. Does modern technology have an influence on your designs? If Apple comes up with a smaller-sized iPad, I need to react by having a smaller-sized poacher pocket on my jacket. Technology dictates a lot of design. Another example would be the fact that a lot of people travel by bike now. So I have to make a lot of stuff pushbike friendly, by adding a bit of stretch so you can reach your handlebars without your jacket riding up over your shoulders. A lot of men don’t like stretch, they think it’s not old school enough. Will guys ever let go of the passion for heritage? People are still wrapped up in this authenticity thing. I like to move things on a bit. I like techno retro. I like to embrace the past because that’s evolution. But then things move on. People are all living modern lives. But what if someone designed a woolen three-piece suit … and you could just throw it in the wash? I’ve done it, developed a cotton tweed, woven in Lancashire, first piece I put in the shop. No one understood

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it. It went over everyone’s head. It’ll catch on eventually. This is why it’s so frustrating having Japan without money because they’d go for that stuff and they’d be the powerhouse that drove it forward. Thank you for talking to us. www.privatewhitevc.com

BRAND FEATURES MERC, LONDON

03/2013

J’N’C in conversation with Miles Gray, Javid Alavi und Soraya Alavi (f.l.t.r.)

THE MODFATHER Interview Oliver Horton Portraits Bernd Ott

As Mod as Mod can be! The cult label Merc is a child of the Swinging Sixties, but curiously enough it wasn’t a Brit who laid the foundation stone for this particular success story. Javid Alavi, Persian by birth, and today president of the Merc Group, established the label in 1967 on Carnaby Street, just months after arriving in London. However, the store in the listed building at no. 10, is no more: the family decided it was time to let the flagship go, to concentrate more on the international side of the business. To this end, Merc has taken on a well-known face as their new consultant: none less than Miles Gray, the former CEO of Ben Sherman. J’N’C got together with him and Merc founder Javid Alavi himself, as well as with his daughter Soraya Alavi, who runs the business together with her brother. A conversation about British street culture, tailoring and Merc’s interpretation of Zeitgeist. Mr. Alavi, please tell us a little about Merc’s rich and colourful brand story. Javid Alavi: For many years, Merc was a meeting place and lifestyle hub for young people from different countries. We had a little coffee bar in the shop and a guy who was DJing from time to time. We had fanzines; it was an information hub. And people from all over the place would come and spend hours in the shop. Because of the style of clothing, Merc has always been connected with music. Musicians used to come in: Small Faces, Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, Desmond Dekker. I never woke up and said, ‘Bloody hell I’ve got to go to work.’ I woke up before anybody else and got there first and came home full of energy too. Did you live the lifestyle that Merc represented, yourself? JA: Yes and no. When you’re that involved in business … yes, we used to go to gigs and sponsor gigs. But I hardly had the time. Where does the name Merc come from? JA: Back then there were no computers, and it took three months to check company registration. So you had to create a name that no one else had. 56

I picked the first letters from four countries, asking the people in the factory where they were from – Mexico, England, Russia and Canada – put it together and created MERC. Soraya Alavi: You’d be surprised how many decisions were made like that. When we first started doing gigs in the store it was because we overheard some band member saying, this would be a great place for a gig. So we said, let’s do that then. Why did Mercedes-Benz object to the name Merc? Miles Gray: Because in the UK people call Mercedes cars ‘Mercs’. But the Mercedes people went back to Germany with a bloody nose, and many pounds lighter. JA: Many millions lighter. The fact was, we had the rights to the trademark and they didn’t. And the trademark law states, you cannot claim reputation if you have done nothing to define the name as yours. They wrote to us in 1997 to say, this is our name, you’d better cease trading. And we wrote back, you’d better back out, you’re going to lose. And it took nearly four years. But I still drive a Mercedes. When you started in 1967, did you know what kind of direction you would be going in, in terms of range? JA: All the shopkeepers then on Carnaby Street sold sixties style clothing. The street was more than just retail; there were workshops, repair shops, tailors shops, a designer in the basement. If you needed to cut it, shorten it, make it slimmer, they could do it. And those that didn’t have their own shop, could sell their wares at the market. Which is also how we started out. Our first address was called Flea Market. There were 300 little stalls, one or two metres in size. And everyone was making money. Making money was no trouble at all. All you needed to start out, was £50, to buy your stock and pay the rent for the stall, and off you went. There was so much individuality in this one place. Even with lots of different shops selling fashion, one was trousers, one was casual wear, one just jeans. And if they’re making a good living, people put their heart into it.

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BRAND FEATURES MERC, LONDON

Did you own any other labels, aside from Merc?

How did it feel to leave Carnaby Street after 45 years?

JA: I owned Lonsdale, but I sold that. And I was involved with Ben Sherman until 2000. We had the rights to the Ben Sherman button-down outside the UK for nearly 30 years.

JA: Emotional, but life changes. We were the only ones left from the 1960s. Carnaby Street was very different in the 1960s. Back then it was run by individual designers, small shops, and they put a lot of energy into the street, and it was unique – the best in the world. Visitors to London would go to Buckingham Palace and definitely go to Carnaby Street. It was that sort of level. Now it’s a nice street but it has changed substantially. And the expense is huge. You think, is it worth paying half a million a year to stay in a place purely because you are a showcase?

MG: When I became CEO of Ben Sherman we had to negotiate it out. It wasn’t quite as painful as Mercedes-Benz (laughs) … but it was fair. JA: We knew each other. And Miles said, ‘I can’t sell outside the UK because everywhere I want to sell, you’re there already.’ We went to a Thai restaurant and Miles said, ‘Give it back to me, you’ve made enough money.’ And I said, ‘Alright – get a napkin.’ So we made a quick agreement that I give him the rights, copyright, legal rights. Here it is Miles, good luck to you. And then I got 50 pages from the lawyer. I phoned him, I said ‘Miles cancel the napkin, it’ll cost £1.5 million now’. MG: What they could have got for next to nothing with a piece of paper… because they wanted loads more … but in the end we did the deal.

SA: We never considered closing the store until one day we knew the rent was coming up for review and we thought, ‘Blimey, we could just close the store.’ In a weird kind of way it was liberating. But I think dad was sad. I still can’t walk past the store. That is where I learnt about business, grown-up stuff. Sensible decision, but heartbreaking. MG: The shop reflected the old Merc and not the contemporary Merc. It didn’t talk to where the brand is now. The brand is now more visible in more attractive venues than the old shop on Carnaby Street.

Why give up the Carnaby Street store? Is Merc’s main focus on London and Great Britain? SA: The store was a bit too big for us. And it limited the brand to only Carnaby Street. We felt there was more to offer. The first step will be a new store in London next year. We are in department stores and multibrand shops. Ecommerce has grown, doubling every single year, and it’s good as a brand platform; it’s universal, it reaches out to lots of people. We’re very active on social media. JA: As the business changes, we have to change. At one stage, we were very big in suits. Manufacturing 4500 suits a week. But that business is no longer there, or has dropped substantially. We shifted to different merchandise. And on the retail side we get the same benefit from being in bigger stores, because it doesn’t cost us anything. Retail in the UK is very different to Germany, where the law restricts unreasonable rent hikes to a large extent. In the UK the landlord can triple the rent from one day to the next if he wants to. There are huge expenses involved.

JA: No, Merc has always exported. Our business is spread over 1000 shops all over the world. Where London is concerned, there are new developments between Carnaby Street and Piccadilly Circus and we are talking to the Crown (the Queen’s real estate managers who dominate the area; editor’s note). So it’s not just Europe we are talking about, but Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, and China too. We control the growth. Not more than 15 to 20 percent, which is quite manageable. When you expand, you have to expand everything, not just production or finance. And if things get difficult you can’t just shrink back. Our growth is very organic, very manageable. That’s important to us. MG: Merc is a young label in the mid-price segment. And that’s exactly what we want to be. At Merc’s level, there are a maximum of 150 retailers in the UK that you could sell to and who could pay. And you can’t have infrastructure based on 150 retailers in the UK. So, as Soraya explained, 57

BRAND FEATURES MERC, LONDON

ecommerce is a significant alternative revenue provider, as well as being present in a few mainly European markets to get that balance. When it comes to plans for expansion: we see a lot of potential in Germany. It’s still in an embryonic phase, but it seems like once we get the ball rolling, it will be easier to find retailers to suit our needs, than in Britain. This is a family-run business; it’s not like we’re throwing money around. And these days, throwing money around is not the answer. You can’t buy that cool factor. What are the most important products Merc has to offer? SA: With the Gin Tonic suit range, and the W1, the premium line, with tailored jackets and tweeds we still offer very much of a tailored look, even though our outerwear is increasingly in demand. Merc bestsellers are still the Harrington jacket and the fishtail parka, as well as polos, ginghams and sleeveless cardigans – the basic mod look that’s 40 percent of the business. The design team retains a mod signature but update it with fashion trends. We also launched some shoes this year. One last question, to finish off: what was your motivation, for getting involved with the Merc team, Mr. Gray? MG: The thing that excited me is that Merc’s still a bit undiscovered. And totally clean: it’s never sold to discount stores or done bad things. The clothes are right, the prices are really good. Merc has got a lot of honesty and integrity, and it is a family business, sustained over 40 years – which is special, especially in these times of mega-fashion conglomerates that eat everything in their path. Thanks for talking to us. www.merc.com

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BRAND FEATURES PME LEGEND, LIJNDEN NEAR AMSTERDAM

03/2013

UP IN THE AIR Interview Ilona Marx

Authentic menswear needs a history, and all the more so when the focus is on denim. PME Legend is also convinced of this. But unlike many of its competitors, the Dutch brand does not dredge up a past full of gold-prospectors, lumberjacks or cowboys. Instead, their rough casual-sportswear is a story of cargo pilots, doing their adventurous jobs with passion, even if it means having to get oil on their hands every once in a while. And they are certainly thrilling: the stories about the storm-proof sky pros who safely manoeuvre their DC-3 Dakota or Curtiss Commando C-46 over mountain ranges, before preparing to land in the middle of nowhere – if needs be, on difficult terrain. And PME Legend loves them too. The brand’s jeans have names like ‘Aviator’ and ‘Bare Metal’ and the ‘Lammy Coats’, handmade from Scottish lambskin, are based on original flying jackets from past decades. Functional materials like the wind and water-repellent ‘Storm Cotton’ show the direction of the collection too. But despite all this talk of legends: the premium menswear from the Netherlands is also excellent at dressing the modern urban heroes who have both feet firmly on the ground. And now the brand, which is based right next to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, is all set to conquer new terrain. An interview with Robert Theijssen, who has been Managing Director for the D.A.CH. region (German, Austria and Switzerland) and international Sales Director of the PME Legend umbrella brand Just Brands since November 2012.

– and in terms of sales, also the number one in the casual sportswear segment. The flying look that is characteristic of PME Legend was launched for the first time in 1992, with the sheepskin leather jacket. When was the decision made to position PME Legend internationally too? The ultimate decision was made last year. Why so late? For Just Brands the decisive criterion was that we were in a position to cope with the challenges associated with international expansion. After all, we also have a big responsibility to our retail partners. So the company has taken the time to develop gradually: in 1999 the first PME Legend jeans collection hit the shelves. In 2003 the premium label Cast Iron was added to the Just Brands portfolio. While PME Legend is aimed at men between the ages of 25 and 45, Cast Iron has its sights set on a slightly younger and more fashionable target group from the age of 18. In 2007 it started with Vanguard, a masculine casual concept for a somewhat older clientele up to 50 years old. PME Legend, Cast Iron and Vanguard are the three brands that we also show in our meanwhile eight Just Brand stores in the Netherlands. While the PME Legend collections, with which we incidentally generate around 75 percent of the total turnover, make up 55 percent of the offer, the other two brands each make up 20 percent. The remaining five percent is contributed by the small ladies’ line Tripper Jeans. The plan is to open around another three brand stores per year, until we have a total number of 15 to 18 in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Mr Theijssen, PME Legend is still a relative newcomer on the German market, but as a Benelux brand it can already look back on two and a half successful decades.

Is having your own stores part of your international strategy?

That’s correct. PME Legend was launched in 1988, but until 2011 it was just a Benelux brand

No, not for the time being. Our current goal is to become more well-known in the D.A.CH.

region, i.e. in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. These are the markets that our international strategy will be concentrating on first. And at the moment Germany in particular seems to be very open and ready for new brands that focus the attention on the product and which have the right level of fashion, like PME Legend. For autumn/winter we’ll be setting up the first seven shop-in-shops and 14 soft shops. But that doesn’t mean we want to limit ourselves in terms of sales to just shop-inshops and larger fashion houses. We are also focusing on multi-brand cooperation models with smaller distributors. All in all, the plans are as follows: in 2011 we had 60 distributors in Germany, and by autumn/winter we want to be represented at around 160 PoS. Important for our strategy is the fact that we don’t primarily see ourselves as a retailer, but wish to build up partnership-like cooperations with selected retailers and to make the PME Legend brand interesting for the end consumers. What does this partnership-like concept entail exactly? As well as the fact that we are deploying all of our reliability and financial strength and not only offering EDI (editor’s note: Electronic Data Interchange), but also a really wide size spectrum to 3XL and jeans in widths from 29 to 40 and lengths from 32 to 38, we also have our WPR columns. WPR stands for Web Powered Retail, a system, which we launched this year with 120 fixed-location retail partners in the Netherlands and Belgium. The principle: items not in stock in that particular store can be ordered from the PME Legend website using an iPad column, which offers advantages for the end consumers as well as for our retail partners. The consumer can have the goods delivered to the store or to their home. Our sales partners in particular profit from WPR because

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the items are paid for at their tills, which means they won’t lose out on the profit. A very unique and, in our opinion, very partnership-based cooperation model that we want to launch at the stores of selected distributors in Germany from July. But we categorically rule out any cooperations with Zalando and co. And which marketing strategy are you pursuing? As I said: PME Legend places the product in the foreground. Unlike many other providers, we do not practice bestselling management based on mere numbers. Nevertheless, we want to achieve the best possible result per square metre in the premium modern men’s segment, which is where the brand is positioned. We want to guarantee consistency, so the visual merchandising plays an important role, in the form of our denim furniture concept for example, which is already used by around 100 distributors in Germany, including Kaltenbach in Munich, CJ Schmidt in Husum and Dodenhof in Posthausen. What do you mean by ‘denim furniture’ exactly? The central element is a product display table, handmade from original airplane metal, onto which a monitor can be mounted. We use this to show our advertisements from Dutch TV. It’s a good solution in view of the fact that television advertising in Germany is very costly and we only envisage advertising outside of the Benelux countries via this channel once we are more widely positioned in terms of retail anyway. After all, it would be rather counterproductive if the German end consumers saw the PME Legend ad, but then couldn’t find the collection in stores. So despite the hugely positive effect that our TV ads have had on the sales in the Netherlands since they started in 2011, for the time being in Germany we prefer to focus on our denim furniture, on billboards and our own shop windows, in the design of which we will also support our partners to the best of our ability. Are there are any further measures that will be carried out as part of the expansion? Yes, we will also revise the product palette and adapt our casual and jeans mix to the new markets. After all, it has turned out that every coun-

BRAND FEATURES PME LEGEND, LIJNDEN NEAR AMSTERDAM

try represents its own target group with individual wishes. There seems to be a sort of golden rule here: the ten top-selling items do not differ significantly from one another internationally. The same applies to the ten worst-selling items. But as far as the middle-range products are concerned, the divergences are huge. Well, the exceptions prove the rule: the ‘Aviator’ jeans model with the front pockets is a really big seller in the Netherlands, but a lot less coveted in Germany. So we will be developing trousers to appeal to especially this market. I think sunglasses would fit into the portfolio perfectly, in view of the pilot theme … Well we have sunglasses, but only one or two models up to now. The idea of further expanding the range and developing PME Legend into an international lifestyle brand with a complete lifestyle world is, of course, a guiding ideal in general. The first step could be to offer the shoe collection, which is already part of the portfolio, no longer via just fashion retailers in Germany, but also via shoe shops. We’re currently looking for a suitable licensee. Otherwise our sales team for the D.A.CH. region is almost already complete: Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein is staffed, as well as North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, plus Austria and Switzerland. And Berlin was recently added in July. As far as Hessen and Saarland are concerned – we’ll see, perhaps we’ll become active by January 2014. Our main headquarters in Germany are located in Düsseldorf’s Media Harbour, with showroom, internal sales, returns processing etc. Should PME Legend remain a purely menswear label? I can imagine the jackets in particular would look great in a ladies’ version, combined with skinny jeans for example …

What’s your five-year plan? In five years our aim is to be represented at a total of approx. 2300 PoS throughout Europe, compared to approx. 1600 today. 250 shop-inshops are planned. As far as the turnover of the entire company is concerned, we would like to increase it from 67 million euros in 2012 to around double that – an increase which the international business in particular should contribute to. In our traditional core markets Netherlands and Belgium we are already established to such an extent that we can only expect an increase of five to ten percent. For the future we also have our sights set on Scandinavia, Northern France and Great Britain as sales markets for PME Legend. However, there won’t be growth at any price. The ‘how’ is decisive for us, and above all that means that we’ll only be working with retail partners that suit the brand. And will you be presenting the label at trade fairs in the future? The same applies here: it’s still too early for a definitive announcement. But the decision whether we’ll be taking part in a trade fair in January will be made very soon. There are definitely a lot of arguments for participating, especially the Bread & Butter, whose last edition I found to be very successful because it was a little less hectic than in previous years. I thought the Premium was also good, but PME Legend would suit Bread & Butter better. Whatever happens though: it’s a lot of fun watching Berlin develop as a fashion city. That’s a great way to end the interview. We wish you every success for the future and thanks for talking to us. www.pme-legend.com

As far as the ladies are concerned, I’ve already mentioned Tripper Jeans. But Just Brands is not following an international strategy with this. Actually, the PME Legend design team has already developed two or three leather jackets for ladies, but up to now they’ve only been samples – which doesn’t stop a whole string of our female staff constantly walking round wearing them. Personally I strongly believe that there is a demand for a women’s collection by PME Legend. But we’re currently still doing the research; we don’t want to rush into anything. 61

BRAND FEATURES ANVIL, KAISERSLAUTERN

03/2013

SHIRTS WITH ECO CHARM Text Gerlind Hector

Corporate responsibility – two words that a lot of companies in the textile industry are currently shouting from the rooftops. But only very few take it as seriously as Anvil GmbH. Whether ecological, social or sustainable: they don’t rest on the laurels of their certificates, but are continuously working on improvements. Last May it was finally signed, an agreement specifying fire and health regulations in Bangladesh. Far too late, according to Johann Rösch, an expert on the textile industry from Verdi (one of Germany’s largest trade unions), who has been calling for better working conditions in emerging nations for some years now. Shortly afterwards, he described the situation in an interview with ‘Zeit’ magazine: “We kept hearing the same excuses from companies, like they’re already doing a lot and that their efforts are ongoing,” says Rösch. “But that only helped to distract from the problems until the next catastrophe happened.” Green washing and embellished sustainability reports are the keywords here. In Kaiserslautern, home to the European headquarters of Anvil, they can only shake their heads. For years the T-shirt and sportswear specialist has been demonstrating its commitment in a variety of different ways. They don’t see sustainability and social responsibility as empty words, but as the cornerstones of their corporate philosophy. And managing director Frank Bröckers takes the utmost care to ensure that this is compatible with a healthy business 62

acumen and a high level of product safety. In April 2012 he took over from the company founder Paul-Heinz Adolff, who had shaped the brand, quality and service of Anvil GmbH since 1999. In addition to Honduras, Haiti and Nicaragua, Anvil also has its own production facility in Bangladesh. “But we have introduced and successfully implemented our ‘Code of Conduct’ and ‘Environmental Code of Practices’ there too. In 2012 alone we invested 1370 hours of our time in health and safety training,” emphasises Bröckers. The advantage Anvil has is that the production is organised vertically and not dependent on any middlemen, whose working methods they don’t have under control. Only the cotton is purchased and spun by external companies; all other production steps are carried out at their own facilities. The parent group purchased its first spinning mill in 2013. The concept of sustainability runs through all areas at Anvil: starting with the increased use of organic cotton for the organic line, to the rigorously certified production chain down to the packaging and delivery of the finished goods. And even the shipment of parcels to the buyers is climate-neutral, with the ‘Total Zero’ programme of the parcel service DPD. The label is continuously seeking to make improvements in all areas and honing new methods. For example, they have reduced the water consumption during production by 15 percent compared to 2009. Empty cotton reels or boxes don’t land in the rubbish at Anvil: instead, thanks to extensive recycling programmes

they are funnelled back into the manufacturing process. This helped the company to achieve a recycling quota of 67 percent in 2012. And they are also considerably closer to achieving their big goal of reducing the CO2 emissions caused by production and logistics: at Anvil social commitment in the countries where their goods are manufactured is simply part of the package. An interesting tool for the end consumer is the homepage TrackMyT.com, on which you can follow your T-shirt’s journey from the comfort of your own sofa, as well as having a look behind the scenes with insights into production methods and certifications. For years now, German specialist retailers including Intersport, the Weingarten fashion store in Cologne and also online retailers like Amazon have found Anvil to be a reliable partner that does without its own stores and online shops. In the warehouse in southwest Germany, a whopping five million items are permanently in stock and available for retailers to order. In May last year Anvil was taken over by the listed Canadian company Gildan, one of the biggest shirt and socks producers worldwide. But there’s no need to worry about the effect this could have on the quality and corporate responsibility at Anvil. Gildan will remain a specialist in basics, and Anvil, as its more fashionable counterpart, will receive even more support in the future and continue to stay true to its sustainable philosophy. www.anvil.eu

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Made in the USA

BRAND FEATURES PLAYLIFE, PONZANO VENETO/ITALY

03/2013

DON’T DREAM YOUR LIFE … Interview Ilona Marx

For the last one and a half decades the name Playlife has been synonymous with young, ‘made in Italy’ sportswear, which has achieved particular success in its native country. The brand, which is owned by the Benetton Group, has now been re-launched and a multi-disciplinary, multi-brand store concept created in the process – with the possibility of cooperations with local designers. But how playful is Playlife in reality? J’N’C found out from two people who should know: Giovanni Peracin, Director of Playlife Business Unit, and Mariarosa Cutillo, Chief Executive Officer of Benetton’s Unhate Foundation. Mr Peracin, in the past, Playlife has mostly been active in Italy. Can you please tell us a bit about the brand? Giovanni Peracin: The story of Playlife began in 1997. The name originally stood for sportswear from the Benetton Group – most recently at 130 of its own stores throughout Europe. Over time, the focus of the Playlife and Playlife Outdoor brands moved increasingly towards young casualwear. Two years ago the president of the group, Alessandro Benetton, came up with the idea for a complete re-launch of the retail concept. He envisaged a multi-brand concept store in which Playlife stands side by side with the streetwear performance brand, Killer Loop, the denim brand, Jean’s West, and the women’s home and leisurewear line, Anthology of Cotton – all brands that also belong to the Benetton Group. All of these are to be accompanied by a selection of accessories, shoes and gadgets by other companies. No sooner said than done: the first store opened in autumn 2011 in Treviso, Italy and was instantly so successful that there are now 15 new stores in Italy. United Colours of Benetton also has its own stores throughout the world. So why Playlife? And for what target group? GP: Playlife is oriented towards a young target group of 15 to 30-year-olds and offers an alternative model to the mono-brand store. On the one hand, the focus here is on the special mix of different products. And on the other it is on the careful arrangement of these products 64

within the concept context. When entering the store you get the feeling you have stepped into a private living space, because the rooms are so individually furnished and decorated. Like being in a private home where the customer can roam around and continually discover new things, such as gadgets and sports equipment like bikes and skateboards. With Playlife, the actual shopping experience plays a central role, and this lifestyle concept is open to a multitude of influences from outside, for example, in cooperations with local designers. A 200-page book entitled ‘AB. A Playlife Story’ was published in April. GP: This is also the brainchild of Alessandro Benetton. When it was published it was clear that it was a very personal project. The book shows important turning points in the life of Alessandro Benetton. A reflection of his passion for surfing and Formula 1 racing for example. It also tells us about the objects and products that have influenced him, from the Citroën 2CV to a pair of cowboy boots from Arizona. All these influences have played a role in the re-launch of Playlife, and the collections under this name. That’s why the book is titled: AB. A Playlife Story. In the process of taking this new direction, will the individual collections also be reworked? GP: Yes, that’s right. Every one of the brands in the Playlife stores been reworked by their own designer teams – and every one of these teams have invested a huge amount of time into this. All in all, the collection includes between 500 and 600 items. We’ve particularly paid attention to the pricing structure. To give an example: the high-quality denim items from Jean’s West cost between 49 and 89 euros. Good value for money, because in the end, the price is an important factor for the young clientele we cater to. Most of the collection is produced in Europe, our denim products are also produced in Turkey, and only a small portion are made in China. Getting back to the book ‘AB. A Playlife Story’ – is it on sale at regular bookstores?

GP: Yes, it is available from a selection of bookstores. Of course you can also buy a copy from the Playlife stores. The book costs 70 euros. All of the profits go to Benetton’s Unhate Foundation. What’s the story behind this foundation? Could you give us a rough idea of what it does? Mariarosa Cutillo: With pleasure. The Unhate Foundation was created by Alessandro Benetton in 2011 and has since provided a framework for the philanthropic activities of the Benetton Group. It aims to set a signal for cultural and societal diversity and against all forms of hate and marginalisation. In a concrete sense, this means financing projects worldwide, particularly with young people, and with a focus on art and culture. For this we work closely with local NGOs. Currently, for example we are cooperating with the Museo del Barrio in New York, a museum for art from Latin America and the Caribbean, and a centre for the Puerto Rican community. In the past there have also been projects with street kids in São Paulo and Delhi. An important part of the foundation’s work is in the worldwide campaign, which conveys the Unhate message, such as recently under the motto of Unemployee of the Year, a campaign also concerned with social issues. This is how 100 start-up ideas by young unemployed people were financed with 5000 euros each. The decision as to which ideas would be funded was made through an online community that was formed through our website. That sounds like a concept worth imitating. One last question: will Playlife come to Germany? GP: Yes, Germany is one of the markets at the top of our list. We believe that people there are very receptive to the multi-brand concept. By the end of 2014 we would like to open eight stores, with more to follow in 2015. We’ve also set our sights on France, Scandinavia and the Benelux countries. My dream is to build a strong network of Playlife stores in the main cities of the most important European markets. www.playlife.com

CENTURYBRANDS – DISTRIBUTION EUROPE info@centurybrands.de

03/2013

HIP HIP HOORAY! Text Fredericke Winkler

Back in 1981, Kikuo Ibe, a watch designer for Casio, was way ahead of his time with his plan to make a watch that could be dropped without a second thought from a height of ten metres, that could withstand the pressure of ten bar and that had a battery life of ten years. After all, in those days wristwatches were delicate and filigree and weren’t worn for every occasion. That all changed when Ibe’s G-Shock came onto the market in 1983. Pretty much overnight the robust digital watch, which must have seemed like something out of a science-fiction film at the time, became a firm fixture on every wrist. Although, despite claims to the contrary, the GShock watch didn’t allow you to beam yourself up to far-flung planets, it certainly had a lot more to offer than just telling the time. It had an inbuilt alarm, a stopwatch function and even showed the phases of the moon. The G-Shock is light years away from the ‘jewellery watches’ still adorning the wrists of the majority of our parents’ generation – who could often be heard cursing the fact that a mere dip in the pool might mean game-over for their sensitive timekeeper. Finally there was a watch that appeared to be unbreakable and, like a Swiss army knife, had the right tool for every situation. No wonder that, after its entry onto the market, 70 million people chose the G-Shock to accompany their every move: skateboarder and fashion lover alike. And its aesthetic set benchmarks: such as digital is better, which is the opinion of many sports and lifestyle brands today. Over the past 30 years the company has been continuously working on fine-tuning the original. Today there are solar-powered G-Shock models and some even have Bluetooth, so there are no signs of the brand slowing down or showing its age. And Casio will also be pushing the boat out to celebrate the 30th birthday of its classic model: temporary G-Shock stores known as the ‘G-Sessions’, which will only be open for a short time to host events, workshops and gatherings, are popping up in several cities throughout Europe – including Milan, Barcelona, Paris and Berlin. In addition, G-Shock has asked a selection of aspiring young designers from each of the cities to design their vision of the cult watch. In Berlin the G-Session will be hosted by the Voo Store in Kreuzberg, currently one of the most significant concept stores in town. Here in Germany, Patrick Mohr, the enfant terrible of the German fashion scene, who shakes things up nicely by sending homeless people or bodybuilders down the catwalk, has been chosen as an ambassador and curator of G-Shock’s Spirit of Toughness Award. Mohr will choose the up-andcoming designer who submits the most exciting G-Shock redesign. The best designer will not only win the award but will also see their design issued as a limited edition bearing their name. The lucky winner will be announced during the G-Sessions finale in November 2013 in Berlin. www.gshock.com

TRADE SHOWS JACKET REQUIRED, LONDON

03/2013

Mark Batista

HAPPINESS IS … Text Oliver Horton Photos Bernd Ott

Mark Batista is wearing fat white Nike Air Max trainers, blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a bold green Patagonia windcheater. From this we deduce: he likes casual classics, isn’t afraid of colour, and embraces the market’s shift from pure heritage to technical sports style. This matters, because Batista is the cofounder and co-curator of the young men’s wear trade show Jacket Required, now the defining fair of the current London scene. Batista established Jacket Required in 2011 with Craig Ford and Andrew Parfitt. The men run complementary agencies, Parfitt with Gitman Bros., Ford with A Bathing Ape and Chevignon. Batista’s agency Brand Progression includes Majestic Athletic, Vanishing Elephant, Kidda Christopher Shannon and MWC Watches. When they first decided to create a trade show, they knew the core brands would come out of their own showrooms. Beyond that roster, brands include Levi’s Made & Crafted, Pointer, Penfield and Carhartt Work in Progress. Last year they sold Jacket Required to exhibition organizer ITE Moda, but are part of the deal for at least three more seasons. Batista knows and deals with the UK’s best retailers: Oi Polloi in Manchester, Garbstore in London (more on them on page 74), Anthem and Present, also in London, End in Newcastle, Wellgosh in Leicester, A2 and Liquor Store in Birmingham, Kafka in Aberdeen, Triads in Middleborough. And he is a retailer, having established the Number Six store in Brick Lane and this April’s new solo venture, The Content Store, in Bloomsbury. He has an appreciation for heritage, but he’s not such a die-hard purist. He just likes good kit. “It has to have integrity. There has to be a rea68

son,” says Batista. “Look at sports shoes. There are probably three names I would buy trainers from. Probably two people I would buy denim from, Edwin and Levi’s Vintage. But I always want to surround those brands with whatever we think is exciting and doing a nice job on the market at the time. If we sit in one area and think ‘this is us’, we’re going to get left behind. There are people who do that fantastically well. Look at American Classics (specialist denim retailer, editor’s note), who kept that focus for 25 to 30 years. They’ve got a fixed customer base, they’ve had two or three cycles where they’ve been the most directional store in the UK. But I like to say, we like this kind of footwear now, we like this kind of outerwear now, we like this type of pants now, and personally I like to react to what’s going on.” Mark Batista’s father was a butler at the Argentinian Embassy in London; his mother a nurse from Ireland. Batista trained as a bricklayer, but he qualified during the recession of the early 1990s when the building trade had tanked. His elder brother, Paul Batista – now head of sales at Peter Werth – was already working for Paul Smith, and got him a job in the warehouse in Nottingham. Mark Batista moved to Smithy’s sales shop in London, then ran the stockroom for the Floral Street flagship, before joining the team that established Diesel UK in 1995. “We were six people and when I left in 1997 we were 106,” he says. He moved to Deluxe, an agency previously owned by Larry Mullen of U2 that not only took care of merchandising for U2, but also for Massive Attack, plus clothing distribution for X-Large, Phat Farm and Wu Wear. But Batista wanted more, and launched his own agency: Brand Progression. Mixing up the London trade

fair scene just seemed like the next logical step. Before he founded Jacket Required with his brothers-in-arms, Batista established the London fair To Be Confirmed (TBC) at the turn of the century as a niche alternative to the thendominant 40°. TBC quickly grew to become the biggest fair in the UK. Batista got out in 2007 and the show folded in 2008. “Because we had the experience with TBC, we knew the direction we were going with Jacket Required. With TBC we were so naïve. We were like, right let’s go and do a show in New York. Because we didn’t know any better. And then the same for our guest appearance in Japan; we didn’t know any better, didn’t understand the market properly, but just went and did it. Good in one way, but financially not the most clever thing to do.” The fact is, Jacket Required is not TBC 2.0. Not least because of the support from ITE Moda, which also runs Flip, a trade fair for denim, sports and urbanwear and Scoop for premium womenswear. Of course it helped that Batista has taken the experience with TBC to heart: “I’ve become more professional in my approach. In the early stages of TBC I was more about the party after the show than the show. But I approached Jacket Required purely as a business. We want to make it as successful and as business-like and as professional as we can.” The name Jacket Required was, in part, inspired by the Phil Collins album ‘No Jacket Required’, but also alludes to a private club. “It wasn’t like, right we will name it after Phil Collins. Craig and I had both seen a live concert on Sky and we just got talking about it. We wanted an exclusive members’ club, invite only. And if you go to an exclusive members’ club you have to wear a jacket.” The name sticks in

TRADE SHOWS JACKET REQUIRED, LONDON

03/2013

people’s minds. Recent editions of the biannual trade fair have taken place in the vast, sparse basement of the neoclassical Victoria House, near the British Museum in London; the summer edition, between 31 July and 1 August, will also take place here. There’s talk of expansion, of taking the Jacket Required format to new territories. But Batista won’t be adding more than a handful of exhibitors to the SS 14 edition. “We are lucky to have a huge amount of enquiries. We could have 250 brands, no problem. But we are keeping the same venue, and will probably increase by only six brands this season.” Bringing them to a total of more than 100 exhibitors. “Possibly we will look for a bigger venue. But when it starts to get to 300, 400 brands … there’s not 300, 400 brands in the whole world, I would want to represent. We want to keep control, make sure it’s still relevant. You see what happened with TBC. Suddenly it was a 500-exhibitor behemoth.” Taking Jacket Required international is a definite maybe. The founders have talked territories with ITE Moda. Batista says: “If it’s viable I’d be more than happy to go into it with them. To do it with the support of a big company: that’s exactly what I didn’t have with TBC. But I’m very cautious of going in to new territory. It has to be 100 percent right. Like going to Berlin would be ridiculous – you’ve got Bread & Butter, Premium, Seek, Capsule, Panorama, Bright, it’s just at saturation point.” And as Batista is well aware, the picture doesn’t look too different in New York either. “When we took TBC to New York eleven years ago there wasn’t anything going on, which is mad. Now there’s Project, Capsule, D&A, Liberty … Which is why London was wide open. There wasn’t anything happening in London that was a viable platform for our sort of brands. So we have to establish if there’s a market that needs a trade show, and if that is also a worthwhile market for the brands.” His experience with TBC in Japan rules out a return to a Tokyo fair. “The thing with Japan is, the buying schedule is different to the rest of the world. We start selling autumn/winter in New York in January, February in London and you don’t start selling in Japan until April – and by that time everyone has closed their books, and

put their orders into production. So it was more an image thing going out there, and it was a lot of fun. It was certainly an education. Now we know a lot more about that part of the world.” This hunger for new inspiration is what drives Batista to keep looking for the next cool thing. Batista knows a lot of labels that aren’t general knowledge, is always looking at stuff and meeting people. The trade fair, the store, the agency – there are lots of contacts happening here. But Batista is also online a lot checking blogs or brand lists from stores in the US. And he sees that there is movement on the fashion scene. Everything is more open, ready for new ideas and not quite as heritage-obsessed. “Lots of people are buying trainers now, Nike, Adidas and New Balance. Guys are buying two or three pairs of trainers rather than a pair of brogues. People are wearing suits with trainers, or technical outerwear,” says Batista. And while we’re on the topic of being ready for new ideas: this July they launch S London, a smaller fair for the street and skate market. “I’m really, really” – there’s that word again – “happy with the set-up at the moment. I just want to build the business in the right way. Now with the store, with the agency, with the shows, I can have everything and manage everything and not stretch myself too far, and not have anything watered down.” JACKET REQUIRED 31 JULY – 1 AUGUST 2013 VICTORIA HOUSE BLOOMSBURY SQUARE LONDON WC1B 4DA WWW.JACKET-REQUIRED.COM

TRADE SHOWS 080 BARCELONA FASHION, BARCELONA

03/2013

MODA A LA CATALANA Text Fredericke Winkler

It was described as the “city of marvels” by Eduardo Mendoza. And as a “witch” that creeps under your skin and steals your soul without your notice by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. It’s not without reason that Barcelona provides the setting for a number of fantastical novels and why its inhabitants feel such a deep, passionate love for the city. But the Catalan capital on the Mediterranean coast is not beautiful in every respect. Quite the contrary: like the rest of Spain it is currently struggling with the repercussions of the economic crisis, with unemployment and the financial losses many individuals have suffered. However, these conflicts, as difficult as they may be, are also what stops the century-old metropolis from ageing, as its inhabitants are taking a critical look at the system and their cultural heritage. Barcelona is widely renowned for its subcultures. So it’s no wonder that creative shoots are sprouting up out of the ground when it comes to fashion too. The government of Catalonia was therefore doing itself a huge favour when, after the departure of Bread & Butter, it began to actively 70

support the local fashion scene together with Barcelona’s city council. Around six years ago they got the ‘080 Barcelona Fashion’ catwalk event off the ground. “We want to show the talent our designers have, the work being done by the schools in the sector, the strength of our industrial sector, the variety on offer, all within the same project,” explains Miquel Rodríguez, General Manager of the Catalan government’s Consortium of Trade, Craftsmanship and Fashion. So it seems fitting that since the previous winter edition, the event has been held at the recently opened Disseny Hub Barcelona, or DHUB for short, which acts both as a museum and a laboratory for the municipal culture institute. At the beginning of the year, around 30 Spanish designers including global players like Mango and established labels like Custo Barcelona showed their latest collections at the tenth edition of 080 Barcelona Fashion. Young Spanish designers like Manuel Bolaño, Brain & Beast and Miriam Ponsa also jumped at the chance to present their work to a wide public in this setting. Around 28,000 buyers, journalists, bloggers and agents enjoyed the shows. And

a similarly illustrious portfolio of shows and guests are expected at the eleventh edition, which will take place at the same venue from 8 – 12 July. The organiser also sets great store by offering a range of side events, like the Barcelona Fashion Summit, various design prizes and exhibitions. By shifting the focus onto local designers, 080 Barcelona Fashion is following in the footsteps of the Scandinavian trade shows. After all, up in Nordic Europe they also believe that local should be put before global and that it is important to concentrate on the local market before focusing on other countries. That has to be a good thing for the Spanish economy, and without a doubt, will also help Barcelona to salvage another important character trait from the clutches of the crisis: as well as sexiness and coolness, they also get to keep their optimistic self-confidence. 080 BARCELONA FASHION 8 – 12 JULY 2013 DHUB DISSENY HUB BARCELONA WWW.080BARCELONAFASHION.CAT

NEW HALL4

17 TO 19 SEPT. 2013 - PARIS-NORD VILLEPINTE INTERNATIONAL TRIMMINGS AND COMPONENTS SHOW FOR FASHION AND DESIGN

modamont.com

03/2013

RETAIL

COUVERTURE & THE GARBSTORE LONDON

MY O MY HELSINKI

HIT GALLERY HONG KONG

SCHWITTENBERG MUNICH

RETAIL COUVERTURE & THE GARBSTORE, LONDON

03/2013

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ Text Oliver Horton Photos Bernd Ott

We are standing outside the Garbstore, taking photos of its founder Ian Paley in the sunlight in front of the doorway. Passersby rubberneck, wondering who is getting all the attention. This part of town, Notting Hill, is brimming with the rich and famous. You can imagine Hugh Grant, Scarlett Johansson or Elle Macpherson passing by thinking “Thank God, for once it’s not me”. The words ‘Couverture & The Garbstore’ mark the entrance to house no.188. ‘Couverture’ is the ladies’ and kidswear boutique, which also sells interior design items and accessories and is run by Ian Paley’s wife, Emily Dyson. It covers the ground and first floors of the building. In order to check out Garbstore’s menswear range you have to go down the wooden stairs, entering the softly-lit realm below that is designed in subtle muted colours. The presentation is clean and ordered, with an almost Japanese feel. It’s a surprise when Ian Paley turns up wearing Bermuda shorts (in April), but he comes from the North East, which goes some way towards an explanation. No doubt we’ll all be following his example and wearing them soon. After all, Bermudas are also stocked by the Garbstore. A range that could best be described as eclectic casualwear. It includes brands like Golden Bear, Monitaly, Post Overalls and Engineered Garments, which Paley sells in part as exclusive distributer in the UK, rounded off by shoes by Seavees and Pointer. The style of his own label Garbstore, which has the same name as his store, is described by Paley as “unfamiliar vintage”. The focus is on new interpretations of American heritage items of workwear and military apparel. But British uniforms also hold a certain fascination for the designer. Most recently he headed to the South of France for research purposes, where he took a closer look at the agricultural workwear of the twenties and thirties. Some of the items for sale here genuinely look as though they have spent decades tucked away in an old hardware store, but the fit and feel are just perfect for the streets of West London in 2013. Which is hardly surprising, as Paley has been a West Londoner himself for twenty years now. “I couldn’t live anywhere else,” he confirms. 74

As well as military and workwear vintage, another obsession of his is performance clothing, such as the modern hiking gear market that thrives in Japan. Overall, he stocks a high number of Japanese brands: Bedwin & The Heartbreakers and Mountain Research are just two examples. Paley has an affinity with Japanese manufacturers and they supply him with larger sizes for the Western market at his special request. His good connections to Japan arose from his early years at Paul Smith. Back then, the Brit took care of Paul Smith’s R.Newbold repro-workwear line, designed specifically for the Japanese market. And that meant everything, from A to Z: pattern cutting, fabric buying, finding the right manufacturers, sales, marketing and even ad campaigns – Paley was at the helm. He was also responsible for Paul Smith’s Red Ear heritage denim collection. His career as a designer also took him to Burberry and Levi’s. For Levi’s Paley worked as consultant, which gave him the opportunity to spend some time in the legendary Levi’s archive in San Francisco. Paley still works as a consultant, for the

sportswear company Reebok for example. At the moment he regularly flies to Boston to prepare for the launch of the Garbstore/Reebok collaboration – which will initially concentrate on sneakers, and then follow up with clothing. “Reebok is an interesting company,” says Paley. “They were English, but only became successful when the Americans bought them in the mid-eighties.” And Paley’s cumulative experience was also enriched by his former role as creative director at One True Saxon. But while he was working for the British urbanwear label, the idea for Garbstore was already brewing. In 2007 he launched the label, and in 2008 Couverture & The Garbstore were born. Today 16 people are employed by Ian Paley and Emily Dyson’s joint project. Dyson is not only Paley’s wife, but also the daughter of inventor James Dyson (of bagless vacuum cleaner fame). The Couverture store used to be located on King’s Road in Chelsea. “But since 9/11 everything changed,” says Paley. “All the Americans left Chelsea. And they were our key demographic.” So the business relocated to Kensington Park Road.

RETAIL COUVERTURE & THE GARBSTORE, LONDON

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But who are their customers now? His prompt answer: “Americans.” So why not make it a bit easier on them – and take the Garbstore over to the USA? The opening of a new store in Los Angeles is next on the to-do list. He has chosen North La Brea Avenue, where other shopping highlights like a branch of the US skater brand Supreme and the lovingly curated Union shop are also at home. This is the ideal atmosphere for Paley, as he maintains a ‘strictly independent’ policy. “We don’t stock any clothing that has been bought up and sold out.” ‘Garb’: for the multi-tasking Brit the term represents individualistic design with cult status, far from the madding crowd – despite or perhaps precisely because of the fact that you’ll be searching in vain for any big names here.

COUVERTURE & THE GARBSTORE 188 KENSINGTON PARK ROAD PORTOBELLO LONDON W11 2ES T +44 20 72292178 WWW.COUVERTUREANDTHEGARBSTORE.COM

Ian Paley

RETAIL MY O MY, HELSINKI

03/2013

FINNISH FASHION-FORUM Text Gerlind Hector Photos Marko Rantanen/Mikko Ryhänen

Helsinki has more to offer than just saunas, nostalgia and folklore. Ever since it opened, the My o My store has been regarded as a top address for those seeking international fashion flair and an exclusive ambience. The range on offer, which seems to combine the heat of a sauna with the cool Finnish winter, is definitely worth checking out. Heated pavements ensure your shopping spree will be nice and cosy, especially in winter. But they don’t exist, you say? Well, they do in front of Pauliina Louhiluoto’s My o My concept store. This is made possible here in Helsinki, which, after all, does lie at the same latitude as Greenland and southern Alaska, by the underground district heating system. The retailer covers around 60 percent of the costs for this herself, but she’s more than happy to do so. In return, she saves herself the hassle of shovelling away the snow in the cold season, which everyone 76

knows lasts a few weeks longer in Finland than in Kiel, Kansas or even Kiev. But Pauliina chose the warmer month of August in which to open My o My five years ago. When asked about how she came up with the name, she quickly answers: “I simply imagined the reaction of the people coming into the shop. And the first words that sprung to mind were ‘My o My’ – obviously!” The fact is that even the location of the store on Aleksanterinkatu, one of Helsinki’s main boulevards, is already impressive enough. The popular shopping street with its patterned pavement and classicist architecture is really cosy, especially on dark evenings when everything is wonderfully illuminated and the tram trundles between the different stores offering their wares here. In these surroundings My o My seems almost cool and sophisticated at first sight: the taupecoloured granite flooring looks raw and in parts uneven, making the contrast to the

brilliant white walls and cube-like merchandise displays all the more interesting. Interior designer Joanna Laajisto has done a great job of highlighting the typically composed Scandinavian attitude. Floor-to-ceiling mirrors give an impression of space and ensure that My o My is the perfect place for posing and checking out your reflection in the latest styles. Incidentally, Pauliina’s personal tip for the musthave item of the summer is a black and white leather handbag from Karl by Karl Lagerfeld. “But then again, the leather leggings by Helmut Lang are also an investment worth making,” she swoons. Or perhaps the Daisy heels by Tsumori Chisato? Pauliina Louhiluoto definitely makes the ideal store manager. In Helsinki she is regarded as a pioneer who has brought many high-fashion labels to the country, but above all, she ensures that interesting newcomers are incorporated into the range every season. Ladies can choose between Alexander

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03/2013

Wang, Vanessa Bruno, Markus Lupfer and See by Chloé; and she also stocks interior design items and gifts by Fornasetti, Lladró and Claus Porto, a traditional Portuguese company that specialises in the finest soaps. So it’s no wonder that the men of Finland were starting to look on enviously. But luckily, in 2011 the corresponding menswear store opened nearby at Erottajankatu no. 9, as well as a small adjoining design shop at house no. 9b. Pauliina Louhiluoto knows exactly what she wants, and has an exact picture of her target group: at least the female one anyway. “A mix of Diane Keaton, Tilda Swinton and Karin Dreijer Andersson would be great,” she considers with a wink. It was also important to her to choose the right soundtrack, which is why generic elevator music won’t be heard coming out of the speakers at My o My. Despite the cool purism of the shop design and the extravagant assortment on offer, Pauliina has decided to opt

for good old vintage melodies by artists such as the Everly Brothers, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. As she says, “It just goes to show that you shouldn’t expect the expected at My o My!” MY O MY ALEKSANTERINKATU 36 00100 HELSINKI T +358 10 4233733 WWW.MYOMY.FI

RETAIL HIT GALLERY, HONG KONG

03/2013

SURREAL SHOPPING TEMPLE Text Gerlind Hector Photos Dennis Lo

The combination of art and commerce is popular, but the results are all too often generic and uninspired. The Hit Gallery in Hong Kong is showing that it doesn’t have to be that way. Here, the designer Fabio Novembre has created a real work of art, which is in a class of its own. The fashion on show isn’t drowned out, but is elevated to the rank of precious objet d’art. Futuristic, surreal, retro? The many retail designers, fashionistas and ‘it’ people who have been hyping up the Hit Gallery on their blogs for months now can’t quite agree on a word to describe it. Since opening last September, the multi-brand store in the centre of Hong Kong’s biggest shopping mall has been regarded by the fashion industry as a must-see hotspot – and not without reason. 78

The Milan design studio Novembre has accomplished a really amazing feat here, elegantly managing the balancing act between art and commerce. The project was commissioned by the Italian garment manufacturer Ittierre S.p.A., which produces goods for labels like Galliano, Costume National, GF Ferré, Karl Lagerfeld Paris, Fiorucci and Tommy Hilfiger Collection under licence and which they have been selling at stores worldwide, including their 50 Hit Gallery branches. During a relaunch of this multi-brand concept the most important locations will gradually be given a brand new look in cooperation with Fabio Novembre. First off the bat was the store in the Times Square Mall where the design talent Novembre, who lived in Hong Kong himself in the midnineties, has created a dream in black, white and light blue on an area of around 100 square

metres. What really hits you first are the product displays. They are inserted into arched insets along the walls, reminiscent of a colonnaded walkway, blurring the divide of interior and exterior space. The almost sacred atmosphere is supported by the gleaming white of the background design, which makes the clothing look like valuable relics. Bags or shoes are draped in cut-out rectangular windows, which can only be reached by people of average height with a ladder. Which may not be very practical, but guarantees the products a touch of exclusivity and luxury. In the middle of the space there are two oversized busts, which serve as additional shelves for folded clothing and accessories. And at the very latest, upon seeing the black-and-white floor with its zig-zag pattern, it will become clear to art-savvy observers that a surrealist

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03/2013

artist must have provided the inspiration for this design concept. And Fabio Novembre did indeed choose an early pioneer of this school of art. One who shook the art world of the early 20th century to its core: Novembre’s designs are a nod to the work of Giorgio de Chirico. Even before surrealists like André Breton and Salvador Dalí caused a sensation in 1920s Paris, this Greek painter with Italian roots was already creating dreamlike cityscapes with arcades that play with perspective and individually integrated ‘manichini’, or human-like mannequins with movable limbs with the aim of breaking up Chirico’s strictly orchestrated backdrop. And inside Hong Kong’s Hit Gallery you do feel as if you have been beamed right into the middle of a de Chirico painting. So it only seems logical that the famous pair of chairs entitled ‘Him & Her’, which Fabio

Novembre presented for the first time in 2009 at the Milan furniture fair, are on show here too. The back of the anatomically-shaped polyethylene chairs depict the back of a male or female nude and are reminiscent of the surrealistic ‘manchini’. Christian symbolism, human bodies, surreal perspectives – de Chirico, who died in 1978, and Novembre, certainly have a lot in common. The Hit Gallery in Hong Kong is like a cooperation between two great creatives, who, although they come from different époques, are exceptionally similar on an intellectual and artistic plane.

HIT GALLERY TIMES SQUARE MALL SHOP NO. 502 1 MATHESON STREET CAUSEWAY BAY HONG KONG T +852 211 889 00 WWW.HITGALLERY.COM

RETAIL SCHWITTENBERG, MUNICH

03/2013

CASUAL BOHEMIA INSTEAD OF BLING-BLING Text Gerlind Hector Munich’s millionaires love the Maximilianstrasse! But it offers no guarantee for good taste. You’d be better off turning the corner and checking out the rather unspectacular Hildegardstrasse. Or to be more precise: the carefully curated Schwittenberg store that always has a few surprises up its sleeve. Especially if you listen carefully to the owner.

to coolness, hipness and laid-back casualness. Which is unfair, as Munich actually offers both: the luxurious bling-bling of the Maximilianstrasse where it’s all about seeing and being seen, combined with the genuine creativity and unusual stores stocking ranges that go well beyond mainstream tastes. Schwittenberg is just a stone’s throw away from Munich’s most upmarket street, right opposite “Eat my shorts, dude!” No, fortunately that’s not the ‘Blaues Haus’, a small restaurant in the the kind of welcome you’ll get upon entering Munich Kammerspiele theatre. The oversized, Schwittenberg in Munich! Although Sandra twelve-metre long shop window offers a Schwittau, who runs the cool concept store tosweeping and inviting view into the spacious gether with her partner Christopher Romberg, store, which also stocks selected accessories does definitely have a way with words. As the and gifts as well as men’s, ladies’ and kidswear. German voice of Bart Simpson, Eva Mendes Belgian avant-garde meets Parisian chic and and Hilary Swank she is certainly kept busy local sustainable labels compete with Japanese and worshipped in an almost cult-like way by purism: Dries Van Noten next to Sonia by Sonia fans of the yellow-skinned, dysfunctional family. Rykiel and A Kind of Guise next to Comme des But Springfield is a long, long way from Munich, Garçons. a city whose reputation is tarnished with the Christopher Romberg describes the range, usual clichés of air-kissing society ladies, dewhich undergoes a strict selection process, as signer labels and snobbery. The metropolis on “personal” and “lovingly curated”. Together the River Isar really has it tough when it comes with Sandra Schwittau he puts a lot of thought 80

into what goes with the Schwittenberg image and what doesn’t, whereby the casual, individual attitude of the unusual brand mix is wonderfully underlined by the light loft atmosphere of the understated store design. No Munich-style marble, no golden ornamental embellishments – simply a plain concrete floor, snow-white walls and ceilings, kitted out with standard neon strip lighting – et voilà! And with a little bit of imagination you can still see the auto repair garage that used to be here in your mind’s eye. Right from the beginning, having their own website was important to the owners of Schwitten berg and not just because everyone else was doing it. “We have our own photo studio, for one thing,” says Christopher Romberg, who is only too happy to take care of the technical and internet side of things. Professional photos of the Schwittenberg assortment, shown in its best light by models, are regularly taken here. “The online shop helps us to position ourselves on the market and as a brand,” says Romberg. But that doesn’t mean the interaction with their regular clientele is neglected. Cus-

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tomers often use the website for browsing first and then come and try a certain item on in the store the next day. And that’s what the Schwittenberg team still finds the most exciting anyway: the personal contact with customers directly in their store. And the fashion-enthusiasts out there are sure to agree – especially those secretly hoping that Sandra Schwittau will be on hand to do her Bart Simpson voice.

SCHWITTENBERG HILDEGARDSTRASSE 2 80539 MUNICH T +49 89 26019055 WWW.SCHWITTENBERG.COM

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DRAWN & QUARTERLY P.O. BOX 48056 MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC CANADA 4S8 H2V

K PRESSE+BUCH DRESDEN HAUPTBAHNHOF D-01069 DRESDEN

HDS RETAIL FLUGHAFEN HANNOVER D-30669 HANNOVER

SCHMITT & HAHN FLUGHAFEN NÜRNBERG D-90411 NÜRNBERG

AROUND THE WORLD 148 WEST 37TH ST. NY-10018 NEW YORK CITY

RELAY – HDS FLUGHAFEN DÜSSELDORF D-40474 DÜSSELDORF

HDS RETAIL HANNOVER HAUPTBAHNHOF D-30159 HANNOVER

GRAUERT KG OBERHAUSEN HAUPTBAHNHOF D-46045 OBERHAUSEN

GRAUERT GMBH DÜSSELDORF HAUPTBAHNHOF D-40210 DÜSSELDORF

BAHNHOFSBUCHHANDLUNG HEIDELBERG HAUPTBAHNHOF D-69039 HEIDELBERG

K PRESSE+BUCH STUTTGART HAUPTBAHNHOF D-70173 STUTTGART

HDS RETAIL FLUGHAFEN FRANKFURT D-60547 FRANKFURT

FALTER BÜCHER & PRESSE HINDENBURGSTR. 190 D-41061 MÖNCHENGLADBACH

WITTWER FLUGHAFEN STUTTGART D-70629 STUTTGART

144

BOZAR SHOP RUE RAVENSTEIN 23 B-1000 BRUXELLES MAGMA 117-119 CLERKENWELL ROAD GB-EC1R5BY LONDON DO DESIGN C/ FERNANDO VI, 13 E-28004 MADRID PAPERCUT KRUKMAKARGATAN 3 SE-11851 STOCKHOLM

03/2013

INDEX

55DSL WWW.55DSL.COM

FALKE WWW.FALKE.COM

MANOUSH WWW.MANOUSH.COM

STINE GOYA WWW.STINEGOYA.COM

81HOURS WWW.81HOURS.COM

FARRELL WWW.FARRELL.COM

MARA HOFFMAN WWW.MARAHOFFMAN.COM

TIGER OF SWEDEN WWW.TIGEROFSWEDEN.COM

& OTHER STORIES WWW.STORIES.COM

FLIPPA K WWW.FLIPPA-K.COM

MARKUS LUPFER WWW.MARKUSLUPFER.COM

TIMBERLAND WWW.TIMBERLAND.COM

ACNE WWW.ACNESTUDIOS.COM

GRENSON WWW.GRENSON.CO.UK

MAVI EU.MAVI.COM

TOPMAN DESIGN WWW.TOPMAN.COM

A KIND OF GUISE WWW.AKINDOFGUISE.COM

HAN KJØBENHAVN WWW.HANKJOBENHAVN.COM

MELTIN’POT WWW.MELTINPOT.COM

TOPSHOP WWW.TOPSHOP.COM

AIGNER WWW.AIGNERMUNICH.COM

HENRIK VIBSKOV WWW.HENRIKVIBSKOV.COM

MINIMARKET WWW.MINIMARKET.SE

TOURNE DE TRANSMISSION WWW.TOURNEDETRANSMISSION.COM

AIRSTEP WWW.AIRSTEP-ONLINE.DE

HERR VON EDEN WWW.HERRVONEDEN.COM

MINT & BERRY WWW.MIN-AND-BERRY.COM

VANS WWW.VANS.DE

ALDO WWW.ALDOSHOES.COM

H&M WWW.HM.COM

MONKI WWW.MONKI.COM

VIBE HARSLØF WWW.VIBEHARSLOEF.DK

ALEXANDER WANG WWW.ALEXANDERWANG.COM

INNOCENCE WWW.INNOCENCEFASHION.COM

MOSCHINO WWW.MOSCHINO.COM

WAREHOUSE WWW.WAREHOUSE.CO.UK

AMERICAN APPAREL WWW.AMERICANAPPAREL.NET

INTIMISSIMI WWW.INTIMISSIMI.COM

MUSSWESSELS WWW.MUSSWESSELS.ORG

WEEKDAY WWW.WEEKDAY.COM

AMERICAN RETRO WWW.AMERICANRETRO.FR

WOLFORD WWW.WOLFORD.COM/DE

ASHISH WWW.ASHISH.CO.UK

WON HUNDRED WWW.WONHUNDRED.COM

INDEX

ASOS WWW.ASOS.COM AVELON WWW.AVELON.ME

ZARA WWW.ZARA.COM ZEHA BERLIN WWW.ZEHA-BERLIN.DE

BANJO & MATILDA WWW.BANJOANDMATILDA.COM BARRE NOIRE WWW.BARRENOIRE.DE

NIKE WWW.NIKE.COM

JIL SANDER WWW.JILSANDER.COM

NÜMPH WWW.NUMPH.DK

JIL SANDER NAVY WWW.JILSANDERNAVY. COM

PURIFIED WWW.PURIFIEDFOOTWEAR.COM

JOHNNY WAS WWW.JOHNNYWAS.COM

RALPH LAUREN WWW.RALPHLAUREN.DE

JOOP! WWW.JOOP.COM

RED WINGS WWW.REDWINGS.DE

JOSEPH WWW.JOSEPH.CO.UK

REPLAY WWW.REPLAY.IT/DE

JULIA GUTBIER WWW.JULIAGUTBIER.COM

RIKA WWW.RIKAINT.COM

KENZO WWW.KENZO.COM

S.OLIVER WWW.SOLIVER.DE

KERBHOLZ WWW.AUFDEMKERBHOLZ.DE

SAMSØE & SAMSØE WWW.SAMSOE.COM

KICKERS X CHRISTOPHER SHANNON WWW.KICKERS.CO.UK

SCHIESSER WWW.SCHIESSER.COM

KIDDA BY CHRISTOPHER SHANNON WWW.CHRISTOPHERSHANNON.CO.UK

SEIDENSTICKER WWW.SEIDENSTICKER.COM

KILIAN KERNER WWW.KILIANKERNER.DE

SISTER BY SIBLING WWW.SIBLINGLONDON.COM

LALA BERLIN WWW.LALABERLIN.COM

SKINY WWW.SKINY.COM

LANVIN FOR H&M WWW.HM.COM

SOFT PARIS WWW.SOFTPARIS.COM

LEVI’S WWW.LEVI.COM

EBONY & IVORY WWW.EBONYIVORYFASHIONSHOW. COM.AU

SONY WWW.SONY.DE

LUISA CERANO WWW.LUISACERANO.COM

SOPHIE HULME WWW.SOPHIEHULME.COM

EQUIPMENT WWW.EQUIPMENTFR.COM

LUNETTES WWW.LUNETTES-SELECTION.DE

STARSTYLING WWW.STARSTYLING.NET

BENETTON WWW.BENETTON.COM BEN SHERMAN WWW.BENSHERMAN.COM BERNHARD WILLHELM WWW.BERNHARD-WILLHELM.COM BOSS WWW.HUGOBOSS.COM CALVIN KLEIN WWW.CALVINKLEIN.COM CHAPEAU ST. GEORG WWW.CHAPEU-STGEORG.DE CHRISTOPHE LEMAIRE WWW.CHRISTOPHELEMAIRE.COM CHRISTIAN WIJNANTS WWW.CHRISTIANWIJNANTS.BE CHRISTOPHER SHANNON WWW.CHRISTOPHERSHANNON.CO.UK CONVERSE WWW.CONVERSE.DE COS WWW.COSSTORES.COM COSTUME NATIONAL WWW.COSTUMENATIONAL.COM CREAM WWW.CREAM-CLOTHING.COM DIOR HOMME WWW.DIOR.COM

146

STYLEGUIDE ANTWERP INTERVIEW BRUNO PIETERS 3/ 2013

FASHION BUSINESS, BRANDS AND URBAN CULTURE

ENGLISH

IPA-NIMA WWW.IPA-NIMA.COM

BEKA & BELL WWW.BEKA-BELL.DE

STYLEGUIDE ANTWREP INTERVIEW BRUNO PIETERS

NEIL BARRETT WWW.NEILBARRETT.COM

3 / 2013

INWEAR WWW.INWEAR.COM

D 9,50 EURO B NL A 10,50 EURO E P I 11,50 EURO CH 15,80 CHF

ENGLISH EDITION

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY MURIEL LIEBMANN STYLING ANJA HAMANN HAIR & MAKE UP CAROLIN JARCHOW MODEL NHU