You began experimenting with asymmetry last season, and this collection it was extremely strong. Why?
Last winter I had this image of myself walking outside and my jacket turning with the wind, and it had this beautiful movement - that's how it started. I thought how nice it was to throw the clothes off centre, to let them look like they are turning. I started to work on this. It was very hard, in terms of cut, to make a garment that looks like it's turning but which doesn't fall back. And the collection came out looking very strict, very clean, in a way - and that was not exactly what I originally wanted. Although I learned a lot by working on this, when I started the summer collection I said Okay, I want to redo this with what I learnt - but I want to find more of myself in it. I'm somebody who needs more nonchalance. It was too graphic. I was very aggressive when I made that collection, and afterwards, when I looked back at it I Ribbons are one of your fetishes, and this time the cowling effect is helped by ribbons tied around the body. The ties help me get the close-to-the-body part really close to the body - it's one thing I couldn't win over gravity. I wanted the fabric there, not where the gravity kept wanting to place it. It took two weeks to get the draping effect right. But once you've found your solution, you've found it. Do you ever not find your solution? When I believe in something I will never drop it. I will be mad about it, I will be sick about it, everyone will throw the patterns at my head! But I will not stop. I think there's always a solution. When I was at school I had a teacher who said "'not possible' is not possible." You only have to want something hard enough, then it becomes possible. |
Yes, there is a very typical look for the fabric you should use for men. And it's very interesting to see how far I can go. What can I do? It becomes intriguing when you start to combine unusual fabrics, it's interesting to play with that. In fact, it's one big melting pot here at the moment. I don't do my head in choosing fabrics for men and fabrics for women. I choose the fabrics I like, and I use them as I feel is right at the time. It's always in a spontaneous, nonchalant way.
said - 'oh my god, was I angry!' I was missing a lot of other emotions, so I thought, I will start again. I felt like I was a prisoner to all of this close-to-the-body stuff - I wanted my freedom back. Then I had the idea of movement again. I was sitting at my table and my t-shirt dropped off one shoulder and I thought - I want this. And I 
started to work with this idea of just a normal t-shirt dropping off. Of course, I didn't want to make a normal t-shirt which drops off - where's the message in that? I wanted a new kind of oversize, but I wanted to feel my elegance in it. Because I need to feel elegant, I needed this feeling of fabric again, I needed the nonchalance, but something wilder. It was with these vague ideas that I started to work.
Photos (from top): Fall/Winter '94/'95 [photography: Chris Moore]; Fall/Winter '96/'97 [photography: F.Dumoulin]; Fall/Winter '95/'96; Fall/Winter '94/'95 [photography: Chris Moore].
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