First, I wanted to ask you how are you living these tough times. How has the social landscape changed you personally, and how has it changed the way you work?
Personally it has obviously changed me. It’s getting really hard now, to be honest. You don’t see people, you don’t go out for dinner or drinks anymore. It has made me realise how much I miss being with people. From that point of view I find it very difficult. It was kind of funny at the beginning, the first 2 weeks everything was new, Paris was completely empty, you could see no people. But once you get over the novelty of Paris being without people, it is not that nice anymore.
Regarding work, I have to say that it was interesting at the beginning, I had no clue what I was going to do. I normally go to the streets, I look at what people wear, how people dress, I travel to different places. It was nothing left in the way, so I had no idea what to get inspired by. Being always at home was obviously not really inspiring. But then I went back to what I was seeing at that moment: pyjamas, easy things... And I thought, “how can I turn that into something interesting?” Once that I had an idea, it became easier. But it is not the same as being able to go out and see things. It was an interesting exercise, but I’m kind of fed up with it now.
This situation has also led to general changes in the industry. How do you rate all of these changes? Do you think the fashion industry is going towards a better place?
I don’t know, to be honest. I have no idea how much of what people are saying now is going to be kept once the situation is better. I’m optimistic, so I hope that things will get better in many ways, there are so many things that should change. Apart from the sustainable aspect, it is also that so many clothes are made, they are all going to sale so quickly that there’s never a moment when people actually see the clothes properly in the stores. You can’t buy properly. There’s a new collection, it goes to the stores, and it goes on sales. The whole thing is so fast. I do hope that things will get better.
You said that people and traveling are some of your sources of inspiration. What else can you say about that matter?
When I first started, I just kept wondering how our lives were changing. I thought: people are going to go out much more, and they are not going to wear one outfit for the office, one outfit for the evening... I thought all these things were going to be mixed together. People were going to wear clothes that do all these things at once. Clothes that are multicultural, multifunctional. So when I first started I thought I did not want to have any limits to how I will design the collections. I mixed sport-wear, evening, menswear...
I was also looking at my friends, people around me. They are all dressing in such and easy and simple way. A simple t-shirt with a very expensive jacquard... Whatever. I think there was a big difference between how people were dressing and what I was seeing at fashion shows, and I was interested in how people were actually dressing.
Now that I’ve been doing this for a while, I always look at my own work. I always try to keep the last four seasons on my wall, and I look at what I like, what I think might be better, what is still interesting, what is old now, what I don’t like anymore. The Collection is always inspired by the preceding one.
I also look a lot at what people are wearing, the way clothes fall, the way fabrics move together.
And then, I’ve always loved music. I’ve always had a feeling in my head with what I listen to at the moment. That has always been a huge inspiration, but I can’t explain how, because it’s not visual, it’s something in my head. Music makes me feel a certain way.
There are also designers that I love: Pierre Cardin in the 60s or Comme des Garçons, which are still amazing.
But at the end of the day, it is always about who is the person that you are dressing. I like to dress people that care about fashion but not too much. Who would just put things on, who just want to look interesting or sexy but without being fashion victims. Something that is just easy, almost non-fashion.
I can imagine that being an independent brand can sometimes be tough, mainly financially. We constantly see how big companies are absorbing smaller ones. Is that something you have thought about at some point? Or do you think that would mean a loss of creative independence as well?
I think it wouldn’t mean a loss of creativity because when you look at the collections of some very big houses out there, they are incredibly creative. I think creativity is an abstract idea. What you have to do is just make something that makes sense. And it is very important that collections are right for the moment, that they work.
I think you can sell creativity, and you can make a lot of money with creativity. And also, you can lose a lot of money with something that is not creative at all. This whole discussion is old in a way. If you find the right people, you have the same goal, and you understand each other, then the sky is the limit.
Look at Gucci, there is a CEO that understands everything. They all share the same vision and the same idea, then everything makes sense. For me, Gucci is actually an incredible story. I’m sure that not every CEO would’ve understood Alessandro Michèle explaining his vision, but he found somebody who did. And they made a huge success out of it. I think big success today is a mixture of business and creativity.
So we would be absolutely open to it. It is not always easy to be a small brand, especially now. Whenever the market is going through a difficult situation, small bands are the first to have problems. So I’m not someone who says I need to keep being independent to be able to protect my vision. I think my vision is very much compatible with bigger business.