Fashion Road

Not all fashion houses are lucky enough to last forever. Dries Van Noten has been walking quietly for 25 years.

Not all designers, like him, have been persistent in their quest for their own path.

In this 1/4 century, the "Six Gentlemen of Antwerp" has been searching for the world's national culture in the style of "fashion trip". It has brought these cultural treasures to T and women's skirts with its own design language and printing aesthetics, and won the double victory of market and reputation. We also visited his headquarters in Antwerp, Belgium, and asked the designer to explore his observation of fashion, women, culture and the world in the past 25 years.

This is a fact that most people don't like. Maybe Dries Van Noten is not the favorite designer's name that most women would blurt out. But women who like fashion always buy their clothes unintentionally every season. Facts speak louder than words. He designs clothes that women like to wear. No doubt, he is the best seller brand in Paris Le Bon Marche in recent years.

I asked a lot of women around us who their favorite fashion designers are, Miuccia Prada, Alexander McQueen or Nicolas Ghesquiere, now the designer of Balenciaga. At the moment of being asked, why do not everyone think of DriesVan Noten, but when it comes to him, everyone will respond immediately, and many of them are loyal fans. The most serious thing is that the age of the people who like Dries Van Noten clothes can range from 20 to 60 years old, which is not so easy to do.

25 years passed, and the original Dries Van Noten brand has been born for 25 years. This weekend, our weekend pictorial specially visited the brand building in Antwerp, Belgium. This is the workshop of Dries Van Noten, showroom, general office, printing room, and the core part of all brands. Here we can find the classic design of the brand for many years, the classic cloth that is very familiar with the rest, even every pair of shoes that have been passed by models on the overpass, and a lot of antique furniture that designers have collected from all over the world. {page_break}

It has been discussed with people before. If you really want to understand a person's taste, it is not enough to dress and behave alone. When you go to his home, you can get a taste of his taste. This time, he went to the headquarters of Dries Van Noten and had the same feeling. The whole building was not messy at all. Even the workplaces where the craftsmen worked, everything was very organized, and all the subjects had a quiet feeling. Just like Dries Van Noten himself, you will always feel that he is so polite and decent.

In fact, Antwerp, as a city, is quite different from its position in fashion. It is full of An Jingning's feeling, which is different from London's gloom, Paris's alternative, Milan's gorgeous and Northern Europe's last carnival atmosphere. But only here can you not wonder that Dries Van Noten will be the master designer who understands women's psychology.

MW: fast fashion has changed the fashion show two times a year. How do you view the current fashion system?

DVN: I have considered this question many times. In fact, many Japanese customers also hope that we can design and sell the products in four seasons, not only the clothing series of spring, summer, autumn and winter on fashion week. However, the design of the four series means more time, rather than making a picture of the table. We need to convene all our colleagues to interpret women's spirit and personality through different fabrics from different parts of the world. We sent our colleagues to Japan, India and Uzbekistan to collect fabrics, pick patterns, and even bring back all sizes of buttons.

MW: you are not only a designer, but also a successful business author. What are the advantages and difficulties of having two jobs?

At the end of the DVN:1990, we had a very difficult time. All the designers ran to the group work, including Ji lSander, Alexander McQueen and so on. I admit that this is the way of existence in fashion. For that era, fashion has only one style. Fortunately, these people finally bring out different styles of design. Then, no matter the whole body is full of labels, or wearing a black suit, dark colored Japanese style clothes, people begin to show different "fashionable" gradually. This is good. Don't stare at a style. People should look for their own fashion outlet. We are all fashion brands like Chanel and some Japanese brands, and we will also sell some relatively young or antique series on the Internet. This is a good aspect.

MW: what changes do you think women have in terms of psychology and mentality in the past 25 years?

DVN: women are more sensible about fashion. They know what they want and are more liberal in choosing clothes. Like the age of resource scarcity during World War II, European women who kept elegant day after day gathered all the clothes they could wear. Moreover, when designing clothes, I usually consider not the trend, but how to make new styles.

MW: in the past, designers often did some Total Look, and people would choose such a complete set of costumes to highlight their elegance. But it seems that more attention has been paid to mashup recently. Will Total Look get damp again?

DVN: there are some series. I would suggest that customers buy Total Look. Because I pay special attention to tailoring in every detail, and then achieve the effect of self-cultivation through collage. So you will have to buy a full set of clothes, even shoes and bags. Otherwise, a single coat or trousers can hardly show the tailoring effect, which is related to the overall sense of vision. For me, such a complete outfit is also more personal. But for some people, they choose to dress up just to make themselves look more stable.

MW: why do you always have a trace of femininity in your design?

DVN: it's hard to say that my design is like this or that. Everything is natural. I start looking for inspiration from some small materials, then magnify it and enlarge it. Those old plans, such as what themes we are going to have this season, and what kind of styles they will probably have are not included in my creative process. Although I also hope to follow this plan, after all, it will be much simpler, but my creative thinking is not so. I prefer to communicate with others continuously. It's fun to imagine with a team. You can dream of maximizing what you want. In the end, we will arrange all the elements we put together and assign them to the series, some of which will take up a larger proportion, and some may be ignored for the time being. That's why I always want to have an impatient assistant.

MW: so most of your series are collided?

DVN: it can be said, but I think it is more like an evolutionary process. In constant thinking, we will leave the good ones and delete them, so that a series of feelings will come out slowly, and the garments designed in this way will be more complete.

MW: do you often travel?

DVN: I used to be, and now I stay at home as much as I can. I don't think travelling from Belgium to Paris means traveling. I also work on trains on lunchtime. So if this is called tourism, then I am a regular customer.

MW: what strength does your brand attract to Asian customers?

DVN: I will also focus on those traditional things, the skills to produce beauty, so I often communicate with India employees. But I want the design to be modern and future. Sometimes, you will think that the 1920s dress is beautiful, but will you wear it? No, people's living environment is very different. Warm and modern clothes are more acceptable.

MW: Women designers pay more attention to women's dress feeling when designing women's clothing, but male designers prefer to emphasize one kind of strength when designing women's clothing, so generally they will be very prominent in image. But your design always gives me a sense of being familiar with women's needs.

DVN: I don't think male designers need to understand women's needs. I have no Mousika, no idols, no inspirational figures. I only observe women from a personal perspective. If you think it is right, you will do this design.

MW: can you remember each design of your own?

DVN: I can remember many designs many years ago, but I can't remember the design 6 months ago. That's fine. After a few years, if I remember those styles, it might be the resurgence of the fashion world. At the same time, I can also redefine the shortcomings and advantages of design. {page_break}

MW: where does your inspiration come from?

DVN: many, watching people, meeting customers, watching exhibitions, etc., including dialogue with you now, more or less. Sometimes my team will also make some comments. For example, in 1970s, but we only hope that the one or two details can be reflected in the small and medium size, rather than completely resurgence design. It's important that you have to know what you can't do, which is more important than what you need to do.

MW: have you ever thought of making an exhibition of yourself or brand?

DVN: I think of it as a serious matter, but it is not yet the right time. It will be more appropriate to have an exhibition after my design career. Now is the stage from baby to maturity, every season is growing, and the series will be more and more interesting. When the scale of the company is bigger, you can have more choices. I can choose more patterned cloth, have my own studio, and have a group of employees in India to study handwork and national elements, and these things also surround me every day.

MW: many brands will sell bags and accessories, but you are one of the few brands that rely solely on clothes to make money. What's the key?

DVN: compared to other brands, about 6% of clothing sales, DriesVan Noten about 6% of the sales ratio is accessories. I am a fashion designer, and I also need to design accessories. Accessories are very important. Clothing needs their foil and proper matching. But for me, clothing is more important, and I like something that is practical.

MW: Why did Dries Van Noten never advertise?

When I founded the brand in DVN:1983, in order to make a name for myself, I designed 7 commercial series, including jeans, T-Shirts, jeans, children's wear and so on. 2 years later, we grew stronger and wanted to do some publicity, but we only had enough money to publish a page in the French version of Vogue. At that time, we had no choice but to propagate it in a magazine. As the series gets better and better, other magazines will report us, but we can't advertise in his home. This will cause disputes. So in the end, we simply did not advertise. Then, 6 to 7 years later, I will only do the mainline series, and become more and more handy. People will understand our new ready-made clothes series from the fashion week and have the desire to buy. This will be pure clothing, rather than brand or name. In addition, advertising often has many frameworks. You need to choose the shape, skin color and age of the model. This is not the original intention of my design, nor do I want to set a specific customer base for my own design.

MW: now I understand why women like your clothes. They find themselves in your clothes.

DVN: I think it's "I think fit!" this feeling is very important.

MW: now there are many street pads and bloggers who have attracted a lot of attention. But it's not really tasty.

DVN: they are very individual. This is reflected in their vision. Whether or not there is a mistake in matching, there is at least one thing that is certain: they wear all the possibilities. I also like to combine many elements, but the result is often wrong. This is more like the work of a stylist, constantly matching the models to achieve the best results. As a designer, I will spend a lot of time screening.

MW: is there any time to be bored with design?

DVN: often, especially during the first few days of fashion week. But you can take it as a turning point, relax and find new inspiration.

MW: have you ever thought about stopping for a while?

DVN: This is the dream of every fashion designer, especially when the new season starts again. But the horror of the fashion industry is to make a new series every 6 months.

MW: how do you think of some designers nowadays? Once they become famous, they immediately create their own fashion houses and name their brands in their own name.

DVN: in New York, many designers rely on some big groups to do their own series. This pair Fashion world There will be more choices. I think it's good.

MW: you will bring some retro elements in your design, but you emphasize the sense of modernity very much.

DVN: from 1980s to twentieth Century, new things developed too fast, but sometimes people have not kept pace with this, especially in twenty-first Century. Going back to the past and digging up the past seems more interesting to people, not copying, but more like continuing a certain idea and creating new feelings.

MW: you have a collection. vintage Are you interested in it?

DVN: I don't buy it very often, but sometimes I go to the small market or flea market in the suburbs to look for something valuable, small but technical. In Hongkong shops, those antique couches are all collected by me. The Paris store also has the antique furniture in my building, which I collected slowly in different places.

MW: you seem to like India craft very much, and combine modern techniques with ancient techniques.

DVN: This is a combination. I don't like living in the past, but I want to retain some of the best. But I think there may be some constraints. This is a question to ponder. How to apply these skills is the key point. At present, China may also have such a situation. China also has many wonderful ancient skills.

MW: you are Chinese. market What's your opinion?

DVN: China is a very interesting market. I can't rush through it and need to go deep into it. China's speed is very fast, but for me, fast beating is not always the best policy. I always pay more attention to slowly observing and thinking again. Slowly developing is my brand's pace. I also hope that my customers will spend some time appreciating dress designers.