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In Conversation with Julie

>> This is so late to report back on but I had some strongly festering thoughts after I had my little conversation with Julie Verhoeven in the basement of David David's pop-up store a few weeks ago.  Given there's now a permanent memento of the event - a video of the convo, which fully showcases my awkward and amateur interview skills (Alex Fury I am not... he stakes full ownership over the skill of In Conversation With Fashion People), I thought I'd let those thoughts bubble over.  

I was fixated on the idea of interviewing Julie Verhoeven, whose body of work continues to fascinate me as her career has fluidly flitted about through fashion, art, music and interiors with her illustration skills as the primary weapon.  David Saunders, whose graphic tees are going down a storm at his Monmouth Street pop-up was kind enough to faciliate the 'In Conversation' event and Verhoeven also kindly agreed to do it. 

David David's Pop-Up store on Monmouth Street, London

Yet afterwards, I felt like I had let down everyone's expectations of a cracker of an interview.  It was protracted to say the least interviewing Verhoeven, who I discovered to be shy, succinct in answers and yet disarmingly honest at the same time.  This made for a few revelatory moments but it was far from the happy-happy uplifiting gush-fest I was hoping it would be.  I wanted to really celebrate with a big HURRAH RAH RAH, how amazingly diverse Verhoeven's career has been - from illustrating for John Galliano when he first started, to collaborating with Louis Vuitton and Mulberry, to designing for the label Gibo, to art directing music videos, to putting her pen/brush strokes to walls, countless homewares/lifestyle collabs and prolifically illustrating all the while for magazine editorials and finally now decisively concentrating on her work as an artist.  Oh and for the lucky students doing Central Saint Martins fashion MA and Royal College of Arts fashion course, Verhoeven is a tutor too and it was encouraging to see many of her ex-students in the audience.  

Julie Verhoeven's S/S 01 collaboration with Louis Vuitton - the one LV bag that I would pay an arm and a leg for...

Als I don't think Verhoeven was into the whole celebration thing.  At every opportunity, it seemed she downed on her own achievements.  This wasn't annoying false modesty but a genuine reproach from somebody who doesn't seem to place too much value on her body of work.  Much of this was connected with Verhoeven's flat-out discouragement of fashion illustration as a career.  She stressed at several instances how BLOODY difficult it was to make a living out of fashion illustration - how her work was at times undervalued and how there simply just wasn't the demand for her skill.  This was baffling to me.  If Verhoeven, whose work for me pretty much was a core game changer in fashion illustration and represented the KEY to successful longevity in a niche skillset within fashion, had a difficult time working, how does the the rest of the fashion illustration community bear up?  It was a ringing home truth for budding illustrators out there and perhaps not one that people wanted to hear.

This type of honesty was coupled with a few raw personal revelations - the death of her parents, the break-up with her husband and professional difficulties  - that Verhoeven cited as triggers towards her becoming an artist.  She said "It's pretty sad to realise that aged 38, you want to become an artist!" yet she is currently taking pleasure in scoffing at the egos of the art world with her two-part exhibition Gluteus Maximus in Amsterdam.

Despite the cartharsis of recognising herself as an artist, it felt blindingly obvious to me though that Verhoeven was ALWAYS an artist - self-defined or not.  Her drawings through their depiction of femininity, vulnerability, beauty and the absurd, be it on a bag or a wall, or a limited edition print always had an emotive effect on me.  She may have been drawing/designing to brief in those instances but the reponse from the audience (at least me) was never just restricted to that of consumer to product.  I raised this with Verhoeven but she seemed genuinely unsure of the power of her work.  There was no rah-rah hurrah spiel but instead we got an affirmation of a few things that are plainly obvious anyhow - how brutal the industry can be, how doing something for the love of it isn't all fun and games and that at the end of the day, one needs to be able to make a living.      

In the end, I'm glad the course of the interview was swerved by Verhoeven's natural manner and her overall refusal to be all glossily gung-ho about everything.  People probably won't learn even 1% about Verhoeven's work from this conversation, compared to what you get from her illustrations, even if she is reluctant to talk it up.  The gesture that really sealed the deal for the evening and summed up Verhoeven's introspective personality, was when she presented me with a personalised copy of her book A Bit of Rough, that have left speckles of glitter all over my sofa.  I haven't bothered to hoover it all up.

What a corker...

Beyond the on schedule or even the on AND off schedule, London has a myriad of designers that exhibit at the London Fashion Week exhibitions who don't really need to make a big song and dance about their collections and simply get on with the business of selling.  Ostwald Helgason, made up of duo Susanne Ostwald and Ingvar Helgason, is one of those labels that has grown from strength to strength, and in the last few seasons has really found their strength in experimenting with textile advances.  Last season's gradiated mohair knits, fluffed up polka dots and flesh coloured spongey mesh are currently sitting happy in Browns Focus and Opening Ceremony and those two pow-wow stockists is no small feat for this duo.  

I already pounced on their CORKING backpack from their new S/S 12 collection but there are further corker pieces that seem to fit effortlessly in to Ostwald Helgason's sporty-but-pretty vibe of the collection.  Cork as a material in clothing/accessories isn't of course new but I do love the manipulation of the material into an unexpected bomber jacket with patent sleeves.  I've in fact ordered the jacket that will hopefully be my shell come March.  I might invite people to scribble on my back in biro for an ultra-customised take on the jacket just because I know how satisfying it is to write in biro on cork surface.

The 'woody' texture of the cork is further emphasised in the 'woody' grained linens that are then further contrasted with a frayed white cotton to add depth to what can be a seen as a fuddy duddy fabric.  Pops of neon trim also help the linen's cause.  Further naturalistic and 'grainy' in texture fabrics such as cotton netting, embroidered chiffons are injected into the mix and all the while, the shapes kick back and relax into sweatshirts, loose skorts, and mannish blazers, sometimes held up with carefree single strap cork brace.  Ostwald Helgason has toned back on print in the past few seasons but here it does turn up as a colourful echo of the embroidered chiffons.  Instead of plain and simple print, Helgason has turned to interesting surface texture and so a print of dried hydrangeas physically manifests as ACTUAL dried hydrangeas that have been individually laminated and embroidered on to a netted sweatshirt.  Christopher Kane may have cornered floral artifice with his S/S 12 collection featuring flower stickers but Ostwald Helgason takes it a step further with his dried ones.  Matching caps by Noel Stewart complete these enticing total looks, which also sees Ostwald Helgason venturing into shoes.  The summationg of all of this is that a collection containing cork, dried hydrangeas and burlap sack-esque netting manages to work on more than one level - strange that...  

Minty Fresh

You'd think that print wouldn't be all that exciting to me coming from a city which excels at it in so many ways.  Then I get to Tokyo and I still manage to have a chuckle at Japanese duo mintdesigns' prints which were first on display in a retrospective start to the show to celebrate their ten year anniversary and then in their S/S 12 show.  That's a chuckle as in a genuine broad smile by the by, not a laugh at their expense.

The designers Nao Yagi and Hokuto Katsui behind mintdesigns have have spent a decade of refining a print placement methodology that believes wearable and simple shapes are the best foundations for their zany messaging.  Be it hot air balloons, wordplay or clip-art type symbols, you're never alarmed at the print because the shape of the garment is so approachable.  Mintdesigns seem to excel at making friendly clothes that want to give you a hug, not unlike designers such as Peter Jensen or Eley Kishimoto. 

mintdesigns 10 year print retrospective

There's a similar application of wit that is best seen in their S/S 12 collection in this beautifully crafted lace and velvet devore fabric where words of kitsch positivity burst forth - 'Happy Mistake', 'New Hope', 'Lovely' - you see why it was impossible for me not to smile?  The message was especially potent at a newly revived Tokyo Fashion Week (read my compact round-up of it on Style.com) that after the year's events could do with as much upbeat messaging as possible.  Raised favour circles, lame star prints and striped sheer organza cocoons complete Mintdesigns' S/S 12 collection that will please their fans.  Katsuya Kamo (hair and make-up artist of Chanel 'paper headpieces' fame) also assisted the show greatly with his delicate bejewelled branches atop of the models' hair. 

mintdesigns S/S 12

mintdesigns 'garage' store in basement of Parco, Shibuya

mintdesigns A/W 11-12

I stopped by their sweet basement 'garage' store at Shibuya's Parco and couldn't help but be swayed by their current A/W 11-12 collection.  Piped fleecy lines in chequered formation on a pair of trousers were just the ticket for me to buy my first mintdesigns piece.  Never mind the textural complexity of the piece.  I mean just looking at these lines reminds me of all things good - lines of buttercream icing, the bright corals on juicy scallops and Japanese peach candies.  Alongside a Louise Gray shirt, an Issey Miyake bargain of a cardigan from Yoox and a pair of Simone Rocha's sculptural ponyhair brogues, there was plenty of touchy feely here to shock the gentle surroundings of Westgate-on-Sea, where I hid away for the weekend.