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Newcomers defy the odds in men's fashion
By Rebecca Voight
Sunday, January 18, 2009
PARIS: Young designers never have had it easy, and menswear always has been the toughest club to break into. Yet in the midst of one of the bleakest business climates in memory, the menswear show calendars still are brimming with an international list of up-and-comers eager to defy the odds.
Perhaps it is just timing. The last menswear session, in late June for spring/summer 2009, was well before the September global economic meltdown. So although young designers can imagine a downturn in sales, many of them have yet to experience one.
But these independents do run on what the French call "system D," a whatever-it-takes strategy based on long hours, ingenious solutions to financial constraints and a familial network of public relations representatives, sales agents and multilabel stores. They already are lean, penny-pinching operations that are putting up a fight to succeed.
Reached on a London bus after a visit to his alma mater, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design - where, "as a favor, the print people were giving me some last-minute help" - Gareth Pugh is nonplussed by the financial crisis.
He recognizes that there is one, even though his fledgling business is growing. "It's a tough time, but it's also a good time for creativity," he said. "I'm like a perfumer selling a dream."
Pugh returns this month to Paris, where he staged his women's collection last autumn, to present his first all-men's show. Pugh, the winner of the €150,000 or $200,000, Andam prize last year, had previously shown unisex collections.
"I think combining men's and women's in one show confused people," Pugh says. "Now I want to be more formulaic for men with proper tailoring, trousers and tops. With women's, you can do anything, but in menswear there are rules."
Adam Kimmel always has come to Paris to sell his New York-inspired collection; this season he also plans a presentation at the Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery. With a collection inspired by Gerard Malanga, Andy Warhol's right-hand man at the Factory, Kimmel wants to recreate Malanga's "screen tests," but he downplays the idea of a show. "The presentation is going to be just a couple of projectors; there's no big production."
Kimmel says his work is growing. "I had a great sell-through this season," he said. "I saw more new clients than ever before. Now we'll just have to see what happens next."
Mihara Yasuhiro of Japan has been showing quietly in Europe for some time, first in Milan and, for the past four seasons, in Paris. His large international following, which began with shoes for Puma, now includes two flagships and 63 other stockists in Japan as well as 35 stores in the United States and Europe, including L'Eclaireur in Paris.
Although he expects financial problems, Yasuhiro said he "never thinks in a conservative way" and designs for "young and confident individuals who are interested in art."
Henrik Vibskov, a Dane who attended Central Saint Martins, does not seem to have encountered any obstacles in building his fashion business. "I've never had any sponsors; we don't spend millions; it's all pretty low key," he said of his company, which includes men's, women's and, most recently, children's wear, selling in 35 countries.
"I can see the recession has changed our business by what's selling at my store," he says. "Customers are buying the same number of things but, instead of the most expensive items, they're going for computer bags and socks."
Tillmann Lauterbach was born in Germany, raised in Ibiza and studied at the fashion school Esmod in Paris, where he now is based.
He started his design career when his friend, Jean-Pierre Braganza, found himself without a collection to sell at the Salon du Pret à Porter. Lauterbach moved in with a few pieces and sold to five stores.
He now shows at Benjamin Mazza's No Season showroom, which represents about 10 brands, including Romain Kremer of France, Juun J. of Korea and Boris Bidjan Saberi, a German-Iranian designer based in Barcelona.
As a sales agent, Mazza bridges the gap between a designer's aspirations and the business reality. "The situation for young designers is hard to bear, but it's not impossible," he says, noting that about 200 to 250 multilabel stores visit the showroom each season.
"All young designers must make an effort now on price if they want to survive," he said. "Because of import taxes and bad exchange rates we won't be taking any new brands from Asia in the foreseeable future." New at No Season is Pyrenex, a label highlighting down-filled garments by Alexis Mabille, the Paris-based designer.
Paris's largest concentration of emerging men's brands is at Tranoï, the trade fair opening Jan. 22 at the Palais de la Bourse.
Michael Hadida, its director, says that 120 exhibitors are expected this year, 10 fewer than its last session. "Eighty-eight percent of Tranoï's exhibitors are foreign," he said. "There's new English brands this season, but the most important expansion is coming from Russia and India."
(Tranoï's women's edition in March will have for the first time 150 spaces at the Carrousel du Louvre, next to the fashion shows. Didier Grumbach, president of the French Couture Federation, granted the space to Tranoï in an effort to make shopping in Paris easier for international buyers.)
Kuki de Salvertes of the public relations agency Totem said that another problem was the mainstream press's attitude toward new designers. Totem represents the majority of Paris's young designers, including Bernhard Willhelm, who is showing in Berlin this season; Raf Simons; Juun J.; and Saberi.
Salvertes said that the press was "too busy currying favor with advertisers to pay much attention to young brands."
The stores that buy from new designers are scattered around the globe, from New York and Paris to new markets like Seoul. But Maria Luisa Poumaillou, whose stores on Rue du Mont Thabor in Paris cater to the fashionable, is pessimistic.
"The only chance young designers have right now is that their businesses aren't heavy so they can be flexible," she said.
While Poumaillou bemoans the conservative taste of even her most sophisticated customers, Joseph Quartana of Seven, the celebrated New York store, said he was doing a brisk business with even the most avant-garde, like Romain Kremer.
"We've had a sell-thorough on some of his most experimental pieces this season," Quartana says. "Even though our customers might also buy Yves Saint Laurent, we don't want to sell a big name like that. Seven has a niche clientele, which expects to see something different here."
Armand Hadida, whose L'Eclaireur stores for men and women have been introducing new brands in Paris for the past 18 years, said he would reduce his buys this season, but he was not dropping any designers he believed in.
"France is all worked up by the media barrage about the economic crisis coming from the United States, the U.K. and Spain," he said. "But it's been slow here for several years, and we no longer have as many Japanese and U.S. customers as we did in the past. I'm not expecting any catastrophic downturns."
By Rebecca Voight
Sunday, January 18, 2009
PARIS: Young designers never have had it easy, and menswear always has been the toughest club to break into. Yet in the midst of one of the bleakest business climates in memory, the menswear show calendars still are brimming with an international list of up-and-comers eager to defy the odds.
Perhaps it is just timing. The last menswear session, in late June for spring/summer 2009, was well before the September global economic meltdown. So although young designers can imagine a downturn in sales, many of them have yet to experience one.
But these independents do run on what the French call "system D," a whatever-it-takes strategy based on long hours, ingenious solutions to financial constraints and a familial network of public relations representatives, sales agents and multilabel stores. They already are lean, penny-pinching operations that are putting up a fight to succeed.
Reached on a London bus after a visit to his alma mater, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design - where, "as a favor, the print people were giving me some last-minute help" - Gareth Pugh is nonplussed by the financial crisis.
He recognizes that there is one, even though his fledgling business is growing. "It's a tough time, but it's also a good time for creativity," he said. "I'm like a perfumer selling a dream."
Pugh returns this month to Paris, where he staged his women's collection last autumn, to present his first all-men's show. Pugh, the winner of the €150,000 or $200,000, Andam prize last year, had previously shown unisex collections.
"I think combining men's and women's in one show confused people," Pugh says. "Now I want to be more formulaic for men with proper tailoring, trousers and tops. With women's, you can do anything, but in menswear there are rules."
Adam Kimmel always has come to Paris to sell his New York-inspired collection; this season he also plans a presentation at the Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery. With a collection inspired by Gerard Malanga, Andy Warhol's right-hand man at the Factory, Kimmel wants to recreate Malanga's "screen tests," but he downplays the idea of a show. "The presentation is going to be just a couple of projectors; there's no big production."
Kimmel says his work is growing. "I had a great sell-through this season," he said. "I saw more new clients than ever before. Now we'll just have to see what happens next."
Mihara Yasuhiro of Japan has been showing quietly in Europe for some time, first in Milan and, for the past four seasons, in Paris. His large international following, which began with shoes for Puma, now includes two flagships and 63 other stockists in Japan as well as 35 stores in the United States and Europe, including L'Eclaireur in Paris.
Although he expects financial problems, Yasuhiro said he "never thinks in a conservative way" and designs for "young and confident individuals who are interested in art."
Henrik Vibskov, a Dane who attended Central Saint Martins, does not seem to have encountered any obstacles in building his fashion business. "I've never had any sponsors; we don't spend millions; it's all pretty low key," he said of his company, which includes men's, women's and, most recently, children's wear, selling in 35 countries.
"I can see the recession has changed our business by what's selling at my store," he says. "Customers are buying the same number of things but, instead of the most expensive items, they're going for computer bags and socks."
Tillmann Lauterbach was born in Germany, raised in Ibiza and studied at the fashion school Esmod in Paris, where he now is based.
He started his design career when his friend, Jean-Pierre Braganza, found himself without a collection to sell at the Salon du Pret à Porter. Lauterbach moved in with a few pieces and sold to five stores.
He now shows at Benjamin Mazza's No Season showroom, which represents about 10 brands, including Romain Kremer of France, Juun J. of Korea and Boris Bidjan Saberi, a German-Iranian designer based in Barcelona.
As a sales agent, Mazza bridges the gap between a designer's aspirations and the business reality. "The situation for young designers is hard to bear, but it's not impossible," he says, noting that about 200 to 250 multilabel stores visit the showroom each season.
"All young designers must make an effort now on price if they want to survive," he said. "Because of import taxes and bad exchange rates we won't be taking any new brands from Asia in the foreseeable future." New at No Season is Pyrenex, a label highlighting down-filled garments by Alexis Mabille, the Paris-based designer.
Paris's largest concentration of emerging men's brands is at Tranoï, the trade fair opening Jan. 22 at the Palais de la Bourse.
Michael Hadida, its director, says that 120 exhibitors are expected this year, 10 fewer than its last session. "Eighty-eight percent of Tranoï's exhibitors are foreign," he said. "There's new English brands this season, but the most important expansion is coming from Russia and India."
(Tranoï's women's edition in March will have for the first time 150 spaces at the Carrousel du Louvre, next to the fashion shows. Didier Grumbach, president of the French Couture Federation, granted the space to Tranoï in an effort to make shopping in Paris easier for international buyers.)
Kuki de Salvertes of the public relations agency Totem said that another problem was the mainstream press's attitude toward new designers. Totem represents the majority of Paris's young designers, including Bernhard Willhelm, who is showing in Berlin this season; Raf Simons; Juun J.; and Saberi.
Salvertes said that the press was "too busy currying favor with advertisers to pay much attention to young brands."
The stores that buy from new designers are scattered around the globe, from New York and Paris to new markets like Seoul. But Maria Luisa Poumaillou, whose stores on Rue du Mont Thabor in Paris cater to the fashionable, is pessimistic.
"The only chance young designers have right now is that their businesses aren't heavy so they can be flexible," she said.
While Poumaillou bemoans the conservative taste of even her most sophisticated customers, Joseph Quartana of Seven, the celebrated New York store, said he was doing a brisk business with even the most avant-garde, like Romain Kremer.
"We've had a sell-thorough on some of his most experimental pieces this season," Quartana says. "Even though our customers might also buy Yves Saint Laurent, we don't want to sell a big name like that. Seven has a niche clientele, which expects to see something different here."
Armand Hadida, whose L'Eclaireur stores for men and women have been introducing new brands in Paris for the past 18 years, said he would reduce his buys this season, but he was not dropping any designers he believed in.
"France is all worked up by the media barrage about the economic crisis coming from the United States, the U.K. and Spain," he said. "But it's been slow here for several years, and we no longer have as many Japanese and U.S. customers as we did in the past. I'm not expecting any catastrophic downturns."
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