Aitor Throup: New Orleans Project

[Servo2000]

http://www.showstudio.com/project/neworleans

Link thanks to seenmy from Superfuture, who is currently interning with Aitor. I found this aesthetically and conceptually refreshing and technically impressive. Can't ask for much more. Apparently the production is really incredible (quoting seenmy):

the production on them is like nothing you willl have ever seen,he created a new process for the tailoring so the garments are essentially seamless(obviously there are jions)but not seam allowence so everythingsits flat inside and out,the cases are amazing nd the transformations even better as they were not designed,they are just a direct result of the pieces of the instrument case being placed on to the body,the sausaphone is the best and most exciting example of it,

I'd be interested to see this in person.

Enjoy.

[merz]

When i first discover throup, his illustrations left me completely speechless but the actual garments left a lot to be desired. This stuff has given me the kind of suckerpunch i had come to expect from the concept sketches.

[ddohnggo]

very cool stuff.

[Servo2000]

[quote user="ddohnggo"]

very cool stuff.

[/quote]

Might want to save it for the old thread, this one should probably stick to discussion about the New Orleans project?

I definitely agree with Merz, the execution and fit is much more in line with his incredible sketches. The old pieces often failed to execute somewhat, I think he's a great designer and it looks like maybe his technical skills are catching up.

[Chinorlz]

[quote user="merz"]When i first discover throup, his illustrations left me completely speechless but the actual garments left a lot to be desired. This stuff has given me the kind of suckerpunch i had come to expect from the concept sketches.
[/quote]

Merz, is the suckerpunch part a good or bad thing for this collection?

Since his last (first?) collection, I've been pretty interested in his stuff. This collection is pretty cool both in concept and in execution. The Sousaphone finale piece was just plain crazy!

I think Aitor's approach to Katrina/New Orleans as an influence for this collection is pretty novel in concept and really beautifully executed. I can't wait until the Library gets this collection in so I can see photos that are more in detail. The trumpet and trombone pieces are beautiful. I'd definitely consider picking up one of those jackets as it's a wonderful play on the classic blazer. The deconstructed instrument bags come together for a strong, protective almost menacing look that is fucking sweet.

Aitor's one of the most creative designers I've seen here in the last year or so. His stuff is far from the mainstream and oh so lovely. Wish his first collection stuff (that is more transforming) was still around on the secondhand market....

I may have to message the guy who is interning at Throup!

[merz]

well, albert.. i hate to image-spam the thread so much, but if aitor has ever produced, or ever plans to produce the stuff below, I will go to all kinds of extremes to get my grubby hands on it. problem is, his realisations looked a far cry from the concepts, but i tried to picture it as rendered with superb tailoring and materials and it would likely be everything my wardrobe would need for a very long time. Note the exaggerated upper torso on the hoodie looking like insect thorax.

[laika]

whoa, this is amazing. What fantastic drawings. [:O]

thanks Servo and merz too....this will make for excellent browsing...

[Servo2000]

[quote user="laika"]

whoa, this is amazing. What fantastic drawings. [:O]

thanks Servo and merz too....this will make for excellent browsing...

[/quote]

For anyone who missed the old thread: http://stylezeitgeist.com/forums/thread/5118.aspx

Forgot to link it earlier.

[laika]

ah, ok, I remember now. I guess I was more attracted to the drawings than the clothes. [:$]

thanks, Servo! [64]

[Servo2000]

I'm seriously addicted to the song in this video. I wish I knew more about this sort of music (or more similiar musicians) because I keep coming back to this video to listen to it.

[ddohnggo]

the credits say the following:

music composition: d. bryceland
music production: vibrations of sound

you might find some similar artists if you google search the names.

[merz]

"All good comic book artists have a signature style when drawing the
characters? anatomy and postures. Aitor Throup has taken his characters
to the next level, sculpting them and then making a garment pattern
based on the pose of the character?s form in motion. He calls this
process, ?branding through construction?. ?As a child I was constantly
(and still am) drawing the body in motion. I spent my time attempting
to give each of my drawings an anatomy of their own. And then one day,
something amazing happened: Tim Burton made BATMAN. And in his
interpretation of Batman?s mask, he succeeded in giving anatomy to an
inanimate object.

I honoured this pivotal design classic by creating a wool jacket
with a built-in three-dimensional Batman hood/mask. The cut of the
jacket was based on a sculpture of the body in a particular ?superhero
pose?, so it hung in a slightly distorted way. Therefore the whole
piece (not just the hood), had its own anatomy. The accompanying
trousers were also based on the idea of ?every-day superheroes?. They
were two pairs of trousers interacting with each other: the cut of the
internal pair was based on the human muscular system of the legs,
creating a sort of fabric version of an anatomical ecorché. The
external trousers consisted of exaggerated volume and multiple pleats
and darts, concealing the internal structure. Should the wearer ever be
called to Superhero duty, he could find the nearest phonebox, turn the
trousers inside-out and put his hood up.?

[lowrey]

really interesting stuff, looking forward to seeing more pics of the new orleans project. the concept with that is just nuts.

[Avantster]

I love his concepts & sketches. The clothing itself seems to lack just a little in execution - it loses just a touch of that magic I see in the sketches. I'm definitely keeping my eye on him.

Some pics from LFW. Full credit of the pics go to Susie of style bubble. I wish he did a runway show.

[Servo2000]

Styling and some pieces by Aitor Throup:

[bakla]

Great article on Aitor Throup on Hintmag.com

(is it alright to copy and paste this here, or should I just leave this as a link?)



Polite and soft-spoken though he is, Aitor Throup
will bristle if you call him a fashion designer, a pejorative term for
someone who doesn't give a toss about being trendy. He's an artist
who'll no doubt rank among high-conceptualists Hussein Chalayan and
Martin Margiela soon enough, but don't tell him that either. A
stand-out at Man, the men's group show put on by Fashion East during
London Fashion Week last September, he defies labeling and even talks
of revolutionizing how we buy and consume clothes. Argentinean-born and
London-based, Aitor creates military-style suiting heaped with layer
upon layer of abstruse meaning (consider the titles of his two
collections to date: When Football Hooligans Become Hindu Gods, The
Funeral of New Orleans) and made using a sci-fi clay-to-computer
sculpture technique. You could say?but again, please don't?that he's
the George Lucas of menswear, focusing on characters and concepts over
shapes and silhouettes. Here, making good use of his "tendency to
chatter on," the Royal College of Art graduate and royal contrarian
divulges his enigmatic ways to LEE CARTER.

We haven't even started and I already have a headache.

(Laughs.) I've heard that before.

Let's start with your design philosophy, because you definitely have one.

Okay. The
way I think about my concepts, collections and everything else would be
like a gallery setting, in the sense that, and not to be arty here, I
view my work as a static product and the audience should be active
around it. They should view it whenever they want and as long as they
want, which ties into my beliefs about the seasonal limitations of the
industry.

Which are?

Currently,
we as consumers are not allowed to buy things when we want or even when
the designer wants, which runs contradictory to the essence of
creativity. While fashion cycles may give structure and boundaries that
creative people think they need, designers can become self-absorbed and
indulgent. Whereas I'm very strict in my exploration of my creativity,
in that every single thing has to be justified and make sense, so much
so that if I also submit to the limitations of the industry and its
deadlines, I think I would choke.

I would get all of nothing done if I didn't have deadlines.

I see a
better future for the fashion industry. I see a section of the industry
opening up to allow for more experimentation. A new group is emerging
and exploring new possibilities. Magazines will benefit, consumers will
benefit, buyers will benefit and the Internet will benefit because
there will always be something new in the windows.What I hope to see in
the future is a sort of mirror of the music and art industries, in that
fashion would allow itself to show a product whenever it's ready, not
in predetermined cycles. Now more than ever, people like to layer
rather than having a winter wardrobe and a summer wardrobe. That's such
an old-fashioned system.

Especially
when seasons are so different across the globe at any given moment,
while fashion is becoming more and more global all the time.

Imagine if
the music industry did it that way. Imagine if they released all their
new music every six months. You'd have to listen to the new albums all
at once and, worst of all, once an album comes out, you're only allowed
to buy it for six months. After that you have to buy the new album,
which would probably be shit because they only had six months to come
up with a concept, develop it, record it, do the artwork, etc. My
collections operate a lot differently.

Let's talk about your collections. They're like no other.

In my mind,
my collections are very conceptual, not based on the colors or
silhouettes of the season. I've almost got an advantage over other
designers in that I was never really interested in fashion. I kind of
fell into it. I got into it through a love of the product rather than a
love of aspirational values attached to it.

How did this love of product start?

When my
friends and I were teenagers growing up in Lancashire, in the north of
England, we started getting really into clothes, but it had nothing to
do with fashion. We were fascinated with anything that came from
Massimo Osti, the guy who set up Stone Island and C.P. Company and
other labels after that. For me, he really pioneered a new casual
menswear. Before he came along you'd look down the street in England
and see a sea of suits. He was well established by the time we were
dressing in it in '96.

What exactly did you like about it?

It had a lot
of integrity and every design feature was justified. So while it was
very expensive and we were 16 buying a new jacket for £500, we knew we
were buying into concept and quality. We knew the fabric and treatments
were innovative, and parts of the jacket could be moved around in
utilitarian ways. Some of the pieces could even could save your life if
you were in a jam. Each piece had a justified design philosophy. Our
fascination was completely detached from the concept of buying a jacket
because it's the hot thing.

You were a teen cult.

Yes, and we
didn't know what we were going to see until we got to the shop. We
didn't study fashion shows and look through magazines to see what's
coming out. If it was the first day on the shop floor, and since we
were friends with the managers, they'd give us a call and put one
behind the counter so we could see it first. So we were really judging
the product and basing our purchase on seeing it and studying it and
falling in love with it.

Aww, young love.

Yes, and
through it all, I had no interest in fashion. I was just passionate
about those pieces. I even got a job there later. Then I spent one
summer in Majorca working in a restaurant. I was really missing those
winter jackets and jumpers from C.P. Company and Stone Island, so I was
sitting around doing nothing one day and I took a little paper place
mat and began doodling. I've always drawn comic book characters, so I
drew characters on the place mats, and the clothes started getting
really detailed, more C.P.esque or Stone Island-esque. Then I thought,
why not go back and show the drawings to the seamstress we used at the
shop. I thought I could go back with the sketches and she'd make me
these clothes that no one else has.

So she did it?

No. On the plane back I had the thought that maybe I should do it. Not be a fashion designer, but to make garments.

Tell me about your method of sculpting little characters and making miniature clothes for them.

That's a
technique I developed at Royal College. When I arrived there, I knew I
had to carry on looking for whatever it was I was looking for. I knew
it had to be different. Then I realized I needed to find a bridge
between my drawings and my garments that wasn't a purely aesthetic
link. I basically had to go from a two-dimensional drawing to a
three-dimensional garment. I was frustrated by not being able to draw
in three dimensions. So I developed this technique of sculpting the
body or torso from my drawings, then covering it with fabric, like a
skin, and enlarging it to human scale. What I'm interested in is the
human body interpreted through my characters.

I like how you think of fashion in anatomical terms. You're like a fashion scientist.

That's
pretty cool. I like that. Yeah, I always think about anatomy and the
notion of understanding the outside by understanding the inside. I'm
actually obsessed with it, especially 16th-century notions of anatomy.
The very soul of my collections is based on my interpretation of the
human body.

Can you give an example?

With the
first collection, called When Football Hooligans Become Hindu Gods, all
the garments were based on one miniature sculpture, which was scaled up
to fit a human body using a computer. The concept of the collection was
the idea of a group of football hooligans killing a Hindu boy in a
racist attack and then converting to Hinduism when they realized what
they had done. Every garment is in a military style, which references
football hooligans and how they wear military-like garments, then each
of those pieces turns into a Hindu god. That evolved into the next
collection, The Funeral of New Orleans, which is the one you saw in
September.

Yes, I loved it. Let's talk about that.

That was the
first part of a story I came up with. It's about musicians trying to
survive hurricane Katrina, but who decide to risk their lives and
protect their instruments instead. [The second part of the collection,
to be shown this year, will be the posthumous conclusion.] The shoulder
construction of each jacket is actually made from deconstructed
instrument cases to protect against rain and the pants have built-in
gloves that you can also take off and protect your instrument with.

Like a puzzle.

Exactly. I do always think of my clothes as toys.

Toys, comic books, clay figures. Are you a kid in a designer's body?

I guess, but
it feels normal to me. People stop playing with toys, but I still love
them and collect them, especially articulated action figures. I liked
ones you move in anatomically proper ways, like legs that can go
sideways, not just front and back.

That's weird.

(Laughs.)
Yes, well, in the collection, every shirt and jacket was constructed on
a sculpture of a specific musician in a specific pose, playing that
specific instrument. So, for instance, you have a jacket constructed
exactly in the pose of a trumpet player.

Can the limbs move?

Yes, though
it's a little ill-fitting, distorted a bit to the right or left, but
that's what makes if cool, if you know what I mean. Plus you can
explain the concept to your friends as you go into a trumpet-playing
pose. It's a piece with soul and integrity. They say artists create
problems and designers solve them. I'm more of an artist.

Has anyone compared you to the great conceptualist Hussein Chalayan?

Yes, they
have. He's someone I admire, but I think our approach is very
different. What he does is offer unresolved ideas, allowing viewers to
come up with their own answers. His work is suggestive and it makes you
think, but my work is different in how obsessive I am. I can't leave
something until it's fully finished. I'm interested only in the content
of the piece itself, which can be enjoyed aesthetically or seen on
different hidden levels: conceptual, contextual, philosophical,
metaphorical and symbolic. I focus on answering all those questions for
the viewer.

Do you think about selling in stores? Or is that too pedestrian?

Yes,
definitely I do. It's a challenge for me because at the same time I'm
trying to convince buyers that my work shouldn't be consumed for only
for six months, and also that they can't expect to get a collection
every six months. But I've have great support from stockists. It seems
like the majority are willing to support me. In 2008, I'm entering one
particular collaboration. Stay tuned.

Going forward a few years, where do you see yourself?

Because of
how much I go against the grain of the industry, I think I should have
a shop of my own, regardless of the size, just somewhere to allow for
the products to live in their own environment.

You're such a purist.

Yeah, I'm not trying to be radical. I can't help it.

You expect appreciation.

Exactly, and
vice versa. Some pieces from Margiela or Chalayan I only started
appreciating later on, like in the last couple of years. I never would
have bought them when I was still a student, but why can't I buy them
now? The fact that people aren't able to buy them means that those
designers are suffering from the industry. I'm sure they still believe
in those collections.

Plus,
with those designers in particular, people do still wear them. Like
Margiela's 72% oversized collection. Even though it's old, I know
people who still love it and wear it all the time.

And people
shouldn't be ashamed to wear it. If something is actually conceptual
and not just the bastardized version of that word, it wasn't developed
to be trendy anyway, but to communicate a concept.

Are you a tortured artist?

Creatively I
suffer sometimes, but it's the price I pay. Sometimes I will have a
creative urge to explore something like the color yellow, but
ultimately I want to lose aesthetic control and just entangle myself in
a process. I only want to design concepts.

[merz]

the money i'd pay to serve as a display case of his work

[Servo2000]

I don't necessarily imagine I'll be able to afford his clothing once he gets around to producing it, but good lord would I love to own the stuff.

[Chinorlz]

did The Library carry his New Orleans collection this past season?

I do wonder what the price points are/were... his first collection was none too cheap as well. I figure it's made on a VERY small level though so unfortunately high prices have to offset the small production number.

[Servo2000]

[quote user="Chinorlz"]

did The Library carry his New Orleans collection this past season?

I do wonder what the price points are/were... his first collection was none too cheap as well. I figure it's made on a VERY small level though so unfortunately high prices have to offset the small production number.

[/quote]

I think they made literally "a couple" piece and only carried a reasonable number of the bags (those skull ones) since they were produced elsewhere and they were $500+ at least if I remember correctly.