Geoffrey B. Small

[Geoffrey B. Small]

I absolutely adore that circular pocket knit piece!
Its intriguing to see how Geoffrey B Small pieces evolve,,,I have the recycled knit circular cardigan piece and can see how it is used as a Lego block to build this new SEK06 piece. All the inventions and methods that he creates are stocked up in Geoffrey's tool box and you never know when it will be combined with something else to create something completely new. Every collection, every year, every garment trying to do something new, something better...Like a top tier athlete trying to battle against himself....Honestly I dont (and Can not be obviously) want to be Geoffrey B Small,,,its too much hard work and no time to rest (LOL).

On a different note, I agree that the leading class have all but forgotten the meaning of "Noblesse oblige". Still within the smiles of children and the beauty that adults like yourself create, there is hope. We all know deep down that it is purity and not greed that we long for, it is happiness and not money that we seek

Thanks so much Zero25mg, we really appreciate that you see our constant commitment to innovation, research and development in a field where so many seem to be standing still these days. It is not easy, it is expensive and it forces us to risk everything each time we come into Paris with a new collection. But it also forces you to grow as an artist and in our case, as an organization, and arrive at things that would never become realized if you did not try. On that note, a quick image from our workrooms a few days ago at Cavarzere Venezia of Matilde Canuti fit-testing the new "Come and Go" collection being presented by invitation only tonight in Paris. (more of these on our Facebook page) Cheers and in haste, Geoffrey & the team

[Geoffrey B. Small]

video: Geoffrey B. Small "come and go" Paris spring/summer 2018 women's show

.

WITH many thanks we present the superb video documentation by Kris Dionisio and Luca Bragagnolo of our historic Paris presentation last month in Paris which combined a live theater performance of Samuel Beckett's "Come and Go" with a full defile runway show of the new GBS spring/summer 2018 women's collection under the same name. The concept of theater/defile is a first in Paris runway and part of our ongoing commitment to human skill and artistic mastery in a corporate-driven world hell-bent on eliminating both of them.

Both the mesmerizing performances by Sara Lazzaro, Melissa Purnell and Jenni Lea-Jones directed by Brad Sisk; and the impeccably elegant new collection for women with its cutting-edge extreme handmade and sustainable design technologies created in collaboration with our legendary GBS key supplier world-class partners including Fratelli Piacenza 1733 SpA, Luigi Parisotto, Tessitura La Colombina and Botonificio Fontana Srl, eschewed the meaningless throw-away atmosphere of vapid celebrity and fake-designer streetwear that continued to dominate fashion week in Paris this season.

We continue to be both entertained and appalled at the increasing lack of skill, technical capability, and poorer and poorer quality materials that our 'genius' colleagues are perpetually "styling" into runway looks that may convince a new generation of uninformed customers who do not know (nor have seen) anything better-- that such slapdash work and crockery is indeed "designer creativity" and of a quality that merits their respect and their purchases with their money. What a funny joke (as SZ's Eugene Rabkin elegantly referred to recently in High Snobiety). And what a foolish market the industry now works in these days. We ask all women to view all the collections this season and then ask themselves honestly--"what would I wear and more importantly what would I buy?" In response to those two fundamental questions, that yes, also pertain directly to the Paris avant-garde and those supposedly responsible for leadership creativity- we set out to do something truly avant-garde these days in fashion… propose and create real clothes for real women with real lives and real responsibilities. The best of the best for those who seek it, from materials, to craftsmanship, to fit, to longevity of wear, to an elegance, style and taste that befits a certain level of culture, society and living far away from the maddening crowd of the fashion business brainwashed world of, for lack of a better or kinder word, idiots.

A good look at women's clothes offerings today is a pathetic display of industrial misogyny. Forget Trump and all the others in the abuse-of-women news these days. Look at women's clothing. Clearly, from designers to brands to the retailers that continue to carry them, nobody is taking care of the customer. Especially if she is serious, busy, working, wealthy and even dare say, powerful-- everything is over-priced and its value so poor for money paid-- and well, are we really going to deal with our business strapped up in t-shirt pieces and puffy things looking like we are wearing diapers, or patchworked up in a manner that neither displays quality or skills, or evern better, all wrapped up in carcinogenic synthetic polyester, polyethylene, polystyrol and plastics in any choice of creative form as long as it is petrochemical-based and chock full of dioxins like 99.9 percent of all new clothing in the market (and on the runways) today?

And as the corporate-driven fake 1990's revival of streetwear continues to rip-off both customer and society as a last ditch stand by the industry to continue to get away with unsustainable and unethical production and practices under yet another new version of the emperor's new clothes (a term also used by Eugene Rabkin in the same High Snobiety interview)-- one must ask... "do you want to look like this? and do you also want to suffocate and immerse your body in it- to feel it on your skin 24 hours a day?" Mind you for a good bucket-load of your money to pay for the 'privilege' as well?

Seriously.

We don't. We don't need to be dictated to by the mass fashion media and its corporate-backed keepers. Look at their involvement: Kering and LVMH have eaten up this trend-- and more ominously, even Carlyle Group is now buying Supreme. Helloooooo... does anybody out there know who and what Carlyle Group is? Look it up. These are the people who brought you the Iraqi war because they "knew" Saddam Hussein had all those WMD (weapons of mass destruction) that never really existed. These are some of the biggest liars in the history of the United States. You want to give them your money by buying Supreme's fake limited editions (which aren't even numbered)? The Carlyle people have so much money they are laughing their butts off at you. While you are hurrying to buy that new plastic sneaker before it "sells out," they are busy taking your money and making even more by investing in nice productive and healthy things like war, fossil fuels, artificial intelligence, automation and globalized corporation-run government that will soon render you jobless, homeless, country-less and even just-lucky-to-be-alive-less in the years ahead. Go ahead. Give them your "hard-earned" money while you still have it. We are living today in a massive fool's market, and billions can be made at the expense of a world full of idiots. Uninformed, trend-dependent, and gripped by their smartphones and the garbage being fed into their brains from their mobile devices and the people behind them, these consumers are spending like the sailor with no tomorrow, and sometime soon, may very well find they have nothing left as a result. No job. No house. No money. And after wasting so much of that money on bad clothes- No clothes, either.


We seek to support, cultivate and serve a different customer.


The ones that still have a brain of their own. A survivor in the years ahead. Able to see what's coming, and to determine real value for money spent. A breed apart from the growing crowd of foolery and madness. Who understands that we are now dealing with life in the late 2010's, not the early 1990's. A student perhaps, an admirer for sure, of human history, culture, craft, technology, nature and everything our species has of value as it faces its own total extinction, or we hope, miraculous change in behavior and potential survival in this ominous and tumultuous century we are now living in. It all comes down to the human being today and how well we can work together to survive our own self-destructive behavior and stop it. You gonna be another dumb sucker for the corporations? Or a survivor? We're puting our money on the survivor. That unique human being that won't give in, give up, or be manipulated by the corporate crapdom being pumped out of everybody's screens these days. That thinks on his or her own, and exemplifies excellence and integrity-- and yes, class, and brains, in everything he or she does.


So it's Beckett with our clothes. It's total silence in presentation instead of any music, live or recorded. It's total perfection in choreography, dialogue, and performance--all done live by real human beings who are rare masters at their art and their craft. That is our statement. The federation (dominated for the past two decades by corporate luxury groups) once again refused to recognize us on their calendar and the mainstream fashion press equally ignored us. We don't care really (that is another story for another day). They like it, they don't like it. That's not our issue. Our job was to create it and do it. Before anyone else. And this time in Paris, once again, we did. With a thousand thanks to everyone who contributed to this effort and who has helped us to get this far.


Cheers, Geoffrey & the team

p.s. you can also now see extensive photo coverage of the collection and presentation as shot by Eugene Rabkin, Guido
Barbagelata and Dario Ruggiero at the seasonal collections GBS SS18 Women's thread here.


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[WilliamZHL]

Hi, Mr. Small, great pictures and I loved watching the "come and go" show you posted above! I have been trying to read the whole thread and I'm only half way done yet. Very informative to me, and I believe everyone else who's never worked in the industry. I admire your belief in human being and your commitment in staying independent. I don't have a big budget on clothing as a film student but I believe I'll purchase more of your garments whenever possible.

I have a small question and would appreciate it if anybody can answer it... I'm not sure if it's the right place to ask this question though. Recently I purchased a STJ08 waistcoat in silk and linen. I absolutely loved it once I laid my hands on it and planning to keep it forever. However upon closer inspection I found a small torn area on the back side of the waistcoat... I have attached a picture of it (it's a small tear) Does anyone know if it's repairable? Thanks in advance for any help and have a good one everybody!

[Geoffrey B. Small]

reply to WilliamZHL re STJ08 question

Dear WilliamZHL,

Thank you very much for your kind comments and post. Regarding your question about your STJ08 waistcoat, we are unable to see the photos you posted up. Can you possibly try to re-post them using another manner? Or, you can contact and send them to our workrooms in Italy at:

geoffreybsmall.commercial@gmail.com

Please also advise how, when and where you purchased the piece so we can check if any of our warranties apply. Our in-house alteration and repair services will be glad to review and inform you what options/remedies might be possible from there.

Hope this is helpful, we look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you again for your post.

Best wishes,
Geoffrey & the team

[WilliamZHL]

Sorry I wasn't familiar with the 3rd party image hosting system... Hope now it's fixed. I bought it from cruvoir in Los Angeles via e-mail about 10 days ago...

I will send a email to the address you posted above.

Thank you very much for your reply, I appreciate it!

[Geoffrey B. Small]

STJ08 assistance

Sorry I wasn't familiar with the 3rd party image hosting system... Hope now it's fixed. I bought it from cruvoir in Los Angeles via e-mail about 10 days ago... I will send a email to the address you posted above.Thank you very much for your reply, I appreciate it!

Dear WilliamZHL,
Thank you for your information and the images which are now well visible. We need to make clear that Cruvoir is not currently an active authorized dealer for our work. Their GBS dealership authorization was terminated beyond SS2016 collection pieces and we are a little bit concerned about the nature of the sale to you. We would like to discuss the history of the sale further but not on the forum, so please do proceed to contact us directly at the the email address above (and below) so we can see what can be done to help you as much as possible. You are also welcome to provide us with an email we can reach you at directly from our workrooms in Italy. Thank you very much.
Best wishes, Geoffrey & the team

geoffreybsmall.commercial@gmail.com

[Bernd Lauert]

I wasn't aware that one can buy GBS online now.
Love that, since there is no GBS dealer around were I live.

Which other stores sell GBS online?

[Geoffrey B. Small]

I wasn't aware that one can buy GBS online now.
Love that, since there is no GBS dealer around were I live.

Which other stores sell GBS online?

Dear Bernd Lauert,

Thanks for your post, for the record, we absolutely do not authorize any online e-commerce site selling of our works anywhere. Our dealers do however, often arrange for special requests via email privately, which we are fine with. Please view our current list of exclusive authorized dealers around the world here.... http://www.geoffreybsmall.net/gbsworld

In your particular case, if you are in Germany there is Darklands in Berlin, we are sure they will be glad to assist you when you are ready. Hope this is helpful.

Best wishes, Geoffrey & the team

[Nickefuge]

there is Darklands in Berlin, we are sure they will be glad to assist you

No, they won’t.

[Mojo1990]

I think they have had bad experiences with customers in the past via email correspondence so they have now chosen to suspend or neglect email purchases. If you send an item back and request a refund they have a strict policy whereby the customer would be suspended from future email correspondence until the next season. It would be best to actually visit the store.

[WilliamZHL]

I realized some Japanese fashion designers like Rei Kawakubo or Issey Miyake really love to use synthetic fabrics like polyester. I know Mr. Samll is strongly against using synthetic materials. I'm just curious that why those highly regarded deisngers choose to use a lot of polyester? Is it because of the cost (unlikely for the price they are selling for)? Or there're advantages of polyester that natural fabrics don't have? I've heard that years of research made synthetic materials today much better quality and less pollutive, is that true? I personally would prefer what GBS is doing but just curious about those questions, and would love to learn more about it. Anybody who can share some knowledge would be appreciated!

[Faust]

I realized some Japanese fashion designers like Rei Kawakubo or Issey Miyake really love to use synthetic fabrics like polyester. I know Mr. Samll is strongly against using synthetic materials. I'm just curious that why those highly regarded deisngers choose to use a lot of polyester? Is it because of the cost (unlikely for the price they are selling for)? Or there're advantages of polyester that natural fabrics don't have? I've heard that years of research made synthetic materials today much better quality and less pollutive, is that true? I personally would prefer what GBS is doing but just curious about those questions, and would love to learn more about it. Anybody who can share some knowledge would be appreciated!

Well, you'd have to ask them, wouldn't you? I know Rei likes polyester because she's a contrarian about fabrics. On the flipside, CDG does not use leather, except for shoes (or maybe not at all come to think of it?). I think Issey uses poly because of it has the properties he needs to achieve the effect that he wants. For example, I don't think you can get Pleats Please or Homme Plisse with natural fibers. The material just doesn't behave that way.

[Ahimsa]

Well, you'd have to ask them, wouldn't you? I know Rei likes polyester because she's a contrarian about fabrics. On the flipside, CDG does not use leather, except for shoes (or maybe not at all come to think of it?). I think Issey uses poly because of it has the properties he needs to achieve the effect that he wants. For example, I don't think you can get Pleats Please or Homme Plisse with natural fibers. The material just doesn't behave that way.

For pleating, you typically need to use a fabric that has something around a minimum of 45% poly or else they might come undone and will have to be reset. However, decades old Mariano Fortuny silk pleats still hold today so it also might have do with our modern techniques that affects our current state of pleats.
Issey also uses machine pleating as far as I know for his Pleats Please so this also might be why poly is necessary as this method probably destroys delicate silks. Perhaps Geoffrey has more insight into this.

CDG definitely sometimes does their bags in leather (unless they've stopped?) but will alternate from season to season from pleather to leather as far as I've seen.

[Nickefuge]

CDG wallets are made of leather.

[zamb]

Different fabrics have different properties and function in different ways. you cannot get permanent creases in fabrics like cotton or linen.
you get a long lasting crease in wool but polyester does add durability to natural fabrics when combined.
I dint think GBS is against the use of made made materials, its more the overuse and excessive waste of them that is a problem.

Faust; CDG does use leather, but not in a way that artisanal designers do.........there is the occasional leather garment, but certainly not a whole collection where leather is the main fabric