Geoffrey B. Small

[Geoffrey B. Small]

[Geoffrey B. Small]

[Geoffrey B. Small]

[Geoffrey B. Small]

[Geoffrey B. Small]

[underdog]

Wishing there were more opportunities to interact with your clothing in person. Given the selective nature of your stocklists I'm guessing Boston will be way down the list (though I bet it was your first...)

[cremaster]

Geoffrey thank you for the pages of inspiration.
Just one question did you do a ss2013 show in Paris?

[Geoffrey B. Small]

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Thanks very much for your posts and questions Underdog and Cremaster.
Will try my best to provide thorough answers below....


Dear Cremaster,

thanks very much for your kind post... to answer your question, there was no show in Paris for SS2013, just showroom presentation for clients. Our collection business is very strong, so we prefer to concentrate on the fundamentals of product and client up close and personal. And fashion show operations in general, are extremely complex and diversionary. Many designers like to delegate their showroom selling duties dealing with the clients (what we call the commercial direction) to others, and they go off and deal more with their fashion shows (although many others also even delegate that to show producers and stylists as well). I do not wish to delegate direction of either one, as I view both as artistic operations that are critical to the long-term image of the house and reputation of the artist. After many years, I finally arrived awhile ago at not having to do shows like so many others just to keep afloat in the game, and now truly enjoy the luxury of being able to pick my spots. Our last show was in January 2012 for "You cannot evict an idea," and prior to that there was "Logomania." Both of these spoke out about big issues that I care about that go far beyond the normal aspects of collection work in Paris and also bear some risks. Will do a show when I feel strongly enough about something I want to say, and all circumstances make sense to take those risks again...



Dear Underdog,

Thank you so much as well... wish there were more opportunities for you to interact with our clothing in person as well. But alas, we are an extremely specialized limited micro-production design concept with over three decades of experience, making a very special personal product that is totally unique in the world. To maintain that promise, and the standards that it implies, we cannot compromise either on the amount of time, materials and skill it takes to create our pieces… nor on the discipline, passion and total understanding of our work required on the part of our retail partners to be able to handle and service it successfully to an extremely discerning and knowledgable worldwide clientele. We also require stringent AAA fiscal management and strict adherence to our five fundamental principles of respect for the individual, service to others, strive for excellence, strive for fun, and loyalty and trust, with all of our working partners around the world including retailers.

That is why for example, it is impossible for us to allow our work to be sold online under the existing formats that are becoming so prevalent in our field today. With our production limited to maybe about 600 hand-built pieces max per season for the entire world and delivery wait lists extending way beyond normal fashion seasonal deadlines, we can only accept about ten to twelve very special retailers in the world as exclusive authorized dealers for our works. It's like a great restaurant where a master chef has decided to focus to max on quality instead of quantity. The chef will limit seatings and menu dramatically, buy his/her own ingredients in the market daily, oversee every single aspect of the customer's dining experience, charge the necessary price to get the job done absolutely right, and be booked solid for months in advance by those who know about and support the few good things in life that can still be performed by human beings one to one.

For instance, you are not going to experience a meal from Michel Bras or Anne-Sophie Pic or Nadia Santini for example, or the tempura by the master at 7 Chome Kyoboshi in Ginza, by viewing images of plates on your screen and then clicking on your computer and punching in a PayPal or credit card account number in the convenience of your home or office. It is out of the question. You are not going to be able experience it via a Neiman-Marcus or a Barneys New York either. This is the extension of the American "convenience" concept so effectively brainwashed into our conscience and habit by corporations over the past century. The idea that "you can have it all' just by paying money, and like magic, it can come to you wherever you are just as if you had gone there in person is a falsehood. Simply put, not everything works that way. Especially really personal and really special things and experiences. Like food being made for you by a great chef. It doesn't just come to you where you are. You have to go to where it is. You have to find and contact the place where the chef makes the food, travel to where it is located, book a table in advance, physically go to their room (on time) in Laguiole, Valance, Mantova or Tokyo (respectfully for each of the masters listed above), and sit down for a good long several hours, and person-to-person: talk, learn, taste and experience what they can offer when you dedicate yourself to seeking and finding the real thing and the real experience.

Nevertheless, the corporate luxury, info-tech and venture capital industries are trying to fool a whole new generation of unwitting customers out there that you can have your cake and eat it too. You can have the experience of the real thing - digitally, virtually. You can dine at Taillevent in the comfort of your own living room with the help of Mastercard Platinum and your microwave oven. You can fight wars and kill terrorists with drones and game technology without making mistakes and killing mountains of innocent children and families too. It's all on your screen, clean. click. convenient.

Well, the reality is you can't.

Amazon is great for some things. Especially if you are intent on selling merchandise tonnage to a billion people. Which is really what these new internet fashion merchants are up to. Their model is to become the Amazon of designer fashion and sell out the venture capitals after 5 years and cash out for themselves by going public a la Facebook, Yahoo, and the rest of them. It has nothing to do with the clothing or design experience in any shape or form. Just look at all those ugly pages. Great for the one or two entrepreneurs who hope to join the Forbes billionaire list in 2020 with that crock... But not for what we do.

So, we are doing the opposite, we create our pieces where we are in the quantities that we can, we work with the partners who are able to do what it takes to do handle our work properly and successfully take care of the customers who appreciate what we do. And that is it. It is not for everyone right now at this moment. And never will be. It is a highly personal product that is directly related to a culture and a way of life that is being challenged to the very edges of its existence and raison d'etre in today's insane and dangerous brave new world. But with patience and time, serious customers are able find our work, experience it, and appreciate its ownership - and its rarity. Call me a luddite if you want, I prefer "old-fashioned." But three decades from now you may remember me if you are still wearing a piece I made for you today, like quite a few people are doing today with clothes I made for them three decades ago. You see, after over 80 collections doing avant-garde in Paris, to me... old-fashioned is now in fashion, and will remain so more than ever in the years ahead.

So in regards to Boston and choice of dealers, it really is not about the place itself. I started there decades ago when no one believed a designer could ever make it from there. And I have many, many old customers from there whom we made some great clothes for over the years whose experiences and relationships I still cherish very much. It is in fact their support and loyal patronage over the years that helped us to eventually prove the naysayers wrong and helped get us to where we are. When we became an international name in the Paris avant-garde for our recycle design collections during the 1990's we were still working out of Boston at 115 Kingston Street. It was only in 2000 with the CPA licensing deal- and the eventual decision to set a new standard in handmade clothing design at the world level with the formation of my own independent production company in Italy- that our story eventually moved somewhere else.

So, I still view myself as a Boston guy in more ways than one, and wish you and everyone I know there, very well.

Hope some of this was of interest.

Sorry I am now out of time, we have a shipment that needs my attention and absolutely nothing goes in the box without my 110% involvement. And that is indeed another story to be told.

Next up, we will talk about our shoes and a special exhibition taking place in Tokyo next week.

Thanks again for your posts Underdog and Cremaster.
Best wishes,

Geoffrey


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[underdog]

Thank you for your thoughts, Geoffrey, and I am very happy this model seems to be working so well for you - what has been seen online over the past year or so has been increasingly moving works to me. Having had a baby a bit over a year ago I know my international travel will be hindered for a chunk of time and I've been simply salivating. I'm very happy to have two items of yours and await the next face to article moment I can get and consider for my next item. Cheers!

[cremaster]

Thanks Geoffrey.
The trouble is your "show" is anything but, more so a performance art piece, an experience, a protest, a voice to the voiceless.
They remind me of a Lorca poem "the Little Mute Boy", which is very dear to me.
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16809

So what can I say but keep up the great work and I eagerly await your next move.

Reading your post I was listening to some early 70's Todd Rundgren and recalled he played all the instruments, engineered, produced all his music - you're the fashion equivalent!

[Geoffrey B. Small]

Dear Underdog and Cremaster, well... your extremely kind and supportive comments have made my day (and those I am working with as well)! Please enjoy your precious time with your new baby Underdog- as a parent myself that is truly something that has no equivalent in the material world- and please let me know how your 2 GBS pieces are working for you (if they ever need anything please let your dealer you purchased them from, or me directly, know and I will see what I can do). And Cremaster, thank you for your sharing the great Federico García Lorca poem "the Little Mute Boy" - I can only say we are all here humbled by your reference and comments on our show work. Thanks again to both of you, your kindness and inspiration is again, most dearly appreciated and heartfelt and gives our soul some fire on this day to continue on the work and on the mission. Cheers and best wishes to both of you, Geoffrey

[Geoffrey B. Small]

[Geoffrey B. Small]

[Geoffrey B. Small]

[Geoffrey B. Small]

[Geoffrey B. Small]

[LOVE]

so much content, all of it so interesting

[zamb]

I have those black Hi tops in post #622.
They are one of the best shoes I've ever own and possibly the best sneakers I have ever had. I've been wearing them 3-4 times per week for the entire fall winter and will certainly need a second pair when these go out. Whenever I need something aesthetically consistent with my everyday wear and cannot bother with the discomfort of wearing boots for hours at a time this is my go to sneakers............

Best of all, when my son decides to help me dress this is the shoes he reaches for the most

[Slstr]

Geoffrey, do you have any more information about this jacket?
I purchased it a few days ago, it's yet to arrive but I'd love to know a little bit of the story behind it, how it was made, etc.

[Geoffrey B. Small]

Dear Sistr,
Looks like an LUJ10. If that is the case, we have only made about 15 of these in the world since 2010 in slightly different versions and variations. Let us know the dealer you purchased it from, it should come with a full set of hangtag documentation from us with a hand numbered hangtag, and possibly also a handsigned numeration of the actual piece inside the garment itself. Let me know the numbering and tag info as well as the dealer, and I will get back to you about the exact piece you have purchased and its specific production history and details. OK? Hope this is helpful...
Best wishes, Geoffrey