Ann Demeulemeester

[faust]

Here is an interview with my eternal (fashion) love that beautifully captures essense and subtleties of her design philosophy. It's a long interview, so click "continue" on each page. Lots of images inside. Enjoy (I sure did)!

Ann Demeulemeester Interview

 

[softgrey]

funny- i think that's the first interview of hers i've read...i like the way she thinks...

about androgyny...about men...about elegance...about movement...

thanks faust...great piece...

 

[Spacemiu]

she is wonderful personality, very intellegant, very poetic

I have slot of respect for her

 

[purechris]

thanx Faust

 

[faust]

Originally posted by softgrey@Aug 20 2004, 01:27 PM
funny- i think that's the first interview of hers i've read...i like the way she thinks...

about androgyny...about men...about elegance...about movement...

thanks faust...great piece...

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Yes, it's back from 97. I've always said that she is the master of working with movement, and this article just confirmed that! I'm good <pats himself>

 

[marrimoda]

hmmm...good article. I appreciate her view more now, that I can define what about her resonates most with me...the nonchalance in elegant dressing.

 

[Theory]

Interesting and informative!

It's funny because I was in Barneys today to get a complete look at the fall collections and my wife was interested in a few of Ann's pieces. Some of the buckles and straps and the way they crisscrossed made me think of Helmut Lang.

 

[macchiom]

Thanks, Faust!

She seems so intelligent and down to earth. This interview is definitely only making my admiration and respect for her grow.

 

[softgrey]

Originally posted by faust@Aug 20 2004, 02:43 PM
Yes, it's back from 97. I've always said that she is the master of working with movement, and this article just confirmed that! I'm good <pats himself>

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yes baby...you're excellent...

 

[faust]

Originally posted by Theory@Aug 20 2004, 07:23 PM
Interesting and informative!

It's funny because I was in Barneys today to get a complete look at the fall collections and my wife was interested in a few of Ann's pieces. Some of the buckles and straps and the way they crisscrossed made me think of Helmut Lang.

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Only she did it before Helmut

Dude, I want that entire collection for my wife!

 

[faust]

Originally posted by macchiom@Aug 21 2004, 04:05 AM
Thanks, Faust!

She seems so intelligent and down to earth. This interview is definitely only making my admiration and respect for her grow.

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Yea, I'd love to meet her. Hmmm, maybe when I go Patti Smith's concert next time, I'll ask to be introduced They are friends you know.

 

[softgrey]

Originally posted by faust@Aug 21 2004, 12:55 PM
Only she did it before Helmut

Dude, I want that entire collection for my wife!

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i want it for myself...

but are you sure she did it first...i think helmut had been around longer actually...and i think he's done it since the beginning...

i think it's a fuzzy area actually...

 

[Spacemiu]

Originally posted by faust@Aug 21 2004, 10:56 AM
Yea, I'd love to meet her. Hmmm, maybe when I go Patti Smith's concert next time, I'll ask to be introduced They are friends you know.

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They are friends? how cool

 

[Scott]

Actually,her belts wrap around two or three times(depending on one's size) rather than just that slung look Helmut does. Except,I don't think she started doing those belts till the mid-90's. And she started her business in '85 which I believe is a year before Helmut did. Its irrelevent however because for a time,I think they had loads in common with each other-only she was about the volume and movement and he was more about a stiffer structure.

Btw,a friend of mine that was an assistant to Ann whilst at the Academy told me Ann is extremely timid in person.

 

[ignitioned32]

She is very intelligent. I love her ideas on femininity, "gravity", introverted clothes, emotions and black.

 

[TheSoCalledPrep]

Wonderful interview... so many people take fashion design for granted. "Oh, they're just clothes." Well, yes. Any monkey can design mass-produced clothes, whether that person be Mary Kate Olsen or Cassie Wallace.

But there are some real design geniuses out there, like Ann, who have an incredible aesthetic. You've just got to love that.

 

[runner]

faust, I just remembered your post about Anatomico aka muscle t-shirt, after reading this.
I saw her holograph when she gave answers written in her own hand to the questions from magazine. she had really beautiful handwritting. she said there she has respect for Marcel Breuer and Le Corbusier.
"soul" was how she summed up her aesthetic in a single word.

 

[softgrey]

Originally posted by Scott@Aug 21 2004, 10:45 PM
Actually,her belts wrap around two or three times(depending on one's size) rather than just that slung look Helmut does. Except,I don't think she started doing those belts till the mid-90's. And she started her business in '85 which I believe is a year before Helmut did. Its irrelevent however because for a time,I think they had loads in common with each other-only she was about the volume and movement and he was more about a stiffer structure.

Btw,a friend of mine that was an assistant to Ann whilst at the Academy told me Ann is extremely timid in person.

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not surprised to hear she may be timid...her clothes are like armour...i would think the person designing them would be an introvert...plus as i said...i think that's the first interview i've read...she's certainly no media wh*re...

but i wasn't referring to any sort of belt scott...i was referring to the bondage style straps they both have hanging off their clothes...

did she start in 85?...that doesn't seem possible...maybe 95?... ... i don't have that book on belgian design that some of you have that might have all that kind of info... maybe that needs to be added to the collection...
i do agree with your assesment that ann is softer and helmut is more structured...maybe the difference btw a male and female perspective?...

 

[runner]

from cfa

Ann Demeulemeester graduated in 1981 from the fashion department at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
In 1982 she won the first Gouden Spoel (Golden Spindle, an annual prize awarded to the most promising young fashion designer).
During the first years of her career she worked as a freelance designer for several manufacturers. In 1985 she founded BVBA "32", together with her husband, the photographer Patrick Robyn. Her first collection hit the shops in the autumn of 1987.
In 1992 Ann Demeulemeester gave her first catwalk show in Paris. Four years later she presented her first men's collection during the Paris fashion week. Also in 1996 she lent her creativity and name to the furniture collection Table Blanche for Bulo.
In 1999 she opened her flagship store on the Leopold De Waelplaats, the square in front of the Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp.

Ann Demeulemeester's style is consequent and recognisable. Sober at first - the silhouettes are often straight and look severe – but rich in sophisticated volumes, exclusive materials and unexpected details. She wants to create a poetic rock 'n roll feel in the style of Patti Smith and has even presented an homage to her during the exhibition "Strange Messenger: The work of Patti Smith" (Haus der Kunst, Munich).

A highly developed sense of perfection is Ann Demeulemeester's trademark. Her collections are always a reflection of their times, but nevertheless transcend both time and trends. In periods of colour and frivolity her palette remains calm and collected.
Sometimes the link between fashion and art becomes very visible, for example in the summer collection of 2000, when she worked together with artist Jim Dine. She integrated some of his images in her designs, not merely as a print but as an artwork that has taken on the shape of an item of clothing.

from the first collectin (maybe)

 

[softgrey]

thanks runner...good little history lesson there...

so i became aware of her a couple of years after her first runway show...probably about the same time everyone else did...around 1994-5...

until you have a proper runway show...it's very hard to get noticed...and even then it's hard to get the right people to attend...

funny though...because that means she is older and more experienced than i had realized which actually makes a lot of sense...funny how the media refers to everyone as "young" designers...which really has very little to do with their actual ages...