Proenza Schouler lights the way
The creative duo behind Proenza Schouler are leading a new generation of American design, writes Tessa Chan
Friday, 19 October, 2012
Having just arrived from an "inspirational" nature trip to Fiji and New Zealand, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez are fresh-faced and full of good humour when we meet at Lane Crawford in IFC Mall. Boyish charm aside, the creative duo behind Proenza Schouler have established themselves as two of the most serious contenders on New York's fashion scene since they founded their label in 2002.
It's their first Asian tour. They're here to present their spring-summer 2013 pre-collection and the new PS13 bag before heading off to Beijing. "We'd like to open up a store here next year," says Hernandez. "So we're meeting with different partners and sussing it all out."
Their spring-summer 2013 collection saw a collage of exotic python, red and black perforated leather. But the highlight was a series of dresses made from digital prints of random images - a crowded swimming pool, a tree, a beach - adorned with bright pink studs and silver eyelets. They cite German artist Gerhard Richter as their inspiration.
"He takes these banal shots, and does paintings over them, so the photos become a base - a compositional element," says Hernandez.
"It's almost as if the embellishment comes to the foreground and the photo print recedes, becomes almost obsolete. It becomes more about the colours than the subject matter," adds McCollough.
Instead of producing retro or heavily themed collections, they say they try to design clothes that
are wearable, and that reflect contemporary society.
"We never do thematic collections. We like being at the forefront of things," says Hernandez.
A current fascination is the huge volume of information and images found on microblogging sites.
"Tumblr has almost evolved into an aesthetic of its own, where a series of these disconnected images all somehow come together," says Hernandez. "We're trying to reference that in the clothes."
Technology also affects the way they create their clothes, although they'll pull items off the rack and talk you through the handmade process with the pride of Italian artisans.
"We like this idea of technology and modern constructions," says McCollough. "We like photoprinting and bonding, laser cutting or perforation, but then we like this idea of craft and hand as well."
The two worlds are brought together in a black-and-white crochet coat with perforated plastic leather on the outside and soft nappa leather on the inside.
"These holes are all done by computers - the computer spits out these bonded perforated panels," explains Hernandez.
"But these black areas are hand-crocheted in Madagascar," says McCollough. "So it's this mixture of hand knit, craft techniques, with something that feels a little more modern."
All this attention to detail comes at a price, and while Proenza Schouler is known for its edgy, urban style, the clothes sit at the luxury end of the spectrum. Are they tempted to create a more accessible line - as labels such as Alexander McQueen, Valentino and Burberry have done - to reach a wider audience?
"If we do that it'll be on our own terms," says Hernandez. "You wouldn't be able to get Proenza Schouler for less. It wouldn't be a cheaper version, it would be a different thing, a little more basic."
Instead, they're focusing on expanding their existing line to include more accessible items such as jeans and T-shirts.
"A lot of the pre-collection pieces are more toned down, more wearable," adds Hernandez. "The runway's where we experiment, it's where we dream and play. It's where we flex our design muscles."
And while they presented their clothes against a grungy industrial backdrop at Fashion Week, just a week earlier, Proenza Schouler planted its flag in uptown New York with the opening of their first boutique, on Madison Avenue.
"Everyone thought we were going to open one downtown," says Hernandez. "We like being torn. The attitude is young, but the reality is that it's expensive, sophisticated stuff. We love that contrast between something that feels really hard and something soft. Or something polished with something decrepit."
Proenza Schouler's darker side is revealed in their somewhat disturbing past collaborations with American film director/producer/writer Harmony Korine - a far cry from your average luxury fashion film.
"Harmony is a good friend of ours. He really wanted to do a movie using our clothes, so we gave him carte blanche," says Hernandez.
"We like that side projects aren't necessarily selling tools," says McCollough. "And it adds another dimension to us."
They speak with the freedom that comes with not having to bear the weight of a heritage on their shoulders.
"We're not like one of those stuffy old-school luxury fashion houses," says Hernandez. "We don't belong to that generation."
Without an archive to pull from, McCollough says, they have just been making it up as they go along. "It's been hard working out exactly who we are and I think in the past two years we've really started to nail it."
The designers attribute this largely to their new business partners: a board of investors put together last year by Andrew Rosen, CEO of Theory and Helmut Lang, known for his early support of up-and-coming labels. "They don't get involved in the creative side of things but they're there to help us out on the business side," says McCollough.
The designers, both 34 years old, are partners inside and outside the office. "We travel together, we seek inspiration together, we make big inspiration boards then go away and draw together," says Hernandez.
"Even when we're bickering, we battle it out and get to this compromise," says McCollough. "It's not my idea and it's not his idea, it's a mix of the two worlds and those are usually the strongest ideas."
"Proenza Schouler does not look at all what it'd look like if it were either one of us designing on our own," adds Hernandez.
They're definitely synchronised - they joke about talking in unison, accidentally wearing exactly the same thing, and at one point unwittingly refer to "our brain".
Their success story has been likened to the stuff of fairy tales.
Both came to fashion via different backgrounds but graduated with Designer of the Year honours from the Parsons School of Design in New York, where they first met. The timing was fortuitious.
"We would have hated each other in high school," jokes Tokyo-born McCollough, who grew up in New Jersey and was studying glass-blowing when he transferred to Parsons.
Within a year, Miami-born Hernandez was "discovered" by Wintour when they met on a flight in 2000, and she helped get him a job at Michael Kors.
"Anna Wintour opened the door but then we had to work," says Hernandez. "It could have ended there. Our life has been a series of lucky chances, hard work and courage.
"The workload at Parsons is intense. I was pre-med and let me tell you - fashion school was 20 times harder than medical school."
Hernandez likens his experience at med school to being on a slippery slope. "I went from wanting to be a surgeon, to wanting to be a plastic surgeon, to a fashion designer. It was when we started on the botany and calculus that I thought, what am I doing here?"
From plastic surgery to stitching together pieces of leather?
"I think they're related," says Hernandez, laughing. "It's all about aesthetics, and making women look beautiful."
With strong business backing and new stores on the horizon, Proenza Schouler is poised to become the next big global player from the US.
"It's good not to look too far forward," says McCollough. "Sometimes if you focus on the present, it's a little less overwhelming."
