Olivier Theyskens - Designer

[mikeijames]

Does this mean that he will oversee the mens division as well? I'm very interested to see how he decides to develop the Theory man.

i second this. while i personally hope he does the menswear, my american express prays he does not.

 

[Scott]

i'm glad about this. the debut was really strong and much closer to his own aesthetics as an individual designer.

not sure about menswear though. although he is a superb tailor,he's never done menswear in any area of his career. not sure if he would feel entirely comfortable in that arena?

 

[ChrissyM]

Olivier Theyskens Signs on as Artistic Director at Theory

Looks like the collaboration led to something further... just saw this on NY Times' fashion blog

It's certainly an interesting move...

Olivier Theyskens and Theory: Q & A

By ERIC WILSON

Christophe Ena/Associated Press Olivier Theyskens.


After introducing his first capsule collection for Theory in September, the designer Olivier Theyskens broadened his relationship with the contemporary sportswear powerhouse this week by signing on as its artistic director. In his new role, Mr. Theyskens, formerly the designer of the luxury labels Rochas and Nina Ricci, will oversee the design of men’s, women’s and accessories collections that now have sales of more than $500 million annually. (Istvan Francer, who was the design director of the women’s Theory collection, is expected to move to another role within Theory’s parent company, Fast Retailing.)



While there has been much speculation about Mr. Theyskens’s future since his departure from Nina Ricci, few would have guessed that he would end up in a full-time job at Theory. But in a Q&A on Wednesday, Andrew Rosen, the co-chief executive officer of the label, and Mr. Theyskens said the designer’s collaboration turned out to be a natural fit.

What was the reasoning behind expanding Olivier’s role here?

Mr. Rosen: When we started, we thought there was a lot of potential to grow and develop our relationship, but Olivier didn’t know anything about me or the company, and I didn’t know anything about him or the way he works. It worked out really well, so we decided Olivier should handle all of the creative direction of Theory. I think Olivier has a perspective with his experience to do so much more for our company. The world evolves, and fashion evolves, and I think it’s important for our company to evolve.

Mr. Theyskens: Of course, I found it to be a great experience. The way the clothes are done here is the way I consider clothes have got to be done — in the proper way. Also, above all, there is a very positive spirit that exists in this company. This first experience of making Theyskens’ Theory [the capsule collection] was very interesting because it was making a whole new product using the energy that was already in place. Basically, everybody got involved, adding to their usual work. The experience was really striking.

Mr. Rosen: We sort of do things the old-fashioned way in that we have a big technical studio here with all the pattern-making, all the sample-making, all the fittings. Everything is done in our studio over on 13th Street.

Mr. Theyskens: I’ve been used to working that way. People were asking me all the time, was it hard to adapt? But after two or three weeks, I realized I was working the same way. You have an overview of the whole process, and you are in constant contact with all of the people in production.


How large is your design studio?

Mr. Rosen: There are probably 100 people there working on the whole technical aspect of the product. When Olivier started in June, the collection was done in two and a half months.


What was the retail reaction?

Mr. Rosen: It ended up in around 225 stores around the world. The support from the retail community was amazing. I think a lot of what Olivier is doing here is breaking new ground in the contemporary marketplace with the mixing of Olivier’s European and high-design background in a more democratic process.


Who is the contemporary customer now?

Mr. Rosen: To me, the contemporary marketplace serves designer customers and aspirational customers at the same time. It is clothes for their everyday life. They are not occasion-oriented or so precious as designer clothes. What has happened is that the contemporary market keeps stepping up its game when you look at the number of new players and the creativity. Looking back to the 1980s, at Donna Karan, first with Anne Klein II, then with DKNY — at the time that was the contemporary marketplace. Over the years, a lot of those lines have grown old with their customers and moved on into bridge. My philosophy is that a company should never grow old with the customer. It should stay in the same playing field, but it’s very hard without change to keep the company evolving forward.


Olivier, did you ever see yourself as a designer of everyday clothes?

Mr. Theyskens: I see everything becoming so global. When I started working on this collection, I thought about what kind of clothes I would like to have in my wardrobe if I were a cool girl. In Theyskens’ Theory, there is a large possibility for bringing ideas and new designs, and probably it is more like a laboratory. But in the main Theory collection you are working more on what people wear every day. It is an amazing opportunity to think about everyday life. It is not something expected from an edgy designer, but to me it is interesting.


Has moving to New York changed your outlook as a designer?

Mr. Theyskens: Here you can see almost everything. It is not that I will start thinking I can design everything, but you can find everything in the streets. Personally, I am not so affected by my environment. What I build in the creative process is not necessarily connected to what I am physically in contact with. I am always observing everything, but it will not necessarily have a direct impact on what I do.


The Theyskens’ Theory collection is not even in stores yet, so is this a risk? You don’t really know how your core customers are going to react.

Mr. Rosen: To me, it’s not a risk. I know Olivier and I know his understanding of Theory. I think it’s a great opportunity. I didn’t need a reaction from the consumer on Theyskens’ Theory. It’s amazing clothes that will get an amazing response.


You’ve made decisions throughout your career based on your intuition. Has it ever failed you?

Mr. Rosen: Of course, but that is how one learns. I started when I was 19 years old, so there have been many things that have worked and many that have not. The more experience I have, the better the odds of calling the right one, but of course you sometimes make a mistake.


Theory has a tradition of making clothes for young urban professions and certainly interview suits. What would you make for young women heading to work today?

Mr. Theyskens: Today there are more things you can wear for the same occasions. I still like this idea of the perfect suit, and I always love tailoring, but today you can have more things for this type of situation, clothes that have class and that are mixable, and that are super well cut.


What happens if Chanel comes calling tomorrow?

Mr. Theyskens: This is the question that I hear for 10 years. The important thing that I believe very strongly is that there is a right thing at the right time and the right place. The ‘if’ is not something that I really consider. I am putting myself fully into the development of Theory, and I have always been like that. As a designer, I am known for more of a creativity point of view. But for Theyskens’ Theory, I was so pleased to see the orders that balanced the sharply cut jackets with the T-shirts and the jeans. In addition to creativity, simplicity has always been very important to me and in my work, so I feel the position here is right for what I want to do.
​

runway.blogs.nytimes.com

 

[mikeijames]

"it's a recession!"

 

[hautechild]

Should this not be in Olivier's thread? While not this specific article has been posted, there's already a discussion on this in there.

 

[Street_a_Licious]

so, he's working for them now, permanently? he better stay properly contained, once he does his 'own' thing, things seem to go downhill.

 

[ChrissyM]

Should this not be in Olivier's thread? While not this specific article has been posted, there's already a discussion on this in there.

i thought it was weird that my search didn't bring back results...
was spelling his name wrong...
clearly shouldn't be starting threads late on friday nights
i'll go ahead and merge

 

[runner]

invitation from 00

fashionjp

 

[tarsha]

US ELLE MARCH 2011

Art Theory
Kate Bosworth & Olivier Theyskens by Tom Allen



ebook

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Lots of hype at net-a-porter about his work for Theory. You can buy it there, of course! ;-)

 

[Flashbang]

Olivier and Aimee Mullins in a custom Olivier Theyskens gown

fashionologie

 

[Pricciao]

that looks like old school Olivier gown, great!

 

[Flashbang]

Interview Magazine May 2011

Has Olivier Theyskens finally figured out fashion? Not the creative part—ever since Madonna wore one of his dresses to the Academy Awards in 1998, the world has been well aware of Theyskens’s considerable ability on that front. However, figuring out the business end of things has proved a little bit more tricky for the 34-year-old Brussels-born designer.

Theyskens dropped out of the prestigious La Cambre school of visual arts in 1997 to start his own line, but it closed five years later when his financial backer dropped out—the same year he was hired by Rochas, where he won widespread critical praise for his work. (He was given the Council of Fashion Designers Award in 2006.) But Procter & Gamble, Rochas’s owner, discontinued the line. Soon after, Theyskens became artistic director of Nina Ricci, and although he began adopting a more accessible style, he and the brand parted ways in 2009.

Then, last May, Japanese-owned, New York–based Theory invited Theyskens to create a capsule collection. Under the name Theyskens’ Theory, the line reflected his European, specifically French signatures but at a more financially democratic price point. As usual, his work received rave reviews. But perhaps most important, it sold. Theyskens was named artis- tic director of the brand five months later.

Earlier this spring, costume designer Milena Canonero stopped by Theyskens’s Paris apartment.

MILENA CANONERO: You have some beautiful art books—this one about Modigliani drawings is great.

OLIVIER THEYSKENS: Lately I’ve been thinking that I haven’t been to enough museums. I’m going through a phase where I don’t buy books as much.

CANONERO: It happens to me sometimes. There are moments when I resent even buying a book. But browsing is wonderful. I like to go and browse everywhere, even fashion shops. You can get influences from anywhere.

THEYSKENS: When I was young, watching historical movies made me feel absolutely sublime. But the first few times I visited costume museums, I was really disappointed because it was not at the level I saw in movies. It was not the level of the image I’d imagined.

CANONERO: The costumes in museums are often not exhibited well. They look dead. It is much better to look at a painting by Bronzino than to go look at a Renaissance costume.

THEYSKENS: Historical costumes from the 18th and 19th centuries look so complicated, but when you see the patterns, it’s very systematic. I’ve always been impressed by how the patterns economize the fabric.

interviewmagazine

 

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.... (cont'd)

CANONERO: Do you have a lot of pressure to know that the collection must be both successful commercially but also to say something, whether it’s about the modern woman or modern life?

THEYSKENS: Yeah, yeah. I am more used to seeing my work like a big collection, and only part of it is being shown.

CANONERO: How many pieces do you usually do for a collection?

THEYSKENS: The last collection in February that was shown in New York had maybe 140 styles.

CANONERO: How many do you show?

THEYSKENS: It depends. One time I made a collection where I showed almost nothing but dresses. I would have almost 60 styles of clothes, and beyond that, I would have 80 more commercial kinds that would link to the collection but be more practical.

CANONERO: Who are the more obvious clients for haute couture? American women? French women? I’ve heard Arab women spend a lot of money on their clothes, which they usually wear in private.

THEYSKENS: It’s hard to say. I’ve never been involved in a brand that is couture. Even when I started at Rochas, for 50 years there was no fashion. So you had no clientele. We were starting from zero.

CANONERO: You like to be influential—not necessarily telling people what they should look like, but how we look in this modern world. Do you like to feel you have an input?

THEYSKENS: The aim of being a good designer is to have an influence. If you design furniture or lifestyle, you should influence the way people evolve globally. It’s good to have an influence. I feel like people on the street today probably dress better than they did in the ’50s.

CANONERO: When you were growing up with your family in Brussels, did your mother enjoy fashion or encourage you in that way?

THEYSKENS: My mother loved fashion and always had a great aesthetic. But she also considered the cost of it, with the kids, that it wasn’t something to allow herself. It also probably nourished my passion and my will to make fashion, because I’ve always felt that, because of having a big family to take care of, she sacrificed a bit of her femininity. She loved to get dressed and always loved these Parisian perfumes. But there was always a limit, you could tell. I could feel it.

interviewmagazine

 

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.... (end)

CANONERO: Now she can have beautiful clothes.

THEYSKENS: No, she doesn’t even have one. She’ll probably have some from Theory, because Theory is more for everybody. This is also something that stim ulates me a lot, because I have this edgy, fashion-y part, but I am also totally involved with a brand that is about how people dress, and what they want. And it’s a whole other look you can have on the street. It’s exciting because it speaks to the other part of my job and what my passion is. A designer wants to make something useful for as many people as possible.

CANONERO: You were saying that you do two collections—one that you call ready to wear and one is—

THEYSKENS: Everything I have is ready to wear, but I have the ability to have different options within the same brand. I have the Theyskens’ Theory col- lection where it’s a personal approach to how I build the collection where I fuse more fashion-y ideas and it has my name on it. So it’s really something very research- and labor-intensive. And then I have the Theory brand where I infuse all points of view about fashion at large, and it’s more global. It’s really about making something succeed. You have an instant relationship with stores, and with sales teams, and people that are in the place.

CANONERO: You work in New York, but you also keep your place here in Paris.

THEYSKENS: Yeah, I love to be in New York. And I think anybody who’s a designer, who says they’re doing an urban collection, thinks about the streets of New York. I cannot do an urban collection thinking of Bangkok. [Canonero laughs] Or Mexico. To me, it’s totally instant, totally connected with what attracts me these days. But this resurgence of a modern, cool way of being dressed is something that stimulates me and is totally right for me. Even now I don’t like to show something that is some futuristic utopia.

CANONERO: I can’t plan too far ahead. It’s one of the things that gives me a lot of pleasure, to just go into a new movie. And do different things every time.

THEYSKENS: What is funny is when you do a futuristic movie, you immediately get to be fashionable because you’re creating something that doesn’t exist.

CANONERO: Shoes are what really hit you as being indicative of the times.

THEYSKENS: The only shoes that look futuristic are Crocs, but they would be terrible to use in a futuristic movie.

CANONERO: It can be very wrong.

THEYSKENS: It can be so wrong. [laughs]

CANONERO: And it can be very dated.

THESKEYNS: I would love, just once, to do costumes for a movie. I almost did some theater, but it is very different from what I am used to doing as a fashion designer.

CANONERO: Oh yes, it’s really different. When you do your collection, you are much more free. You have fewer boundaries. When you work on a movie, you have to take into consideration the story, the plot, the vision of the director, even the phy- sique of your cast. And then on top of all this, you want your imagination, your taste, and your ideas to come through. But a movie is forever.

THEYSKENS: I don’t like to go beyond modernity because you think girls might be like that in five years, but in five years what I see now is going to be old; we are always going to go somewhere else. You have to bring a few novelties within what will remain.

interviewmagazine

 

[kokobombon]

Surface October 2011
Olivier Theyskens



ebook-free-download.net

 

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Carine Roitfeld's Vampire Ball



fashionologie

 

[Fatalefashion]

^That party inspiring Miuccia for Miu Miu | S/S 2012.

I'm really scared!

 

[Flashbang]

Social intelligence
Meet The Muse: Olivier Theyskens

October 7, 2011 7:00 pm

Girl-about-town Natalie Joos spends her days casting for shows like ADAM and Yigal Azrouël and editorials for the likes of Mario Sorrenti and Mariano Vivanco, but her passion is vintage clothing. Joos’ blog, Tales of Endearment, spotlights her “Muses,” impeccably styled girls and guys who share her secondhand obsession. In a new partnership with Style.com, Tales of Endearment’s subjects discuss their shoots right here on Style File.

Fashion month is over, but Olivier Theyskens hasn’t slowed down for a second, except to eat a hamburger (or two) in Paris with Natalie Joos. After dining chez McDonald’s, the two fed their fashion appetites with vintage treasures. Though Theyskens tells Style.com he’s “not a designer that buys vintage to be inspired,” one thing is certain: Others will refer to his work for years to come. Some of it, like the dress from one of his early Rochas collections that they found on their shopping trip, is already archived in vintage shops on the racks among Miu Miu. “He is perplexed. He can’t believe he’s already vintage!” says Joos.

Theyskens took a break from a photo shoot in Paris to chat with Style.com about his vintage shopping guidelines and what’s next for Theyskens’ Theory, and confessed to having a lazy gene.
—Kristin Studeman

I have to ask, why did you two pick McDonald’s as your meeting place? It seems like a very unexpected choice.
Because like everyone, I had to eat something. I think it’s OK to go once in a while. Sometimes it’s cool. I wouldn’t like to promote them or anything, but everyone can go rarely; but it’s important not to go often.

Once you ate, it sounds like you found some good finds. What did you buy?
I bought a bow tie for the Carine vampire party at an antique men’s shop. I also found a very old Mugler jacket that doesn’t look too old. It’s large, but that’s good because it doesn’t look so exaggerated that way.

So, what exactly do you look for when you vintage shop?
I like vintage that is not so dated. It’s interesting for me because in my work, a lot of times, I like to scrutinize the clothes and think what’s going to make them look dated and I do the same with vintage. In vintage, you want something unique and different, but at the same time, something that doesn’t make you look like you dress like a grandpa.

Where do you like to buy your vintage pieces?
I don’t go often. I am not a designer that buys vintage to be inspired. You can be sure if I travel and go to some weird place, I will see if they have a vintage store with tricky, interesting things. I went once to the Rose Bowl market in Los Angeles—it’s gigantic! I was just there, going around, and I had no idea what to buy. It was so overwhelming.

How is your personal style reflected in your work?
It’s complicated. In my personal style, I don’t go too crazy…maybe it’s my body. How I design is how I imagine (mentally) to wear things. I put myself in the place of people—tall, short, bigger, smaller, whatever. It has always been like that. I think that actors have to do this too. Of course, my own experiences have an impact on how I design things, for sure. A lot of times my girls have shoulders, probably because I have shoulders. My jackets, I imagine them on people with shoulders.

Do you have something you wear every single day?
I have some cute old boots that I have been wearing for years—it’s impossible to read the brand. They are totally ruined but I love them. Or like a jean, you find one and there is no other jean that will fit that good so you keep wearing it. I am always wearing jeans that I designed these days. The ones I am wearing are cleaner and darker—they are from last pre-fall. I was wearing this old pair from the time of Helmut Lang, with holes in them now, that I wear all the time and I could not stop wearing them.

Fashion month is over. What was your favorite moment from the season?
For me, the favorite moment was to arrive in Paris and have this amazing Indian summer. It’s not a high fashion, glamorous moment, but it was great. I have always been in New York during the summer and missed seeing Paris in the sunshine. This was really special, for sure.

What’s on the horizon for you right now?
I am going to travel to China and then I am going to be in NYC, going from time to time to Paris. In Asia, we are going to be involved with Lane Crawford, and we opened a store in Beijing a year ago, so it’s nice to go and see what’s happening there. All these projects are growing and it’s great—I am excited to get back to New York. When I’m there, in NYC, I’m really into everything.

How do you hope to expand your Theory collection next?
You always want to expand but you also think what you want to keep in and what you want to put out. It’s more an evolution. I am sometimes scared when there are too many projects. The experience I have with Theory, we want to be editing and have this evolving story. Expanding to us is being stronger in different markets and inspiring people to wear the clothes.

When you aren’t designing and working, what do you like to do for fun?
I like to be lazy. I do like to be busy and really active, but when that’s done, you can be sure I will be a lazy boy. I like to take time and relax and enjoy life.

For more from Olivier’s shoot, visit Tales of Endearment .

style.com

 

[Psylocke]