BEYOND FASHION
Fri 27 Jan
Words Steve Salter
As brand building becomes world building, a new generation of multidisciplinary designers are becoming architects of their own multi-touchpoint design universes. Here, guest editor Steve Salter chairs a conversation with MACHINE-A’s founder and buying director Stavros Karelis, IoDF’s CEO and co-founder Leanne Elliot Young, and artist and experiential studio founder Hannah Marshall.
We’re multifaceted, multidimensional and any limitation is only in the mind.
Steve: Today, a new generation of designers don't have to limit themselves to any given creative practice. Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY has never been a traditional label, but only now could Charles produce music videos and release a debut album that further expands this brand world. But Daniel Arsham, Dr. Samuel Ross, Martine Rose, Post Archive Faction (PAF), and Bianca Saunders are each expanding in similar ways. What’s driving this change?
Stavros: Our customers increasingly want to know who each of these creative minds are. This is how they connect to every collection, every product. Charles is a great example of a multidisciplinary artist, who from the very beginning cultivated a community around LOVERBOY. People could connect with it.
Leanne: And in a few clicks, you can trace who that person is, see who they truly are. They are so ready and ripe for this wider storytelling narrative, which I think the bigger brands actually struggle with. Social media was the first stage and as we enter this IRL/URL space and explore the potential of the metaverse, the physical limitations of world building fall away. Fashion has never just been about cloth, it’s about the experiential constructions around it; you wear something because you’re part of that tribe and you care about these specific vernaculars.
Hannah: Artists like Samuel and Daniel are true creative polymaths. As they work across disciplines, what matters is their overarching philosophies and intentions because that is the heartbeat of everything they do.
Steve: Does this tap into a wider movement of freedom?
Leanne: Of non-binary existence. Creative expression can fill lots of different spaces and we’ve recently seen a change in education. You can finally be a sculptor, a musician, or whatever else.
Hannah: In the beginning of our journeys, there was a sense that education chipped away at what we wanted to do but this has evolved. Expansion has been my word of the year.
Steve: Since I’ve known you, your practice has evolved from clothing to music videos and art.
Hannah: If you look at it in a binary way, I’ve worked in three different industries – fashion, music and art – but it’s an illusion that we have to be one thing. We’re multifaceted, multidimensional and any limitation is only in the mind. We can be that and that, nor that or that.
Leanne: There’s also an insatiable appetite to share more and see more. Virgil Abloh was a master at this, do you remember when he shared his message exchanges with Heron Preston?
Stavros: For the last 20 years, the big brands created fantasies, dreams. Then, suddenly the new generation of designers channeled something very real, invited people in and shared every aspect of it. For anyone reading this who wants to build something, the question you should ask yourself is; how do you create emotional connection?
Leanne: Digitally, you can share so much more too. Anyone, anywhere can scan a QR code with their phone and the journey expands in limitless ways. As we continually weave the digital with the physical, these multidisciplinary designers have even more potential to expand their practices. If they approach it with the same authenticity and partner with like-minded specialists, they can tap into their communities too, that’s where it gets exciting. It’s close!
Steve: Are we all excited by the potential of digital expansion?
Hannah: It does feel very expansive. It allows the imagination to go anywhere, but in my practice, I’m interested in bringing people back to the body, physical spaces that hold the body, and amplifying that.
Leanne: Interestingly, the most performed experience on Roblox is a washing rat simulation. It highlights that rather than indulge in wild fantasy, there’s a desire to perform oddly mundane tasks.
Steve: Wow. Stavros, while ecommerce is growing, MACHINE-A places an importance on the physical too. Ahead of the 10th anniversary of the London store, you opened a vast space in Shanghai last year too. How do you navigate discussions with designers in uitlising your space for storytelling?
Stavros: Ecommerce and physical retail connects two worlds together, and storytelling can take a myriad of forms across both. When I think about the success of Daniel, Charles, Martine, and Samuel, rather than trying to create something that satisfies everyone, they’ve evolved by creating even more deeply for their audience. Martine herself says that “my brand is not for everyone” and I love that. We amplify their messages and share communities.
Leanne: Whether in store, the street or socials, you can see any garment and instantly know the brand. Their design pillars are so strong, the emotional connection so deeply established that there’s 360 holistic opportunities here. I can already smell a Charles Jeffrey fragrance. To be emotional, all of the senses have to be involved and the experiences they create in shows, installations and exhibitions do that.
Stavros: The need to create experiences has been co-opted by marketing teams, but these designers did it in such personal ways. There is a clarity of intent in everything they do and the common thread that runs betweens them is that they are community-driven.
Hannah: Community and connection are words that have come up throughout this discussion.
Steve: It’s what drives us. I’m hugely optimistic about a future in which community and connection are the driving forces of fashion. This generation of designers demonstrate that if you build a brand with those foundations, you can grow it any which way you want.
Stavros: It’s a difficult socioeconomic time to build anything and the next generation needs support, but they should take inspiration from this current wave of talent that are creating in their own way. Be optimistic, take your time, and follow your path.