Interview with Benjamin

YOU JUST OPENED A SHOP IN PARIS, WHY?

Because all my clothes are cut from magnificent fabrics, carefully textured, and so, with this store, I give at least a chance to some of my customers to see and touch the truly extraordinary materials that are make my clothes.

ON YOUR SITE, YOU USE A PRE-ORDER SYSTEM, WHY?

Because this system allows me to stay close to what I love: always working on beautiful materials and keeping fair prices. But I don't do this out of activism against the traditional fashion system, because I believe in the diversity of systems. I do it out of taste, but also to meet the desires of some of my clients. Of course, some of them are obsessed with a new product and want to wear it immediately. On the other hand, others give priority to advantageous prices and they don't mind waiting a little. So I offer a classic eshop and a pre-order system side by side on my site. With this pre-order system, everything that is made is sold. So there is no loss or waste. It is for these reasons that the products can be offered at very advantageous prices.

CAN YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND EXPLAIN YOUR BACKGROUND TO US?

Given my age, we have to put the word career into perspective, or accept that it is that of an apprentice. As a child, I loved drawing and painting. When I had to choose a course, I opted for fashion, I hoped that it would give me the opportunity to do drawing, design, photography, video, everything I loved. That's kind of what happened, but only a little, because my work as a stylist now takes up most of my time. I created a brand because it was the only way for me to work: I had exhausted my quota of internships and, to be hired, I was asked for years of experience! I started with what I had mainly been taught, women's fashion. But I quickly understood that in this field my inspiration was entirely artificial and I decided to do men's fashion and to only create clothes that I could try on myself. That way, I could judge the clothing from the outside, with my eyes, but also from the inside, with my whole body. Today, when a prototype is ready, I start by wearing it for two or three days. This is the main test, I cannot sell clothes that I would not like to wear. But, with experience, I hope that I will move beyond this stage because I would like to do women's fashion one day.

WHAT DID YOUR TIME AT PIERRE HARDY BRING YOU?

I saw that, from the cellar to the attic, the entire house was based on the stroke of Pierre Hardy's pencil. It was his stroke of pencil that transformed shiny skin into pointed, geometric pumps. With each collection, wrapped in tissue paper, a few went to Balenciaga. Pierre Hardy drew every day, at the office and at home. On Mondays, he came back with his briefcase full of drawings, he never parted with them. And yet, all at the same time, he oversaw all the departments. This is where I saw all the functions of a fashion house operate. It's a model.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR STYLE?

I like fitted clothing, cut with a scarf around the body. But there’s no question of making tights. The lines of the body are natural and complicated, those of the clothing are graphic and pure, the clothing must follow the lines of the body but without losing its own. This is my objective: to go as close as possible to the body without disturbing it, and without being hampered by it, to make a garment that is just as beautiful worn as it is on a hanger. So I draw the simple and basic cuts. But I don't want it to "look" poor at all, so I choose beautiful, even very beautiful materials, and I try to enrich the garment with details from luxury, old fashion or innovation. If I have a style (because we still have to put things into perspective) I feel it is refined as far as the whole model is concerned and rather sophisticated as far as the details are concerned. But without sentimentality.

YOU SELECT YOUR MATERIALS WITH GREAT CARE. WHAT MAKES FOR YOU THAT A MATERIAL IS GOOD OR NOT?

The choice of materials meets several criteria (I am not talking here about technical constraints, resistance, weight, etc., which of course I respect), I am talking about aesthetic criteria on which I feel very dependent. When I examine a material, I cannot see it without touching it nor touch it without seeing it. For me to choose it, I need the double agreement of my eyes and my fingers. I like the supple, silky, soft, comfortable feel; for it to fall well, the material must also offer a certain resistance and have good elasticity, if you pull it and then let it go, it must return to its place. I like textures which in themselves are an object of art, like honeycombs, and also those which do not have the mechanical regularity of industrial products, those where we see a certain irregularity of the fibers , as if they had been woven by hand.

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE ?

Well, precisely, I would like to have fabrics made with textures created by me. I would also like to cut clothes in original textured fabrics, coming from the French provinces and countries with a strong textile tradition, such as China, home of silk, or India. But we must ensure that these fabrics meet the modern quality criteria to which we are accustomed. Finally, I am looking to improve all customer services: product presentation, deliveries, free returns and a new, simpler, faster site.