Greek-born artist Evangelia Kranioti is already the stuff of legend, taking to the high seas to create her multi-award winning documentary film Exotica, Erotica, Etc.: 450 hours of footage condensed into an intimate 73-minute portrait of sailors and prostitutes, ports and seas. Kim Laidlaw spoke to her to learn more about her epic voyages, the call of the ocean and the ephemeral yet eternal notions of love and desire. Continue reading “Evangelia Kranioti talks to Kim Laidlaw”
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
The quote—inaccurately attributed to both Leonardo da Vinci and Coco Chanel—describes Margaret Howell’s quiet luxuries very nicely. Howell reminds one of an English character in a Henry James novel: a deeply refined sensibility of great influence and means disguised in elegantly modest packaging. Did you know that behind the graciously self-effacing Ms Howell there looms an international fashion empire, built upon exquisite attention to the finer details of British sartorial heritage—one that quietly generates £100 million per year? Probably not. Ms Howell is no showboat. Her collections are season-less meditations on one ever-evolving aesthetic— one that has seduced her customers with its chic pragmatism and hushed sumptuousness. Her MHL line explores an intriguingly handsome re-appropriation of British workwear while her MARGARET HOWELL mainline channels her discreet tastes into high fashion. She was kind enough to sit down for a chat with Dapper Dan. Continue reading “Margaret Howell talks to Matthew Hicks”
Most of Earth’s creatures enter and leave the world in the same way: naked and covered in blood. So the choice of Abattoir 1933—a sprawling, bunker-like concrete slaughterhouse-cum-contemporary art space in Shanghai—was the ideal place to present a début collection from a designer fixated on the metamorphosis of the useless into the precious. Continue reading “Cornerstone, a refined meditation on contemporary style”
My first attempt to interview June Newton was back in 2010. Unfortunately, she was busy at the time and we were informed that finally she could not do the interview for Dapper Dan—information that came as sad news. She rarely talks to journalists anyway. Six years later, I decide to send a letter requesting an interview again. Today, June Newton, known as a photographer under her pseudonym Alice Springs, spends her time in Monte Carlo while her photography shines in a three-part show along with work by her late husband Helmut and Mart Engelen at the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin. Her part in the show is titled The MEP Show and it was initially presented at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris in 2015, as a smaller retrospective of her photography works accompanied by a book by TASCHEN. Continue reading “June Newton talks to Filep Motwary”
Following eight years of working for Rei Kawakubo and Junya Watanabe, Japanese fashion designer Chitose Abe created her label Sacai in 1999. Her powerfully pragmatic aesthetic has turned Sacai into one of the most interesting brands presenting collections in Paris, with an international fan base that is growing day by day. Its relatable and coherent style mixes sporty and urban silhouettes to create incredibly desirable pieces. Filep Motwary spoke to the quietly committed designer in Tokyo right after her menswear presentation in Paris. Continue reading “Sacai’s Chitose Abe talks to Filep Motwary”
While Romain Kremer’s position as Creative Director of Camper shoes was officialised in 2014, the former CD of Thierry Mugler menswear (as well as his own extremely avant-garde, eponymous label) has an unmistakeable signature that has been present at the Mallorca-based house since his first collaborations with them in 2006. Mr Kremer is an ardent Instagrammer and his website- slash-moodboard (romainkremer.com) is a window into his many tastes and talents. This author remembers being at a fashion event in Paris around 2005 and having a fellow reveller reverently whisper Mr Kremer’s name just as the young designer was making his debuts in the style capital: “You’ll be hearing a lot about Romain Kremer.” His early work is remembered for a darkly sophisticated, if somewhat dystopian, sensual futurism. His creations for his own label mined deep menswear history (think: breeches and tights) in one season only to pivot the next to a radically different style vocabulary (chiselled ephebes in shocking pink or hypertrophic athletic gear, say, or looks that seem to have goose-stepped out of some eroticised future police state). Continue reading “Romain Kremer talks to Matthew Hicks”
Best known for his lighting creations and his minimal, utilitarian aesthetic, Cypriot-born designer Michael Anastassiades works for some of the world’s leading architects, including David Chipperfield and John Pawson. An Industrial Design graduate from the Royal College of Art in London, his work is featured in the permanent collections of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the FRAC Centre in France, and the V&A Museum in London, and he has designed products in collaboration with furniture company Herman Miller and lighting manufacturers Flos. Dapper Dan’s editor Vassilis Karidis visited Michael at his home and studio in Waterloo, London, where the designer produces his signature collection of lighting, furniture, jewellery and tabletop objects for his own brand. Continue reading “Michael Anastassiades talks to Vassilis Karidis”
Far from the frenzied crowds of the fashion capitals, journalist Angelo Flaccavento retreats from the shows to pen his analysis of the collections in the comparative calm of Sicily—a lifestyle choice that points to a character full of contrasts and contradictions. Indeed, quiet yet bold, shy yet daring, Flaccavento is known for his somewhat confrontational reviews, yet he couldn’t be more polite and reserved in person. The fashion oracle writes for heavyweight publications such as Business of Fashion and Il Sole 24 Ore, and was Dapper Dan’s very first fashion features editor. We checked in with him to take the current temperature of the fashion world and to find out whether those no-holds-barred views had been getting him into any trouble lately. Continue reading “Angelo Flaccavento talks to Nicholas Georgiou”
Luca Guadagnino is one of the greatest filmmakers of our time. His complex filmography includes extremely accurate, biting portrayals of the global privileged class, from the worldwide success I am Love in 2009, to the more recent A Bigger Splash in 2016, as well as the upcoming Call Me By Your Name and the following remake of Dario Argento’s horror masterpiece Suspiria. He has also created thought-provoking theoretical and political documentaries such as Inconscio Italiano in 2011 and Bertolucci on Bertolucci in 2013. Guadagnino is a man possessing a multi-layered knowledge of deep aesthetics—a rare and impressive quality. Dapper Dan talked to him to find out more about the source of this exceptionality, which seems to be entirely natural and inherent in him. Continue reading “Luca Guadagnino talks to Carlo Antonelli”
Peter Lindbergh has been a photographer for more than 40 years. It is hard to find the right words to describe his vast body of work and singular vision—an approach based on simplicity and the truth embodied in each of his images. Rising above changes in the fashion industry, his work remains as pertinent as ever. An emotional boldness is echoed in the models’ faces, their surroundings and the clothes they wear. From September 2016 to February 2017, Kunsthal Rotterdam, in collaboration with guest curator Thierry-Maxime Loriot, gives access to the photographer’s archives with Peter Lindbergh: A Different History of Fashion Photography, an exhibition featuring over 200 of his most iconic images, along with original pieces by 25 renowned fashion designers from different eras and previously unseen additional material, including personal notes, contact sheets and films. Dapper Dan spoke to Lindbergh just after he finished working on the latest Pirelli Calendar. Continue reading “Peter Lindbergh talks to Filep Motwary”
