New Fashion Trends: Mens Collections Spring/Summer 2016

 David Gandy wears one of the key trends seen on the catwalk this SS16 season, the bomber jacket in soft suede. Photography by Mike Rolls

As the Spring/Summer 2016 men’s shows come to a close for the season,  London Collections: Men has become, in just a few short years, one of the most anticipated events on the menswear fashion calendar along with Milan, Paris and New York, Limor Helfgott reports

 All suited up in London, David Gandy out and about.
Photo by Scott Wilson

THIS season there was such a broad spectrum of looks for men ranging from the sharp tailoring of long established London brands to quirky styles and streetwear from emerging design talents. There were a few key trends that we noted on the men's runways that stood out in London in contrast to the shows in Milan and Paris. We round up some of the summer essentials for men with some tips on how to wear them. Shirts off? Revealing designs that showed off men's chests on the catwalk were one of the  strong looks this season. Rory Parnell-Mooney at the MAN collection had tops with angular peep holes exposing model’s torso.


American jocks featured at Sibling.
Photo By Limor Helfgott

However, it was Sibling that took the trend to a whole new level. It was a fun show with sassy cheerleaders and American jocks taking to the catwalk, inspired by Kehinde Wiley’s portraits of the modern man. The collection featured tailored suits (a surprising addition for Sibling) made of luxury fabrics alongside male models bearing their abs and wearing laced corsets, front-tied tiny briefs over leggings and attention grabbing pants with cut out holes at the back. It was athlete meets mod and the arrogant jocks on the catwalk joined female cheerleaders, emphasising the American culture. A lot of the collection is not wearable but certainly we will see lace detailing in men’s fashion. The rise of the Man clutch 
One of the standout trends among the street style looks and fashion show attendees was the man clutch as a practical yet stylish accessory that is clearly replacing the man bag, the backpack or the heavy holdall. On the catwalks the interpretation was quite different, proving that sometimes form wins over function.


Patent flats and hanging metal
 manbags at J.W Anderson 

A good example is the J.W. Anderson collection, Boy in Space, that had a feminine aesthetic. Partly inspired by David Bowie, the collection played with gender, just like the legendary pop star. J.W Anderson presented coiled-metal structured bags with hanging utilities such as bottle openers and key chains that were teamed with an 80’s vibe such as over sized collars on shirts, leather trench coats and high-waisted trousers. The models wore patent red scarlet flats that definitely stood out and gave the finishing touch to the overall feminine look.


Big rucksacks & bags  at Christopher Raeburn.
Photo by Limor Helfgott

Whereas designer Christopher Raeburn took inspiration from the island of Borneo featuring large orangutan rucksacks.

These were a striking new interpretation of his animal bags and a percentage of each bag sold will be donated to the Orangutan Foundation.



The lacy collection at Burberry Prorsum
with the new Barrow bag

Burberry’s CEO and creative director, Christopher Bailey, presented a lace-inspired collection for men for his SS16 collection with a strong accessory range including the Barrow: a men’s document case with a high-shine patent leather finish in different materials and colours. There were also alligator document folders and raffia clutches teamed with Scottish cashmere scarves, bug tie pins and tassel loafers. 


 Henry Holland with his first menswear
collection: sporty yet tailored. 

Prints and TechnicolourPrints and patterns were strong looks at the last Autumn/Winter 2015 collections. This season they were loud, lively and often made up of an eccentric mix of colours and designs.


House of Holland, a previously exclusively women’s clothing brand, launched its first menswear collection this season. Designed by Henry Holland, in collaboration with photographer Martin Parr, the colourful and fun collection fused sportswear in technical fabrics with more traditional tailoring techniques.

 James Long's stylish collection with touches of neon.
Photo by Dan Sims

Influenced by ’90’s rave culture, a standout look in the collection was a matching two-piece yellow tracksuit. Dizzingly patterned bold prints in clashing colours were a big part of the new collection. Kit Neale’s show mixed psychedelic patterns with vivid colours and clashing prints. Splashes of lime green and yellow, pink and blue and silks in burnt orange and red. Accessories included lavish Bernstock Sperids 90's bucket hats and earrings. 



Alexander McQueen's show featured nautical motifs.  
Photo by Shaun Cox

Creative freedom was at the heart of James Long’s SS16 collection with paisley prints and bright colours. Outstanding pieces included a wonderful denim patchwork jacket, sweatshirts and trackpants emblazoned in a neon scribble print especially drawn by James Davison.
The Alexander McQueen collection, inspired by The Tempest and Rime of the Ancient Mariner, moved further away from last season’s painterly themes to more geometric designs with a nautical motif. “It was about the idea of being at sea and having a sense of belonging there, of identifying yourself through the sea,” said Sarah Burton, the brand's creative director. Nautical tattoo motifs were incorporated onto suits and jackets with classic men’s silhouettes. Pieces included slim-fitting dinner jackets, pyjama-style shirts, asymmetric knitted sweaters and suits patterned in ship’s camouflage. While prints and embellishments were key to the collection, the colour palette was quite a subtle one including black, off-white, navy blue, aqua and orange.


The bold, oriental collection by Xander Zhou.
 Photo by Liron Weissman

The East has arrived Oriental silhouettes and prints were a key theme this season, including the bold collection of Beijing-based menswear designer Xander Zhou: “The East has arrived. Salute and embrace it,” he declared.

The designer explored symbols and signs and presented unexpected twists using Chinese embroidery: felt biker jackets decorated with silk flowers and contrasting quilted pockets in a digital print. While eastern inspiration was very evident, the expression of London street style in the 80’s was also a part of the designer’s inspiration, proving once more that it is as much relevant now as it was then.


 Wearing the trends 
A key material this season was the use of suede in many of the collections. A good suede jacket will be a wise investment this year and always adds a luxurious feel to an outfit whether it is biker, bomber or anorak in style. Even though outerwear wasn’t a big part of the spring summer collection, in places like London jackets are still a part of our wardrobe even in June. In the front rows of the LCM fashion show, Nickolas Grimshaw, Tinie Tempah and David Gandy, were all spotted wearing suede. 


Street style: vivid pattern.
Photo by Liron Weissman

Prints and Patterns 
Up until a few seasons ago, it was all about being minimal in menswear, preferably in a flat range of white, black and grey. But it is obvious now that prints are here to stay. One thing that is making its way back to the men’s wardrobe is the graphic t-shirt. Always an easy way to make a statement, many designers are creating t-shirts to emphasise their collection’s theme and to express themselves. Wearing prints is one of those looks that needs to be worn with caution. To work this trend into your everyday wardrobe try to wear one piece with large patterns rather a cacophony of styles. If you do decide to mix patterns, as seen on the catwalks, try to make sure the prints contrast but complement each other: pair motifs that differ either in pattern or tone but not in both. 


Socks made a comeback at Sibling SS16.
Photo by Limor Helfgott 

 Socks are back! 
For the last few seasons, we could see the “mankle” everywhere – and it was becoming acceptable wearing formal footwear with no socks.
Plus cropped trousers. Spring/Summer 2016 sees the return of the sock. This could be seen at the Lou Dalton and Christopher Raeburn and even socks and sandals were on the runway at Margaret Howell.


Suit, pattern & colour on Kadu Dantas.
Photo: Scott Wilson 

 For a bolder, fun look, wear a pair of colourful socks. As always, we can’t wait to see how the trends of this season will translate into our everyday wardrobe. The street style looks showed a lot of the trends, mixing up patterns and bright colour along with classic looks such as the stylish British tailored suit as worn by David Gandy and Kadu Dantas. 

We will leave you with one last styling tip -  the SS16 suit has a real individuality and an element of eccentricity and a more casual form instead of being formal and traditional. Add a dash of colour in the choice of tie, cravat or textile broach and choose a subtle checked or striped pattern for the suit itself. Add a dashing sun hat and a pair of retro sunglasses and you have an outfit for every summer occasion. See you next season!

The Art of Glass at Verreum: Designers Sacha Walckhoff and Arik Levy

Sacha Walckhoff, Creative Director at Christian Lacroix, in Milan with his new collection of glasses and vases for Verreum. “I called it Reverso because at the start of a dinner you use the glass and when the coffee arrives you turn it upside down and there is a coffee cup ready for use!" Photograph by Mariangela Curci

Shimmering amid flowers, berries and leaves, Verreum’s glass collection by the world’s top designers includes the clever Reverso by Sacha Walckhoff and Arik Levy’s curvaceous Drops vases reports Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photographs by Mariangela Curci & Paul McDonnell

PAVEL Weiser, founder and CEO of Verreum, speaks passionately about design and the great tradition of Czech glass manufacturing. Six years ago, the dynamic entrepreneur decided to build on that history and founded a new glass-making company. “The name Verreum was created from two words: verre meaning glass in French and um signifying craftsmanship in Czech,” he says. Weiser explains he wanted to revive glass-making craftsmanship, focusing particularly on silvered glass production, a technique that has been almost lost for more than half a century.



Sacha Walckhoff and Pavel Weiser at the Verreum show in Milan

“We re-invented this forgotten technique, mixing tradition and different technologies to create a new design language. Today, we make vases, glasses, bowls, lamps, candlesticks and furniture pieces. We like to collaborate with both Czech and international designers to create our products using highly skilled craftsmen from glass manufacturing areas in Nový Bor, Northern Bohemia. This is a famous production centre for Czech glass and we want to sustain the Bohemian glass making tradition.”

Arik Levy & the Jupiter night lights at the Milan exhibition

Sacha Walckhoff first met Weiser a year ago during his presentation at the Wallpaper Handmade event in Milan. “We kept in touch and last summer he came back to me as he was building a team of designers for his brand,” Sacha Walckhoff says. “Sebastian Herkner was appointed as the new artistic director and he wanted new ways of expressing the Verreum skill. I was immediately seduced by the idea of working with glass and travelled to Novy Bor in the Czech Republic where I was amazed by the art of blowing glass by the masters working for Verreum. I even tried to blow one piece  ~ what an experience!

“The idea of Reverso was partly inspired by the blown glass going up in the air and then down into the fire or water. It is like a dance with the sounds of the elements as a background track ~ the fire, the water, the steam!" The master glass-makers at Novy Bor create Verreum’s designs by a blowing cane, picking melting glass from the crucible, lifting it up and sprinkling it with water and finally lodging it into an oak cast to blow it into the final shape. “This ballet with pure matter inspired me to design five glasses and three vases for Verreum,” says the designer.

Drops orchid vase, Maly glasses by Sebastian Herkner & Reverso vase

Paris-based designer and artist Arik Levy created the Drops collection of rounded vases made specially for orchids and cacti. Levy says he remembers the fascination he felt when he saw drops of mercury leaking out of a broken thermometer. "I was always fascinated with the quicksilver drops, the amazing surface  reflection as well as the sensation that it is still liquid," he explains.This liquid silvery image was his inspiration when he designed the Drops vase collection. The designer

The soft, rounded forms of Arik Levy's Jupiter night lights

says the orchids and cacti in the vases give life to the pieces and when they are juxtaposed together they create a table sculpture. Arik Levy’s large, tall Jupiter night lights in sapphire blue are inspired by a constellation of stars. The soft, rounded forms follow the shapes of of a candle flame and the silvered glass reflects the lights and colours around them. The large forms of the design allow them to be used both indoors and outdoors.


The delicate hues of the Reverso wine glass & coffee cups

Sacha Walckhoff's Reverso glasses and vases are an elegant, creative idea. While the large, balloon glass at the top is for wine or water they can be turned upside down and you find a silvery expresso cup underneath. “I called it Reverso because on one side of each piece, you have an espresso cup attached to a wine glass or a water glass. So at the beginning of a dinner, you can use your glass and when the coffee arrives you turn your glass upside down and you get a coffee cup ready for use!" The Verreum silvered glass technique gives a thermal capacity to the pieces so Walckhoff incorporated that into his designs too. 

The playful forms of the Reverso vase & glasses

"They are translucent and silver-coated, they are meant to be fun to use in different and surprising ways," he eplains. “I love the idea of having one object with different uses like the three vases I also designed for Verreum. This allows the client to be creative when he or she uses it. The idea of the creative process going on after my intervention ~ it is like forming an invisible net of creative minds.”

Sacha Walckhoff says as a designer, glass has its own special demands. “There are a  lot of challenges working with glass. I know a little about ceramic and porcelain but glass is really something on its own. Beginning to work with glass  through  Verreum on a semi-industrial line was even more challenging as there were a lot of restrictions such as doing only symmetrical shapes, using the grading of colours in one direction and so on. 

Sketches of the Chado teaset designed by Sebastian Herkner



Walckhoff’s collection of vases are meant to be mixed and matched, played with, turned upside down to change into glass lanterns when they are not filled with flowers. “The glasses follow the same principle, and so the champagne flute, once bottom up, becomes a tumbler while the white wine glass turns into a coffee cup when on its head. Also the silvered glass being double makes the possibility of creating shapes even smaller. But then I discovered that you could glue glass together, something that you do not do with ceramics and that helped a lot! But in general, I always love challenges, as it leads you to ideas you might not have explored without those difficulties.”
The Reverso collection is available in four colour

The new Bonbon side tables by Luca Nichetto

combinations: smoked silver and translucent glass, golden khaki and cobalt blue, garnet colored and emerald green and copper-bronze and smoked grey.

Other pieces in the Verreum collection include the hand-blown new Bonbon tables by Italian designer Luca Nichetto that were launched in Milan at the Salone del Mobile in April. Inspired by silver candy wrappers, they have a stylised form composed of geometric shapes in a totem form that can be used as glimmering, sculptural side tables. It seems an extraordinary feat that these beautiful, silvery pieces are all hand-blown in a small studio in the forests of Bohemia. Pavel Weiser has not only made a winning combination of international designers and hand-made skill but he has revived an art that was almost lost for more than half a century.

Interview: Finnish Photographer Konsta Leppänen

Photographer Konsta Leppänen with his adopted pointer Buster, found in the streets of Spain. "People are the most interesting subjects for me as a photographer. They’re also the most difficult subjects, since 10 percent is the photography and 90 percent is about observation and interaction."

Konsta Leppänen is a talented photographer from Finland, a member of the 11 Collective and he has won the biggest Finnish photojournalism prize, the Patricia Seppälä Foundation Award. Andreas Romagnoli and Jeanne-Marie Cilento ask the hipster and intellectual 10 Questions about his life and work

KONSTA Leppänen’s landscape and urban photographs often have a solitary figure lost in a vast alienating cityscape or a sea of snow and water that capture a sense of spiritual and physical isolation. Yet his portraits of people are full of dynamism and life and seem to fizz with suppressed energy. Leppänen alternates between using black and white pictures and those that are more saturated to explicate the contrasts in Finnish life and culture.

His passion for photography began when he started shooting portraits of people on the street and then later joined the 11 Collective, the group of avant-garde photojournalists. He says the collective's aim is to create a new type of Finnish documentary photography. Working with the group, he produces annual in-depth photo essays around chosen themes. 

“Our first project was about Finland and the exhibition has toured around the country for a year now, including at the Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki,’’ says Leppänen. “The main idea is to collectively help each individual with their personal projects and to diminish the loneliness of the process. From very early on we expose the process of visual storytelling to the analytical evaluation and constructive criticism of members of the group.”

Today, Leppänen is studying the Master's Program in Visual Journalism at Tampere University and works as a freelance photographer and photojournalist, alternating between working for well-known Finnish magazines and newspapers and making social documentaries.

1.What are you currently working on? 

I’m working on several different projects, two of which are part of our 11 Collective’s upcoming group projects. I was recently in Egypt reporting about the unrest there and I'm still trying to make sense out of those photos. The other is a broader and more personal essay-like study on men of my generation. However, for the next couple of months I’m also working as a staff photographer for Aamulehti, which is the second largest newspaper in Finland, so I won’t be able to work much on these projects right at the moment.

2. What inspires your creative work now?

I’m a typical Finn so very often my inspiration derives from anxiety and sheer envy towards those more talented than myself. It’s a very unhealthy and unproductive way to push yourself forward, but so far it has helped me to pursue my photography.

3. How did you choose photography as your creative metier?

I didn’t choose photography as such. I started studying journalism and worked in newspapers. I could appreciate beautiful, dramatic and clever pictures especially in the context of journalism, but at that point I couldn’t even dream of taking such photos myself. When I finally bought my own first camera, which was relatively late, in my early twenties, it infested me like a disease. I didn’t want to write anymore, writing didn’t motivate me to push forward like photography. Nothing did, really.

4. Can you describe the experience, person or training that has had the greatest impact on your photography style?

Actually, I’m not even sure I have a coherent style just yet, I think I’m only beginning to recognise what my style could be. This is something that should be asked from Elina, my girlfriend and mother of my child.

Since the beginning of my photographic pursuits she's been there encouraging but also judging quite harshly when necessary. You know ~ a slap on the face to get me back on track. I still feel the need to show her everything I've done immediately to see what she thinks about it. I think she knows what my style is way better than I do.

5. What do you find the most challenging aspect of your work technically?

Technically the most challenging thing for me is to not think about the technicalities at all. To let go of the technology, not to think about apertures and focal lengths and flashes and what not. They’re not important. What is important is what you’re taking photos of, not with what you’re doing it. 

For the past year or so I've been very tired of shooting with my DSLR aside from work. It's just too huge and intimidating. I bought a small mirror less camera and I have it with my everywhere I go and it's brilliant, nobody gets scared of it and nobody thinks I'm other than tourist. And the best thing is that I don't think about the technicalities at all! It really has rekindled my photography, same as Instagram, I guess.

6. What do you like to photograph?

People are the most interesting subjects for me as a photographer. They’re also the most difficult subjects, since 10 percent is the photography and 90 percent is about observation and interaction.

7. Do you have a set schedule of working creatively everyday or is the process more fluid?

Since I’m Scandinavian, I’ve tried to organise my creativity. I’ve tried keeping diaries, I’ve promised myself to shoot everyday and so on. So far nothing has really worked. I cannot force it. I think the most important thing is to keep your self somehow inspired everyday. Watch a movie, eye through some photos, analyse illustrations or just listen to music and try to enjoy it.

8.What part of photography gives you the most happiness and do you find your creative process is more rational or instinctive?

I think that if someday I'll be able to be totally instinctive about my photography I could finally be satisfied with myself. Hopefully that never comes. Satisfaction will kill off the urge to push forward and my photography is always closely tied to being unsatisfied. A certain level of struggling is elementary for my progress. But to answer the question: my photography is instinctive at best but usually very rational.

9. Is there a town or place in the world you consider inspiring?

If we talk about street photography or similar, Finland is a difficult country to work in. People are so reserved and they don't show too much emotion (or anything else, for that matter). That's why I really enjoy Rome, for example. People are relaxed and open in public spaces and allow glimpses into who they really are. It's almost as if they don't care and that is very fascinating and scary for a Finn.

10. In our digital age what is the relationship between photography and contemporary art?

I try not to bother myself with questions such as what is art and what is not – especially when it comes to my own work. Even though my photos have been exhibited in galleries and museums, I consider myself to be a journalist, not an artist. I most certainly have nothing against art photography and I am very pleased if someone thinks that my photos are interesting enough when considered in the context of art. However, I'm just not keen on making that distinction myself. With the 11 collective we've been very eager to mix and mess with the concept of art and concept of documentary and I intend to keep pushing those boundaries in the future. 

For more information about Konsta Leppänen visit: http://konstakuva.com

Click on photographs for full-screen slideshow

The 11 Collective won the Patricia Seppälä Photojournalism Award in March 2013, the biggest prize in Finnish photojournalism. Konsta Leppänen is at the far right.

A photograph from the 11 Collective's series 3.6 meters or more, an essay about Finns' relationship with their surroundings. It was shot around Finland during 2011 - 2012.

Another picture from the 11 Collective's series 3.6 meters or more about Finns and their environment. 

Looking like a group of medieval saxons, Leppänen's photograph of the Finnish band Death Hawks taken in 2013

A photograph from the Rome series taken in 2011: "I really enjoy Rome ~ people are relaxed and open in public spaces and allow glimpses into who they really are. It's almost as if they don't care and that is very fascinating and scary for a Finn."

 Finland's young Artist of the Year Jarno Vasala, photographed for Finnish Art Today magazine in 2013.

Another picture of Jarno Vasala, the young artist of the year for Finnish Art Today magazine shot in 2013.

A large man in a tiny Fiat 500 from Leppänen's series on Rome.

A plane caught in flight with a dynamic conflagration of birds and a street light. 

An evocative picture simply titled Hangover 2012.

From the Collective 11's 3.6 meters or more essay about Finnish society and landscape. 

Leppänen's photograph of a girl from a story on Finnish dental care taken in 2013

New Interview: Illustrator Dana Avni and the Blue Oranges

"I don’t think you can choose to be creative, it chooses you,” says illustrator Dana Avni. Pictured is above are her drawings showing her signature sure line and use of vivid blocks of colour.

Our fashion correspondent in London, Limor Helfgott, speaks to talented young illustrator Dana Avni about her new work, studies and plans for the future


Illustrator Dana Avni. Photo by Amit Shlomovich 

 “I don’t think you can choose to be creative, it chooses you,” says Dana Avni talking about how she began her career. Although born in the Israeli city of Haifa, when she was five years old her family moved to Zichron Ya'akov, a quiet town located in the Carmel mountains. Thinking of that time, she remembers herself always painting and drawing.

Avni describes how a childhood incident made her understand how she was always determined to find her own way creatively, even from a very young age. When she was at kindergarten, her teacher handed out white pages with a stencil of an orange tree, a variety of coloured chalks, and asked the children to draw. All of the other children coloured the oranges in orange, but little Dana painted them blue.



Avni captures creates movement and emotion in her drawings

The kindergarten teacher wasn’t happy and as a punishment locked Dana away in the bathroom for the day. Dana had "ammunition" with her: a considerable number of colourful chalks. So she spent the time drawing on the walls, creating her own world in the small room.

Looking back, the young illustrator says that experience didn’t deter her. The teacher surely was better off letting her paint the oranges blue rather than having to repaint the bathroom walls, but for Dana it was an early realisation that no one could stop her from creating in the way she wanted to.



A light-hearted thread of humour runs through Avni's work 

Today, Avni still likes to be experimental with her work and illustrations. She has found sharing her work on social media like Instagram has been a positive way of exhibiting new drawings, receiving feedback and has also allowed her to meet more people that have contributed to her career.

Currently studying visual communication at Minshar, School of Arts in Tel Aviv, Avni is completing her fourth and final year. She has also started her own business with her partner, Hen Lazimi, also a visual communication student at a different school. They are creating new sketchbook covers and have big plans for the future: “This is only the beginning,” she promises, “There is much more to come”.



Whimsy and good drawing enhance Avni's illustrations

Their current studio at home is cluttered with a variety of stickers, pencil cases, all sorts of writing tools and of course a never-ending range of blank pages to draw and paint on. “My work can happen anywhere,” says Dana. “It can be on the table or even quite a lot on the floor.”  Her creative process begins with her intuition, but then her rational side takes over to bring the drawing to fruition.

 Avni likes to post her new work on social media

Avni wants to improve constantly and create new work. When I ask her if anybody in particular made an impact on her, Dana says she can’t point out anyone specific because her influences are a mix of everything: “Different people, places, experiences, frustrations and success have affected my work which is very dynamic. I don't feel like I belong in a niche."
And what are the plans for the future? Dana and her partner are now planning to move to Berlin this year, to start a new creative life there. One thing is certain, whatever happens, she will always remember the blue oranges, where it all started. 

New Interview: Christian Lacroix's Creative Director Sacha Walckhoff

 “My design for Moooi is called the Jewels Garden,”  (pictured above) says Sacha Walckhoff. “I wanted to create a rug that looks like a psychedelic garden, using all of the Lacroix symbols from the house’s years of couture." 

Christian Lacroix’s exuberant Creative Director, Sacha Walckhoff, talks to Jeanne-Marie Cilento about his life in Paris, his new work and designs for Dutch powerhouse Moooi. Portrait by Mariangela Curci

WALKING into the dark, cavernous entrance of the monumental Moooi show in Milan you are immediately struck by the golden, jewel tones of Sacha Walckhoff’s enormous carpet hanging like a painting in all of it’s rich-hued glory. The designer is a baroque minimalist at heart and has brought all of his skill to Maison Christian Lacroix since he took over as creative director in 2009.

 

Sacha Walckhoff talks to Marcel Wanders at the Moooi exhibition.

Arriving at the Moooi exhibition, directly from a flight from Paris, Sacha Walckhoff is unruffled and full of energy and enthusiasm. Tall and elegant, he wears a simple dark vest and shirt, the only nod to his maximalist aesthetic a dash of red across his polished, black leather brogues.“My design for Moooi is called the Jewels Garden,” he says. “I wanted to create a rug that looks like a psychedelic garden, using all of the Lacroix symbols.We took jewel designs from the house’s years of couture and we put them into the garden like flowers. In the end, it looks both cosmic and precious. I wanted to do something that was easy to use too, like a Persian rug, but at the same time modern and fresh."

Sacha Walckhoff’s new design is part of a large new collection launched by Moooi during Milan Design Week of 48 surreal designs created by visual artists, couturiers and designers, including Ross Lovegrove, Studio Job, Front, Klaus Haapaniemi, Jurgen Bey and Moooi co-founder and creative director Marcel Wanders.

The 3D effect of Broersen & Lukacs' Liquid Maple design for Moooi

The Moooi carpets use a new technology that creates super high definition prints with startling photo realistic effects. The carpets can have an infinite combination of colours and tones, creating an unusual sense of depth. The exhibition in Milan showed the Signature carpets range including Jacquard carpets designed by Wanders to give the impression that the flat woven designs of 3D images seem carved into the carpets.

Although Sacha Walckhoff designs under his own name too, he spends most of his time overseeing all of the collections at Lacroix from the mens collections to the homewares. Since 2010, he has been the designer for the men’s prêt-à-porter, eye wear and sunglasses lines, scarves, and leather goods, as well as the home décor line.

“I have kept the Christian Lacroix aesthetic, like colours and a sense of joie de vivre,” he says. “Of course, we update everything and now all the designs we are doing are done by my studio and they are totally fresh and new. It is not from the archives but is created for today’s life.”

Books inspire the designer. Photo by Elodie Depuis

These days he could be designing a jacket in the morning, a chair in the afternoon and a bed at night but he says he enjoys designing across different disciplines. “I love fashion and product design equally,” he explains. “I am always trying to have a bit of fun! And to make something that makes life easier and more enjoyable that is attractive to other people and to me too ~ I am my first client. I like every part of the design process: from first having an idea to convincing people to make that idea real and meeting the artisans who are going to create it. Often you ask them to do things they have never done and they say it is impossible. But then they find a way to do it and the artisans have a sparkle in their eyes because they did something they never thought they could do. All of those little processes I love."

Sacha Walckhoff says that as the creative director of Lacroix his process of coming up with new ideas is very fluid, not like a nine-to-five job. “My inspiration comes from all around me, seeing people in the street, from exhibitions and galleries, artists and especially antique books as you see things that you haven’t seen before because they are out of print. All of those things are important for my creativity.”



Sacha Walckhoff at home in Paris. Photo by Elodie Depuis

Passionate about art, design and decoration, Sacha’s own apartment in Paris is an atmospheric place filled with his own collection of pieces. “Designing my apartment in Paris, I just buy things and put them together,” he says. “Sometimes it doesn’t work so I try putting pieces in different places and suddenly I think it works together. It is a question of space and colours. The eye has to travel and be attracted to one point and then another and go all around the apartment.”

Although he was born in France, Sacha Walckhoff spent most of his childhood in Switzerland. After studying at the School of Barcelona Arts and Fashion Techniques, he first worked at fashion houses including Jean Rémy Daumas, Dorothée Bis and Michel Klein. By 1992, he had met Christian Lacroix and was soon to become his artistic consultant. Initially he was in charge of the prêt-à-porter lines and then he was appointed Studio Director in 1996.



Christian Lacroix Menswear Collection SS2015

Sacha Walckhoff became the couturier’s right-hand man in 2002, when he created his own company. At the same time, he was also a consultant for Kenzo and Jean-Claude Jitrois. He didn’t imagine at the start of his collaboration with Christain Lacroix, that it would last 17 years and that then he would take over as creative director. But it has been the perfect fit for him creatively.

“I’m a mix and match so I was meant to be at Lacroix: I’m a bit Russian, a bit French, a bit African and educated in Switzerland,” he says today. “So I have all of this Russian and African craziness and baroqueness and at the same time I have the strength of the Swiss people and their seriousness. So I am mix of all of those things. Often I say, I am a baroque minimalist and I think it is really a definition of my work.”



Fur Play by Sacha Walckhoff' with Pouenet & Terzakou for Galerie Gosserez

Although he believes, great design can evoke the same feelings as a piece of art, he doesn’t see design necessarily as an art form. “We are great artisans and we try to make life better but at the same time there isn’t a message behind every design we are doing," he says. "Normally when an artist is working, it is very expressionistic with strong things to say.

“I wouldn’t say this is this case for most designs. As designers we have the commercial aspect where we have to sell too. Sometimes you have to adjust designs to make them more saleable or adjust it for the price. Today, we are also managers not only designers, you cannot just be a designer you have to think of all of the different parts to make the product affordable. But design does give us pleasure and can make life better. When you have a table and chair you love and that gives you happiness ~ at that level design is like art.”



 Christian Lacroix Nouveaux Mondes Collection Spring/Summer 2015 

Talking about the future of Christian Lacroix,  Sacha Walckhoff says the fashion house will stick to menswear and accessories but develop more aspects of  the lifestyle collections including furniture: “I think that Chistian Lacroix is perfect for that."  With his fluent creativity and talent for working with other people, this French house continues to produce captivatingly vivid and ebullient design, retaining the Lacroix aesthetic but bringing a contemporary edge to new collections.