Makin Jan Ma: Give Me Some Deep Water

Professed accidental designer Makin Jan Ma is following the path to his dreams of making movies, by designing clothes for the actors of his films.  His new collection ‘Give Me Some Deep Water’ contains heavy graphic elements using baby pastel prints, which change colour dependant on the light. Mutated ‘double-t-shirts-in-one’ conjoined in a way that would enable them to be worn by Siamese twins, and oversize coats with excess hood folding, all add to the conceptual wear-ability of his everyday garments.

Dazed Digital: How old are you?
Makin Jan Ma: 30

DD: How long have you been designing?
Makin Jan Ma:  From a very early age I have been creating art in very different mediums.  After graduating from my MA I wanted to make film, however somehow I find myself designing clothing. I have been doing my own line for almost 3 years now.

DD: How long have you been based in London?  Does it feel like home?
Makin Jan Ma: 10 years. Yes, London is definitely my home, I feel so attached to my street, that I belong, it’s very strange.

DD: What prompted you to design for both men and women?
Makin Jan Ma: I design clothes for my characters - there are boys and girls, so it’s natural that I started with both.

DD: Talk us through the inspiration for the collection and the accompanying video...
Makin Jan Ma: Ha... Deep water.
A feeling of very heavy stone dropping into the deep sea in a very peaceful way - very gentle and very slow. A way of exploring new things in a relationship, a heavy craving, like I’m getting ready to soak up more and go deeper. The video was a coincident, I met Casper Böhme on the day we were shooting the collection - he is a very inspiring guy and motivated me to start shooting the video. The whole thing came together in a very spontaneous way, making short films and videos for me are great practice. I use all these trail and errors to enrich my own library of filmmaking, I love very low-tech.

DD: What inspires you at the moment?
Makin Jan Ma: Intense conversations with Rainbow, my long-time friend we recently spent nights talking non-stop, very inspiring. We ponder over boundaries and dreams, love and limitations, the future and now.

DD: Who are your favorite designers and why?
Makin Jan Ma: I like Westwood because she lives up to her dreams, Viktor & Rolf because they perform their dreams. I like Hussein Chalayan because he is still creating dreams.

DD: Any celebrities, fashion icons, musicians, you would like to see wearing your clothes?
Makin Jan Ma: Kate Moss, she is such an icon.

DD: How would you describe your style?
Makin Jan Ma: Something slightly different, but not too much.

DD: Were you interested in fashion while growing up?
Makin Jan Ma: I don't know too much about fashion, I feel the same even now. However, I have always been interested in clothes since I was young and remember my Dad had a wardrobe filled with tailored clothes I have always been very picky about the clothes I wear, even when I was very young. I guess I see a language in wearing clothes from an early age and I found it very interesting.

DD: What are your plans for the future?
Makin Jan Ma: I will make my label run very well and make a lot of money so I can afford to make my own movies.

DD: Who would you like to collaborate with?
Makin Jan Ma: I would love to collaborate with film directors like Spike Jones, Wong Ka Wai and especially Iwai Shunji.

DD: What is your dream job?
Makin Jan Ma: A Beach Inspector. I don't know if this job exists but if it does it will be amazing – role - to travel around and look for the best beach on Earth!

DD: Can we buy your collection anywhere? If so, where?
Makin Jan Ma: I am mainly selling in Japan. In London you can find it in No-One and Beyond the Valley. Worldwide stockists include Banya - Russia, RA - Beligum, Bob - Germany, Frashop - Italy, Addicted - South Korea, Kniq, Harvey Nichols - Hong Kong.

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