On their backgrounds…
KVA: I studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and graduated in 1998. Right afterwards, I moved to Paris and worked first at Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Homme and then at Dior Homme.
It all started with a four-month internship.
I started my own line in 2004. It started as a menswear house and then expanded into women’s wear.
Initially, when I thought about becoming a designer, I always thought of working in women’s wear. At the Academy in Antwerp, I designed clothes for women, though often as men’s suits.
Menswear to me seemed either too average or too outrageous. Work experience made me realize that menswear can be creative and innovative.
A man’s way of dressing now is often reduced to jeans, t-shirt and sneakers. I like elegant. In fact, my starting point is a certain nostalgia for the elegance that got lost somewhere along the way. I start from there, and than mix it up with today’s reality… I suppose, my aesthetic is best summarized as ‘rugged elegance’; what a guy likes. Nothing girly, fancy, or butch. Just real.
After eight seasons of men’s wear, I am now showing my women’s runway collection in September in Paris. I have been showing the women’s collection as a presentation. It is really exciting to put it on the catwalk. We will show it in my new studio, off the Place de la République, where we moved in a few months ago.
JB: I was born in Southern California. My father worked in the aerospace and defense industries. Our family was relocated to Houston, Texas when I was 2 years old and on to Fort Worth, until I was I was 25. I was impressed by my older bother and sister’s stories of LA and their descriptions of climbing onto the roof of our house to watch the nightly fireworks from Disneyland. That made a strong impression on me. At 25, I was ready for a change of environment. I applied and was accepted to attend graduate school at Cal Arts. That was the catalyst to make the leap to LA. After arriving in LA and completing the 2 year program for a master’s degree in painting, I needed a job to pay my student loans, rent, and general survival. I was looking for work in a local free newspaper and found an ad to work as a still photographer for pornographic movies. Curiosity, hormones, and the need for a job were all stronger drives than fear or doubt. After my rather nervous interview, and wondering what I was getting myself into, I got the call to show up for work. This event was life changing on so many levels.
How could I leave Los Angeles after that?
On stepping into Hedi Slimane’s shoes…
KVA: I had no apprehension, but rather a lot of questions about the work I would have to do. It was, firstly, about honoring the heritage of the house of Dior, proving the creativity and non-conformism in the image of Monsieur Dior who above all else was a totally revolutionary creative genius. Along with this I’d also inherited some more recent powerful codes with the Dior Homme line. There was no point in stupidly denying them to start all over again.
On the contrary I took it as a stimulating challenge the fact that I would be telling my own story without ignoring everything that came before me. I think I’ve succeeded in that because, and without sticking to this adolescent rock aesthetic that doesn’t correspond to me at all, I’ve of course conserved the notions of elegance and clean modernity that form the identity of this line.
On the Zoot look of Kris Van Assche…
KVA: More than as a jazz or hepcat historical reference, what I like in this silhouette is the overblown and fun side of these oversized volumes. Working with such strong lines is a challenge as it’s necessary to also modernize the mood so that it makes sense in our contemporary society. It’s also been about reworking the absolute classic of the male wardrobe: the pleated trouser. I wanted to see how far I could push it. It’s a way of making it more radical and modern.
On the phosphorescent glow in Jeff Burton’s photography…
JB: Light is a miraculous phenomenon I find great pleasure in. You might be responding to that sensation. Technological tools have changed a great deal since my photographic career began in 1989. The shift in technology since then has had a major impact on 21st century communication.
On preparing for a shoot…
JB: I don’t strictly follow visual references that are supplied to direct me for a specific assignment. I rarely get them. My encounters with different elements (inert and active) that come together and refer to each other inevitably reveal unexpected points of interest. I’m open to capturing the unplanned. Being open to chance and capturing those events can often lead to images that eclipse the predetermined and contain multiple points of reference.
