I think, I can boldly declare, I'm loyal. This virtue of mine can be enjoyed mostly by those around me who are able to maintain my interest, and to acquire my appreciation.
While I circulate in the turnings and twistings of fashion, it always feels well returning to familiar, beloved places. Je Suis Belle is getting to be something like that for me.
I asked one half of the designer-duo about their adventure at the Berlin Fashion Week. Hope to see their brand growing bigger and bigger, fingers crossed.
Regards, Miska
JE SUIS BELLE INTERVIEW
About the premiére in Berlin:
MWM:
How did you gain admittance into the official program of Berlin Fashion Week? Were you looking for the opportunity or it found you?
Tibi Kiss:
- It was a common idea of Collegium Hungaricum Berlin and Kriszitna Csikós (the Room), to feature Hungarian designers at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Berlin. Their support and persistence helped us to get into the official program. So, I would say that the opportunity found us, which we can only be really rejoiced by.
How did you prepare for the show? Did you participate in all phases of the organization?
- We were involved in all phases, but good people have hepled in the organization, work and coordination. Since the Berlin Fashion Week is quite an early one, and we got informed only 3 weeks before the date of the presentation, we knew that the program will be heavy. We prepared here, at home, but had a great help in Berlin, the Institute’s associate, Thea Sóti. We organized the invitations, the lighting, the models, the runway, the styling, the media and the audiance in parallel with the preparation of the collection. It was an enormous gig, but everyone took his part in it.
How were the feedbacks on the part of the profession and the public?
- Great! Susie Bubble and the Kingdom of Style wrote about us, the German Vogue also required our material, so did the Italian Glamour… The press is more interested in us now, but there’s much to be done in order to maintain this attention, there’s no time to sit back.
How did you feel in Berlin? How was the atmosphere of the Fashion Week?
- Berlin is a very good place, although we were only in the Mitte. It’s free, young and it’s fizzing. There was no time to explore the city, but the Collegium Hungaricum, and the place where we lived were in a nice neighborhood, and we were able to sneak out for half hours to sightsee a bit. We couldn’t really feel the atmosphere of the fashion week, because we were working constantly, and had not much time to go back an forth. As we’ve seen, it was very dynamic and fresh, like Berlin itself.
Was this a one-off time, or are you planning to return to Berlin for the following season?
- We plan to go back in January, and to make everything more clear, we’ve already started the negotiations.
About the collection:
Compared to the fall/winter season, you built this collection around a more fluid and less statuesque silhouette. The use of different painted materials gives a montage-like edge to the pieces. What inspired you while designing the collection?
- We were inspired mainly by picturesqueness, nature and personal nostalgia. We wanted to work anyhow with paintings, patch-like, large-scale materials. We wanted to reach nostalgic effects, not for a certain era, rather for something that everyone can find some personal relations with.
How did you work out the idea to collaborate with Attila Szűcs? How did you choose the paintings, that you used on the fabrics?
- We wanted to work together with contemporary painters, and we both already knew Attila’s artworks from the past. I met them in the course of my arthistory studies, and really liked them: like you can easily sink into their specific floating world. The combination of the colors is beautiful, but in the same time there’s something grotesque and a pinch of wry humor in them. Similar to our pieces… isn’t it?
What was the technique of producing the painted materials?
- The materials were prudced in Portugal. We found a great company, who could manufacture digitally printed fabrics at a reasonable price. We blowed up the paintings, slightly redesigned, and then posted them to the manufactory. After they returned the samples, we felt they’re going to be fine, and they can result in an exciting collection
In your opinion, which are the most powerful details of this collection? Which are those key-elements, that characterize Je Suis Belle in the sping/summer ’10 season?
- It was important to ease the cuts. We built the garments almost exclusively of squares, supplemented by delicate, feminine details: ruffles, small strings, draws. We particularly focused on the jewels; corals and turquoise were used. The shoes are our designs as well.
How do you see yourselves through your works? Where are you at the moment, and where are you going? What can we expect from you in the future?
- Since about the past two seasons we feel that our collections have settled down a bit, and they are targeting a little bit older age-group. I think it’s normal, and reflects the changes we are going through. We finished school, moved to the donwtown of Budapest into our showroom. These episodes all act upon our collections. And now that time has already came to give priority to the nature and the relaxation given by nature during designing. What to expect? Hard work, giving rise to thoughts and great clothes.
photos from Je Suis Belle, retouched by MWM
Girl in "Girl in red", by Je Suis Belle, SS'10
