Khadija Al Bastaki: Building Dubai’s Design Future

Dubai is no longer a city defined only by its skyline and luxury shopping. It is fast emerging as one of the world’s most dynamic creative capitals. At the heart of this transformation is Khadija Al Bastaki, Senior Vice President of Dubai Design District (d3), part of TECOM Group PJSC. With a mandate to nurture design talent, attract global players, and build a sustainable creative ecosystem, Al Bastaki has been instrumental in positioning Dubai as both a cultural hub and a global business force.

Her vision is one of balance: heritage and innovation, luxury and independence, local roots and global reach. In this conversation with Author Magazine, Al Bastaki discusses the shifts required to move the Middle East from consumer to creator, the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration, and why “Made in Dubai” must soon become a global marker of excellence.

Oona Chanel: The GCC is home to extraordinary consumer power. How can that spending influence be translated into nurturing regional talent rather than only importing global names?

Khadija Al Bastaki: For a long time, the narrative around the Middle East has been that we consume fashion at a high level but don’t produce it. That is changing, and consumer demand is part of the reason. Buyers now want more than imported names—they are looking for local creatives who blend international polish with regional identity.

At d3, we’re building the infrastructure to meet that demand. Platforms like Dubai Fashion Week and Dubai Design Week give regional designers equal visibility alongside global names. Beyond that, our in5 Design incubator and institutions like Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (DIDI), FAD Dubai, and L’ÉCOLE School of Jewelry Arts are shaping the next generation. Government support—through creative visas, streamlined business setup, and expanded production capacity—is also critical. Guided by Dubai’s D33 Agenda and the Design Sector Strategy, we are creating an ecosystem where designers can imagine, produce, and sell right here in Dubai. That is the structural shift that will change the narrative.

Oona Chanel: In a market where luxury dominates, how do you ensure space for independent designers whose work may be culturally vital but commercially fragile?

Khadija: What makes d3 unique is its diversity. Under one address, you’ll find international maisons, regional names, independent concept stores, students, and start-ups. That coexistence creates visibility for independents where global buyers and media are already present.

We also provide tangible platforms: multi-brand spaces, curated pop-ups, and flagship events such as Dubai Design Week, DesignNext, and Sole DXB. These connect designers with audiences they might not otherwise reach. Collaboration is another key: when a young designer works alongside an established house, both voices gain visibility and strength. This ensures culturally vital work not only survives, but thrives.

Oona Chanel: Dubai is a crossroads for art, design, and fashion. How do you encourage these disciplines to collaborate rather than compete?

Khadija: Collaboration is one of our guiding principles. At d3, architects, designers, artists, and entrepreneurs share the same neighbourhood, sparking organic crossovers. Our events are designed to merge disciplines: Dubai Design Week encourages dialogue across art, architecture, and fashion, while collaborations like Cartier’s Al Manama exhibition bring together jewelry, culture, and architecture. Because Dubai is globally connected, these collaborations pull from many influences, creating something unique to the city and its people.

Oona Chanel: What is the single greatest misconception international fashion leaders still hold about Dubai’s creative landscape?

Khadija: The biggest misconception is underestimating our diversity. Dubai is home to over 200 nationalities, producing a consumer base that is far more dynamic and sophisticated than many realize. This mix also nurtures designers with hybrid perspectives.

Another misconception is that everything here is imported. In reality, more and more is produced locally. Through initiatives like “Make it in the Emirates”, Dubai is becoming a production hub as well as a design incubator. We are no longer only a destination for shopping—we are a place where fashion is imagined, made, and exported globally.

Oona: Every fashion capital has its identity: Paris is heritage, Milan is craft, London is risk. If Dubai is still being defined, what identity will set it apart?

Khadija: Dubai’s identity is boldness, diversity, and vision. We aren’t trying to replicate Paris or Milan. Our strength lies in being a crossroads: a place where tradition and technology, heritage and modernity can exist together.

Dubai Fashion Week embodies that. It’s not just about presenting collections—it’s about celebrating ideas, amplifying new voices, and embracing inclusivity. Our identity will be defined by daring to look forward while remaining true to our culture and community.

Oona: Looking forward, what do you want “Made in Dubai” to signify in global fashion conversations ten years from now?

Khadija: For me, “Made in Dubai” must mean creativity with substance. It should reflect our cultural richness—Emirati heritage alongside global influences—and stand for sustainability, innovation, and craftsmanship at the highest level.

In ten years, when someone sees “Made in Dubai” on a label, I want it to signal quality, authenticity, and a story worth telling. That is the legacy we are building.

“Dubai is not only consuming fashion—it is creating it, exporting it, and shaping the global narrative.”

Interview by Oona Chanel

Jacob Abrian on Why Dubai Fashion Week Is Redefining the Global Map

Dubai is no longer content to be seen as merely a consumer of fashion. With Dubai Fashion Week — co-founded by the Arab Fashion Council (AFC) and Dubai Design District (d3) — the region is asserting itself as a producer of ideas, talent, and new industry standards. At the center of this shift is Jacob Abrian, CEO and Founder of the Arab Fashion Council, whose mission is to transform how the world views the Middle East’s creative landscape.

In this conversation with Author Magazine, Abrian speaks about infrastructure, sustainability, luxury, and the identity of Dubai as an emerging fashion capital.

Oona Chanel: The Middle East is often seen as a consumer market more than a creative exporter. What is the one structural shift that could finally change this perception?

Jacob Abrian: The Middle East has long been seen as a powerful consumer market, but what will truly change the narrative is investing in our own creative infrastructure. We have extraordinary talent here, and the shift comes when we stop exporting ideas elsewhere and instead build the ecosystem that allows designers to thrive at home — from mentorship and accessible manufacturing to global visibility. That’s why platforms like Dubai Fashion Week are so vital: they don’t just showcase collections, they cultivate an entire value chain. When that ecosystem is fully in place, the Middle East will no longer just consume fashion — it will set the agenda for it.

Oona: Fashion is often accused of being spectacle without sustainability. How can Dubai Fashion Week prove that spectacle and responsibility can coexist in a way that shifts industry standards?

Jacob: Dubai Fashion Week proves this by embedding sustainability into every aspect of the event. Recognising fashion’s environmental impact, the Arab Fashion Council launched the AFC Green Label to promote responsible practices. The initiative supports designers worldwide who use ethical materials and sustainable methods, providing them with a platform during Dubai Fashion Week. By highlighting creativity alongside conscious choices, the AFC Green Label shows the industry that spectacle and responsibility are not opposites — they can elevate each other.

Oona: The word “luxury” is constantly being redefined. From your vantage point, what does luxury mean today in the Middle East — and how will that definition shape the global market?

acob: Luxury today is no longer just about price or exclusivity — it’s about meaning, authenticity, and connection. In the Middle East, luxury resonates when it tells a story, reflects culture, and creates an emotional bond with the wearer. It’s about craftsmanship and quality, of course, but also about celebrating identity and heritage in a modern, relevant way. As our region increasingly influences global trends, this narrative-driven definition of luxury will shape the global market — where value comes as much from a piece’s story and impact as from its material worth.

Oona: Every fashion capital has its identity: Paris is heritage, Milan is craft, London is risk. If Dubai is still being defined, what core identity do you believe will set it apart?

Jacob: To me, Dubai is boldness, diversity, and a forward-looking vision. We sit at the intersection of tradition and modernity, where heritage meets innovation and technology. Dubai Fashion Week is about more than clothes — it’s about celebrating ideas, giving new voices a platform, and showing that fashion here can be daring, inclusive, and globally relevant. Our identity will be defined by pushing boundaries, embracing the future, and staying true to our culture and community.

Oona: Looking ahead, if Dubai Fashion Week is to shape not just a regional but a global future, what will its greatest contribution to the fashion world be?

Jacob: Unlike other fashion weeks, we offer 360° support — not just exposure on the runway. Its greatest contribution will be seen in three ways. First, by championing emerging designers alongside established names, giving them both visibility and commercial pathways through initiatives like our dedicated buyers programme. Second, by creating platforms like Threads Talks by Meta, where panel discussions connect thought leaders, creatives, and industry pioneers. And third, by embedding sustainability through the AFC Green Label, proving that spectacular runway shows can coexist with responsibility.

“Dubai is boldness, diversity, and forward vision — a fashion capital defined by both heritage and innovation.”

Interview by Oona Chanel

Theatre, Textiles, and Fearlessness: Tara Babylon on Fashion Without Borders

British-Iraqi designer Tara Babylon has carved out a rare space where performance art, hand-crafted textiles, and fashion meet in explosive color. Based in New York, and an alumna of Central Saint Martins and Parsons, she refuses to separate craft from theatre, or fun from sophistication. Gender-fluid, artisanal, and exuberantly bold, her work is a reminder that fashion is not just about clothes — it is about how we experience identity, joy, and presence.

Author: Your work sits at the intersection of art, craft, and fashion. When you begin a collection, do you think like a designer, a performance artist, or a storyteller first?

Tara Babylon: I begin each collection by tuning into my mood — what I’m feeling and how I want to express that creatively. From there, I gather research: fabrics, dancers, costumes, vintage clothing, music. Everything merges through experimentation on and off my own body until it becomes a single vision.

Author: Gender-fluidity is central to your label. What possibilities open up when clothing is freed from categories — and what challenges remain?

Tara Babylon: The possibilities lie in freedom — anyone can wear the pieces, which makes them playful and inclusive. The challenge is logistics: most stores don’t have a “unisex” floor. Buyers still think in men’s or women’s categories, which makes pitching gender-fluid collections harder.

Author: You champion artisanal techniques at a time when speed dominates. What does the human hand bring that machines never can?

Tara Babylon: The human hand infuses textiles with tangibility, character, and care. It creates subtle imperfections that add depth and texture. Machines can’t replicate that emotion. You literally feel the difference when something has been touched and shaped by a human hand.

Author: Your runway shows often feel like theatre. What role does performance play in your process?

Tara Babylon: For me, a fashion show is theatre — and theatre is a fashion show. I love to blur those lines, because that’s where things become truly interesting. Creating an entire world is central to my process: accessories, fabrics, shoes, music, models — it all has to merge. I’m wired as a showman; extravagance and the challenge of elevating every detail drive me to make each presentation unforgettable.

Author: You’ve studied at Central Saint Martins and Parsons. What lasting lessons did each give you?

Tara Babylon: CSM taught me resourcefulness: if you think you can’t make something because of budget, then you’re not being creative enough. Parsons taught me to embrace the unknown. Being alone in a new country stripped me back, but it forced me to trust the process and rebuild from scratch. That’s when my textiles and brand truly came to life.

Author: Sustainability can feel restrictive. How do you keep it playful and full of energy?

Tara Babylon: Some sustainable fabrics limit color, and as a color lover I won’t compromise on palette. Instead, I embed sustainability elsewhere: through linings, threads, fair labor, and conscious decision-making. It’s about balance — responsibility without losing joy.

Author: Your work blurs showpiece and ready-to-wear. How do you decide what becomes everyday clothing?

Tara Babylon: First comes the fantasy, then comes the process of simplifying it. That’s the hard part. Some ideas take years to refine from performance textile to ready-to-wear piece. I’m still revisiting techniques I began experimenting with five years ago.

Author: You describe your work as fun yet sophisticated. What does “fun” mean in the context of luxury?

Tara Babylon: Fun is about playfulness, the freedom to be lighthearted. I can’t stand overly serious fashion. Creativity should have joy at its center. Even when a garment carries deep meaning, the experience of it can still be playful.

Author: How does your multicultural background shape your perspective on beauty and identity?

Tara Babylon: Each cultural layer has shaped me. British structure, Iraqi heritage, New York energy — they all add dimension to my identity. Tara Babylon is about celebrating individuality and confidence. When someone wears a piece, I want them to feel fabulous, free, and entirely themselves in the most elevated way possible.

Author: Looking to the future, what do you hope the phrase “a Tara Babylon piece” will mean?

Tara Babylon: That it stands for empowerment, joy, and individuality. Each garment is meant to make the wearer feel like they are stepping into something unforgettable.

Interview by Oona Chanel

Rasha El Hallak: Fasila Collective and the Poetry of Fashion

Fashion often claims to be about storytelling, but rarely does it begin with words themselves. Fasila Collective, founded by Rasha El Hallak, does exactly that. Built on the idea that Arabic poetry — centuries old, charged with philosophy, pride, and tenderness — can be translated into garments, Fasila turns verse into clothing that is lived in, embodied, and remembered. Each collection begins not with images or mood boards, but with a line of poetry: Al-Mutanabbi’s defiant self-love, Wallada bint al-Mustakfi’s fierce independence. These voices are not ornament; they are architecture.

This week, Fasila is debuting its global campaign — featuring Daria Strokous photographed against the brutalist backdrop of Habitat 67 in Canada. The imagery sets poetry against concrete, history against modernity, underscoring the brand’s mission: to prove that Arabic verse is not relic, but resonance — timeless, universal, and alive in the now.

Fasila is not only a fashion label but a cultural statement. It repositions the Middle East from consumer to creator, offering a vision where heritage is not nostalgia but source code — a foundation for building a globally relevant, intellectually rigorous, and emotionally resonant form of luxury.

In this conversation with Author Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Oona Chanel, Rasha El Hallak reflects on how she translates verse into form, why silence is as powerful as sound, and why Fasila’s mission is ultimately about cultural bridges as much as clothes.

Oona: Fasila is described as “reviving Arabic poetry into clothes.” How do you translate something as ephemeral as a verse into a physical garment a woman can wear?

Rasha El Hallak: Translating a verse into a garment is an act of translating culture and history, not just text. It begins with the soul of the poem. The rhythm of a line might inspire the drape and flow of a fabric, while a metaphor might define a palette. For Al-Mutanabbi’s work, full of strength, we used structured shoulders and assertive lines. The embroidery is placed thoughtfully to interact with the body, so the verse isn’t just on the wearer, but with the wearer — turning the ephemeral into a tangible, wearable experience.

Oona: Many brands lean on heritage as decoration. Fasila treats heritage as narrative. How do you protect that depth in an industry that often prefers surface?

Rasha: We protect that depth by making the text the origin of the design process, not an afterthought. A collection begins with a deep reading of a poem, and that narrative informs every decision — the cut, the fabric, the technique. This makes us less vulnerable to fleeting trends because our foundation isn’t fashion’s cycle, it’s centuries of literature and emotion. For me, fashion is not surface level; it’s a powerful way of self-expression. Fasila allows me to share Arab heritage with authenticity and pride.

Oona: Your campaign with Daria Strokous at Habitat 67 in Canada placed poetry against brutalist architecture. What did that contrast reveal?

Rasha: That campaign was a statement of modern strength. Al-Mutanabbi’s verses celebrate unapologetic self-love, so the woman who wears them embodies a warrior. Our silhouettes are architectural, and placing them against Habitat 67’s concrete geometry created harmony between garment and building. More importantly, the shoot in Canada consciously took an ancient poem into a starkly modern context — proving its timeless relevance and global resonance.

Oona: Quiet luxury is often tied to European minimalism. How do you define it through Arabic poetry?

Rasha: Quiet luxury, for us, is intellectual and spiritual richness. The “quiet” lies not in absence, but in meaning. The luxury of a Fasila piece is not in a logo, but in the verse embroidered on a sleeve — words that carry weight, history, and philosophy. It’s an inward-facing luxury, understood by those who recognize the depth of the words. A quiet declaration of identity rooted in eloquence and heritage.

Oona: Fasila is both global and rooted. Do you see yourself as exporting Arabic culture outward, or inviting the world inward?

Rasha: Inviting inward. “Exporting” feels one-directional, like performance. What we want is dialogue. The themes in the poetry we choose — pride, love, independence — are universal. By placing these verses on modern silhouettes, we create an access point that allows people everywhere to connect with Arabic identity as something intellectual, artistic, and contemporary.

Oona: In classical Arabic poetry, the unsaid is often as powerful as the spoken. Do you design with absence as a tool?

Rasha: Absolutely. Fasila itself means a pause, a space for breath. That philosophy defines our approach: clean silhouettes, uncluttered forms, and strategic use of negative space. The garment becomes a frame of silence around the words, ensuring the poetry has space to resonate.

Oona: The Middle East is still often described as a consumer market for fashion. How does Fasila rewrite that narrative?

Rasha: Fasila is shifting the region from interpreter to author. We are not borrowing heritage as decoration; we are building from it. Our literary history is the source code of a new luxury aesthetic. By doing this, we assert that our culture is not only a market but a wellspring of original ideas, capable of producing fashion that is globally compelling.

Oona: You’ve placed women like Wallada bint al-Mustakfi at the center of your storytelling. How does this reshape Arab identity?

Rasha: It reclaims the complexity of Arab womanhood. Wallada was a poet and a figure of independence in the 11th century — a feminist before the word existed. By re-centering her, we prove that empowerment and intellectual freedom are not imported concepts but part of our own legacy. It complicates stereotypes and offers women today authentic role models from their own history.

Oona: If Fasila were itself a poem — one line to capture its soul — what would it be?

Rasha: They clothed themselves in poetry, and the world paused to read.

Oona: Looking ahead twenty years, do you want Fasila’s legacy to be the clothes or the cultural bridges?

Rasha: The cultural bridges. The clothes are the medium, but the mission is larger: sparking curiosity, pride, and dialogue around Arabic literature. If Fasila is remembered for shifting perspectives and building bridges, then we have succeeded.

“They clothed themselves in poetry, and the world paused to read.”

Interview by Oona Chanel

Dressing the Woman, Not the Ideal: Dima Ayad on Fashion, Truth, and Belonging

Few designers have challenged the fashion system from within quite like Dima Ayad. Her eponymous label was founded not to chase a trend, but to fill a void — to give women of all sizes a place in fashion without compromise. More than a decade later, Ayad has become one of the region’s most distinctive voices, a designer who insists that clothes should serve the woman, not the other way around. From her base in Dubai, she has built a brand that is both local and global, both celebratory and pragmatic, proving that inclusivity is not a niche but a philosophy of design.

Author: Your brand began as a response to exclusion. Looking at today’s fashion industry, where do you think inclusivity is still most absent — and how do you plan to address it?

Dima: I think the concept of inclusion has, in many ways, become another form of exclusion. It’s still treated as a niche or a trend, rather than a standard. One brand alone can’t shift the industry, but we are doing everything we can to keep the conversation alive and push it forward. For me, it’s not just about a movement — it’s about the reality that women need clothes they can actually wear. That necessity should never be optional.

“Inclusion should never be a movement. It should be the standard.”

Author: Many labels treat extended sizing as an afterthought. For you, it is the foundation. How does designing for a spectrum of bodies change the creative process itself?

Dima: For me, designing for all shapes and sizes isn’t a burden — it’s the enjoyment of the process. I begin with all kinds of women in mind. My philosophy is that if a piece works beautifully on the larger size, it will almost always work on the smaller one too. That’s how I build collections. Practically, I always create two sample sizes — one in XXL and one in S — and then we refine from there. It ensures the clothes are not only inclusive, but also flattering across the spectrum.

Author: You’ve built a brand rooted in Dubai but visible globally. What do you believe the Middle East can teach the fashion capitals about redefining beauty?

Dima: I’m proud that everything we do is made in Dubai. What the Middle East can really teach the global consumer is that change is not only necessary, it’s exciting. There is so much more than the standard orientation we’ve all grown used to from global brands. Here, we bring a different edge and a unique twist. Growing up in Dubai — a truly multicultural city — means you naturally tap into many markets at once. That perspective, that blend, is something only this region can offer.

Author: In partnering with Malone Souliers, you placed a regional vision alongside a global luxury house. What did that collaboration teach you about the power — and the limits — of cross-cultural design

JDima: Cross-cultural design is something truly special. It proves that products can be both local and global at the same time. That balance is what makes collaborations like this so rewarding. For me, creating it was pure joy — bringing two perspectives together and seeing them merge into something new.

Author: Some designers design for the runway; you design for the woman herself. When you imagine her stepping into your clothes, what is the first feeling you want her to have?

Dima: I design for the woman, always. I think of her in every moment she lives — whether she’s in the office, going to a party, on her first date, attending a wedding, or even walking down the aisle at her own. I design with those moments in mind, because those are her real runways. Her life is the runway, and I want my clothes to celebrate every step she takes on it.

“Her life is the runway. My clothes should celebrate every step she takes.”

Author: Fashion weeks often emphasize spectacle. How do you ensure that your collections remain grounded in real women’s lives while still commanding the stage?

Dima: I make sure the collection feels like a spectacle, but a grounded one. Whatever you see on that stage, you should be able to imagine yourself wearing. For me, that’s the essence of being a designer — creating a moment that excites, but also translates.

Author: As a businesswoman as well as a designer, what has been the hardest structural barrier you’ve faced in scaling an inclusive brand — and how did you overcome it?

Dima: The hardest barrier is maintaining what people call a work–life balance, while also figuring out how far you leap for growth. For me, inclusivity has never been the reason I feel stuck — it’s the reason I keep going. Women all over the world are part of that story, and they’re the reason I do this. The real challenge is scaling safely: how to grow without the sharp hikes, spikes, or declines that can destabilize a brand. That’s what I think about every day.

Author: Awards and recognition validate a career, but they don’t define it. What personal milestone meant the most to you — a moment that may never appear in press headlines?

Dima: For me, milestones aren’t defined by awards — they’re defined by the number of women wearing the clothes. One of my proudest moments was when we sold a thousand dresses, and another was when a single design sold over 500 pieces. Those are the kinds of milestones I celebrate. Expansion into new retailers and segments has also been incredibly meaningful. My form of validation has always been seeing more women around the world wearing Dima Ayad — that’s what defines success for me.

Author: You once filled a gap in the market. Today, you’ve helped to change it. What gap do you see now — in fashion, business, or culture — that you feel compelled to address next?

Dima: Today, the real gap is the pressure to follow trends. I feel strongly that women shouldn’t have wardrobes built only around what’s fashionable in the moment, but around timeless elements that last. Sustaining that kind of fashion is what I want to push forward. The other gap is beyond clothes — it’s about self-image. I want women to know that it’s okay to be yourself, without filters or FaceTune. You are enough as you are, and that should be celebrated just as much as what you wear.

“You are enough as you are — that is as important as what you wear.”

Author: Looking ahead twenty years, what would you like “Dima Ayad” to stand for — not just as a label, but as a philosophy in the global fashion conversation?

Dima: In twenty years, I want “Dima Ayad” to be remembered as a brand that started in Dubai and went on to make a global impact. I want it to stand for the idea that real change can come from here — from the Middle East — and that authenticity has the power to shift an entire industry. For me, the philosophy is simple: you can create from a place of truth, celebrate women as they are, and still redefine what fashion looks like on the world stage.

Interview by Oona Chanel

Building Presence: Jozeph Diarbakerli on Power, Heritage, and Fearless Design

For Jozeph and Cintia Diarbakerli, fashion was never background noise. As children in a Syrian Armenian family who emigrated to Canada, they studied magazines as if they were sacred objects, dissecting every silhouette, every aura. Today, that obsession has crystallized into a brand launched in 2024 that is unapologetic in form, sculptural in attitude, and global in its ambitions.

Theirs is a design language rooted in contrasts: heritage and modernity, intimacy and spectacle, vulnerability and strength. Together, the siblings have built a creative partnership that thrives on trust and tension — and a brand that refuses to whisper when it can command.

Author: Your Syrian Armenian heritage and Canadian upbringing sit in tension and harmony. How do you decide when to let tradition lead and when to let modernity cut through?

Jozeph Diarbakerli: Heritage is in our DNA, it’s impossible to ignore. But living in Canada taught us not to be afraid of risk. So when we design, we let both sides live together — one makes the work soulful, the other keeps it sharp.

Author: Your pieces are often described as bold, sculptural, unapologetic. What is the emotion you most want a woman to feel when she enters a room in your design?

Jozeph Diarbakerli: The emotion is intensity. Nothing soft, nothing casual. Everything amplified.

Author: Launching a brand in 2024 is not just about artistry but about infrastructure. What has been the hardest business decision so far — and how did it shape your direction?

Jozeph Diarbakerli: We had to accept that saying no is a business strategy. That decision has shaped our identity as much as any silhouette.

Author: You speak about presence as a philosophy. Do you believe clothes can actually change the way a woman commands space, or do they reveal something already there?

Jozeph Diarbakerli: Clothes don’t invent power, they frame it. The presence is already inside her — we just give it silhouette, sharpness, a stage.

Author: As siblings in business, your creative partnership is rare. What is the greatest strength — and the greatest challenge — of building a brand together?

Jozeph Diarbakerli: Our strength is trust. We don’t second-guess each other’s vision. The challenge is intensity — we’re siblings, so nothing is polite. But that honesty keeps the brand sharp.

Author: If you could rewrite the global narrative of Arab and Armenian fashion in one sentence, what would it say, and how does your work embody that?

Jozeph Diarbakerli: The sentence would be: we are not defined by where we come from, but by the power we project. Our work embodies that projection on every runway.

Author: The industry is full of young brands that burn bright and fade quickly. What must you build now to ensure Jozeph Diarbakerli is not a moment, but a house that endures?

Jozeph Diarbakerli: Wait and see.

Author: When you design, do you begin with architecture of form, or with the emotion you want the garment to carry?

Jozeph Diarbakerli: Our process is emotional before it’s structural. We create the aura first, then we build the body to hold it.

Author: Looking ten years ahead, what do you hope people will say when they hear the name Jozeph Diarbakerli?

Jozeph Diarbakerli: Still unapologetic. Fearless. Pushing boundaries.

Interview by Oona Chanel

The Power of Restraint: OTTÉ on Precision, Quiet Confidence, and Redefining Wardrobes

For more than 15 years, Tara, the founder of OTTÉ, built her career as a stylist — curating wardrobes, sourcing unique pieces, and translating personality into clothing. But styling revealed a truth: women often reached for the same timeless silhouettes season after season. What they wanted wasn’t endless novelty, but pieces that could move with them through different moments of their lives. OTTÉ was born from this realization — to create clothing not only for the present, but for the long arc of a woman’s story.

At its heart, OTTÉ is not about minimalism as a trend. It is about clarity, precision, and intention. Every seam, proportion, and finish is designed to endure, to live with the wearer, and to carry meaning beyond a single season.

Author: What made you move from curating wardrobes to creating pieces with OTTÉ?

OTTÉ: Styling taught me that women often wanted fewer, better pieces — clothes that didn’t just fit their lifestyle, but elevated it. I wanted to design garments that endure, travel with them, and still feel modern years later. That’s when OTTÉ was born.

Author: Minimalism is often marketed as a trend. How does OTTÉ approach intentional design differently?

OTTÉ: For us, intentional design means creating pieces that transcend cycles. Our silhouettes are designed to be as relevant five years from now as they are today. We think about how a blazer carries you from a meeting to dinner, or how a dress holds its shape after repeated wear. It’s not about less decoration — it’s about more meaning.

Author: Construction is often invisible to the eye. How do you approach it?

OTTÉ: A garment only lasts as long as its construction allows. We use French seams in silks, reinforced hems, and hand-finished details so the inside of the garment is as considered as the outside. These invisible choices are what turn a seasonal piece into a wardrobe staple.

Author: As a stylist, you saw women searching for “fixes.” How does OTTÉ address that differently?

OTTÉ: Women don’t actually need endless newness. They need fewer, better options. With OTTÉ, I design clothing that works seamlessly into a life already in motion — pieces that remove the question of what to wear, because they simply work again and again.

Author: You often use the phrase “quiet confidence.” What does that look like?

OTTÉ: It looks like ease — shoulders relaxed, movement fluid, a natural steadiness. It’s the opposite of overcompensation. You see it in a woman who never adjusts her clothes because they already serve her. Our silks, for example, are cut to move with the body so she never has to think about them.

Author: Why is the blazer essential in your collections?
OTTÉ: A precisely cut blazer is transformative. It frames the shoulders, straightens posture, and signals authority without a word. At OTTÉ, our blazers sharpen a silhouette but remain fluid enough to move with a woman’s life. They can elevate denim or ground a silk dress — one piece that speaks volumes without shouting.

Author: Who do you design for?

OTTÉ: I think of a friend who’s a creative director. Her wardrobe is pared back — silks, tailoring, tonal layers — but every choice is intentional. She doesn’t chase trends, yet she leads conversations. That duality is who we design for: women who let their intelligence and presence do the speaking, while their clothing quietly supports the message.

Author: What compromise will you never make?

OTTÉ: Precision. Fashion often rewards speed, but speed erodes integrity. It once took 14 samples to perfect a single item. That process wasn’t excessive, it was essential. Restraint only has power when it’s executed with clarity.

Author: What do you hope OTTÉ encourages women to think about when they dress?

OTTÉ: That dressing is a long-term relationship, not a revolving door of trends. A wardrobe should be an edited collection of pieces that serve you season after season. If OTTÉ can redefine dressing as an act of curation — choosing fewer, better, more intentional garments — then we’ve done more than design clothes. We’ve reshaped a mindset.

Interview by Oona Chanel

Forty Years Avant-Garde: Ksenija Vrbanić on the Architecture of Fashion

Few designers embody the word “avant-garde” with as much longevity as Ksenija Vrbanić, the founder of XD Xenia Design. Since 1986, she has steered her Croatian label into global relevance while refusing the trap of repetition. Her brand has become a study in contrasts: rooted in traditional craftsmanship yet embracing technological tools, unapologetically architectural but deeply human, global in vision yet proudly anchored in Croatia.

As XD approaches its fourth decade, Vrbanić reflects not with nostalgia but with an architect’s clarity: every garment is a structure, every collection a dialogue between past and future.

Author: You’ve led XD for nearly four decades. What does it take for a brand to stay avant-garde without repeating itself?

Ksenija Vrbanić: To stay avant-garde, one must constantly question and explore, pushing beyond comfort zones. It’s important never to fall into complacency. I avoid recycling my own ideas — instead, I look for new ways to challenge conventions.

Author: The “XD dimension” is described as personality-driven design. How do you translate someone’s presence into a cut or a line?

Ksenija Vrbanić: To stay avant-garde, one must constantly question and explore, pushing beyond comfort zones. It’s important never to fall into complacency. I avoid recycling my own ideas — instead, I look for new ways to challenge conventions.

Author: The “XD dimension” is described as personality-driven design. How do you translate someone’s presence into a cut or a line?

Ksenija Vrbanić: The XD dimension is architecture for the body. My codes are bold and closely linked to personality. Shapes are designed to empower, to endure, to move with strength. When clothes carry my personal signature, people sense it — and sometimes discover a reflection of themselves in it.

Author: You’ve balanced craftsmanship with technology. Where do you see technology pushing fashion next, and what risks do you refuse to take?

Ksenija Vrbanić: Technology will continue to accelerate processes and sustainability. But fashion must remain a human experience. I’ll never abandon craftsmanship, artistry, and touch. Without them, fashion loses its soul.

Author: Sustainability was in your DNA long before it became a trend. Do you believe fashion can ever be truly sustainable?

Ksenija Vrbanić: Fashion is a living organism, in constant change. But the cycle of producing and discarding every six months is destructive. True sustainability means reducing volumes, enhancing quality, designing with intention, and respecting the human relationships in making clothes.

Author: Croatia isn’t usually listed alongside Paris or Milan. How has being rooted there shaped your vision?

Ksenija Vrbanić: Being in Croatia gave me perspective. I built the XD Design Centre to reflect values: harmony with nature, a workspace where people feel free to create. We even grow our own vegetables on-site. At the same time, Zagreb is an hour from an international airport. The world is within reach. Croatia may not offer the same support as other countries, but a unique vision can be realized anywhere. That’s our advantage.

Author: When you revisit a past design, do you feel nostalgia or the urge to reinvent?

Ksenija Vrbanić: I see opportunities for improvement. Each piece captures its moment, but I don’t dwell on the past. We’re building the XD Museum, where archives will be placed beside new ideas — a dialogue across time.

Author: If XD were a building, what would it be?

Ksenija Vrbanić: The XD Design Centre itself. It was once a stable for brickyard horses. We preserved the old bricks and beams, then layered them with concrete, steel, glass. A horse-shaped lamp recalls the building’s history. The space follows Vastu principles, ensuring energy and clarity. For me, the building embodies the brand.

Author: You’ve mentored many Croatian designers. What advice do you give most often?

Ksenija Vrbanić: Stay optimistic. Don’t fear failure. I wasted time fearing it myself, but failure is often progress in disguise. The toughest moments shaped me most. Everything is possible — even when it seems impossible.

Author: Fashion weeks demand spectacle. How do you balance theatre with your own aesthetic?

Ksenija Vrbanić: Spectacle can be engaging without being loud. For me, it’s about crafting narrative — music, makeup, design — each detail must innovate without losing truth.

Author: Looking 40 years ahead, what do you hope people will remember more: the clothes or the philosophy?

Ksenija Vrbanić: The philosophy. Clothes are vehicles for values. What matters is the story: a commitment to innovation, responsibility, and the belief that fashion can be both human and visionary.

⸻

Closing Reflection

In a fashion world obsessed with speed and noise, XD stands as an enduring contradiction: fiercely avant-garde yet rooted in discipline, radical in form yet human in practice. If the next 40 years mirror the last, then the legacy of XD Xenia Design will not be garments alone, but a philosophy of resilience, precision, and fearless experimentation.

Interview by Oona Chanel

From Tenderness to Defiance: The Stories Arabic Letters Carry

With Bil Arabi, Nadine Kanso transformed Arabic letters into luminous declarations — jewels that carry memory, identity, and defiance. In this exclusive conversation with Author Magazine, Editor-in-Chief Oona Chanel explores the hidden corners of Kanso’s design process, the mystic weight of language, and the uncharted future of Arabic design.

Some artists design objects; Nadine Kanso designs belonging. With Bil Arabi, she turned Arabic letters into forms that speak — rings that spell tenderness, pendants that hold defiance, earrings that shimmer with memory. For nearly two decades, her work has been less about ornament and more about identity: a way of making the unseen visible and the unspoken unforgettable.

From Beirut’s charged streets to Dubai’s restless skyline, Kanso has always moved between memory and reinvention, building a language of design that is both fiercely regional and undeniably global. Her pieces are not accessories; they are declarations. They remind the wearer that Arabic is not only a script but a living pulse — one that continues to define, question, and evolve with every generation.

Design as Memory & Language

Oona: When you sculpt Arabic letters into gold, do you ever feel you are giving voice to something unsaid — a silence from your own life that finds form in metal?

Nadine: When I started Bil Arabi in 2006, it was to create something from our language for people to carry meaning and emotion with them. The letters are more than symbols; they are memory and voice all at once. Turning them into jewelry is my way of making the unsaid visible and preserving meaning in a form that lasts.

“The letters are more than symbols; they are memory and voice all at once.”

Oona: Which Arabic letter has never appeared in your work yet but quietly calls to you, waiting for the right moment?

Nadine: The letter ث, which is uncommon in names, has always called me. There is a delicate elegance in it that I look forward to exploring when the moment feels right.

Oona: How do you know when a design is finished? Do you stop because it is perfect, or because it still carries the mystery of what remains unsaid?

Nadine: Design is always evolving. As an artist and designer, I never feel something is completely finished. Each creation carries a sense of mystery, leaving space for the wearer to complete the story themselves.

Culture, Identity & the Region

Oona: In today’s Gulf and Levant, where culture is moving so fast, what do you feel is being preserved, and what is being lost, in the visual language of the region?

Nadine: What remains is our pride in language and our instinct for beauty. What risks being lost is the time we once gave to craft and storytelling. Bil Arabi was born to protect that essence and to show that calligraphy and design can be both timeless and modern.

““Bil Arabi was born to protect the essence of language, showing that calligraphy can be both timeless and modern.”

Oona: Do you believe that Arabic design is still seen by the world as “heritage,” or has it finally become “contemporary”?

Nadine: When I launched the brand, Arabic design was often seen as heritage, something to be admired in the past. Bil Arabi has always aimed to shift that perception, showing the world that our letters and identity belong fully to the present. I believe the world is beginning to see it as contemporary, though there is still more work to do.

Oona: If someone from outside the region wears Bil Arabi, what do you hope they carry with them beyond beauty?

Nadine: I hope they carry meaning. Every piece of Bil Arabi is not just jewelry, it is a message. Even if they don’t speak Arabic, they wear identity, culture, and artistry. They carry something that is alive with history yet modern in form.

Personal Reflections & Creative Rituals

Oona: What does your creative ritual look like on a day when inspiration feels absent? Do you wait, force, or surrender?

Nadine: Creativity cannot be forced. On those days, I surrender to the quiet. The beauty of Bil Arabi is that the alphabet always has more to give and can guide me back to inspiration.

Oona: What is the most personal piece you have ever created, not for the market but for yourself?

Nadine: My engagement ring. It reads “Enta wa Ana” — “you and I” — in gold and diamonds. It is a piece that will forever preserve love and memory.

“My engagement ring reads ‘Enta wa Ana.’ It will forever preserve love and memory.”

Oona: When you look back at your first collections, do you feel pride, distance, or a kind of tenderness toward that younger version of yourself?

Nadine: I feel pride. Bil Arabi was the first brand in the region to create Arabic letters as art pieces. Looking back, I admire that courage and vision.

The Hidden Mystique of Design

Oona: Is there a material, a stone, or a symbol you’ve long wanted to work with but haven’t dared to yet, and why?

Nadine: I have always been fascinated by raw wood combined with gold. Jewelry is about permanence, while wood carries fragility. That tension is intriguing, and one day I hope to explore it.

Oona: Do you believe that jewelry can carry protection, like an amulet, even if it’s born out of design rather than ritual?

Nadine: Yes, absolutely. Jewelry carries intention. At Bil Arabi, the letters themselves are powerful and hold energy. When someone wears them, they carry that protection. For example, our Ya Ein collection is designed to protect the wearer from negative energy.

“Jewelry carries intention. The letters themselves are powerful and hold energy.”

Oona: When someone buys a piece, do you feel they are buying an object, or are they stepping into a hidden story you wrote for them

Nadine: They are stepping into a story. Jewelry is not only about design, it is about expression, about voice — and every wearer completes that story.

Time, Change & Evolution

Oona: Has your idea of beauty changed with time?

Nadine: My idea of beauty has remained rooted in authenticity. What I find most beautiful now is honesty in design and materials, pieces that feel alive and purposeful.

Oona: How has motherhood shaped the way you design? Do you find yourself leaving letters and messages for your children in your work?

Nadine: Bil Arabi has always been about identity and voice, and my children are part of that language.

Oona: If you imagine Bil Arabi fifty years from now, what story should it still be telling about the Arab world?

Nadine: Fifty years from now, I want Bil Arabi to still tell the story of Arab identity as dynamic, unapologetic, and alive. The brand should continue to reinvent itself while holding true to its core: our words matter and deserve to be seen.

Home, Place & Belonging

Oona: Between Beirut and Dubai, where do you feel your creativity belongs — in the chaos of memory, or in the calm of reinvention?

Nadine: Both. Beirut is memory, scars, and chaos; it fuels my soul. Dubai is reinvention, growth, and limitless horizons; it pushes me forward. Bil Arabi is born of both.

“Beirut fuels my soul; Dubai pushes me forward. Bil Arabi is born of both.”

Oona: What detail in your home says more about you as a designer than any of your collections ever could?

Nadine: The art pieces around my home. Each one carries a story and a source of inspiration, reflecting how I see design and creativity.

Oona: When you design, do you feel more like you are building a home for language, or setting language free to wander the world?

Nadine: Both. Bil Arabi gives letters a home in gold and diamonds, but once worn, they are free. They wander with whoever carries them.

The Unexplored & the Future

Oona: Is there a part of yourself that you feel you have not yet allowed into your work — something hidden, waiting, that you might one day reveal?

Nadine: Jewelry evolves with life, and I am still evolving. Each collection unveils something new, exploring sides of creativity that were once hidden.

Oona: If Bil Arabi were not jewelry but another art form, what unexplored shape would it take?

Nadine: As a photographer, I best express myself through images. Bil Arabi would likely take the form of a body of photographic work, capturing the stories, energy, and messages that the jewelry carries in a new medium.

⸻

Interview by Oona Chanel

The Woman Who Taught the Gulf How to Speak Luxury

Few names carry as much weight in the Middle Eastern fashion story as Ingie Chalhoub. She is not only the founder of Étoile Group, the visionary who brought European luxury to the Gulf long before Dubai became a global fashion capital, but also the creative force behind her own maison, Ingie Paris. For decades, she has built bridges — between East and West, business and creativity, entrepreneurship and design.

Yet her story is not one of privilege, but of persistence: convincing global CEOs to take a chance on the region, breaking closed doors, and proving that Arab women belong at the very heart of fashion’s power.

OONA: “You were one of the first to bring European luxury houses into the Gulf, long before Dubai became a global fashion hub. Looking back, what risks did you take that others wouldn’t — and how did they shape your vision as both a businesswoman and designer?

Ingie: When I began, the region was not yet considered a natural home for luxury. Many international maisons doubted the Gulf’s potential, so convincing them required persistence and vision. I took the risk of committing to long-term partnerships when others hesitated. It taught me to anticipate opportunities before they were obvious, a mindset that has guided me both as an entrepreneur and as a creative.

“I learned to see opportunities before they were obvious. That is the only way to create new markets.”

Oona: Many know you as the founder of Étoile Group, but fewer ask about your personal journey as a woman negotiating with global luxury CEOs decades ago. What was the hardest “closed door” you had to break open?

Ingie: The hardest part was convincing maisons that the Gulf was a market worth investing in. Decades ago, many CEOs saw the region as too small, too unfamiliar, or too risky. I had to build trust, demonstrate potential, and prove that we could deliver not just strong sales, but the right brand environment and experience. Once they saw the success, it opened the path for many others to follow.

Oona: With Ingie Paris, you moved from distributing luxury to creating it. What was the most surprising challenge in switching from being a bridge to being a voice?

Ingie: The biggest surprise was how exposed you feel as a creator. When you distribute, you protect another brand’s vision. But when you design, the vision is yours, and every collection feels deeply personal. That vulnerability was both terrifying and rewarding. It gave me respect for the courage it takes for designers to put their soul into their work.

“Designing is vulnerability. You are no longer a bridge — you are the voice itself.”

Oona: The Middle East is often viewed as a consumer market rather than a producer of fashion. From your perspective, what structural changes must happen for regional designers to become global exporters of creativity?

Ingie: We need stronger support systems: education, production facilities, and credible international platforms. Creativity exists here in abundance, but without infrastructure — supply chains, visibility, and investment — it cannot compete globally.

Oona: You have built your career on timeless, feminine elegance. In a market increasingly obsessed with streetwear and youth culture, how do you protect that DNA without becoming nostalgic?

Ingie: Elegance is not nostalgia, it’s evolution. Timeless femininity can live in dialogue with modernity. The key is staying true to identity while listening to cultural shifts. Elegance will always have a place, but it must speak the language of today.

Oona: Business infrastructure has grown, but talent pipelines still struggle. What would most accelerate the growth of Middle Eastern fashion as a serious global industry?

Ingie: Institutional support: scholarships, incubators, mentorships. If governments and the private sector invest in nurturing talent from education to global exposure, the region will not only consume fashion, it will shape it. At Istituto Marangoni in Dubai and soon Riyadh, as well as FAD in Dubai, I see incredible creativity — what they need is an ecosystem to grow into global voices

Oona: You’ve navigated two identities: the entrepreneur building distribution, and the creative building Ingie Paris. How do you balance the rational discipline of business with the vulnerability of design?

Ingie: They are complementary. Business gave me discipline and resilience. Creativity gave me freedom and empathy. The best decisions come when logic and emotion work together.

Oona: As one of the region’s most established female leaders in fashion, what do you think is still misunderstood about the ambitions of Arab women in luxury?

IIngie: There is still a tendency to underestimate Arab women — to see us as consumers rather than leaders and innovators. The reality is, Arab women are ambitious, globally minded, and deeply engaged in shaping industries. Our role is not on the sidelines; it is at the table.

“Arab women are not only the buyers of luxury. We are its leaders, creators, and innovators.”

Oona: You’ve seen Dubai evolve from niche retail market to fashion capital-in-progress. What is still missing in the ecosystem for it to stand alongside Paris or Milan?

Ingie: Dubai doesn’t need to replicate Paris or Milan. Its identity is its agility, diversity, and ability to bring cultures together. It has already proven it can set the stage for global conversations. Continued investment in creativity, innovation, and talent will cement it as a capital in its own right.

Oona: Looking beyond your brand, what legacy do you hope to leave for the next generation of Middle Eastern women — not just as designers, but as decision-makers in fashion’s global boardrooms?

Ingie: My hope is that they no longer have to prove they belong. If my journey helps women believe their place is at the center of decision-making — in fashion and beyond — that is the legacy I want most.

Oona: How do you see Arabic culture shaping the global aesthetic of luxury in the next decade?

Ingie: Through craftsmanship and storytelling. Our region has an ancient relationship with textiles, jewelry, and design. When presented globally, these traditions have the power to redefine luxury beyond Eurocentric narratives.

Oona: If you had to advise a 20-year-old Arab woman starting her journey in fashion today, what would you tell her?

Ingie: Be brave, be patient, and understand both creativity and business. One without the other cannot last

Ingie Chalhoub has never been content with occupying a seat at fashion’s table; she built her own. From negotiating with reluctant European maisons decades ago to launching Ingie Paris as a maison of her own, she has written a new chapter for Arab women in fashion: one of leadership, creativity, and fearlessness.

“If my journey shows anything, it is that Arab women belong at the center of decision-making — not only in fashion, but everywhere.”

Interview by Oona Chanel

Tommaso Motti: The Rebel Tailor Bridging the Past and Future of Fashion

Photography by Serena Gallorini

In a small Milanese studio, where bolts of fabric and broken sewing needles tell the story of relentless experimentation, Tommaso is crafting more than garments—he’s weaving a manifesto. The young designer, who moved to Milan six years ago with little more than ambition and a sewing machine, is on a mission to redefine Italian fashion. His work is striking: oversized puffer jackets stitched from dozens of pieces, alien-like silhouettes that challenge the human form, and intricate details that quietly suggest deeper narratives.

For Tommaso, fashion is a vessel for both preservation and provocation. “Italy has such an incredible tradition of craftsmanship,” he says, reflecting on his heritage. “But I worry that tradition risks becoming a form of gatekeeping.” He describes an industry dominated by legacy brands, their names synonymous with luxury and excellence. Yet, for Tommaso, these icons of the past can feel like barriers to innovation. “I want to honor our artisans by incorporating their expertise into something entirely new,” he explains. “Tradition should be a springboard, not a tether.”

Photography by Asia Michelazzo

Resilience in the Threadwork

If there is one word that defines Tommaso, it’s resilience. His journey to becoming a designer is stitched with late nights, failed experiments, and a refusal to quit. “I moved here with big dreams,” he recalls, “but the reality was grueling.” One of his signature pieces—a massive puffer jacket constructed from 30 unique sections—tells the story of his determination. “I sewed it on a regular machine, breaking hundreds of needles in the process. That jacket is my resilience in physical form.”

This resilience also shapes his worldview. In a society driven by speed and disposability, Tommaso pushes back. “Fashion reflects the zeitgeist,” he says, “but I feel rebellious towards today’s culture. We’ve lost touch with what truly matters—love, nature, and connection. My work is about rediscovering those values.”

Photography by Serena Gallorini

The Alien Among Us

Tommaso’s designs often feel otherworldly—fitting for a creator who draws inspiration from the cosmos. “My past collections are clearly influenced by aliens,” he admits, smiling. Oversized hoods resemble elongated skulls, while his exaggerated volumes feel as if they belong to an ancient civilization from a distant galaxy. These extraterrestrial aesthetics aren’t just about visuals; they carry a story.

“If my designs were a storybook, the central characters would be ancient beings who come to a collapsing planet to teach love and mutual respect,” Tommaso says. This narrative infuses his work, from the names of his pieces to hidden symbols sewn into their padding. For Tommaso, these touches are more than decorative—they’re a way to connect the wearer with the garment on a deeper level.

Timelessness in an Age of Impermanence

Tommaso is the first to admit that timelessness feels elusive in today’s fast-paced world. “Even great ideas last only a day now,” he muses. Yet, he is undeterred. By focusing on craftsmanship and innovation, he hopes to create garments that linger in memory. “Timelessness comes from shocking innovation—something truly groundbreaking,” he says. His current obsession is padding, a recurring element in his work, which he uses to explore texture and form in new ways.

Tommaso’s fascination with permanence extends beyond fashion. Asked about his dream collaboration, he doesn’t hesitate: “A marble sculptor,” he says. The idea is audacious: a hand-carved marble puffer jacket that merges the precision of sculpture with the fluidity of fabric. “It’s about connecting the past with the future,” he explains, “blending traditional techniques with modern design.”

Soul in the Stitching

In an industry dominated by mass production and fast fashion, Tommaso’s process is deeply personal. “I make every piece myself,” he says. “There’s a part of me in every garment.” This connection is palpable. His designs often feature subtle, symbolic details—stitching patterns believed to evoke positive energy. “It’s a small gesture,” he says, “but it connects the garment to the wearer in a meaningful way.”

Looking Forward

For Tommaso, the future of fashion isn’t just about what we wear—it’s about how we live. He envisions a world where garments tell stories, inspire reflection, and foster connections. “Beautiful clothing has lost its true value in this age of excess,” he laments. Yet, his work is a quiet rebellion against that excess, a reminder that creativity flourishes in restraint.

As our conversation winds down, Tommaso reflects on the lessons he’s learned from adversity. “Failure only happens when you give up,” he says. “Hard work is my greatest asset.” In his Milan studio, surrounded by fabric scraps and the echoes of broken needles, it’s clear that Tommaso Motti is just getting started.

Written by Oona Chanel

Designer Tommaso Motti

Fashion Editor Jessica Iorio

Photography by Serena Gallorini & Asia Michelazzo

Sons of Man

OONA: “Italy has a rich tradition of craftsmanship and artistry. How does your Italian heritage shape not only your design philosophy but also your worldview as a creator? How do you transform the weight of tradition into a springboard for innovation, rather than a tether?”

TOMMASO: Italy is clearly known for its tradition and I personally met many artisanal that have an incredible knowledge that I’m afraid it’s gonna be lost in the future. My vision is to preserve that expertise by incorporating it into my forward-thinking creations, forging a tradition that looks boldly to the future. Many of the Italian brands that we all know are symbols of excellence all over the world and they’re the ones who created the tradition. I hope the future allows more room for new brands and designers. Otherwise, tradition risks becoming a form of gatekeeping—if it hasn’t already.

OONA: “Fashion mirrors the zeitgeist. Do you see your work as a reflection of today’s cultural soul, a rebellion against it, or perhaps a dream of what could be? How do your creations speak to the collective consciousness?”

I feel pretty rebellious towards todays society to be honest, both ethically and economically. I’m fascinated by ancient traditions and civilization because back then it was more understood that what the humans really needed was just love and nature. In this capitalistic world, I often feel like a fish out of water, still searching for my own sense of balance. 

Especially because what I do is just purely driven by passion and willingness to spread positive and interesting themes hidden in my creations. My hope is to spark curiosity in others, encouraging them to see the world from a different perspective. 

3. If you were to design an outfit to embody a single emotion—joy, longing, resilience—what emotion would you choose, and how would you distill its essence into fabric, texture, and form?

I think that resilience might be the best one for me, I moved to Milan 6 years ago to chase this dream, went to university for 1 year and then spent the other 5 years working day and night trying to affine my craft and create clothes more and more complex to express myself. 

Resilience to me looks like a huge puffer made by 30 different puffed pieces sewn with a normal sewing machines, breaking needles and thread 100 times, this pretty much embodies what I went through 

4. As a designer, you exist between the fleeting pulse of trends and the enduring power of timelessness. How do you navigate this liminal space, and what does “timeless” mean to you in an age of impermanence?

Honestly I don’t get too stressed about this, when I create something it often comes in a blink of an eye, I usually say that I take ideas from the ether, the highest and purest part of the earth atmosphere. 

I don’t want to look too much into everyone’s new collection, I’m trying to build the foundation now and my key points are padding and exaggerated volumes, often alien inspired. 

Now that everything is so fast and even great ideas last for one day it’s difficult to define what timeless really means, one of my future goals is to try to create a new kind of garment that could be remembered. I believe that only shocking innovation,something both groundbreaking and universally useful,has the potential to achieve timelessness in this era.

5. Creativity often flourishes in the face of adversity. Can you share a moment where failure or an unexpected challenge unlocked a new layer of your artistry or deepened your perspective as a designer?

I’ve always tried to put myself in face of adversity, setting personal challenges that seemed stupid to most of my friends. Yet, these challenges helped me gain strength and a deeper awareness of my capabilities.

Over the past five hard years I’ve always tried to create as much as possible, driven by curiosity and pushed by the belief that failure only occurs when you give up on your dreams.

Working as much as I can has always been my only asset in this saturated market. 

6. If your designs were a storybook, who would be the central character, and what universal truth or lesson would their journey reveal? How do you infuse this narrative into the textures, patterns, and silhouettes you create?

My past collections are clearly inspired by aliens, puffer jacket with massive elongated hoods evoke the shapes of alien skulls. If my designs were a storybook, the central characters would be an ancient god-like civilization arriving on a new planet near the collapse to teach them new technologies and help them flourish basing life on love and mutual respect and taking out all the wickedness.

I imagine these otherworldly beings dressed entirely in my silhouettes.

I infused this narrative in some of the pieces either with symbols or by naming products in certain ways 

7. In an era dominated by fast fashion and disposability, how do you infuse your work with soul? How do you create garments that foster a profound connection between the wearer and the craft itself?

Since I personally craft every piece there’s some Tommaso Motti in each one of them. 

I’m strongly against fast fashion and mass production sonceboth perfectly reflects todays capitalistic society. Beautiful clothing have almost lost its true value in this era of excess and I often find myself questioning where we’re headed.

Besides creating my pieces I often include some small symbolic details, stitched in the padding pattern, that are believed to evoke positive energies around the people who’ll wear it. It’s a subtle but meaningful way to connect with the wearer and add a layer of intention to each creation

8. If you could collaborate with one non-fashion artist—whether a filmmaker, musician, or painter—who would you choose, and what universal theme or emotional truth would your partnership explore? How would this interdisciplinary dialogue shape your work?

I would love to collaborate with a marble sculpture to create a unique marble puffer patiently crafted by hand, like my creations.

I m deeply fascinated by sculpture because it requires a lot of precision and dedication, qualities that resonate closely with what sewing represents for me.

The universal truth would be exploring the connection between past and future, blending traditional art techniques with modern a modern innovative design  for the puffer jacket.

Interview by Oona Chanel

Designer Patrick P Yee

Photography by Sons of Man

A Confluence of Fashion and Technology

A Confluence of Fashion and Technology

In the evolving landscape of contemporary fashion, where traditional craftsmanship and modern technology increasingly intersect, SCRY emerges as a distinctive force. Established in 2020 by Zixiong Wei and Olivia Cheng, SCRY seeks to transcend the conventional fashion model by positioning itself as a laboratory that merges sartorial artistry with technological innovation. The brand's name, "SCRY," derived from Zixiong's Instagram handle @scccccry, reflects its ethos of anticipating and shaping future fashion trends through a deliberate integration of creativity and sustainability. SCRY’s approach to design and production is deeply rooted in technological advancements. The company’s exploration of additive manufacturing and digital design began in 2018, culminating in the release of their first prototype two years later. This process involved extensive iterations and refinements, each progressively aligning with their vision. Today, the 'Digital Embryo' framework enables SCRY to streamline production significantly, reducing the time from concept to creation to just three days. The printing process itself, taking under 1.5 hours per shoe, highlights SCRY’s commitment to both efficiency and innovation. Collaboration is integral to SCRY’s strategy. The brand has partnered with prominent designers and labels such as Iris van Herpen, Heliot Emil, Dion Lee, Sankuanz, and Annakiki. These collaborations, featured at major fashion weeks in Paris, Milan, and New York, emphasize SCRY’s engagement with the intersections of fashion, art, and technology.

A Dialogue with the Founders

In a discussion, SCRY’s founders, Zixiong Wei and Olivia Cheng, reflected on their journey and future directions. "Our exploration began with a fundamental question: “How can technology transform fashion?" Zixiong explains. "The path was complex, but through iterative experimentation, we developed a process that integratesadvanced manufacturing with digital design, allowing us to innovate continuously. "Olivia Cheng adds, "Our choice of materials is central to our design philosophy. We use a specialized polymer that addresses the functional requirements of various shoe components in a single print. This approach enhances both durability and comfort while ensuring full recyclability. Our commitment extends to minimizing waste and promoting sustainability throughout our operations." While SCRY’s emphasis on rapid, on-demand production and recyclable materials is noteworthy, it is essential to approach claims of sustainability with caution. The fashion industry, by its very nature, involves significant resource consumption and environmental impact. The assertion of sustainability in production processes can sometimes mask the broader, systemic challenges that remain unaddressed. While SCRY’s innovations in efficiency and material use are commendable, true sustainability requires a more comprehensive reevaluation of fashion's impact on the environment. SCRY’s approach may offer a progressive model for integrating technology and design, but it also prompts a critical examination of the limits and real implications of claiming sustainability in a fundamentally resource-intensive industry.

CREDITS

Interview by Oona Chanel

Pictures by SCRY and Kunliuu

Moonsoon: Zaha Hadid’s First Major Completed Work Abroad

Dame Zaha Hadid is undoubtedly one of the world's most-known architects. And while her prominence is predominantly rooted in architecture through internationally acclaimed works, such as Al Janou Stadium for the 2022 World Cup, Dubai Opera House and London Aquatics Centre, her first completed international commission was an interior design project in Sapporo, Japan. Based on a series of previously unrealised works in Japan, The Moonsoon Bar and Restaurant was commissioned by Michihiro Kuzuwa of JASMAC in 1989 and was completed in 1990. Influenced by everything from the works of Alexander Calder to photocopies of orange peels, the interior acted as an eclectic visceral representation of hybridity and playfulness. But most importantly, this project laid the foundation for design sensibilities seen in Hadid’s later work. Held until 22 July 2023 at The Zaha Hadid Foundation in London, Zaha’s Moonsoon: An Interior in Japan exhibition gave Author a chance to sit down with its curator Johan Deurell. We touched on the significance of the Moonsoon work in the wider Zaha Hadid canon, the prevalent design elements, and the influences behind this project, as well as her unique ability to work across several disciplines.

“Zaha was such a polymath. She could have ended up doing any kind of creative [work], it just happened to be architecture.”

Philip: What's your background in terms of curating exhibitions?

Johan – After graduating with my MA in History of Design from the Royal College of Art, I worked as a freelance art critic and curator, as well as an associate lecturer at Central Saint Martins for a number of years. However, in early 2018, I joined the Röhhska Museum of Design and Craft in Gothenburg where I worked for four and a half years and curated several shows. When I joined, we did a whole rebranding and revisioning project for the museum; I wanted to join because it was kind of a traditional museum with a lot of potential.

Philip: I suppose it was an opportunity to implement your vision within the wider framework?

Johan – It was exactly that. The director of the museum, Nina Due, really wanted it to be a Contemporary Design Museum [while] also engaging with critical dialogues in the field and making it a bit more relevant. I think was also about my take on design. I'm more interested in what people call critical design or conceptual design rather than standard product design.

Philip: I'm quite curious, how did the relationship with Röhhska then transform into working for the Zaha Hadid Foundation?

Johan – I was excited about the Foundation because it's quite nice to join a completely new organisation. You have a sense of shaping it.

Philip: Yes, I can see a theme there — you want to work with and implement new ideas while shaping and taking them in a certain direction.

Johan – Exactly. With an archive-based show like Moonsoon, that's one part of it. I wouldn't say that fits into the kind of curatorial projects I have done in the past because they've all been linked to current political issues, whereas this is about design in a historical context – the Japanese Bubble Economy. The contemporary programme we’re launching in the future is very much more typical for my curating as it engages with ideas of hybridity, exchange and the built environment.

Philip: My question to you is: Why Moonsoon? What was the impetus to focus on this particular work?

Johan – There were several reasons. I was attracted to it on a purely visual basis. But I think it's important [for it] to be studied as part of the Zaha Hadid canon because it's her first major interior and the first project to be completed outside of the UK. It's the first time we get a sense of what a Zaha building might have looked like. Before this, she had only done paper-based architectural projects with the most publicised one being the Peak Project in Hong Kong from ‘83, exhibited at the Deconstructivist Architecture exhibition in MoMA in ‘88. In those earlier projects, Zaha Hadid Architects developed design strategies such as the layering or warping of shapes, the oblique nature of those shapes, and the embrace of all angles — those ideas established the early design language for the practice. I see Moonsoon as a blueprint for later architectural projects.

Philip: Were the interiors, especially the furniture, made by Zaha Hadid Architects or were they commissioned externally?

Johan – They were made by Zaha Hadid Architects. It's a practice with several people contributing, although in the ‘80s there weren't that many. Michael Wolfson, who was employed by Zaha, designed the sofas that were part of the seating landscape, but several people contributed to the various elements of the project. This included the interior, the architectural elements, and interventions such as the orange peel vortex and the black swirl going through the two floors.

Philip: What were some of the founding principles she based this work on?

Johan – The Kita Club building, built by Dan Sekkei Architects and Mitsuru Kaneko in the late ‘80s, contained a sort of dome which Zaha didn't like. So the orange peel was a design intervention. The vortex was a central theme in the design of the building. I saw it as a leading visual key, connecting all the objects and the exhibition. I interviewed the various architects who worked on the project, and they kept saying, “You need to find a Post-it note or sketch or something with little doodles.” In this case, it turned out to be a sheet with an Arabic letter. I wanted Marwan [Kaabour] to work on this as a graphic designer as I wanted to construct a slideshow to link it with that shape. He speaks Arabic and says that this swirly shape reflected a stylized version of the letter H in Zaha. But there were also a lot of other interesting references: Photocopies of books, orange peels in the photocopier, and works by Alexander Calder — loads of different works that had a similar shape.

Philip: Yes, it’s interesting you mention Calder because when you look at her work, you see the likes of Malevich, Calder, and Lissitzky having a huge influence on her.

Johan – Yeah, I agree. One of the reference images that we found was the Aula Magna of the Central University of Venezuela, designed by Alexander Calder. It has these typical Calder shapes for absorbing sound in the ceiling. And if you look at them — the sofa, the sofa’s backrest, and the tables — they look like elements from Calder’s “Mobile.” Her design language is heavily influenced by Malevich and the Russian Constructivists. In the early projects, she sort of translated that into architectural design strategies. And Zaha, as an architect, was very visual. And you see all these visual sources and how they come together.

Philip: Yes, she was incredibly visual and influenced by fashion in her design practice, especially the likes of Comme des Garçons and Issey Miyake. Would you be able to tell me more about that? 

Johan – That's a research project we are going to undertake in the future. We have a large fashion collection in our archive, including clothes, bags, shoes, and jewellery by several big designers. We know that fashion was important to her; she paid a great deal of attention to it. Zaha made her own clothes when she was a student. Wolfson told me that Zaha was such a polymath, she could have ended up doing any kind of creative [work], it just happened to be architecture. I found some evidence of how fashion influenced her work, which I haven't had time to research properly. She did this project for Pet Shop Boys and designed the sets for their world tour in 1999. There’s a mood board for that project that contained some pleated Issey Miyake pieces.

Philip: Zaha Hadid had her fingers in almost every possible pie; she was an architect, a designer, and a painter. Will the foundation have a look at Hadid's larger body of work at some point?

Johan – We will. And that’s also why I found the prospect of [working for] this foundation interesting because I'm interested in interdisciplinary practices. What makes her so interesting is that she moved and operated within these fields. But it’s also about connecting the dots between her work within these different disciplines.

Philip: These are the type of things the foundation is such a vast source for. You have such a large archive to work with.

Johan – I’m super excited about the fashion-slash-Zaha relationship and would love to make that into a separate, large-scale exhibition for an international tour in a couple of years. It is interesting to depart from our archive to look at ways in which fashion and architecture intersect and feed into one another.

CREDITS

Interview by Philip Livchitz

Pictures by Zuzanna Blur

Wilder Than You Think JEAN-CHARLES DE CASTELBAJAC

There are few renaissance-spirited creative souls among us, with a back catalogue of such singularly impactful cultural resonance, who can hold a candle to the work of legendary provocateur, artist, and rogue bon vivant Jean-Charles De Castelbajac. The rebel son of an aristocratic French lineage, he has set the world alight for 40 years with explosive art and fashion marbled with a distinct aesthetic that has become synonymous with positivity, radical self-expression, and celebratory creative freedom. The singular penchant he has for transforming what could arguably be considered as the absurd into the iconic, such as his divisive pieces inspired by Snoopy and Kermit the Frog, and has witnessed collaborations with everyone from Basquiat, Cindy Sherman, and Keith Haring, to Andy Warhol, and far and beyond. Infamously, he designed offbeat ecclesiastical robes for Pope John Paul II’s visit to Paris in the 90s, and his coterie of some 5,000 priests. AUTHOR took time out in Paris with the now 68-year-old Jean-Charles to mine the core of what drives him philosophically, and find out what he believes most pertinent to the challenges of the creative, having lived through, and impacted, the constantly ricocheting transformation of culture over the years, as brilliantly captured in his recent non-linear memoir Fashion, Art & Rock‘n’Roll. AUTHOR presents an intimate snapshot of a man whose commitment to radical intervention, political fashion, and the art of collaboration keeps him leagues ahead of the curve, and find out why fashion is an industry full of beautiful ghosts....

AUTHOR: Why has rock‘n’roll been so important to you over the years?

Jean-charles — Before fashion, there is always rock’n’roll, and all through my life, it has run like a river. I remember going to a rock concert of a man called Vince Taylor when I was 17 years old. He was in this cheap club, and on-stage with him was a blonde guy, almost like an angel, who was just there to beat the tambourine; that was his only job. I instantly saw this other kind of beauty; something about attitude, accidents and some kind of wonder. When I met Malcolm McLaren in 1972, it was the same kind of wonder. All through my destiny, rock‘n’roll has been like a wave and fuel to an amazing quest, a quest to see things beyond the mirror, and to get beyond what Malcolm used to call the karaoke society.

AUTHOR: Malcolm and the punk movement had a very distinct mainstream to kick against, how can we retain that spirit in the age of multiple convergent cultural streams?

Jean-charles — I think that, as you say, subculture was linked to a mainstream that was totally parallel, where everything was about a quest of knowledge and intelligence, but this has been abolished by the digital age. Now, it is not about how to create a counter culture, but is about creating an invisible parallel culture. It’s about finding a way to put your own mark on culture as a group of people thinking the same way. In that way, my eternal quest has never changed. The essential quest of life is to build a soulful and intellectual family; people you can go on a creative adventure with. The energy of creativity can play a fundamental role in proposing something different; in proposing something that is not just to escape the reality, but to really build something new.

AUTHOR: For you, who are the most important people currently working towards forwarding cultural expression and resistance?

Jean-charles — The artists I am interested in now, like Kate Tempest or Robert Montgomery, they really see this need to speak about the beauty, and also the terrible realities of now, and how to come to an age of compassion. As artists, we cannot just be there to hear the testimony of cowards. We have to plant the seeds of the renaissance. It’s about creating a kind of poetic virus; it’s about getting into the flow of something. I remember seeing Suicide perform and Alan Vega singing ‘Dream Baby Dream’. That was like a disease poetry; a disease that got inside your soul, and what has remained about that is still there in the new kind of resistance. It’s like a virus of poetry in the system.

AUTHOR: Do you think we are entering quite a dark period in our collective history?

Jean-charles — I do feel that now people are looking for something else, because we feel this shadow of darkness. I lived through the era of the Vietnam War and the darker time of the 80s, when I lost a lot of friends, and then, of course, the 90s, which was a tsunami of marketing and money. The consequence of that decade is that we now have an age of darkness and inequality, so it is the role of every artist today to fight for something, and to speak out in such a time of dystopia.

AUTHOR: How can we find a sense of beauty in such an era?

Jean-charles — There is a poetic definition of beauty that is linked to the soul and linked to something invisible and, in a sense, linked to a kind of harmony. But it’s like we are living in a post-innocence time right now, where even what we think of as having beauty, like the sunset or sunrise, or the drop of dew on a flower, cannot help us forget what is happening in the world any more. I still have hope in humanity though. I see now that the political conscience is waking up, in a sense, so that everything happening is inspiration for artists. Everything is a total paradox, and in that way the dark side allows us to participate.

AUTHOR: Have you always been driven by a desire to rebel?

Jean-charles — It was always about rebellion all through my life. When I was a little boy, I went to boarding school, and that was very much about order and discipline. My only route for resistance was to disrupt the order and always have something different, or seemingly accidental, about my uniform. I was always punished for that, but it was, for me, a way of saying: I don’t want to be like everybody else. I love that. I don’t like harmony so much; I like discord. I love to see my life that way, as a sport of cadáver exquisito. I want to begin something and then someone else will continue it; there is a beauty in that disharmony. The most exciting moments in my life are when I do things with other artists; when I can share. I used to do that when working with Keith Haring and Basqiuat, to begin to draw a line that they would finish.

AUTHOR: Where would you say that positivity and drive to collaborate comes from?

Jean-charles — Hope and humour have always been my natural reaction to disaster and my shield and resistance in the most difficult moments. I have realised that my work has been like a therapy for some people, to help them to reveal themselves. When I see a man I love like Tinie Tempah, and how much my world has touched him, it is a magical thing for me. Keith Haring was inspirational like that. He was the most generous man I have ever met in my life. There was never any greed or jealousy around him. He never cared how much a collector would buy work for because he wanted to make his work for everyone, and he was so fast, so instinctive and musical in the way he did things. Malcolm was similar, but with more of an intellectual point of view, more on political concerns.

AUTHOR: How do those concerns play out in the arena of fashion?

Jean-charles — The catwalk is always kind of linked to a discovery of political concerns, so all of my clothes and shows have a political origin, and it’s always telling a story. Clothes are the most amazing thing because they are the most intimate link to the human, and it is the most important medium for art today because everybody looks at it. Fashion is not just for an elite; fashion has a democratic role and it’s a very good tool for democracy because it’s the beginning of individuality. I never created fashion for any trend, but more, as Malcolm would say, as a manifesto. A manifesto of what I think of my times and, in a sense, what I think about ghosts, because fashion is about ghosts. When I go into a vintage store, I feel sometimes I am in the middle of a temple of ghosts. Surrounded by all these people who have worn these clothes, who have made love in these clothes...

AUTHOR: That’s beautiful... In terms of ghosts, what is your personal opinion of death and afterlife – what remains of us when we are gone, and in what way?

Jean-charles — My feeling is that already I am the link to all my ancestors, and I am the servant of all the people that I love and have loved. I carry them all with me, and they carry me in them. Tomorrow I will be in you, in my sons, in others, and I will be forever there. It’s all about how we have been living our lives. I don’t believe in God, but I believe in the soul; in the idea to always be on the side of the people I have loved... I don’t know in which form. Perhaps as an angel, or a blow on the cheek, or in some kind of light falling into the room. I don’t know about the form, but I do know I will be the same soul I am today, and whatever form I am will then be with many people.

CREDITS

BY JOHN-PAUL PRYOR

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEAN-CHARLES DE CASTELBAJAC

PORTRAIT BY LINDA BUJOLI

Euphoric Creativity with Satoshi Kondo

“I believe that inspiration is something serendipitous, and in that sense, not something that can be forced.”

It’s only been a couple of years since Issey Miyake had a change of creative direction in the womenswear division. That kind of responsibility often comes with great expectations, but not only did Satoshi Kondo meet them, he also raised the bar. Through movement, a signature aspect of Issey Miyake, the young designer, was able to respect the house’s codes and maintain the brand’s DNA. However, he elevated it with interactive performance art, such as dance and lived drawing, whether through his physical shows or presentations. His artistic vision and multi-purposed clothing items bring newness not only to the Japanese brand but to the industry as one collection after another Kondo has captured our curiosity. As all art form is subjective, his shows leave us with a topic to reflect on often about positivity and oneness.

“I believe that inspiration is something serendipitous, and in that sense, not something that can be forced.”

In a conversation with AUTHOR, the young designer shares his passion for the craft and the shifting mindset that must take place when presenting collections nowadays. We also talk about the industry’s future, inspiration, and innate talent for material sourcing.

What was the most enjoyable part of creating this collection?

My favorite part of creating a collection happens when my team and I are about to find a way to translate our abstract idea or concept into a clothing form. It is a transition from an idea to its realization, including the brainstorming and the research that leads to this feeling that I enjoy the most. In that sense, I also enjoy taking a piece of fabric and working with its material qualities to make it into a garment. For example, for the FLUIDITY LOOP series, I engaged in the process of looking at the fabric knit in a spiral shape and imagining how to turn it into a garment by making use of its character and texture. For the LINK RINGS series, I began with the notion of creating apparel by connecting circles and then continued with the design process of realizing that idea into a series of circular, hand-pleated fabrics.

What is your take on fashion moving forward with digital aspects?
I feel that the prevalence of digital shows has made collections more accessible. Now a collection can reach its audience at a speed and a breadth that the industry has never experienced. Because of this new form of communication, more people worldwide get to see a collection and get to see it quicker, including those who didn’t have the means or the interest to see a fashion show before.
For this collection, we worked with the video director, Yuichi Kodama, to explore the potential of a video in relation to the collection theme—visual components that can only be done digitally. With some deliberate editing and subtle special effects in the video, we were able to convey the sense of descending into the depths of the sea without actually doing a show in the water.

What are the challenges you face when sourcing continual inspiration for collections?

I believe that inspiration is something fortunate, and in that sense, not something that can be forced. For me, finding inspiration is not about thinking about finding inspiration first. I often stay active at work and in life, thereby allowing myself to be in an environment full of creative work while always staying open to new ideas, whatever they may be. To that end, I always expose myself to things I find Interesting, like going to exhibitions at museums.

How important are physical shows for you vs creating a video to present the collection? In terms of presentation format, physical vs digital, as a designer, I always try to adapt to the circumstances and make the most of what is available in a creative way. I think there is something about a collection that only a physical show can convey, and the same can be said about a digital show.

I would like to do a physical show for the following collection if the circumstances allow. Having presented three groups in digital form, I became more interested in the sensations one would feel at a live show/performance: the excitement of attending and being part of a show that only happens once, the firsthand experience of looking at the design and textured qualities of garments, and the warmth of the audience as well as the character of the show space, contributing to the ambiance of the show. Even if a live show like this is filmed and later presented as a video, it still captures the qualities of being life, which differs from a digital presentation that is fully edited and choreographed.

What’s one piece of advice you would like to share with other designers in the industry? As the designer of ISSEY MIYAKE (the women’s collection), I can only speak for my practice at the brand, and I would be grateful if other designers find it applicable and helpful in some way. For me, the most important aspect (and challenge) is our entire and continued engagement with research and development, where we integrate technology and creativity as the basis on which we create original garments for every collection.

Alexandre Vauthier - The Coruscating Couturier

Oona Chanel Unravels What Drives The Classically Trained Designer’s Dedication To His Craft

It’s not hard to see why Alexandre Vauthier is a darling of the fashion industry, exclusive couture clients, and celebrities alike. His designs strike that perfect, almost unattainable balance of being both timeless and refreshing. The silhouettes are intentional but not forced; modern, nearly architectural and staggering in their sharpness, while simultaneously maintaining a classic French allure. Couture is the genesis point, and even his ​prêt-à-porter collection draws directly upon it. Consequently, Vauthier’s work is embedded with a subtle empathy and one cannot help but understand that he is fundamentally and critically attuned to modern, worldly women. In this extract from our extended interview, Oona and Alexandre discuss the forces that shape his enigmatic designs.

Oona: ​What does fashion mean to you?

Alexandre​- I prefer to speak of style, so it’s fair to say I can’t say what fashion means to me. What disturbs me about fashion is the short period of time that it represents. I prefer to think of my design house as a body of work that will still stay relevant throughout the years. I don’t try and make noise with my clothes. What I do is both sincere and carefully considered, which is why all the girls that I’ve been dressing from the beginning still come back to me quite frequently. My clients are from different cultural backgrounds, but they all gather here at my atelier. Fashion itself is not really important. What is important is how women look wearing these clothes. If my creations become ‘fashion’ after that, even better, but being in fashion is not the essence of the creation.

Oona: ​What about couture?

Alexandre - Couture is everything to me. It’s the beginning of creation, where there are no budgetary or technical limits. When everything is made by hand, it becomes an intense discussion between the creator and their craftwork, which results in the most beautiful creations in the world. Time is such a luxury for me, but when I have it, I’m able to create something unique. It’s the same way of thinking about jewelry, where time yields the best results. The great bene t of an obsession with couture is that my p​ rêt-à-porter collection can then bene t from all of that expertise. During these haute couture design trials, we try to expand the concept of luxury, and that then results in a superior quality that’s used in the p​ rêt-à-porter collection. For example, the embroidery that I’m working with for the couture collection is also used for the ​prêt-à-porter.

Oona: ​How important is it to feel inspired?

Alexandre​- Having inspiration is everything to me! You have to be inspired. Everything inspires me in life. Our conversation we are having now will inspire me. I am someone that observes others a lot. I’m very precise and I consider the details. I love life and I’m afraid of not having enough time to learn everything. To be able to see everything, to know everything, and at all levels. I’m inspired by the importance of human relations, and how different cultures and friendships interact. Within this, the concept of femininity is seen in many of my creations. Observing how women live and interact, their lives fascinate me, and I’m left inspired by their happiness. I draw my inspiration from all of the above.

Interview by OONA CHANEL

Picture by SYLVIE CASTIONI

Empress of the senses - Betony Vernon

Known chiefly as a creator of transgressive jewelry, the flame-haired

femme-fatale Betony Vernon is also a ‘sexual anthropologist.’

Known chiefly as a creator of transgressive jewellery, the flame-haired femme-fatale Betony Vernon is also a ‘sexual anthropologist.’ Described by Alejandro Jodorowsky as an ‘urban shaman’, and deferred to by some of the most renowned doctors in an evolving eld of sexual wellbeing, her therapeutical work explores what most would consider to be an obvious precept of sado- masochistic practice. While she is not interested in such categorisation, she is convinced that all kinds of sexual pleasure, no matter how one attains it, demand a certain level of dominance and submission. In this excerpt from her extended interview in Author Magazine, the author of The Boudoir Bible:

The Uninhibited Sex Guide for Today speaks to us about the future of human relationships in an increasingly fractured sexual landscape.

“I am public about my conviction that the power of love and spiritual wellbeing are far more potent than anything else, and it is for this reason that love, like pleasure and self-knowledge, are not encouraged by our class structure. In fact, they are traits that are constantly undermined by the establishment. This is because a happy, well-loved and spiritually grounded society makes for a really bad economy.”

“I do not believe in creative or sexual hierarchy because everyone and everything is interdependent. Collaboration is extremely important to everything I am and do. It makes my creative process possible. Sex affects every facet of our lives, physically, politically, socially and spiritually, and sexual behaviour motivates all of my works. Monogamy is just an ideal and its foundations have been shaking since the beginning of the second sexual revolution in the 1960s. Polygamy has been around for a very long time. What interests me the most is polyandry, which is the bond between three or more consensualintimate partners that is headed by a woman, not a man.”

Interview by JOHN-PAUL PRYOR

Picture by RAUL HIGUERA

Transcendent Design, Gareth Pugh

Into The Mystic With The Gatekeeper of Alternative Fashion

Gareth Pugh is arguably the most significant avant-garde London- based designer working today. The Central Saint Martins alumni par excellence is the logical successor to Alexander McQueen, also favouring the abstract, gender- fluid, quasi-political representations of extreme individuality over the temptation to succumb to the ever present pressure to create a watered-down fast-fashion line. In this full extract from his interview in the second edition of Author, the ever-modest designer invites us into his East London studio to discuss staying true to your vision and how a concept from Spanish folklore can elevate creatives into a temporal moment of aesthetic perfection.

“We don’t do things as contrived as like, make little season plans and sort of go, ‘This is what we’re going to do!’. It’s much more about breathing it, and feeling what you want to do. It’s about finding those intangible things that give you that moment of clarity; maybe it’s something that you’ve always seen but never really appreciated or something you’ve always known but never quite understood. It’s like looking for the ‘duende’ of Spanish folklore. In one sense, the duende is like a little kind of mythical goblin, but in flamenco, it’s the guitarist or the dancer achieving this trance state, which means having that connection with the audience that transcends emotion. It’s like pure artistry in its finest incarnation, where they’re actually being embodied by something that’s greater than they are, and it’s sort of a vessel to communicate that to the audience. Everybody who creates wants to sort of achieve that, because it’s so fleeting and so temporal, and you always want more of it precisely because it’s not present. I guess you should never really be satisfied with what you do because as someone who wants to make things, if you achieve that nirvana of doing something perfect, if you do actually reach duende and create that perfect thing, then why try and sully that vibe by doing something else? It’s really a sadistic way of working, in that you’re always searching for this thing you know is never going to be quite achievable.

“We don’t make any money from the things we make here but, for me, it’s never really been about making money. It’s about the work and what we put forward, and about the image being the thing that defines you, and having that valued more than however many crappy little mini dresses you sell, or whatever. I feel very connected to that side of things with regard to rolling your sleeves up and doing things because it feels right, rather than thinking ‘how am I going to sell it?’. Fashion feels quite dirty at the moment. It doesn’t feel like it’s got a lot of genuineness about it. I tend to feel some sort of synergy with punk, or an affinity with that idea of doing things yourself. That sort of thing feels very genuine and feels very essential, and I guess it’s a choice to do that. It’s really important for me to maintain that level of investment in what I do. For me, punk is about the amount of effort we put in.”

CREDITS:

Interview by JOHN-PAUL PRYOR

Pictures by Jonathan Mahaut

A droit of style - Donna Karan

The Enduring Design Legend Reveals Why The Feminine Form Is Her Ultimate Inspiration

Has there been a designer more attuned to what women really want–not what brands want to sell them–than Donna Karan? Focused on creating the perfect cut, the designer is a driving force in how the career woman can work her own aesthetic into the everyday, presenting style as an essential, rather than a nice to have, and worshipping the feminine shape instead of flattening curves into submission. Her name is synonymous with chic, cleverly cut pieces, and no modern capsule wardrobe is complete without the inclusion of a Donna Karan wrap skirt. With a New Yorker power stride, she’s left her fingerprints all over consumer fashion history, from surviving and thriving under the notoriously watchful eye of the late Anne Klein, to launching her own namesake line without a safety net, let alone any semblance of a budget. In this extract from our extended interview in Author, she reflects with Pauline Brown, former LVMH exec-turned-Harvard professor, on her childhood and early inspiration.

Pauline​: How would you describe your childhood?

Donna -​I was a young girl who was probably a little different than the rest. My mom was in fashion, my father was in fashion. In those days it was kind of unusual for your mother to be working, so it felt a little strange living in a community where all the other families were together with the mother staying at home during the day. I loved school, but art really was my passion.

Pauline:​Your mom was a model and your father was a tailor. Did their respective careers have an effect on your decision to go into fashion?

Donna -​It was the one thing I didn’t want to do. You know, you never want to do for a career what your parents are doing, so the last thing I wanted to do was to be in fashion. I wanted to sing like Barbara Streisand, dance like Martha Graham, and maybe be an illustrator. But fashion designer? Not at all.

Pauline: ​You failed draping class, which is so funny because to anyone who studies your designs, you are the queen of drapery.

Donna -​Yes, I burnt a hole in my dress with an iron just before presenting to Rudy Gernright, and had to go to summer school for draping. And yet, I passionately adore the body and fabric. It talks to me. Draping for me is more artistic, while at school it is more about flat-patterns and creating the garment.

Pauline:​You graduate from Parsons and shortly thereafter, you work for the very formidable designer Anne Klein.

Donna -​I got a job with Anne when I went for a summer job. I was feeling really nervous, and she says to me, ‘Take a walk’. She thought that I was there for a modelling job, and says that my hips are a little too wide. I showed her my portfolio, and I was hired. My first big job was getting her coffee, pencil sharpening, and everything like that. I was the bottom of the totem pole, and I would sneak around with my head down, so embarrassed. The fashion world was something I was familiar with, but working with Anne Klein was rather difficult. She convinced me not to go back to college at Parsons, so I never graduated. And after nine months of working there, she fired me.

Pauline:​Then what happened?

Donna - T​ he next day, I became an associate designer to Patty Cavalli on Broadway, and Patty immediately took me to Paris. I was 19 years old and a Jewish girl, living on the train tracks in Long Island, and there I am in Paris and Saint-Tropez, my first time in Europe. I was Patty’s only design associate, so I really learned a lot and tried my hand at everything. But still, I wanted to be back on 7th Avenue. It’s hard for people to discuss it, but 7th Avenue is fashion, and Broadway is more mass market. Once I realized this, I called Anne for my job back.

Pauline: ​Was the interest in going back to Anne because you believed in her vision, or was it just because she was the one person you knew who was still on 7th Avenue?

Donna -​My ego was, of course, involved, what with being fired, wanting to prove myself on 7th Avenue, the luxury of the fabrics and all of that. Anne Klein understood women both mentally and physically, which is something I found myself drawn to. Anne was designing for Anne, but she was also designing for her customers. I’ll never forget the one thing that she did when hemlines dropped from one season to another, she kept the exact fabrics of the last season and just made longer skirts to match the jackets her clients already had. I thought, how brilliant it was that she wasn’t just coming up

with the next collection, but also really catering to the consumer’s needs. She was an artist and also a consumer.

Pauline:​So, in 1984, you decide with Steven, your late husband, to launch your own brand.

Donna -​I felt a desperate need for my own clothes. Personally, I needed a bodysuit, a wrap-tie skirt, little 70s pieces, and I really wanted to do it as a bitty collection for me and my friends. I told my bosses at Anna Klein how I felt, that I wanted to have a go at this little thing, and they basically said to me, ‘you’re fired’. They said, go into your own business and you’ll no longer do Anne Klein. That was really a kind of death for me because I had designed for Anne Klein longer than Anne Klein did. It was really a shock to my system.

“I loved school, but art really was my passion.” ​– Donna Karen Pauline:​What were the biggest challenges in the beginning?

Donna - W​ e worked in my apartment, and I had all the fabrics delivered there. I didn’t have a sample room or even a design room–we didn’t have anything. I had one girl working with me, and we were just doing sketches, but we were on such a tight budget, and I was not used to being on budgets this tight. So I was counting every single cent that I was spending to create these 70s pieces.

Pauline: ​What was the thinking behind your own label’s pieces?

Donna -​I thought of the woman who was on-the-go, constantly travelling, who was going from day to night and who never has time to go home. I wanted a wardrobe that would take you from day to evening. From relaxation, which is how I start my day with yoga, so that’s how the bodysuit and leggings came into work, and then the wrap-tie skirt. Then it was a blazer, a scarf because I thought scarves were the accent to everything, an evening piece which was the sequinned skirt versus the jersey wrap-tie skirt, and a coat.

Pauline:​What’s your style advice for prominent women?

Donna - T​ o not to be afraid to show off your own form and body. Why can’t we feel like women without being sexual, but by being sensual and comfortable, and really understanding your own body?

What I call accenting the positive, deleting the negative. I don’t think a lot of people realize what accents them, what complements them, and how draping hides a multitude of sins.

CREDITS:

INTERVIEW BY PAULINE BROWN

INTRODUCTION BY MICHAELA WILLIAMS

PICTURE BY DONNA KARAN