Philippe Starck, the prolific Parisian designer, wants you to think many things about his first foray into ready-to-wear clothing.
He wants you to marvel at his knit dresses, coo over his cashmere and gasp at his charcoal-grey jackets with detachable waistcoats.
The only thing he does not want is for you to have the temerity to call it fashion. The creator of the Bubble Club sofa and the Juicy Salif juicer believes he has designed a range of clothing that is sustainable, classic and impervious to the petty constraints of la mode. “The clothes are non-photogenic. But intelligent people will know to discover us,” he declared this week before the launch of the collection in Florence.
Made in partnership with the Scottish brand Ballantyne, the collection from the 60-year-old is a mix of women’s clothing and menswear, with waterproof cashmere the basis for a line he hopes will provide an alternative to contemporary fads. Starck believes the 88-year-old company has “ancestral know-how”.
“Fashion has a very high speed of turnover,” he said. “It produces energy, material, waste, and gives birth to a system of consumption and over-consumption which has no future.”
In his quest for responsible clothing, Starck has taken his skills as an architectural and design guru and applied them to jackets, hoods and other items. His “intelligent cashmere” garments have been made with “new ergonomics and contemporary fittings” to ensure they stand the ravages of time, according to a statement from Ballantyne.
Convinced concern about mass consumerism will encourage more people to look for longer-lasting solutions to their wardrobe dilemmas, Starck believes the time has come for clothing to develop a conscience. Starck has previously collaborated with the sports brand Puma on Lycra wear. —