Photos by Jef Jakobs and Shoji Fujii
From being a former assistant of designer Bernhard Wilhelm, Carolin Lerch is
redefining fashion ideals and questioning conventional codes of
fashion. Together with Michiel Helbig she runs 'Pelican Video', a
multimedia project that involves video, installations and performance
presented on a regular basis during Paris Fashion week, where her brand is known
for her vivid prints and strong visuals. Dazed talks to Lerch about her
latest project with Chicks on Speed's Alex Murray-Leslie and her other upcoming projects.
Dazed Digital: Why did you became interested in fashion?
Carolin Lerch: I
guess I had no other choice. At the end of the 80s my mother opened a second-hand
store to emancipate herself from my father, it was quite a scandal in
our small village. Back then, old clothes were still something filthy. Also my father had an agency for textile yarns and I used to play
with the fabric swatches and made Barbie dresses. In a way my clothes
still look the same.
DD: Tell us about your new collection?
Carolin Lerch: The
starting point is an abstract architectural installation of fabric.
Loads of fabric changed in shape by tunnels and ropes. What looks
rather like a laundry line is a rather complex structure. All the
clothes were designed to be part of the installation too. They have
tunnels with fabric covered chains running through. Via these tunnels
the collection can be completely integrated in the installation.
DD: Tell us about your label Pelican Avenue.
Carolin Lerch: After
graduating I had the feeling that fashion was the wrong choice. I worked as
a help-desk agent on the weekends and studied Fine Art for a couple of
months. I got quite disconnected from fashion. While working for
Bernhard Wilhelm I started to like it again, and realised that it is possible to
find your own personal way of doing fashion. As long as you're
authentic you can defy any unwanted expectations. So I started the
brand at the end of 2004, quite inexperienced and without a real plan but with
lots of desire to create my own language in fashion, using all sorts of
media to speak it.
DD: You are also very involved in media art/performance tell us more about it.
Carolin Lerch: I
don't really think in categories. For me it’s a normal thing to involve
several facets. In a way lots of designers do, but they like to focus
on make-up, cast, photography... But together with my
boyfriend, we have a video project called 'Pelican Video' which is very
linked to Pelican Avenue but we are also making videos with no fashion
context.
DD: What was it like working with Alex from Chicks on Speed for your last collection's fashion performance?
Carolin Lerch: I
tend to be very stubborn and inflexible when it comes to my work; I don't have a
great team spirit either; it was a big relief to realise that someone
else can do something with the collection or my idea and gives it a new
twist that I would have never chosen but who makes it even better;
Together with the dancer Kroot Juurak we are still working on the hanging
garden party fashion performance. So far we had showed two scenes, one
in Paris, one in Tokyo and there are more coming up in spring.
DD:
Where do you seek for inspiration?
Carolin Lerch: I'm not
really seeking it; I'm avoiding second-hand pieces, it’s rather like this
that one collection inspires the next one, it has a natural flow in it
.
DD: Who is your favourite designer and why?
Carolin Lerch: I
still love the world of Bernhard Wilhelm. He does fashion with such a
free, curious mind, always looking for new excitement and fun. His
followers and clients are getting a piece of this too. He truly built a
world of his own. Besides he is very aware of the importance of the
craft, the technique of tailoring. That makes him stronger than hype.
DD:
What makes you happy?
Carolin Lerch: Cooking good food and people liking it, swimming in a lake...
DD: Who would you like to collaborate with?
Carolin Lerch: Oh,
lots of people; MGMT, TV on the Radio, KLF, Roisin Murphy, Karen O,
Jamie Lidell, M.I.A., 50 Cent... people I don't know yet... it's
probably an endless list
.
DD: Where can we buy your clothes?
Carolin Lerch: The
park store in Vienna who also sell online; Noi in Rotterdam, Maryam
Nassir Zadeh in NY, Nid in Tokyo... And to see more visit www.pelicanavenue.com
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