2023-06-13 09:11:18
At 34, the Franco-Turkish designer is one of the finalists of the tenth edition of the LVMH Prize. He presents his vision for elegant and genderless fashion…
You launched your brand in 2019 and today you find yourself one of the nine finalists for the LVMH Prize 2023. How were you spotted?
Burc Akyol: I apply every year for the big prizes… Last year, I won the Fashion Trust Arabia Prize. It is also thanks to that that I was able to dress Kendall Jenner! (She wore her “Pause” dress to the LACMA Art + Film gala last November, editor’s note). I connected with his team there.
When Kendall Jenner wears the piece of a young designer, what does it change?
The immediate effect is that you jump in followers and you are harassed with messages! When this happened, I was finally taking a week off after a year of work. In the end, I spent four days responding to all the stylists, publishers, magazines… In terms of sales, we sold the equivalent of a year in one month via the e-shop.
Did you already know Marni Senofonte, her stylist?
I first met her when I worked for Esteban Cortázar. I worked with him for five years, from 2014 to 2019, before going solo. It was a good school, since it was a start-up: we combined budget management and the creative dream.
You have been through the greatest houses. In 2008, you were at Dior, Galliano period.
I was at Couture, that’s what most resembles the dream we have of the profession, with all the models arriving in the studio for the fittings, the incredible paintings…
You were also at Balenciaga, from the end of 2008 to 2009, the Nicolas Ghesquière period.
I made a man there, which requires a lot of rigor, it is a very precise know-how.
You finally created your own brand in 2019. At the time, all fashion swore by streetwear.
When I launched it, it was a bit of a revenge on Velcro, on streetwear. There was just that: sweatpants and sweatshirts! I was very scared for our profession, for the sophistication that I love in a garment, I said to myself, ” thin, I no longer have the desire to buy, everything is too standardized “. And me, I wanted something exceptional. So I set up my brand to make something exceptional!
Today, would you qualify part of what you create as street-couture?
Almost everything! In fact, most people who come to see the clothes say: It’s sewing, no ? “. It shows how streetwear has become the reference garment: as soon as you offer something more elaborate, with a beautiful material or an extra detail, it is considered couture.
When did your vocation date back to?
I wanted to do this job since I was seven years old. My father was a tailor in Dreux and his workshop was my baby’s room. He worked from home, I learned with him. When I was ten years old, I bought the Vogue, my father taught me to sew, I made clothes for my sisters and I watched fashion shows on television. I was a big fan of Hedi Slimane, it was the first time that men’s fashion was aimed at a physique like mine, which was quite thin. I discovered the desire for clothing through what he was doing at Dior. This desire where you say to yourself wow i want this piece », whereas you do not have the references to ten years. This is the strength of the garment.
When you left Dreux for Paris, it was to take courses at the Chambre Syndicale de la Mode (today the French Fashion Institute).
It was a dream. The school looked like the Chanel workshops, we were in rue Saint Roch, a stone’s throw from rue Cambon, under the roofs of old Parisian apartments, and the teachers were in white coats. We felt like we were in haute couture workshops.
You are a creator, and you also manage the business part of your brand. Isn’t it too hard to do both?
I think I have a good fiber for it, I didn’t create my business just for fun, I also want it to be successful.
How do you work?
So, I first make my samples in my workshop in Paris, from materials chosen for their quality and GOTS certified (the Global Organic Textile Standard, editor’s note). I try on all my clothes, even dresses, to get a look, and think about how they can be perfected. When you become the “wearer”, it’s easier to have a clear vision. It’s a good way” to edit ».
You speak of “wearer” and not of “consumer”.
Yes, it is above all a person who wears the piece. The consumer is a step above, that of loyalty to a brand. I would define it as someone who arrives at your house and who is going to stay.
“CLOTHING IS AN OBJECT, IT IS THE PERSON WHO WEARS IT WHO GIVES IT MEANING. »
Your fashion is truly genderless, there are no men’s or women’s categories on your site…
The idea of gendering clothing as we do it is a very recent Western notion, it dates back to the service society. Previously, there was no idea of sexualizing the garment. There were men who wore dresses and even today, if a djellaba is not a dress, I don’t see what is! I therefore consider clothing as an object, it is the person who wears it who gives it meaning: it will have its gender, its lack of gender or its indecision.
A few years ago, Virgil Abloh addressed the finalists of the LVMH Prize saying “ by being part of this selection, you have already wone “. Is that how you see things?
Absolutely. We were 2400 worlwide at the start, 22 semi-finalists, nine finalists, we will be able to present our work to the whole world for two days (before the announcement of the winner on June 7, editor’s note)the jury is amazing (for the 2023 edition, Jonathan Anderson, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Nicolas Ghesquière, Marc Jacobs, Kim Jones, Nigo, Stella McCartney and Silvia Venturini Fendi are among them, editor’s note)… We are all admirers of these creators. If we leave aside their status and our youth in the profession, it is a real meeting of enthusiasts. This year is the tenth anniversary of the prize, and we feel how much they love this project at LVMH, it’s a mission from the heart. As a young designer, it’s exciting to be part of this selection. A juror said, the DA’s of tomorrow are in this room “, and when we know that Demna Gvasalia, Matthew Williams or Virgil Abloh were all finalists before us…
Not too much pressure?
Yes, but the pressure comes from the fact that it’s an important moment, that we’re not going to take it lightly. I especially want to go there by being the “ best version of myself » !
Parade at the PFW on June 20.
Par Anaïs Dubois and Laurence Remila
Photo Benjamin Malcowivz
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#Burc #Akyol #nextgen #designer #Genderless #streetcouture