TOKYO KAFE with WALTER VAN BEIRENDONCK in ZYAPPU No. 12 (27/09/1996)
Interview by Takeharu Hirakawa
HIRAKAWA : I liked some of the parts of your collection. First of all, I like the way you combine various elements. I also liked the way your clothes came across as being very energetic and positive. I think that 21st century casual is equivalent to combining sportswears, underwear, and sex shop goods. And the role of the 21st century designer is to put all these elements into the category called Fashion. There are few designers who accomplish this successfully, but you are doing it. Could you please tell me your main ideas in making clothes ?
WALTER : I think you are very right. My point in making clothes is to create with a free and open mind. And to be aware that there are a lot of people involved, therefore a lot of communication can be born. I guess it’s more realistic to put different elements into fashion because that’s what people on the streets do.
HIRAKAWA : You are particularly good at making sports wear. I think you have mastered the materials very well. I’ve also heard that you worked at a sportswear company ?
WALTER : I have been in the fashion world for 12 years now. I have worked at Gianfranco Ferré and several other firms. I’ve done collections on sportswear and jeans, and participated in collections in Italy. In this sense, I understand the commercialistic way of thinking very well. I always try to keep this way of thinking, but at the same time maintain good balance. I want to make clothes that suit both the market and the collection.
HIRAKAWA : What were you interested in when you were a kid ?
WALTER : I was very closed off. It seemed people didn’t understand me so I was always trying to find a new way to express myself. All my friends were interested in sports but I was interested in music and arts. So I made up my own fantasy world. I’d make up stories and I’d paint. But I didn’t have a hard time adjusting to the real world. I always kept a clear line between my fantasy world and the real world.
HIRAKAWA : It is clear that your fashion comes from such a background. What is most important for you and how do you transform it into a design ?
WALTER : It’s a mixture of various things. When I design I’m inspired by books, but those books have nothing to do with fashion. They are about computers, ethnic cultures and so on. I use these books to make collages, and then I make sketches. I then transform these sketches into the language of fashion.
HIRAKAWA : I think 21st century fashion is about “Body”. How you protect your body. Your concept behind the one on the surface is I think such things as body and skin, that kind of more detailed things right ?
WALTER : That’s a precise analysis ! The hidden concept is « the protection of emotions ». Although it is the freedom of the viewers and the buyers to understand the collection as they see and feel it.
HIRAKAWA : If I had to name each of your collections, I’d say « Rhythm and Madness » for the first one, « Skin » as a fetish for the second. The third one is « Future is always in Nature » or « TV games and animation ». The fourth collection is « To work is to play sports » and the last one is « Fashion as an unidentified object ».
WALTER : That’s quite right. In my first show, I wanted to show the soft side of our world where machines have overflooded us. I wanted more emotions. The second one is based on skin color. The third collection was based on rubber. People often misunderstand me for hating nature because of my use of colors. I wanted to say that there are many bright colors in nature. The small show I did was about body, soul, and emotions. The latest one, I wanted to say « Please save the earth !!! ».
HIRAKAWA : I think the way you present your collection is very good, in a way that you capture the concept of age. I think the fashion business is the image business. Whether you win or lose depends on how you manage your image. You control the image very well, what’s the secret ?
WALTER : Are you going to be a fashion designer (laugh)? Well the answer is very simple. To be open minded.
HIRAKAWA : I think the five elements in counter culture are film, music, sports, sex, and drugs. What do you think about film and music ?
WALTER : I’ve been very busy working so I didn’t have the opportunity to find new things this tile in Tokyo, but I have a wide interest in film and music.
HIRAKAWA : What is your impression of Tokyo？
WALTER : It is very stimulating for me. I felt I was very understood by Japanese people. They are still interested in fashion.
HIRAKAWA : What kind of animals remind you of Tokyo ?
WALTER : Let me think… It’s not like a dragon or a snake… a bird maybe.
HIRAKAWA : Bird (laugh)? That’s very cute.
WALTER : Birds change. When you see the city of Tokyo and its people at night, they seem totally different than they do during the day. To me Tokyo is like a peacock. It looks like a normal bird but it’s not. A peacock is also a very serious bird and so is Tokyo.
HIRAKAWA : If Japan was the main target of the fashion business, I think your fashion suits Japanese people more than any other designer. What do you think ?
WALTER : I think it really does. I am amazed by how Japanese people react. It’s a strange feeling. I have a close attachment to Japan which is bizarre because I’ve never studied anything to do with Japan before. I think Americans had problems relating to my work. I hope I can fulfill Japanese people's desires.
you can purchase the original issue here
(This interview was first published in Japanese and English in ZYAPPU No.27 from March 1997, and scanned by the Archaism studio team.)