Just when you thought you’re already tired of discussing fashion issues, emerging trends, early signals and impossible ideals, something special pops up to feed your enthusiasm.
Vanessa Schindler, a fresh graduate of fashion design caught my interest with her experimental menswear collection. Exploring basic pieces in men’s wardrobe (jackets, sweaters, shirts, shorts and shoes), she adores playing with unexpected fabrics and redesigning the silhouettes.
Peculiarly titled Oui c’est du renne du bord de la route, Vanessa Schindler’s Bachelor Collection (from University of Art and Design HEAD Geneva, Switzerland) leads us in a different world, ruled by new forces, alternative shapes and amusing details.
Curious about her fashion inspiration, personal vision and future plans, I took Vanessa a short interview:
How it all started?
It started a long time ago when I begun to collect different materials found in my hometown in Switzerland. Supermarket ropes and elastic threads, cow hide, reindeer fur, wood, lycra… This collection became a play between the man’s classical wardrobe and these materials.
The main accessory is a stick of wood painted in yellow. In each silhouette, it disturbs the regular shape of these garments. It runs through them, exaggerates them, lifts them up and stretches them.
To me it was a way to think about fashion. How our eyes get used to abstract ideas. Pushing the boundaries. Seeing how far I could go with the yellow stick. See how we are able, or not, to get use to new shapes on a body. This collection is more a reflection and amusement about menswear. Six masculine totems, masculine sculptures, a men’s collection.
(Literal translation of the title: “Yes this reindeer was found by the side of the road”)
Why menswear?
I chose menswear because I believe it is more liberated from social stigma, it allows more humor and constructivism around its form. And simply because I wanted to built these men figures.
What was your favorite part in the design process?
Maybe when you start visualizing the final result, when you begin to see what it will become, and if the result fits with the idea you had in mind. This moment when you just race to make it become real!
How do you feel as a fresh graduate? what’s next?
I feel well! I already did a few internships, one at Etudes Studio and another at Balenciaga. Today I’m an intern at Henrik Vibskov Studio in Copenhagen. Next? Probably a new personal project focusing more on accessories and installations.
I attached below some images selected from Vanessa’s research book, to get a glimpse of the complex documentation process and inspiration behind this fashion collection.
Photo Credits: Julien Chavaillaz and Philippe Fragnière