JEAN-PAUL KNOTT
Jean-Paul Knott interviewed by Penny Martin
What first interested you in fashion design?
Clothes
Where did you train? Of what relevance were those studies to your current practice?
F.I.T. taught me about technical reality. YSL taught me about life, respect for clothes and the elegance of relationships.
Can you describe how you approach designing a new collection: which bits do you keep and which do you discard?
I don't design a new collection. I continue working on what I have started. Therefore, I first look at what I liked and disliked about the seasons before then start working on the line and the proportion and start dreaming. Then reality hits back.
What sources do you use for inspiration?
Everything I feel, everything I hear, everything that I eat, everything that I touch, everything I see.
What role does sexuality play in your designs? Are you aware of designing Womenswear for male or female consumption?
I wasn't aware that you could separate sexuality from design.
Is it important to you how your designs are translated into imagery? Do you feel nervous giving over control at their representation?
It is very important but I do think that it is not my job. Therefore I work with people in putting my clothes in different imagery.
It is imagery that makes fashion, it is not clothes.
Do you see a difference between looking at your clothes captured in film to those in still imagery?
I do see a difference - a difference of movement, but I do like the idea of capturing a moment. For my second collection I worked with "ZEUS", a tagger, in capturing the instant of a shadow. Since then, when I show, I try to take an instant view of what I try to do.
You have designed for other fashion houses including Yves Saint Laurent and Louis Feraud. Do you try to put yourself into the mindset of that house-style or do you consciously try to work against the traditional aesthetic there?
I have, depending on the moment, done both. Both are important. However, if I had to do it again, what I would do is work on the setting first (decoration) to be able to make everyone understand the world I would like to put the house into.
Do you take notice of other designers' work? Who do you consider to be your peers?
My favourite designer is GOD. The design of a flower, of nature, of a human being.
What do you think it means to categorise you as a Belgian designer?
TO BE.