:: SHOWstudio ::

Véronique Leroy interviewed by Penny Martin

What first interested you in fashion?
Speed, changing, movement, versatility. The fact that nothing is settled. What you hate one day, you might like 3 years after.

Did you have a formal education in fashion design?
No.

How did your training at Studio Berçot, Didier Renard, Azzedine Alaïa and Martine Sitbon influence your current practice?
At the beginning of my own label, the time and the way I worked for Azzedine (Alaïa) did influence me, as it was the longest (I spent) as an assistant. But in time, I got my own way of practicing.

At what point were you aware that you were establishing a visual vocabulary of your own?
At the beginning, I was not aware of my visual vocabulary and it has been only a few years since I realised that I do have my own vocabulary.

Can you describe those stylistic elements that distinguish a Véronique Leroy garment from those by other designers?
There are not material elements. There is just a style. It's a garment, which gives you an attitude, an allure that influences the way you behave.

Are you aware of designing for a female or a male gaze? What role does femininity or sexuality play in your collections?
Femininity is my first ever preoccupation and will still be my ever-lasting preoccupation on a collection. Both sexuality and femininity are present but it just depends on percentage.

You have a longstanding relationship with the photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin and have said that collaboration is important to you in shaping your brand. What level of control do you give over to the photographer in interpreting you clothing?
It can go from 100% to less. It's just a matter of trust.

Which designers do you regard as your contemporaries or peers?
I just have regard and respect for work, its mood and style, but as I said, I am able to like the work of someone in a certain period of time and then don't like it later.

What do you think it means to categorise you as a 'Belgian designer'?
I am the most French of Belgian designers.