A.P.C. 創辦人 Jean Touitou 談論當下時尚產業弊端、未來願景及 Kanye

正值 A.P.C. 2016 春夏「Five Dresses」系列發佈之際，《Vogue》與品牌創始人及設計師 Jean Touitou 進行了深度對話。在與 Touitou 就此系只推出五款黑色女裙的原因、背後美學理念根基等話題討論之後，專訪主題轉移至對當下時尚產業現狀的分析上。繼 Raf Simons 抨擊現今時尚瘋狂的速度扼殺創意之後，Jean Touitou 又認為高端時尚品牌在與「創意人員」的合作上存在嚴重弊端，並一針見血指出「時尚產業不知道如何對待藝術家」；而一向與 Kanye 關係良好的 Touitou  更是力挺自己的長期合作伙伴，大贊其對時尚的巨大野心及「敬業精神」，且指出兩人所追求的美學理念存在交集；最後，Jean Touitou 再度強調「質量永遠勝於數量」的發展思路，表示品牌會在未來 10 年中繼續堅持小眾路線，創造「質奢價不奢」的產品。感興趣的朋友可以點擊此處瀏覽完整專訪內容。

You say that the fashion industry doesn’t understand creative people.
The industry has no clue how to manage creative people. They don’t understand creativity. Sometimes they have no culture, either. The business got itself into trouble by trying to sell “luxury” to a wide audience, with no culture. Luxury should be in bed with culture, period. You can’t just think in terms of who is a star and who is not. [Luxury is] too in your face right now. Next we’ll be hanging gold bricks around our necks. Fashion industry leaders should be like good gallery owners: They should know how to treat the artist. When it works, it works very well. Same thing with the music business: good producer, good talent. But in fashion I don’t think they understand each other.

So what’s the solution?
If the creatives see the business people as stupid or square, then it doesn’t work. And if business people are addicted to margins and view creatives as crazy artists, it doesn’t work, either. So they have to respect each other. It doesn’t mean the dialogue is always peaceful. But that’s the key to riding that bicycle.

Speaking of music and fashion, are you working with Kanye?
We’ll be carrying pieces from Kanye’s second Yeezy collection this fall in Paris, New York, and L.A. [in stores in July]. I think they’re really good, and I’m not the only one. Kanye can be a caricature of himself, and he has the self-irony to know that. He has no problem with it. But he is trying hard. He’s sincere. He really loves it. I appreciate his effort to make clothes, not just to make noise in fashion. Anyone with power can make noise in fashion. He has a similar vision of beauty to mine, only the words are bigger: He wants to spread dopeness and redesign the whole planet.

What do you think fashion will look like 10 years from now?
I don’t know if there will be a game-changer. The ones that don’t have a clue will continue to make expensive bags. I’m still obsessed with beautiful, affordable luxury, because if you don’t sell, you perish. I’m going to keep creating my own little sensation in my own little world. If you go massive, you give up your freedom. We know everything the big guys do, we know the language; we’re just not going to go there. I have a few more ideas. But it will never be more than five dresses. Maybe three. You don’t need more.