kabustyleeさんのブログ
an Athletic Clothing Line
How a Belgian Fashion Designer Made an Athletic Clothing Line for Fashion
Heads
New York Fashion Week was hot last month, literally. At menswear designer Tim
Coppens's presentation of his new collaboration with Under Armour—a series of
sweat-repellant, water wicking, and generally slick sportswear designs called
UAS—the perspiring attendees likely wished they were wearing the collection
instead of their best couture.
Coppen's designs have always seeped with sports-influence, so his work with
Under Armour comes as no surprise. The clothing is the result of what one might
expect the CDFA award-winning designer to do with a pile of neoprene and
spandex: UAS has the same air of seamless downtown cool as Coppens's eponymous
brand, but the designs are a bit more practical. The jackets have necklines that
zip all the way up under the chin, and each piece is made to be layered under or
over one another.
It's clear that Coppens had a dynamic city dweller in mind here, maybe the
type who goes straight from the gym to the bar and still looks fresh. His
clothes have always looked like gear you can both live and move in, regardless
of setting or even weather. In other words, they're pragmatic and elegant. His
latest athletic-minded body of work (he's previously designed sportswear for
both adidas and Ralph Lauren) is true to his oeuvre while still a knockout in
its own right.
"The starting point is really: how do we make clothes that maybe already
exist and optimize them, think about where they come from, what the roots are,
what's the function, the inspiration, and how can we translate that in a way
that doesn't look like just 'a tracksuit'?" the designer told me when I visited
his Chelsea studio to talk about the UAS collection. Below, we talked freely
about topics like his teenage love of skating and how brands often lazily
misappropriate subcultures, as well as Coppens's goal of ensuring his projects
never feel like a gimmick.
VICE: What's your life like right now?
Tim Coppens: Right now it's like... busy. But it's normal. I don't mind.
Usually I work seven days a week. Of course I enjoy going to dinner but I think
there's always sort of a link to what I do. But that's interesting to me.
There's always a conversation, or there's always a meeting, or there's always
something that you see and I would be unable to separate like, OK now I go to
work, and now I sit home and then don't do work. Even if I watch the news there
will always be a link, but I guess that's normal. I think that it's important
that you're tuned in with reality as well. This is not just like, OK, I do my
job and then the office closes at 5. And I think that as long as I feel that I
have a happy brain that likes to do this then I'm good. And sometimes it's a
lot. Sometimes you have to tune out a little bit.
What do you do to tune out?
I do a little bit of sports. A little bit of very intense sports. I go boxing
or I go cycling or something. There's not a lot of time, so I plan going to the
gym. Plan, plan, plan... I want to have control over a lot of things.
You skateboard, right?
I did do a lot of stuff in that world. I skate like once or twice, once a
month or something. I don't have a lot of confidence on a board right now. I
just feel like I'm a little more careful, you know? I can't afford to break my
wrist or go be stupid. I think one of the last times was when I met my now-wife.
The first date that we went on was me with my four ligaments torn up, so I don't
want to have that.
How do you feel about the skater style that's appearing in the fashion world
these days?
I guess I'm pretty old school when it comes to that. Listen, I think you have
the old school and the people that have been doing it who have a lot of respect
for guys in their 50s who are still skating. It's amazing what I see on
Instagram—like what's being pulled off these days. It's crazy.
You mean with regard to clothing?
I'm not talking about clothing. A lot of the kids that skateboard don't know
what's going on with what people in fashion take from their culture. They don't
have visibility toward that; they don't care. Maybe they care. But not as much
as the people that actually go and buy the stuff that takes inspiration from
that. I think it gets a little tricky when you have a brand that jumps on every
trend every six seasons and uses a culture as a way to communicate—it loses
authenticity in a lot of cases. And the real skateboarder that sits here will
not believe that, but that does not mean that the consumer out there will think
that's cool. I think that's the difference.
But a lot of things start as subcultures and they grow up. They get taken out
of context and that's what I'm saying. I'm still old school and I still very
much believe in authenticity. I think that is super important in a brand. You
can be as big as you want, but if you pick up a culture that's a part of like a
15- or 16-year-old who goes out there and like breaks his legs, he's not going
to feel the authenticity in what's happening when a big corporation takes that.
Unless they do it in the right way.
Why do you think skate culture and fashion evolved like this?
I think the reason why it developed into such a big thing is because certain
things got corporate and people structured the business around it. I think that
might have changed certain things about skate culture and about graffiti and
street culture in general, but I think it also brought a spotlight on certain
things and also gave opportunities to people who would not have been able to
build a professional life out of what they did as a hobby. You know, when you've
tried 50 times and you finally land it—that experience is amazing. It's not just
looking like a skateboarder, it's really doing that. And that is not something
that you will be able to show on a catwalk. You can pull references and there's
nothing wrong with that. It's a sport, it's an activity, it's a lifestyle, it's
not just about the clothes.
What sort of technology is involved with your designs?
It's simple things, you know? Simple things that maybe we have thought about
but maybe haven't worked through entirely. A chino pant with a water repellent
finish on it, for example: I'm sure it exists, but we did it on a whole range of
sweatshirts—a crewneck, a hoodie, sweatpants, and all that. Simple things like
that, that are not actually that simple to achieve but they are just simple
solutions. When I go out and I want to wear my nice hoodie inside and I want to
wear it outside and it's dripping a little bit when I go from point A to point
B, then I don't have to wear an extra layer because the hoodie is going to keep
me dry. Or stretch in certain areas where I need it when I'm on the bike,
especially when other pieces that I have in my closet don't offer that.
Integrating that technology—not space technology—that level of technology
might be something that we think of going forward for the coming season, but
that takes time to develop. That's not something you do overnight. I would hate
to do things that become a gimmick. I don't think we need the shoes with the
lights when we walk. But, it's maybe an interesting idea to work on something
like that, you know, that is integrated, that is not a gimmick, that could help
you.
It's like using new technology for something that is useful and not just for
the sake of using it.
Yeah, exactly. And, you know, simple solutions like where is the pocket?
Where does the pocket have to be? Is there an easy way of accessing the pocket?
Just simple solutions, that is what the first collection was really all about.
And a suit jacket that is like made out of a knit that looks like a suiting. All
these things might not be revolutions but we tried to do it in a tailored way,
in a fitted way. Work around the fabric and work around the construction so that
we deliver a collection where all these things are integrated in each piece as
much as we can. It's not just a beautiful product but it's also a product with a
function that is subtly integrated into it.
Did you see this trend coming of changing the way that we dress in formal
settings, in office settings, and make wearing these garments crafted out of
materials originally intended for athletic apparel?
I guess a lot of people grow up, and my generation grew up, but it doesn't
mean that they're going to wear a suit and tie to the office. That's not going
to happen anymore. Look at the way people get married, look at the way
politicians are dressed, not for presidential debates, but just in general—the
world has changed. You know, when people started wearing denim in the 80s to
work, that was [considered] a shame. So I think there's kind of a lot more
acceptability in those kinds of things.
I was never going to go work for a big house in Paris, that was never really
my goal or my dream. I don't think it would be exciting for me. I think the
exciting part that did happen was when I started creating the more functional,
the more athletic [designs], and watched those worlds merge. It kind of happened
when I was doing my brand, and now it's like all over the place. So, I don't
know, maybe I did help in that.
