KINDRED SPIRITS

Paris, April 2021

Friendships between artists and designers are rare and beautiful occurrences, underlining the complementarity -and similarities- existing between these two visually driven worlds. Over the past years, KRIS VAN ASSCHE and RINUS VAN DE VELDE have enjoyed a special relationship, going beyond the fact that Van Assche is a collector of the Belgian’s striking and evocative art.
Interviews can also happen at the weirdest of times, and talking to Van Assche that morning there is no clue whatsoever that he will later announce his departure from Berluti. In a typical Belgian manner -and with the elegance that defines him as a person- the designer answers questions in an engaged, relaxed and confident manner.
Turns out the two men have a lot in common, and there’s a unique rapport between them. In this exclusive interview, they evoke the strength of their craft, dealing with reality, and why the human hand matters.

How did you two meet?

Kris Van Assche: I remember it well, because Willy Vanderperre and Olivier Rizzo spoke to me about Rinus, and I believe they are big collectors. They encouraged me to find out more. A few years later, we were all together on a shoot and that’s how we actually met.

Was that for the Dior 2016 campaign?

KVA: Yes, it was the Spring/Summer collection.

Rinus, what was it like to model for you then?

Rinus Van de Velde: I had done shoots with Willy before, but this was for Dior and I was pretty nervous that day. I had never met Kris before, and we had a fitting in his office the day before the shoot. As soon as I saw him, my nerves were soothed, because the atmosphere was so nice and open, and he asked me how I felt about the clothes and whether or not I was comfortable in them. Later, I was invited to a Dior show and was amazed by what I saw. That was such a spectacle for me, and I felt overwhelmed by it.

What attracts you about fashion?

RVDV: I am not a connoisseur, but Willy and Olivier gave me an insight into that world, which I started to get interested in. I loved being behind the scenes and in my work I happen to use a lot of photography, too. My process is to imagine myself as a different character, and that’s also something designers do when they create fashion. Even though I work here in the studio, and feel somewhat detached from fashion as an industry, I do consider designers as artists, and I am very curious about the ways Kris works and creates. I respect his process.

Kris, in your practice as a designer, do you also integrate this idea of fiction?

KVA: I definitely think of my shows as short movies and the boys are the protagonists, otherwise it’s just people wearing clothes, which is not that interesting. I do imagine stories for them, which was very much my approach for Dior. At Berluti, it has been more about the technique for the past couple of seasons and taking inspiration from artists and their views on things. I do think of myself as a storyteller though, and that is why what Rinus does also appeals to me.

Left Shirt **Comme des Garçons Shirt**
Right Full look **Loewe**

I once interviewed Wim Delvoye who argued that collectors had all the power within the art world. Would you agree?

RVDV: What Wim is saying is partly true, obviously. Museums used to have all the power, then the galleries took over. Today, it is still very important for an artist to be part of a well-established gallery. Institutions don’t necessarily have the funding that some artists need, and showing your work within a museum is key. I saw this with my exhibition at the Kunstmuseum in Lucerne, which runs until the 20th of June. Collectors are important, but Wim’s opinion seems a tad radical.

Isn’t it strange though that some collectors enjoy a close relationship with certain artists? Shouldn’t there be some sort of distance?

RVDV: Modernist painters had good relationships with some of their collectors, and I don’t think that this is new or surprising. It depends on how much the collector knows about your work. With Kris, it feels like an ongoing dialogue based on mutual respect. This doesn’t happen with everyone.

Are fashion consumers dictating the industry now?

KVA: Everyone has been talking about the impact of social media, and how it’s supposed to democratize fashion, along with criticism. Anyone with a phone now can proclaim themselves to be a fashion critic, and that’s a very dangerous thing. People no longer take the time to study references and understand where things are coming from. You work your ass off for 6 months on a collection and get slammed by somebody online who sees one picture they don’t like. That can be very frustrating.

Who can minimize this?

KVA: I think fashion journalists have an important role to play, even more so than the one they’ve had before. Good journalism is more relevant now than ever. Good galleries also matter in that sense, because they contextualize the work of artists. I know what I’m attracted to when it comes to art, but I don’t see myself as a connoisseur either. Tim Van Laere, who represents Rinus, therefore plays a fundamental role.

Rinus, we are bombarded with images on a daily basis, mainly through social media. Would you say that your art is an attempt to regain meaning when dealing with such visual invasion?

RVDV: Absolutely. I see it as regaining control, too, and making sense of what surrounds me. Our world is fragmented and no longer about metanarratives, but smaller ones instead. What can we do to create new meaning? We can invent stories, which -despite being fictional- allow us to find meaning again.

KVA: I’m also very sensitive to this current saturation and overconsumption of images. The minute you bring something out, it’s already old and you need something new. The pandemic made it even harder for me as a designer, because I could no longer show my work in the flesh. The biggest part of what I do needs to be worn and touched, or at least seen from the inside. Screens flattened things out and limited the appreciation of what we do. The more virtual and digital fashion becomes, the more I find myself drawn to the physicality of art and how artists get their hands dirty. The hand actually matters more now, because our world is an increasingly abstract one.

Rinus, you have been drawing since you were a teenager. Why is it so special for you?

rvdv: Well, I do love getting my hands dirty, too, literally [mutual laughter]. Without getting too esoteric about it, I see drawing as a singular way of life and that’s how I cope with reality. I want to be here in the studio and that’s how I’ve managed to resist the outside world so far. It’s always going to be my own universe -no matter what happens- but the beauty of art is that we can enter an artist’s world and experience it ourselves for a little while.

Left Full look **Balenciaga**
Right Shirt **Comme des Garçons Shirt**

Interview by Philippe Pourhashemi

Photography by Davit Giorgadze

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