Now I know it's been far too long since my last post BUT I have some exciting new content so hang in there!!
I was lucky enough to be able to arrange an interview with Philip Colbert who if you don't recognise the name is the Warhol inspired genius behind the eccentric label the Rodnik Band.
I originally did the interview for the Online Student Newspaper I am the Lifestyle editor for and you can read it here at
Exepose Online!
The label is inspired by the Pop Art movement but is not
your average fashion brand...it is an original collaboration of art, music and
fashion brought together to create a ‘unique fashion concept’. The designs
include some controversial and bold satires of the fashion industry whilst
being themselves highly fashionable, with an array of famous supporters
including Lady Gaga and Andre Leon Tally. You can Imagine my excitement at
being able to have a chat with such a successful, unique and downright fun
designer!
Chessie: You’re
Brand’s really bold and unique with its quirky interpretation of pop art, could
you tell me a bit more about the concept behind combining music art and
fashion, as opposed to just being a fashion brand?
Philip: Basically
when I graduated I wanted to do something different. I started by getting into
scarves so you see I got into fashion in quite a random way. And basically the
reason why I guess I tried to make it a bit different was to keep it
interesting for myself and give it a bit of value. I felt it was more an art
sort of brand. I just wanted to have fun with it, you know. Sometimes when you
come at something from a totally different angle, if you hadn’t always imagined
how you’d do something, you don’t have the same stereotypes about it. For me
the idea of being a designer in the conventional sense seemed a bit boring and
so that’s where this whole ‘band’ idea came because just fashion alone doesn’t
give the same notion of a relationship between the creator and the product. In
the art world we see the play on the notion of the artist, how the name of the
artist and the way the artist thinks determines that value of what they create.
Chessie: Well
it definitely brings something new to the industry! You have some very
impressive supporters of the brand including Lady GaGa and Andre Leon Tally,
how does it feel to have such big names supporting you and become so
successful?
Philip: Well
fashion success is basically creating a business empire, because fashion, more
that art is such a business in terms that clothes have to be sold in such
volume, and you want it to have longevity. To give you an example, in art you
sell something once, you paint a painting, you take it to a gallery, a
collector says ‘I like that I’ll buy it and stick it on the wall, people might
like it’. In fashion if you create a show, you create a dress, it’s a spectacle
object for people to go ‘oh wow, I really like that’, but for buyers if they
like it they have to order let’s say a thousand of them and they put them in a
department store and then a thousand people have to come along and say ‘oh I
like that, I’ll wear that’ because the fashion has this very commercial follow
through. Even though we’ve definitely been lucky to have a fun journey and had
little bits of good fortune, the challenge is the hard work and trying to sell
in lots of different countries, and trying to create the commercial side of it.
Exeposé Lifestyle:
You’re brand is known for being quite
tongue in cheek, I saw the spoof fashion show with the front row consisting of
look-a-likes (including the royal family, Katy Perry and Elton John). You
obviously have a lot of fun but how do you maintain that balance between fun
and the business side?
Philip: Well yes
for me it made sense to start doing the spoofing because when fashion week
comes around every designer is basically spending loads of money trying to
promote themselves and so it’s actually a bit of a fight to get attention. And
everyone is doing so many shows that I feel all the shows start to melt into
each other and then all the effort and money spent doesn’t receive the best
return. The shows that are most hyped who get good returns, like say Burberry,
will have all these celebrities in the front row and they’ll get front pages in
papers. They are the really good businesses who can afford to spend so much on
the show. But if you are small and trying to compete with that then I was
thinking in actuality the shows don’t necessarily relate directly to the sales
figures. That’s the other side of the whole business, the sales. The shows are
sort of the fantasy, the attraction. So for me if I’m not really going to
compete with Burberry and the really hyped brands then instead of spending all
this money and not getting a fair return I thought well, my brand is more about
tongue in cheek stuff so why don’t I just be completely ridiculous so even if I
don’t get commercial press I can get known and establish an identity. It’s
certainly great in terms of getting publicity that I wouldn’t otherwise get.
It’s different publicity because it’s not directly fashion related, its more
news coverage. For me it’s the perfect kind of press because it helps push the
spirit of the brand.
Chessie: Some
of your designs are quite controversial such as the ‘Naked Venus Dress’, Do you
try and stir up a bit of controversy with your designs to try and gain this
media attention?
Philip: The brand
is definitely satirical, it’s a satire of fashion in a way. I want to slightly take
the piss of the idea of clothing and fashion. I liked that idea particularly because
it was a reference to art, to Tom Wesslemann’s paintings when he would paint a
nude girl but she would have the tan lines so in a way it was giving a wink to
Tom Wesselmann and the Pop Art. So it was a pop art dress but also a bit of a
satire of fashion in general. That’s definitely my sort of thing, rocking the
line of clothing as a fun expression of art work. Because there are different
conceptions of fashion, for some fashion is a serious statement of femininity,
or it can be seen in a more romantic or abstract sense. For some its more
trends based and seasonal but for me there are other types of fashion, as a
very bold expression or statement.
Chessie:
That certainly comes through in your collections! When you were at London
Fashion week did you see any other designers that you particularly like at the
moment?
Philip: I really
like Moschino, especially early Moschino, Moschino now is more corporate but
Franco Moschino the designer guy who started it definitely had a fun spirit of
being an artist and making anti fashion clothing. It was fashion in the sense
that it was well made and chic but it had bold statements, taking
the piss sort of statements. For me, if I was a woman in fashion I’d rather be
a rebel, taking the piss out of the glamour but being glamorous at the same
time. There’s something quite tragic about being drawn into designer labels. I
think you can look chic but at the same time take the piss out of yourself.
Chessie: I
think you can see that clearly in your brand, particularly with some of the
clutches that are matchboxes and household items but are sequined and glamorous
presenting an ironic paradox.
Philip: Yes! The
bags for us are an exciting development as they’re a way for everyone can take
the spirit of the Rodnik label because
they can wear whatever they would normally wear and the bag can be the
statement!
Chessie: Is
there any advise you would give to people who are wanting to develop their own
brands or becoming designers?
Philip: For me,
when I started I very much had this natural belief that stories sell everything
and the funny thing is that when I started the idea was very different than it
is now because I was importing scarves from Russia and it was all about telling
a story of a princess and a romantic history. The idea of Rodnik actually came
from an old shop in Moscow in 1904 and when I sold the scarves I sold them with
a booklet telling the story of the princess and the shop in Moscow in 1904 and
the artists that were associated with it. I think it’s true that stories sell
things. Now it’s slightly different because I’ve become so focused on making
the products do the talking, it’s very product focused. But when I started I
was definitely concerned with creating a sense of a narrative.
It’s a challenge doing creative things. It’s like queueing in
a cash point; you’ve got to wait a long time to get paid because there are so
many people going to the same place wanting to do the same thing. Creative jobs
are oversubscribed so I think one has to be smart and be focused in what you do
in terms being distinct from other people.
To see more of the provocative and original designs by the Rodnik Band just click to visit their
Website!
All photos courtesy of the Rodnik Band.
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