Filles À Papa it’s the off-the-wall Belgium based label that is on the all fashion aficionados lips but above all it is the Carol & Sarah siblings teamed-up with Gregory Derkenne, being in control of an entirely original universe. To complete the SS13 collection on a very nice way FÀP created a swimming costumes range and thrown a little party in town for the collection launching. It was for me the perfect pretext to meet up the girls and having a discussion regarding their near future projects.
Hello girls, to get to the heart of the matter... What could you tell me about the "Tomboy" concept?
Firstly it’s the super gathering idea around a concept and a name. A thing that gathers our model around our universe and the character we introduce each season. For this Tomboy SS13 collection Nina has a hoyden temper and a mug! She is the kind to play basketball with other chaps.
The girls you picked up for the first collections were a bit more into the femme fatale style when today we are more in a teenager atmosphere.
Femme Fatale? Not that much! But we think we developed the label and its visual ID evolved a lot! Since a few collections now, FÀP was able to create one’s own visual identity. Now, we are working on Tomboy. For each collection we introduce a highly detailed narration and we create a world. Once this part of the work is done we will fit in our model. We have fun to imagine her (the girl) in the real life. Regarding the photographs and pictures it is essential to find a new key actor to personify our character and our collection. Gregory got the perfect sense to dig up the ideal girl! We certainly do not betray what we did before and we are very happy with our beliefs and the choices we made! Present is directly a consequence of the past!
You transpose the real world within your project with a genuine consistency and that is interesting. But for the swimsuits why did you get back on day-glow splashes and more childish stuffs?
For the swimming costumes Micro-Collection, the idea was to present a new product but also a new version of the Tomboy & Welcome to Paradise themes; hits from this summer season (SS13). Tomboy sweaters & tees have a very clear message & graphic design. Thereby for the swimwear we work on a proper design to enlighten the message without any flourish. This fluorescent yellow sounds frankly 80’S; we immediately think to these skateboarding girls at Venice beach... Items cuts are very simple but finished with lovely plunging necklines or more feminine details (as the multiple straps in the back). We felt like to introduce the swimsuit more as a fashion accessory you wear in another context and you could match on a more urban manner with denim trousers, an opened timber-shirt or under a blazer jacket.
Why did you change your character to fit in the swimming costumes?
To introduce the swimwear range we had something different on mind. We wanted something fresh, a teenager girl. Yumi Lambert was the perfect fit in this role.
To move on something else: where did disappear those sharp cuts and distinctive combinations which were so recognisable?
We continue working those cut-outs and patchworks plays. Sometimes we note them less, as the materials contrast is lighter. We have had our geometric cuts and our multi-cutouts leggings, but it is a good thing to shake up the possibilities. All will depend of our inspirations and what we expect to wear. Otherwise, did you get a look on the winter? We will get a talk about it later! We will tell you a bit more about the universe and the story that support and give intensity to the totality of our collection.
If we look to the past, do you believe that your typical customer will be a working girl, a functional girl?
It is quite mad; we have a very wide clientele. It comes from the 17 years old teenager to the 45 years old workingwoman. All those girls got a very high fashion feeling and adapt our items to their own look! I often see my mother wearing our clothes but with different associations than me.
Into the future do you have the intention to claim of such strong concepts as "Tomboy" . With the iconic & significant side which is linked with?
Yeah, doubtlessly! In the winter isn’t Tomboy, but the "boot camp / reform school" motif. The girls immersed into, she is falling down but ever raise up stronger. It is her hotspur side!! On her tops we can read messages as: "Courage", "Yes, Sir!", "Who dares wins" or "FÀP-first in deed". For the Tomboy message shown up in the right time! In the fashion industry it is very important to get in the right time!
Regarding the local Brussels context, do you think you arrived at the best possible moment?
Sarah, Gregory and myself raised the Filles À Papa project individually, out of the step if we compare with what creators do in Brussels in the meanwhile and in Belgium in general. At this level, FÀP didn’t follow the model. We rather acted as the black sheep. There is also a genuine growing enthusiasm around the label here and abroad! Sometimes we think that the public is not daring enough, it’s a completely different dynamic than in London or NYC for example.
And what if you had to open your first flagship store?
We do not believe in Brussels as the most strategic spot. For a brand as Filles À Papa, London is a better candidate! It’s a town wherein we would like to set up our first fashion show... The brand carries off a resounding success in Asia and in the United States as well!
It is funny you talked about London! Looking to your collections I thought that the Klaxons did their job!
We are fond of British vibes! There is the new Seapunk and Garage rock wave that comes from the US coasts... Indeed, I reckon that influences play a major part in our creation work.
For your influences... How do you handle that?
It is very important for us to stay broad-minded; we quiver when we discover new stuffs we love. But there is never time enough to know all we want. Unconscious might play a major role in the influences process. Sometimes, several details linked to influences we did not live through are meeting up our work. Materials are essential in our inventive process, we like contrasts, mixings, genders contradiction...cultural clashes!
Do you some particular inspiring thing, people here in Belgium?
Urban movements are inspiring for us and we like their freedom, and this “unity” concept connected within. There is our lads pack in Liège: rock’n’roll girls who aren’t faint-hearted and who are not afraid to stand to the guys. Their strength of will is often an inspiring influence for our collections muses. Our influences generally come directly from our environment and our entourage.
Do you intend to work with these persons? Are there some planned collaborations?
Yes of course! It is scheduled in a near future... We are antsy!
For the winter, I wanted to talk about a precise item. It is a bit apart. (Cfr. pictures)
With a view to merge our muse within her slightly military background, we reinterpreted the camouflage as a flowing veil printed with a tree branches mimetic pattern. This camouflage idea joins what we can find on other items as pixelated mat sequin in khaki and black version. We can find it again in a white and blue version. Here is a cargo pant fashioned in lightly transparent contrasted veil. We are living in a time wherein sexes are bonding increasingly; tension between female and male genders is tangible in our collection and visible in the codification of our contrasted materials set, a bit of hooliganism, the 13... kind of jinx/lucky-charm! 2013 was the perfect year to use it on a garment!
And what about this harsh picture (Girl wearing a "FÀP" bloody letters tee- shirt)?
The blood on the top pictures a duality between pure and lascivious. The girl is fighting in a quite rough universe (Cfr. Boot camp & reform school)!
As an end, could we easily tell that you are the perfect anti-basics brand.
We rather say that our clothes are good travelling buddies. We create solid garments, which can often dress-up the general look. The girls will be back soon and will give life to their winter character in a video teaser that will come out for the autumn season.
