Men Trend: Cold Method SS13 - interview with head designer Dieter de Cock

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Cold Method SS13 - interview with head designer Dieter de Cock

Men Trend had a unique opportunity to interview the head designer of Cold Method and obviously we want to share this with you! We introduce in this post the SS13 collection of Cold Method and an interview with Dieter de Cock, head designer of this brand.

Enjoy!

Dieter de Cock

Q: Your biggest inspiration for this collection was: 'Sympathy for the Devil' and Mick Jagger. How did you come up with this?
A: I always get very inspired by movies, art and music. This summer I wanted to create a more happy feeling, a freer spirit. This means the use of more colors, giving a more positive message to the audience.
That's why I came up with the idea of doing something with hippie subculture that existed in London in the late 60s. The documentary 'Sympathy for the Devil' was filmed those days. Mick Jagger is a very interesting person because of his liberating hippie-feeling, but at the same time he could be quite conservative as well. He often wore a classic English suit or a tennis sweater for example. This contrast itself was very interesting to me.
That's why my dressed part of the collection is inspired by Savile Row; the colors, prints and the bit oversized T-shirts provide the hippie touch.

Q:Why did you decide not to have a fashion show for this collection?
A: It just suited better with the theme. I brought it back to basic and just focussed on the clothes and how I created them. When you do the runway thing, it’s all about the show. Now, with an intimate presentation, I had the chance to throw light on things myself. I divided my collection in 3 main colors and put the focus on the clothing!

Q: How long does it take to prepare such a presentation?
A: The first time I had the idea for the collection was already in November 2011. Half December until the end of January we were busy drawing everything, choosing fabrics, deciding on colors,... In February, March and April working on prototypes, visiting manufacturers... In May we made the definitive samples. At this point we also started thinking about the presentation/show. But most of the things happened in June. We work with a small team so we’re always on the ball.

Q: How did you came up with the idea of working with a floral background?
A: I really wanted to do something more 'happy' for the backdrop. We worked together with LM Flowerfashion, a PR-company that links florists with fashion events.
We made a whole wall of Gerbera's of Holstein. This was already decided in May, so for everybody who thinks we stole the idea after seeing the Dior couture show... we have to disappoint you guys!

Q: What’s your favorite piece of this collection?
A: That would have to be the blue and red striped suit! For me personally, it’s a new sort of “Dandy Rock-‘n-roll”. Any man who dares to wear this suit is a true hero!

Q: How do you make the selection of the models? Do you select them yourself?
A: I try to do as much as possible myself. We start with a couple of guys who have modelled before for the brand. They became sort of friends of Cold Method. Some of them were simply hired at street castings! I want them to represent the average, contemporary man. I don't want to stick to one type of guy: we try to reach a large target market, you can also notice that with the models. This time I must say that I’ve tried to use the same type of guys for every main color.