Interview with Modernist

 

 

Modernist are a team of two contrasting individuals, Andrew Jones and Abdul Koroma combine their diverse ideas together to create a dark meaningful abstraction. Inspired by films such as “The Wicker Man” and “Twin Peaks – Fire Walk with Me” taking this seasons “Bad Girl” trend to a completely new level. Here’s how the interview with the mysterious couple went.

When did your fashion careers begin?

We met whilst consulting for a design house in Italy.

What does a normal day/week consist of you? (If there is such a thing!)

One of the best things – and sometimes the worst – is the fact that everyday is different. There’s always something to sort out and then like a seven-headed hydra more things crop up! There’s very little glamour in what we do! A lot of it’s actually spent on the phone or glued to our laptops.

 
Are there any words of wisdom you would pass on or anything you wish you had known at the start of your career?

If we could do things differently we would have started with one product category and developed the collection from that. It’s easier for people to understand what you’re about and buy into it.

What are the best and worst aspects of your job?

Being your own boss can be highly satisfying, especially when you see all the models lined up before a show. All that hard work comes together at that moment. You have total creative freedom but the downside is that every decision ends with you and that can be quite hard. You don’t always know what the right thing to do is.

 
What or who has been your greatest inspiration and why?

We’re very much about subverting an idea. There isn’t one person or thing that we could single out. For us, its more about contrasting things that don’t necessarily belong together to create something new. That’s the driving force behind what we do.

What are you most looking forward to in the future regarding your career?

Growing as a business and developing other product areas. There are other aspects apart from design that interest us, such as trend forecasting, writing and production.

Congratulations on obtaining Harvey Nichols as one of your stockists, where do you aim for next?

Thank you. We’re over the moon about that! It really made last season worth it. We really want to focus our growth and obtain a high profile stockist in the main fashion capitals with our next collection.

 
Your latest Voodoo collection seems somewhat dark and mysterious; do these traits reflect certain aspects of either of your personalities?

Interesting question! There is a really wicked, dark sense of humour that we share – its what keeps us sane, the fact that we can still laugh in the face of adversity. We were going through our previous collections the other day and realised that there is always something slightly twisted, a little bit wrong about our work.
 

There is a clear consistency of contrasting textures throughout your collection, what happens when you both have contrasting ideas?

Another good question. The fact that we’re so different is actually quite healthy. There can be a few tricky moments but it pushes us to always question ourselves and not too get lazy. We generally let our stylist decide if we can’t reach a compromise but that rarely happens!

Have you always known you would extend your collection with accessories?

Accessories have been part of our look since day one, be it in a left field sort of way. Again, its that idea of contrast or unexpected materials – like our grosgrain headpieces or the chiffon Masai necklaces. It’s definitely an angle we want to explore further.

Are you participating in any shows and/or events that can we expect to see your collection?

We recently just shot a short film with Mary Fellowes and Lorna Lavalle for Showstudio that will be out during fashion week in conjunction with a new book. It was great to communicate our ideas in a different way. Also, we have made a dress out of hair and hair flowers for the upcoming Salvador Dali exhibition at the Design Museum. Its a surrealist take on the little black dress – very chic but slightly unnerving…

Do you have any sneak previews of up and coming designs for FashionCapital.co.uk?

Next season sees us on a very romantic footing, light, feminine and intricate.

 

Quick Fire Round

First Job

Abdul: Bally on Oxford Street

Andrew: Glove factory sample cutter

Favourite person

Abdul: Barbra from the League of Gentlemen

Andrew: Pauline from the League of Gentlemen [the one with the pens]
 

Favourite music

Abdul: How long have we got?

Andrew: Feist

 
Favourite book

Abdul: Perfume

Andrew: –

 
Favourite artist

Abdul: Piero Manzoni

Andrew: Mark Rothko