ra fw11/12 exhibition: january 21st – january 24th
performance opening: january 21st, 8pm to 11pm
rue de la corderie 14
75003 paris (métro temple)
sales: +32 (0) 474 311 865 / romain@ra13.be
press: elisa@totemfashion.com / david@ra13.be
www.ra13.be
new adventures in menswear: ra in paris
renegades. outsiders. pioneers. these are the ones we feel a kinship with. for the first time this year, ra
dedicates a separate edition to menswear, using its paris location to explore different facets of
masculinity. a seamless and lively interaction between art, fashion, music and performance, the f/w11-
12 exhibition offers a strong point of view, sampling singular voices and pushing new talent. this
experimental and playful approach is part of ra’s identity, operating a joyful crossover between creative
disciplines.
this season, we decided to include 16 international contributors for you to discover. whether they work
with clothes, accessories, photographs or instruments, these individuals share a willingness to be bold,
challenging their creative limits, searching for alternatives and stepping out of their natural habitat. their
narratives, passions and obsessions will unfold during the event. allow yourself to be convinced. get
into their story. enjoy the unexpected.
contributors
kevin kramp (uk)
cédric jacquemyn (belgium)
yves de brabander (belgium)
daniel andresen (germany)
tony hornecker (uk)
romain brau (france)
nicola testa (belgium)
simon pierre toussaint (belgium)
alice knackfuss (germany)
andrea cammarosano (italy)
frederik heyman (belgium)
romain trinquand (france)
adrian schindler (france)
telfar (usa)
elise gettliffe (france)
yannick de witte (belgium)
kevin kramp
kevin kramp adds a vibrant and pulsating energy to high-quality yarns. a graduate from brown university
in providence, he also studied at central saint martins in london where he got a ba in fashion design
with knitwear. his pieces are sculptural, explosive and beautiful. their 3D quality instantly grabs your eye
and saturates your senses, mixing patterns, textures and colours with apparent ease.
for fw11-12, kevin pursues his exploration of volume. exaggerated shapes lend a playful edge to the
silhouette. despite their intricacy, countless details and craft, his pieces are comfortable and desirable.
kevin’s work has been selected by antwerp’s mode museum for their upcoming knitwear show, called
‘unravel’.
http://www.kevinkramp.com/
cédric jacquemyn / yves de brabander
working together as a team, belgian designer cédric jacquemyn and photographer yves de brabander
present selected works based around cédric’s collection, named ‘the last glacier’. shot in iceland during
the explosion of the eyjafjallajökull volcano last may, yves’ images have an eerie and lunar quality, with
crater smokes and fumes echoing the muted tones of cédric’s clothes.
a poetic tale of survival, longing and isolation, these images of men abandoned in nature convey strong
emotions and a peaceful feeling.
a video installation will complement them, reflecting the intense creative connection between the two
men ‘we aim at constant progress in trying to get the atmosphere right. it is a truly collaborative effort,
directing the same energy towards the clothes and images we want to make.’
http://www.cedricjacquemyn.be/
http://www.yvesdebrabander.com/
daniel andresen
german knitwear wunderkind daniel andresen comes back to paris for his third season, with an
elaborate line displaying his craft and passion for yarns. daniel knows how to enhance texture and
make cozy pieces with an architectural edge. he works with the finest leathers to complement his
designs, which always seem to hover between the coarse and the refined.
trained at the royal academy in antwerp, his sense of cut and proportion is obvious. for fw11-12, he
decided to come up with a selection of separate pieces, working on a series of exclusive prints he will
incorporate within the collection ‘we decided to work with an artist to develop them, which will add an
interesting decorative layer to my work. it’s a new creative step for us that will complement the organic
feel of my knits.’
http://www.danielandresen.com/
romain brau
pursuing his intensive research on beautifully crafted furs, romain brau introduces a new collection
concept for fw11-12. called ‘romain brau for’, the line offers unique partnerships with selected designers,
such as christian wijnants, katie eary, daniel andresen and hannah marshall.
an antwerp academy graduate, romain created the ultimate fur pieces, enhancing their volume and
luxurious feel, while reworking the aesthetics of each designer into his own mix.
each item will be included in the designers collections, as well as romain’s presentation for the
exhibition and performance opening. saga offers him key sponsoring, training and expertise, allowing
him to deepen his knowledge of fur and revel in his passion for the fluffy stuff.
http://www.romainbrau.com
tony hornecker / romain brau / nicola testa
for the first time this year, ra orchestrates a unique creative encounter between an english art director, a
french fashion designer and a belgian musician. the result of their collaboration is a one of a kind
installation, combining melodies, frocks and performance.
tony is in charge of the ‘machine’, a complex and striking artefact that will host nicola’s sounds and
romain’s clothes ‘it is contained in a glass sculpture of reclaimed windows, overshadowed by a
skyscraper of doors displaying various rooms housing a selection of musicians and characters. the
machine itself will be powered by a complex series of wheels and pullies.’
this fantastic display will also be the focus of the opening evening on the 21st of january.
http://tonyhornecker.wordpress.com/
http://www.romainbrau.com
http://www.nicolatesta.net/
dearest
the offspring of designing duo simon-pierre toussaint and alice knackfuss, dearest is a tailored,
menswear line with clean shapes and precise cuts. alice and simon-pierre are brussels-based, but met
at the festival d’hyères in 2009. they quickly realized they could work on a new project, bouncing ideas
off each other and combining their strengths. the result is a controlled, elegant line, with stylish sporty
pieces, crisp shirts and reworked jackets. their ideal man has a feel for formality, but cannot bear the
stiffness. cotton, wool felt and supple leather drape the body, adding a layer of softness to constructed
garments.
a desire for warmth and connectedness defines what they do ‘dearest is a word in english that stands
for something or someone that is truly loved. our pieces behave differently on each body, in an intimate,
creative and rather sensitive way.’
andrea cammarosano
andrea cammarosano knows a thing or two about sex. the italian, london-based designer, draws
inspiration from the aesthetics and codes of s&m, imagining hyper masculine men ready for action.
trained at the royal academy in antwerp, andrea worked as design assistant for walter van beirendonck
before launching his own line last season. his first collection, named ‘i am a monster’, offered an
exciting array of prints, sportswear shapes and fetish gear. andrea loves highlighting flesh, playing with
contrasting fabrics that can be rough or fluid. some of his extreme shapes may not be for the fainthearted,
but they don’t lack a sense of irony either.
he will present four new silhouettes in paris, which are guaranteed to please voyeurs and exhibitionists
alike. andrea’s life philosophy is fairly simple ‘it’s just like the gym: some people are fit for fun, some are
fat, and some others will just never fit.’
frederik heyman
antwerp-based photographer frederik heyman has a knack for creating bizarre situations in his images.
drawing upon nature, disasters, bodies and youth as key sources of inspiration, the belgian creates
elaborate mises en scènes, which are both primitive and sophisticated. frederik enjoys working with
designers, using fashion and clothes as meaningful expressions complementing his own visual
obsessions.
the absurdly surrealistic feel of some of his pictures can be pleasurable and unnerving, conjuring up
forces of the unknown, as well as pagan forms of ritualism. he will present selected images and an
exclusive video from two neighbouring projects, the rooftop and the weather. protection and danger are
key themes, as well as personal struggles against the strength of the environment.
http://frederikheyman.com/
romain trinquand / adrian schindler
performance duo romain trinquand and adrian schindler place their own bodies at the centre of their
creative process, using them as powerful tools taken out of their usual context. their performances play
with social boundaries, sometimes involving the audience and pushing the absurd that one step further.
their work is raw, grotesque and utterly funny. generating anything but indifference.
romain and adrian use taboos and rules as their starting point, each performance exploring primitive
thoughts, natural instincts and spontaneous behaviour. they will invest ra’s parisian space for an
exclusive act, which will be full of surprises.
http://trindlerschinquand.blogspot.com/
telfar
brooklyn-based telfar clemens envisages menswear in a futuristic and body-conscious way, creating
clothes with sharp lines in lightweight fabrics. defining his approach as ‘simplexity’ and carefully
avoiding any kind of referencing, his line has a cool, modernist edge, giving an urban and mathematical
feel to his creations.
for fw11-12, he continues his exploration of geometry and sportswear, granting the wearer enough
space to personify each style. he’s also working on an innovative concept, which he hopes to unveil in
paris ‘i would like to create an interactive display incorporating the new collection in a video look book,
which will be part of the fw11-12 set-up.’ an androgynous aesthetic permeates his work, offering chic,
stylish cyborgs perfect pieces for spatial down time.
http://www.telfar.net
elise gettliffe
french designer elise gettliffe has had grunge on her mind this season. however, don’t expect her to
come up with some lazy check shirts and washed-out denim. she researches materials extensively
each season and loves luxurious fibres. inspired by the heroic attitude of grunge, rather than its darker
nihilism, her collection revisits the freshness and innocence of the early 90s.
an antwerp academy graduate, elise infuses her work with a strong sense of fantasy and joy, combining
contrasting elements in a spontaneous and uninhibited way ‘i was thinking about guns n’ roses this
time, getting into their decadent and whimsical world. it’s a collection that does not compromise, mixing
male and female elements without fearing ridicule. for me, it as a unique menswear genre, blending
manliness with sentimentality and humour.’
yannick de witte
belgian designer yannick de witte is taking on a new challenge this year, opting for sleek, stylized sex
toys, which he makes in his leuven atelier. ‘toys for boys’ is the name of his latest endeavour, mixing
powerful male elements with contrasting materials, such as plastic, silver and rubber. the idea came
when he was looking for a gay wedding gift ‘I wanted something kinky, but special. In the end, I decided
to make something myself and came up with a feathered, luxurious cockring.’
yannick’s work walks a fine line between sex toys and jewellery. a former antwerp academy graduate,
he had the forces of darkness in mind for this first collection ‘my pieces are for open-minded men who
are not afraid to experiment. I see them as futuristic warriors, ready for the conquest of a new world.’
form follows function in these striking items and ‘everything is perfectly hygienic’ as he nicely puts it.
IAmMoody
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