Showing minimalism in its most extreme form - AVA CATHERSIDE is a new London-based experimental label. In a monochrome palette with raw cut finishing, the menswear-referencing, geometric designs reject the idea of fashion as an extension of a designer’s ego - thus reinstating the designer’s role to create a new message out of nothing. Each collection is based on the progressive mutation of the one that preceded it, developing on the continued research at a natural pace - disregarding seasons and going against consumerism.

• What is your design concept/ethos?

Outfits are structures to delimitate the distance between social individuals in a labyrinth of conventional behavior. A series of very straight rules are applied to the idea of the garment to turn it into something defined and unique, details get analysed and compulsively developed for each outfit in different combinations. The traditional laws of tailoring become arbitrary. The garments are stripped from details and finishing.

• How do new technologies affect your work?

Each design of the SS12 comes in Alcantara®: a luxury and innovative material, result of a proprietary technology of Alcantara S.p.A. Certified by TUV SUD 100% carbon neutral and environmentally friendly. The Alcantara® pieces appear like soft and liquid panels.

• What does it take to be a Londoner?

It takes what you want to get: London is a non-place where you can build and be whatever you want, so it’s up to you really if you want to turn it into a void or a gate.

• Why do you stock at Primitive?

We like the fact that Primitive is more than just a store, it’s a creative cell where to experiment and share ideas, our designs become an instrument in other people’s hands and, together with visual and audio art, they create a new code of communication.

Cassette Playa is a fashion label created and designed by Carri Mundane who currently lives and works in London, influenced by global rituals including ’90s skater fashion, anthropology, heavy metal and UK Garage. Cassette Playa is a utopian and future brand inspired by science and science fiction that incorporates technology into every level of their processes = digital print to digital presentation. Carri describes the Cassette Playa universe as “techno, tribal, positive and primal”.

• what compelled you into becoming a designer?

I DNT LIKE FASHION BUT I LIKE PERSONAL STYLE. STYLE IS THE MOST UNIVERSAL AND PRIMITIVE FORM OF COMMUNICATION.

• what drives/motivates you?

THE INTERNET ! GLOBAL STREET CULTURE

• what is involved in your design process? 

ALOT OF RESEARCH - THATS MY FAVOURITE BIT - ON THE INTERNET, IN LIBRARIES AND PRIMARY RESEARCH IN MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERIES. MOST OF CP SHAPES ARE A CLASSIC CUT - SUBVERTED BY PRINT OR FABRIC CHOICE.

• what hopes do you have for the future?

F U T U R E N O W ! 

• how do new technologies affect your work?

NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND SCIENCE FICTION AFFECT MY COLLECTION AND MY PROCESSES - AS IN I DIRECTLY REFERENCE THEM IN MY GRAPHICS + PRINTS AND I USE NEW TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS DIGITAL PRINT AND RAPID PROTOTYPING. I ALSO USE TECHNOLOGY TO PRESENT MY COLLECTIONS = VIDEO, INTERACTIVE DIGITAL PRESENTATIONS + THE WORLDS FIRST A.R CATWALK SHOW

• where on the Internet do you go for inspiration? I DNT HAVE ONE SITE, I USUALLY JUST START WITH A SEARCH OR IMAGE AND END UP SOMEWHERE COMPLETELY RANDOM AND AMAZING. SANGBLEU.COM + TECHNOLOGY BLOGS are in my bookmarks right now

• why London?

ITS MY FAVOURITE CITY ON THE PLANET <3

• what does it take to be a Londoner?

U HAVE TO BE HARDCORE

• what do you love about Japan - what does Tokyo have that London doesn’t?

TOKYO IS MY SPIRTUAL HOME - TOTAL SENSORY OVERSTIMULATION. IT IS SAFER, FRIENDLY - AN EASIER CITY THAN LDN 

KINDA UTOPIAN BUT HAS SUCH AN ACCELERATED PACE = PERFECT

• why do you stock at Primitive?

BECAUSE IT IS THE MOST INSPIRING AND FUTURE STORE IN LDN, AND ANDREW + LUI ARE NOTHING BUT POSTIVE NRG

London-born Dharma Taylor graduated from the London College of Fashion with a Masters in Digital Fashion - menswear, in 2010. A poetic designer who draws on theoretical literature, her work denotes a future of rendered tribalism.

Knowing… Knowing that there’s a knowledge out there to be attained.

Literary references in Fashion is always good, and something I do often but not obviously. I also blend my own Graphic Design into it and progress this to motion graphics, which leads to film/video.

• What  compelled you into becoming a designer?

I’ve always felt a strong urge to create. I don’t know where it comes from. It’s like the one magic thing we can do; to make things. The reason for wanting to create is unknown to me. The more I think about what it is that compels me , the more it disappears and becomes harder to grasp. It’s just a natural thing.

• What are the key references you revisit in your work?

One thing in particular that I always come back to is the notion of separate realities and parallel lands.  I like to explore the possibility of this as best I can with the tools I have. I took time to study the theory Hyperreality and found that the concept of what is real and what is simulation is closely linked with the dream world; something which I integrate into the construction of my work. I try to translate this through the use of signs and symbols, aka semiotics. It’s a communicated language translated. Like patterns in a song. The sublime baseline rolls of the drums in a track, like the lines of an outfit., or the gradation of hue in a print, or a headpiece from the other side. I tend to think if I can merge real with simulation then it becomes poetry and almost transcendental.

• How do new technologies affect your work?

Yeah, so there’s loads of new technologies now, but i guess there’ll always be new technologies. And I’m not totally sure we know what were doing with it, or trying to say with it.  Never-the-less it’s an enhancement, an extra part in the mechanics of the hyper-reality thing. Although this digital age all seems very new and far away from the past , but I think its eventually going to bring us back to our original self’s. Personally, new tech’s have changed the process of my work, for instance I don’t sketch any more with bare pen an paper, I tend to go straight to the computer and design on 3D platforms such as Autodesk. This is all very good, but I get scared and think what if this technology and programming is taken away from us? I’d like to get back to the primitive ways of doing things.

• Where on the Internet do you go for inspiration?

I quite like midnight eye; a Japanese film database. I like watching good Japanese films, going away and thinking about it later. Hard to be specific with the internet, because it’s like a live stream of consciousness,  not sure where it’s going to take you. Found myself looking on this girl Emma’s website called http://www.vaheraslak.org/ Is quite interesting. I think it’s her site.

• What’s your favourite thing/place to do/see/go there?

One of my favourite things to do is ride the night bus, sounds bit sad, but I like going through the light-less neighbourhoods, the districts of the city. Looking all around to see what life there is in the darkness.  There’s a different presence real late at night in London, I like to feel that. But sometimes I hate it.

• What does it take to be a Londoner?

It’s hard to say because it’s my home. But when London throws some mad situation at you or the air gets too thick I’ve often had to come to reside in the countryside, just to breath some slightly purer air.

There’s a lot of vibrations rattling around the city good and bad, sometimes they get trapped between the grey buildings and you pick them up unknowingly. They get passed around, bounce off the high-rises at Liverpool Street back down to the other side of the river… It takes an individual who behaves similar to water to be a Londoner. [don’t resist it, go with the flow] London as a city is forever pushing forward.

Peter Ackroyd; the greatest living London chronicler once said  something like there’s an atmospheric presence  to London streets, like a whole history that your joining and becoming a part of.

• Why do you stock at Primitive?

Primitive is on point. First and foremost they are not trying to be anything other than what they are. As an outlet and a space to express; they’re doing something really special; capturing London’s future. Something I want to be a part of. Standard primitives.

Interviews by Mairi Hare

I design for myself more than anyone else, I’m just making things that I want to look at.

• How would you describe your aesthetic?

My work is always driven by an idea, and the idea kind of dictates how the work is going to look, it’s not really something I’m in control of. There is no dogmatic aesthetic as such. I have reoccurring themes, like romance and animation. I also have a big skate influence, I like unisex pieces, feminine street wear …there is always something about femininity and just pushing a sort of adolescent male perspective, so some things are constant. My aesthetic is more about a subtle sleight of hand, something that can’t really be pinned down but that is evident no matter what I do.  

• What are your opinions on digital print today?

I use it a lot, when you are making a series of 100 unique pieces you need digital printing, I couldn’t make my work without it. I do think it is really overused at the moment, a screen print is infinitely more beautiful than a digital print but it’s just a case of being able to invest the time and for a lot of what I do it’s impossible. A lot of designers are lazy, quick digitally designed prints are everywhere and for me the biggest problem with digital printing is it facilitates lazy designers to churn out junk….You know the sort of stuff I’m talking about, where the detail is too small and they’ve overused the mirror tool.

• We hear you’ve come to Tokyo before, what are the big differences between this city and London?

Yeah I love Tokyo, London and Tokyo maybe worlds apart but creatively I think there are more similarities than differences, both cities make great nests for new ideas to grow and they both  have that mix of tradition and innovation, a fast pace and now London is getting much more 28 hour. for me the biggest difference is peoples standards, they are way higher in Tokyo, they are all perfectionists, we are so much looser in London which I love for creativity, but you know, the bus in Tokyo isn’t covered in chicken bones…..

• what compelled you into becoming a designer?

I was studying art and had never really considered fashion as an option for me but as I became more aware of fashion it started to seem like a good fit for the way I was working. I guess It appealed to my OCD, I was drawn to the process of fashion design and the possibilities I saw within that rather than by a love of fashion, that came later

• What’s your favourite thing/place to do/see/go there?

I love the ballet, it’s really inspiring, I wish I could go more. But my favourite thing to do is paint and draw.

• Why do you stock at Primitive?

Primitive is about art, and fashion as art, it’s a place for ideas not just selling, it’s the only place in London that has that perspective. We have a shared DIY attitude that’s about just making it happen and that’s what fashion needs right now.

Veronica started up L_A_N magazine and the band Teeth whilst she was studying in London. Now living in New York, she is debuting L_A_N clothing line at Primitive Tokyo.

Veronica, can you please tell us more about yourself, and why you started L_A_N Magazine?

I’m the creator, editor-in-chief and publisher of L_A_N: “A Publication for The Fashionable Futurist.” I research, curate and produce content in collaboration with artists, scientists and designers to feature unique, original and enduring content in the printed and digital form. I grew up in Silicon Valley, the land of Google and Skywalker Ranch. My dad was an inventor and designer of semiconductor microchips and would bring home intricate, full-colour posters of his patented designs from work. These beautiful digital maps he made on his computer that were produced to power microwaves, control computers and light cell phones translated beautifully into the printed form and it was especially in this way I felt connected to his mysterious and complex work. I became fascinated by internet avatars, visual identity, trans-humanism and fashion psychology and decided to study Fashion Communications at Central St. Martins in London. During this time I started a synth-punk band called Teeth and I became very involved in electronic music.

Can you tell us about your band TEETH?

I started the band with Ximon Tayki when I was studying at St. Martins. We shared a love for the same electronic and dance punk bands and decided to write music together. Our drummer Simon Whybray found us on the internet and we started playing live together and eventually released an album with Moshi Moshi Records called WHATEVER. We’re about to tour Japan and play a bunch of shows in Tokyo so please come see us!

What is L_A_N Magazine?

L_A_N is a pioneering reportage and visual journal. Following a lineage of culture-defining magazines such as Boing Boing, Mondo 2000, and OMNI, my magazine is a polymedia publication engaging cultures through authenticity and openness to transformation - key tenets needed to stay current as futurists. L_A_N maintains their discerning, wired-in readership by providing quality coverage of the creative world and its interrelation with science, cyber-culture, and contemporary art. L_A_N’s past work informs us that tangibility, tactility, and human connection to content and information is important. 

Tell us about L_A_N <LABEL>, L_A_N’s new fashion capsule collection for Primitive’s Tokyo shop at Fake. 

L_A_N <LABEL> is a unisex capsule collection we’re launching for Primitive’s shop in Tokyo. I’ve been really excited about L_A_N producing a body of textile-based works - in this case, editorial as well as sartorial digital prints. It’s a collaboration with fashion designer Alexandra Polk and L_A_N’s art director Andrej Ujhazy. We are working towards getting funding to re-create our back issues as complete collections, with each garment digitally printed with content from L_A_N 1, 2 and 3.

Does Japanese culture have any influence on your work?

Yes, Japan is inspiring to me in that the culture caters to the whims and fantasies of all shades of human psychology and desire. It is this exploratory approach to niche cultures and fandom that instilled a belief that something as unique as L_A_N could be intensely fulfilling or emotionally valuable to someone. Also they are masters of mood and lovers of technology and context, which are L_A_N’s prime loci.

What are your current inspirations?

This is the recent Japanese L_A_N inspiration: Royal Milk tea flavored Kit Kat, photographer Mika Ninagawa, yaoi manga, custom-made dakimakura, tokyo highway remix of Gee by SNSD, The Dreamcatchers written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano and male model Sen Mitsuji <3

Why do you feel a connection with Primitive?

Andrew and Lui have absolutely no fear, incredible energy and an infectious DIY positivity. The combination of these qualities makes me love and respect Primitive so much. They are curating this grand yet intimate circle of brilliant talent, creating this powerful and idealistic family. I certainly aspire the same for L_A_N.

STRNGE is a womenswear and accessories project initiated by Michelle Blary. Her latest capsule collection is a continuation of her first - using a curious combination of black fabrics and non-textile materials, concentrating on simple shapes inspired by water in all its various states. 

• What advice would you give to aspiring designers?

Learn your craft both technically and theoretically and try to intern at different types of places to figure out what you like and what you do not. Learning from other people in the industry is crucial because you learn from their mistakes.

• What are your favourite things about London?

I love Stoke Newington the area north of Dalston because there is a fresh feel to it. I like hanging out at Magma Bookstore bookstore in Clerkenwell - I always go there and end up browsing through everything. I also try to go to Galleries as much as I can, my favorites are the Camden Arts Center and the Whitechapel gallery.

• Why do you stock at Primitive?

Primitive has a real, honest and humble vision for art and fashion which I can relate to.

Interviews by Mairi Hare

Matt Dainty and Ben Cottrell met whilst at university, and found that they both shared a desire to start a label with longevity that would challenge people to think about what they are wearing. This lead to the creation of COTTWEILER - a British concept-led menswear label providing luxury casual-wear that focuses on simplicity, function, fit and fabrication. Key iconographic references are taken from youth subcultures, mixing religious references, fetishism and the occult. In addition to producing seasonal collections and limited edition ranges, Cottweiler collaborates with cutting edge artists on projects across several mediums including film, photography and illustration. 

• Is there a story/meaning behind the leather tassel piece that has appeared in your collections from the very first one?

The tassel is a reference from the loafers that suedeheads and skinheads wore, it’s a contemporary nod to British youth culture. The fabrication and design changes from season to season.

• What advice would you give to aspiring designers?

Always do what is instinctive to you, it’s more real if it comes from a genuine interest of your own, instead of trying to be cool!

• Why do you stock at Primitive?

We love Primitive because they offer something completely different to other stores in London. So many other places offer the same brands and the same looks, at Primitive you know you are getting something unique and at the same time supporting new designers.

Interviews by Mairi Hare

MARCELLA DVSI works instinctively with her own hands, twisting and affixing braided fabric to create truly unique, artisanal pieces. Imagery that influences her designs are drawn from the ethereal and magic - from fairy tales, medieval armour, castles and sea creatures to the transcendental power of meditation. Rather than using new technologies to inform her work, Marcella finds her greatest inspiration through contact with nature - things you can touch, feel and smell. 

• What compelled you into becoming a designer?

I don’t consider myself a designer in the traditional sense. I began what I do as a hobby whilst I was living in Berlin. I feel at heart closer to a sculptor than I do a designer, in that I don’t prepare or plan with sketches. I just spontaneously make with the braids. 

• We hear you’re planning on moving to London, what attracts you to the city?

I’m from a small village close to Verona, Italy. I’ve always been isolated from the rest of the world even though I’ve travelled. I always feel the need for new stimulus in my life so I think London is the right place to be for what I’m doing.

• Why do you stock at Primitive?

Because I think it is a good opportunity to show my work there and the guys are simply lovely and talented people.

Interviews by Mairi Hare

A recent graduate of the London College of Fashion, NADIR TEJANI designs contemporary menswear focused on the individuality of a garment and its pattern. Deliberately disregarding conventions, the products are stripped of visible detailing and present themselves as two-dimensional shapes that expand or contract when worn on the body, translating into a social alternative of being visible, yet remain unidentifiable. With an interest in how new technologies affect clothing manufacture, Nadir Tejani’s latest collection sees pieces made with EtaProof® - a 100% cotton performance fabric, weatherproof and hydrophobic, of natural composition.

• What drives/motivates you?

The endless quest for perfection designwise. The ultimate goal is to find the perfect product, the uniform that needs no further alterations. I guess the personal and professional process of growth that leads there is what I’m after. I’m more interested in the development process, not in the final outcome.

• Why London?

It’s a city of transition, not only of individuals but also of their mindsets. London is where I found myself and those like me, who I am extremely fortunate to work with.

• Why do you stock at Primitive?

There’s always been a very strong connection. We both started at the same time, and I believe in growing up together. Primitive not only delivers genuine work in its physical space, it also opens up new dimensions for tech freaks who create in raw conditions. We collaborate regularly and they always bring a different perspective into my work.

Interviews by Mairi Hare