Sometimes, something has “YOU” written all over it! For me that was the case with Eddy Anemian for H&M. When I saw his winning collection for the H&M Designer Award last year, all I could think of was: I need this in my life and closet! I already gave you a little preview of my favorite skirt and today I had the chance to interview Eddy and share his answers with you! Here it goes:
Where did your love for fashion start? What is your first fashionable memory?
I was only five or six years old when I started making dresses for my mother with pieces of fabric. From then on, I did everything in function of becoming a fashion designer. Normal jobs were not for me. I took all the drawing classes I could find and when I laid hands on the folder for La Cambre, I knew this was the fashion school for me.
What was the coolest and hardest thing about working with H&M?
The coolest thing was that everything was very easy. They have a lot of experience in working with designers, so they prepared everything as much as they could and the process was really smooth that way. You feel that it’s all very structured as a company.
The hardest thing for me was giving the final go, making final decisions in what prototypes would make the cut, making the commercial compromise. But it did not frustrate me, because I was able to keep my esthetics, as my teachers advised me. It’s a wearable couture spirit that can easily be mixed with the commercial pieces in your closet.
What is your favorite piece of the collection and why?
I’m tempted to say the yellow skirt, because I know it’s everyone’s favorite. But for myself, I’m most fond of the white jumpsuit. It’s a versatile piece. You can wear it night or day, depending on the styling. It’s the best compromise between my couture direction and the commercial angle of H&M.
Why did you choose “Io Sono l’Amore” and Tilda Swinton as an inspiration? I love how you recognize her long stature and elegance in your collection.
We saw “Io Sono l’Amore” at school, because there’s a very interesting evolution in the clothes Tilda wears in the film. First she wears very aristocratic and strict dresses, then she wears pants and a shirt, then she’s naked and in the end she even wears sweat pants. She becomes a free spirit. I wanted to embody that in my collection by combining couture-like pieces with very easy and clean tops and details. The film is about LOVE and the light is phenomenal. What’s not to love! (If you haven’t seen the movie yet, me and Eddy truly recommend it ;) )
I heard the following quote in one of the interview videos I saw of you and though it was really beautiful and completely embodied the collection: “They can cut down flowers, but they can’t stop spring from coming!” What is your favorite kind of flower? And what is your favorite flower print fabric in the collection?
My favorite flower is Scabiosa or pin-cushion flower. It’s a blue flower, that only blooms shortly in June and it only lives for a day. Very fragile and beautiful.
My favorite fabric is the yellow one. It has the most beautiful result, it makes you think of Impressionism. In the original skirt for my collection there was 14m of fabric, so it was a challenge for H&M to make the skirt lighter. And they succeeded very well!
Why did you choose La Cambre as a fashion school? What do you think of Belgium in a fashion sense?
Belgium has the best fashion schools in the world. The niveau is much higher than in France. You can tell by all the Belgian talent dominating Paris Fashion Week: Raf Simons, Dries Van Noten,… La Cambre being a French school made the decision all the more easy!
How do you see yourself grow after winning the H&M Design Award? Do you have some concrete plans up your sleeve?
After my graduation show at the academy, the right hand of Raf Simons came to find me backstage and offered my an internship at Dior. So I’ll be heading for Paris first. I hope to work at a couple of other big fashion houses after that and eventually start up my own label. But I need to come up with something new first, something that hasn’t been done before. If I want to come forward in the future, it’ll be with something striking and fresh.
Eddy Anemian for H&M will be available in selected H&M stores, this Thursday the 23rd of October. Be quick!
Photo by Michiel.
Filed under: Articles, Outfits Tagged: 2014, Eddy Anemian, fashion, H&M, H&M Design Award, interview, long, outfit, skirt
