Interview: Ksubi
Isn’t it just hideously frustrating when you pop into Topshop’s dressing room to trial some jeans and you find they fit immaculately in leg tightness and length, but then you step to the side and the waist is gaping enough to squeeze in three Krispy Kremes? Well we can actually be grateful for ill fitting jeans because else there wouldn’t be Ksubi. Co-founded and directed by surfers Dan Single, George Gorrow, Paul Wilson and Oscar Wright, this super cool Australian brand creates their own range of nostalgic garments.
With their latest collection harking to 90s grunge, and having previously collaborated with some of our absolute favourite designers Jeremy Scott and Richard Nicoll, we suspect Ksubi will be a name permanently emblazoned on our wish lists. Here’s what the designers had to say on their new AW11 range when we caught up with them.
PlanetNotion: You’ve called the latest collection WAR, where did this come from? Who or what are you at war with?
Ksubi: W.A.R refers to conflict in everyday life. We are people at war with our own life and every day we inevitably encounter war in some form. You only need to turn on the TV and you are bombarded with images of people at war.
PN: There is a very ‘bring back the 90s’ feel to the collection with the punk/grunge references and the return of the baggy trouser, why this particular influence?
K: The 90′s made way for a significant movement between fashion and music and where streetwear was really born. We wanted to return to this era but modernise it through classic elements that are given a louche sensibility.
PN: What do you miss most about the 90s?
K: School Holidays
PN: There’s a wonderful mix and match in terms of texture. Can you tell us what inspired the choice of fabrics?
K: The styling in the film ‘Johnny Mad Dog’. Â This lead us to the idea of having clashing classics like plaid and leopard engineered into one garment. There is also a bit of a nod to grunge and punk in these choices.
PN: What are you hoping to communicate through these designs?
K: We were putting together a tetris combinations of looks that the wearer buys into – a concept of offering a completed look, like skirts with shirts tied around the waist and zips that join garments to manifest our street aesthetic through interchangeable styling options and self customisation.
PN: What sort of person was this collection designed for?
K: Cynics, critics, hypocrites, politicians, mongrels, beasts of burden and giant fleas.
PN: Do you envisage a different type of person for each collection?
K: We work as a collective and I guess the person we design for each season is a fusion between all the personalities and characters in here.
PN: How do you normally kick off the creative process? Where does the initial inspiration come from?
K: In this instance we watched the film ‘Johnny Mad Dog’ and I guess there was some stuff we saw on the news that must have had some kind of subliminal influence.
PN: Do you prefer designing for men or women, or do you enjoy the challenges that designing for both present?
K: For both. The restrictions of womens and menswear themselves  help to create both collections, which is quite evident in the womenswear collections being quite masculine.
PN: What do you love most about designing?
K: Chinese Factories
- Laura Peebles
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