Culture

Last week i met with Richie Boyens, a Dunedin-based designer who started the brand Clothes I’ve Made, which is being shown in the capsule collection at iD. With Richie’s ambiguous design choices, combined with the use of various floral, striped, paint-speckled and tie-dyed fabrics, and his latest intention to reinvent the puffer jacket (about time someone did this) somehow his collection is coherent, structurally flawless and completely wearable. Not really a typical designer, having had no institutional fashion education or qualification, Richie’s story is fascinating and awesome. Born and raised in Hawkes Bay, Richie then spent some time in Wellington (getting inspired and not going to University), before moving to Dunedin six years ago to start what is now a creative, collaborative, and totally progressive brand.

I was initially going to do a really constructed interview over coffee at a café or something, but when I found out Richie had a studio space opposite my apartment, I naturally assumed it would be more appropriate to go there instead. I didn’t really know what to expect out of a designer’s studio because I’ve only really spent time in artist studios, but it was by far one of the coolest studio spaces I’ve been into. There was art on almost every wall – rolls of material, couches, half a mannequin, a shaky worktable, an old sewing machine, and there was even a piano; it was literally like walking into a saloon-style studio (featuring fashion) and I totally never wanted to leave. He was cool, the interview was fun, his studio is insane and his work is a creative mind blow-up of mad design skills and cool images.

How did CIM start? Give me all the raw details!
Well ... I’d been working at Void for a while and then, when I moved to Wellington, I did a couple of years at Levi’s. I never went to Uni, there was too much shit to do in Wellington. Then I started working at a café, paying for all my sewing stuff, and I kept seeing everyone wearing the same clothes and it was just annoying. So I lived with another designer in Wellington and he was cool, and his work was cool, so I moved back down here and picked up Mum’s sewing machine and just started going for it.

I really like your studio space, there’s heaps of weird and cool and interesting things in here. That half mannequin in ripped jeans in the corner – can you elaborate?
Yeah, I made those pants in October 2010. They were the first pair I made. I didn’t have an over locker and I just wanted some cool pants. It was literally like ... Mum’s sewing machine, typically excited male ... rushed in with material, cut it out using Vivids, pretty much broke every rule in the sewing handbook, if there is one; then started attacking them trying to figure out how to hide seams without the over-locker. Yeah ... I quickly realised the extent of my skills weren’t as adept as I had hoped they were, and when I put them on (they were almost finished) I put an elastic band on them, and the crotch was all wrong and inverted and too low and I walked like a fucking duck. But, as it turned out, that disaster turned into a passion to go harder ...

Most NZ designers are based in Auckland or Wellington. Do you think that being based in Dunedin has an impact on the way you design or the way you run CIM?
In terms of fashion in Dunedin, it rules and it’s changing all the time and I’m just doing it my own way. I’m really inspired by my environment, though. Environment is definitely influential. If I go somewhere like Invercargill I’m probably not going to wear these floral silk pants.

Can you tell us a little bit about the signature of CIM. Do you have a certain customer or character in mind when you put together the collection or do you design for yourself?
I started making clothes for me so all the sizing is real different from universal sizing, it’s a lot more tailored. Yeah, up until now, it’s been totally motivated by my friends and the people I hang out with, but it’s kind of cool when random people just come into the studio and ask for something off the bat.

Describe the general process you go through to design and realise a piece of clothing?
We’ll just sit down and have a discussion and decide what fabrics we’re going to use, discuss an idea type-of-thing. When I have an idea it’s like a little explosion and then I just sort of pick parts of it to pull it back together the way I want. I don’t stick to any design process ... I just create a general process of thought.

What artists did you draw your inspiration from, for the iD collection?
Jarrod McHutcheon, Ben Edwards – basically everyone on these walls. It’s so cool because each style is all street art and the colour palates are often quite similar to our clothes. As art, it describes something totally different than it would as an article of clothing. Mondrian was a big inspiration, too, I think.

I fucking love Mondrian. How did you transfer your inspirations into your designs?
Colour palate was a big one. And symmetry – it has to look good on every angle. It’s like playing with Lego, trying to piece it all together to make on time.

What can people expect to see from you further into this season?
Hip-hop, design, ‘80s and ‘90s colour. My designs came from when I was a kid. PVC jackets, stripes on your sleeves, it’s just a full expression of who I am – it’s a structured set and I’m pretty stoked about it.

What is your view on the symbiotic relationship between fashion and art?
Fashion and art – that’s a hard one. If someone’s like, that’s a cool painting, I’d love to have it on a top, but that’ll never happen; fashion allows you to do that. But I also think people can always hang their paintings on the wall, and in a museum – as “art.” But as soon as you put it in public sphere, it becomes fashion or a trend. Fine art influences fashion, but fashion is far more physical than art. Art is more emotionally invested, I think. I don’t know. It all just looks good.

Eco-fashion is a thing this year at iD. What do you think of eco-fashion?
Eco and fashion don’t go hand in hand because of the way the fabric is made. They pick cotton for ridiculously cheap and it goes into this massive chemical process where the organic cotton is sprayed with herbs and pesticides, and it’s just not good for the final look of the garment. Sometimes it looks stiff. But it’s awesome that there are still designers that go to that extent to keep things environmentally friendly.

What do you think makes a quality article of clothing?
I’m into using fabrics that are locally made. If I was going to use leather, or something, it’s cool to be able to say its made in New Zealand. The wool we’re using now is yarned by my old boss. It smells like it would on the sheep.

Why don’t people appreciate the detail, design and quality of high-end fashion?
I think it comes down to who you are as a person – you can’t really generalise that kind of thing. Some people aren’t educated in fashion, per se, and some people just aren’t interested ...

If I told you I wanted you to make me something, would you?
I’d say “yes,” because I like a challenge. The most challenging thing is about getting over how the other person will think. But you have to just trust your own judgment.

What do you wish people would understand about working in the fashion industry?
For me, the whole fact that I have done this on my own has been one of the best things for me as a person. I was always stubborn as fuck, and I still am. But I’ve learnt so much. Important things like how relationships need to be – friends and business ones – and just not feel ashamed or scared to express who you are. That sounds really cheesy but it’s so true. Knowing I have support from other people has been huge. I really appreciate all the help I’ve had. The people we have met and dealt with could not have been more inviting and helpful.

I’ve also learnt a lot about myself by putting myself on the ledge. I’m so happy doing this and I put every cent into it. I’m kind of poor, but I fucking love what I do. You have to be careful not to jump into something without the right intentions otherwise it’s so transparent. I don’t know if it’s a bad thing or a good thing. Fashion’s weird, I’ve noticed that once it gets past the design it goes into this mad media frenzy and the perception of success kind of changes. If you’re just printing your artwork on t-shirts to make money that’s fine, and that might make certain people happy, but that doesn’t make us happy. It’s just about finding a good balance and a way to do what you love at the same time. People need to appreciate the work people do and the craft of it.