Interview

PHOTO BY ALISON COOL

At his private presentation last week in Stockholm, ACNE founder and head designer Jonny Johansson took the stage and was overwhelmed by a sea of flowers and press. Unfazed, he enthusiastically led the group through his unconventional fashion show, Chet Baker softly singing behind him. One by one, the models walked into the center of the room, where their apparel was reviewed by Jonny. The season's theme was tragic tomboy Amelia Earhart for both the men's and women's collections—her touch evident in the strong silhouette, long scarves, oversized shearling jackets, earth tones, Hawaiian motifs, and explicit gear. On the men's side, the looks turned on a silk shirt and a flouncy hat.

In an adjacent room, ACNE showed a film made for the house by Andreas Larsson and the "Nya Berlin" furniture collection. It was  in one of these sofas that I had the opportunity to ask the designer a couple of questions.

MARIA ELENA GUERRA: Amelia Earhart's influence was quite visible in the collection. Why her, why now?

JONNY JOHANSSON: Every year we want to portray and bring out the essence of a strong creative woman, she can be dreamed up but in this case she is a real person. Amelia was a tomboy, so she lent herself as inspiration for the men's fall collection as well.

GUERRA: Did it have to do with the newly release biopic?

JOHANSSON: [LAUGHS] No, I haven't seen it yet. After we began wokr on the collection we heard about the movie, but it was a coincidence.

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PHOTO BY MISTER FREEDOM

Mordechai Rubinstein is on a one-man mission to teach the less fair of the sexes how to dress. In his eyes, even frat guys can do it. After earning his menswear stripes at Jack Spade and Men's Vogue, the would-be rabbi and Dockers publicity head has garnered a loyal following with his unpretentious New York style blog, Mister Mort. Mixing visibly candid photographic portraits and detail shots, Rubenstein captures every waistcoat, fedora, pocketwatch and monocle, living testaments to a proper street style that doesn't (but maybe should) qualify as streetwear.


ARIELLA GOGOL: Where did you get the name Mister Mort?

MORDECHAI RUBINSTEIN: A guy named Stan Herman, an old fashioned dude—he had a women's loungewear company in the 1950s, a super elegant label called Mister Mort.  He had a top hat and a cane; I loved it. I got his blessing and I was like, done, cool.

GOGOL: Why not use your own name? It's pretty striking.

RUBINSTEIN: I wanted it to be some kind of fictional character, for people not to know it was me. But I guess I'm just too loud.

GOGOL: You're quite young, but you obviously prefer in your blog the trappings of older gentlemen. How did you get so into "old man" fashion?

RUBINSTEIN: My grandfather changed three times a day. He had a suit to make the bank deposit in the morning, a suit for work, and a suit if he went out in the evening. So I guess it's just in my blood.

GOGOL: How do you pick your subjects?

RUBINSTEIN: Everyone's like, "You just take pictures of old guys!"  But with these men, there's just so much personality, you know?  They're wearing a scarf from Yale art school that their lover gave them in the 1920s.

GOGOL: What do you want to do next?

RUBINSTEIN: I want to teach men how to dress. I want to go to college campuses around the world, and teach men how to prepare for interviews—but on the real. I want to get up there and lift him up by his collar, and be like, no! You can't wear flip-flops in the big city. We're going to get you a pair of wingtips.

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PHOTO BY SCOTT STERNBERG

Tina (Chai, the stylist for Boy.) and I are working away on women's looks for the show with our assistants Charlie and Emily and our ticklish model, Ali.  Apparently there's an important television event tonight—they're calling it a "super bowl" or something along those lines—but I'm much more concerned about getting this skirt right.

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PHOTOS BY KRISTIAN LOEVEBORG
COURTESY BERNS SALONGER

The Local Firm, founded in 2007 by Richard Hutchinson and Axel Nyhage, scored their Fall/Winter 2010 show with an exquisite orchestral version of Robert Miles' "Children" which transitioned with surprising ease into Lady Gaga's "Pokerface" (also orchestral). The garments for both men's and women's mixed leather with transparency; illusions of several layers were created in just one shirt and paired with thoughtful nudity. The main inspiration for this collection, according to the designers, was the "synergy" of combining relaxed 1990s sportswear with a business unifom. And more from the 90ss: Robert Rydberg, the prominent Swedish stylist, amplified the collection's warm chestnut colors with red streaks in the models' straight fairy-like hair.

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