Jean-Charles de Castelbajac is unstoppable. Amid his many partnerships with MB+F, Airborne, and HALL HAUS, spanning watches, furniture, installations at the Centre Pompidou and London’s Sketch Gallery, and fashion collaborations with Vetements and Rossignol, the legendary French designer is preparing for a project that will mark a high point in a career already full of them: designing all the costumes for the solemn reopening ceremony of Notre Dame. Not bad for the designer who, forty years ago, launched the iconic 1980s brand Jesus Jeans with Oliviero Toscani. De Castelbajac recently returned to Milan for the opening of an exhibition at the Triennale that Iceberg dedicated to him for the brand’s fiftieth anniversary. The opening was accompanied by a book that retraces the entire history of entrepreneurs Silvano Gerani and Giuliana Marchini, who founded the Gilmar Group, and how Ms. Marchini, the creative force of the company, met a very young Castelbajac and made him the designer of what would become Iceberg, a name chosen because «it was the same in every language». The brand's launch represented the advent of a fashion world that looked increasingly beyond the formality of tailoring to leisure and ready-to-wear, a true revolution of those years. It was also a historical period in which major textile entrepreneurs «had already understood what creativity could bring to industry». De Castelbajac recalls that era with affection: «It was a very exciting time. In Italy, there were Giorgio Corregiari, Walter Albini, Enrico Coveri, and Gianni [Versace, editor's note] was emerging. For my generation, coming to Italy was like being a mercenary. Italian industries were very protective of emerging designers; we were treated like Michelangelo at the Vatican. We didn’t have that treatment in France».
Now, De Castelbajac views those years from a higher perspective, but without nostalgia, which has no place in his exuberant personality. «I don’t miss anything from the past,» says the designer, «I’ve lived an amazing life; I had the opportunity to work on high-level projects, with Lady Gaga and with the Pope, but this is no longer fashion. Fashion now is a medium—a very interesting medium». When we ask him what has changed in his eyes, De Castelbajac has no doubts: «We thought about transgressing, inventing, changing the rules, transforming ideas of chic prêt-à-porter and haute couture. There was a unique relationship between creatives and industry that I experienced and would love to create an exhibition on to showcase everything I did with Italian companies because while I was working for Iceberg, I was also working for Tecnica, Starpoint, and Ellesse—all emerging brands». Browsing the pages of the book Iceberg dedicated to the designer’s extensive tenure, this energy is evident: intarsia sweaters blending Snoopy’s iconography with lines from Hamlet, campaigns featuring the most intriguing faces of pop culture, connections with the hip-hop world, and collaborations with legendary photographers like David LaChapelle and Glenn Luchford. Turning to today’s world, however, De Castelbajac admits that «the reality of productivity and marketing is different now. I believe marketing is dead. It's no longer the time of the “five Ps”: product, price, positioning, promotion, and people. Now it’s the time of the “five Es”: emotion, experience, ecology, e-commerce, and entertainment. These “five Es” have changed everything. Today, it’s no longer about selling: people must be given an experience, an emotion».
It’s natural to wonder if this designer with such a lively, playful imagination sees the potential for a breakthrough moment today. «Mais bien sûr! We saw a bit of it with Covid, as people were isolated and developed a new type of ecological awareness that was absolutely necessary», explains De Castelbajac. «A creative today should not present a fashion proposal but a social and emotional one. But there is more space than ever for innovation: we need innovation for peace, innovation for ecology, for accessibility, for human resources—that's where inspiration lies. Today, inspirations should be in society’s future, not in Hollywood's women». And as for designers? De Castelbajac follows the emerging French scene with interest and names two in particular: «Jeanne Friot, who created the silver costume for the Olympics [inspired by Joan of Arc, editor's note], and Weinsanto. But we have many emerging creatives». More than a visually superior fashion, De Castelbajac seems to believe in a better fashion that considers not only what is created but how it is done. «I have no choice: I am an optimist; I am a standard-bearer for optimism. My work is also the art of seeing the glass as half-full», explains the designer, for whom innovating fashion and, more broadly, culture, means dreaming of a better future for the entire world by applying principles that go far beyond mere clothing or trends. «I care about history», says the designer, referring to the archive mania and nostalgia that currently dominate fashion shows, «but only as an example for the future. You need to inject electricity into history». And how do you do that? «Energy is important. Energy and curiosity. You have to stay a fan for life. A fan of talent, creativity, celebration, music, cinema, and literature».
CREDITS:
Photographer Alessio Keilty
Interview Lorenzo Salamone