On the road with 5Preview

We are early supporters of 5Preview. I remember that one of my very first posts here on DC, back in 2008-2009 or something, was about the brand’s first collection, when all those irreverent, graphic, black and white t-shirts which ironized on famous fashion logos started appearing a bit everywhere, always worn by super hip people around the globe.

The success of 5Preview, founded by the Swedish designer Emeli Martensson, lead the brand to move forward to a total look man and woman collection for spring – summer 2011, which she discloses to DesignCatwalk in this interview.

—

- Hi Emeli, I love your collection. How and when did you come to the idea of not only t-shirts but a total look collection instead?

Thanks Ari! The original idea behind the T-shirts was just to get some attention to then have the possibility to make a proper collection. There were also a request from the market that got a little tired to see only white and black T-shirts in our showrooms, each season looks the same after a while. The SS2011 collection is rather small, just to try, but we just released the AW2011-12 and that is more complete with more garments.

- What’s the inspiration behind it? Let me tell you that also the campaign photos are rad, who made them?

You’re heading south down on Highway 101 from North Beach San Francisco a chilly august morning. Hot coffee and mom’s sandwiches on the pier of Santa Cruz then towards LA while sun is rising. Theengine of the Chevrolet Impala of Johnny’s cousin breaks down just outside the dreamlike woods and canyons of Monterrey. The radio is on and the local university radio station makes you listen to some lo-fi rock n’ roll music while your friends tries to fix the car…
it’s a collection for adventurous boys and girls on the road. Casual but elegant. That silky oversized shirt fits for a stroll under the big Redwoods and will also be perfect for that party in Silver Lake (if you ever gets to LA…) The baseball-jacket is a timeless piece of fashion that looked good in the fifties and still does.
One secret is the choice of materials. We only use the best stuff: silk, leather, bamboo, wool…
The photographer of the campaign is Fredrik Ottosson, and you can read a very nice interview on the shooting backstage on our blog.
- Tell us about your team, who is behind 5Preview?

I’m Emeli and I’m the art director (designer?) and I work with Gennaro that is a product developer. Terese is sometimes helping us out with her great creativity. Then there is a bunch of people taking care of logistics, economics and the warehouse. We work closely with our agents and distributors all over the world – it’s important to know what’s happening on the different markets.

- If you could choose two ideal people, male and female, to represent 5preview last collection – I mean, in world history, in music, a model, a muse, whatever… – who would you choose?

Patti Smith (as always) and…that’s it. Male clothes fits her perfect as well!

- Yes, Patti is awesome and I agree, she would look great in your pieces! Emeli, you had the opportunity to work in different countries and you can compare among different experiences: Italy, USA, now Sweden… what are the positive and negative sides of each of these places?

Oh that could be a 10 page monologue! Italy is mostly negative for working (it’s perfect for lunch and after work though). Maybe I had some bad experiences but I found it really hard to trust people, they’re talking a lot down there! It’s also a mess for organizing in general I would never in my life try to run a company there. The politics are ridiculous, people are corrupt ,everyone tries to cheat you in all different ways and it’s not so forward with trends. But anyway – it’s a beautiful place with wonderful food & wine and great friends.
The US (or should I say New York) is also full of distraction! How can you work when you have 10 different parties to chose from each night? It’s perfect for networking and inspiration but then you need some peace to take care of all your networks! It would be great place to stay if I had a LOT OF MONEY to get a loft and a studio in Williamsburg (or something like that) and a good health insurance and maybe a green card.
Sweden is calm and chilly. People pay taxes. Things work. Life is quite cheap and the airport is close. The air is fresh. I love the fashion here – people are so aware and have a really good taste. Negative things about Stockholm? The extremely long and cold winter, but then when spring comes – you REALLY appreciate it!

- Any incoming new project/event we should know about?

We’re doing charity! A collaboration with UNIFEM, the part of Unicef that works with women rights. We’re working on a project against human trafficking that exists everywhere. Even here in Sweden. (usually) Poor girls gets trapped into slavery and forced into prostitution. We have to change the view on prostitution, it’s usually not a choice people do and no one does it for fun.
We’re also exhibiting in fairs all over Europe now: Berlin, Monaco, Dusseldorf, Milan, Copenhagen & Paris.
We made a collaboration with the LA based art collective Blood Is The New Black and some of the shirts you can find at Colette in Paris (for example). We started a project last summer with the DJ collective LOST and that is now going to it’s end with 4 fresh T-shirts and a party during Stockholm Fashion Week. Hopefully we’ll do an exhibition / party in Tokyo this spring and of course, new issues of 5-piece-paper will be release every 4 months. Next issue will include some great illustrators, for example Ragnar Persson (check him out…).
…and today we start seriously with the SS2012 collection!

- WOW so many things! Is there a question I didn’t make but you would like to be asked? Maybe some sneek peak about the AW2011-12 collection? Or is it too early?

“PAINT IT BLACK”, the AW2011-12 collection of 5preview shows a new direction to the brand former known as a T-shirtbrand. The whole collection is dyed black, shades of a soft grayscale on high quality materials. Soft, sheer and fresh. There are organic silk underwear, rough military inspired coats, lumberjack flannel and soft semitransparent cashmere sweaters.

—

I’m really looking forward to following through the brand’s evolution: 5preview makes sophisticated wearable clothes with an ironic touch. Quality and soberness are the keywords. These are precious qualities to be found, nowadays…

Ariko

<< Previous post - Next post >>