Faceless

Bodysuit by Vibskov and Emenius Projects; Star bodysuit worn underneath by Petrou/Man

We present a faceless male silhouette that is masked by a second skin in this season's graphic prints and patterns in the current issue of Dazed, photographed by Kacper Kasprzyk and styled by Robbie Spencer. These faceless figures were largely prompted by Petrou Man's S/S 10 collection of patterned body skins but were then further propelled by Henrik Vibskov and Andreas Emenius' costumes which they worked on for their Circular Series, Section 1 project, a continuation of their Fringe Projects collaboration. Cameron Smith was on set to film these figures in the video below and we found out more about the originators of these protective yet provocative ensembles.


Jacket and top by Prada; Bodysuit by Petrou/Man; Shoulderpiece by Vibskov and Emenius Projects


Jacket by Kenzo Homme; Jumper by Burberry Prorsum; Trousers by Alexander McQueen; Bodysuit worn underneath by Petrou/Man; Hat by Lanvin // Trench coat by Vivienne Westwood Man; Jacket by Issey Miyake; Trousers by Jean Paul Gaultier; Bodysuit worn underneath by Petrou/Man; Visor by Lanvin

NICOLAS PETROU OF PETROU/MAN

Since we last featured his deconstructed pattern mixing work, up and coming menswear designer Nicolas Petrou has gone on to present his S/S 10 collection in New York and in this shoot, we get to grips fully with his body skins that were the highlight of his presentation. We find out more from this rising designer on why he decided to mask up for the summer.

Dazed Digital: What made you decide to use body skins as a motif in your S/S 10 collection?
Nicolas Petrou: Spring Summer 2009 was the launch of the PETROU\MAN collection and I simply didn’t want people who would see the presentation to put a face on the clothes or associate them with a customer of a certain age or a particular type. I wanted to create a neutral environment where different guys could associate with the clothes. The fact that all the models were completely covered and unrecognizable was enough to capture the essence of the actual garments and forget the wearer. For the 2 hours of the presentation, the models forgot who they were and transformed themselves into PETROUMAN creatures.

DD: How did you balance the more wearable aspects of your collection with the skins?
Nicolas Petrou: PETROU\MAN is about wearable clothes with precise tailoring, interesting details, hand techniques and applications. I felt the need though to present it in a more artistic way. In this reality we live in and with so much destruction in the world around us, it’s sometimes nice to be able to escape to a more abstract and not so conventional place.

DD: Was there any significance in the patterns you used for the skins?
Nicolas Petrou: Yes, the patterns on the skins represented scenes from our everyday lives. Whether it was stars, stripes or volcano debris, they did represent aspects of the world we live in. My intention was to capture these everyday events that occur around the globe but we sometimes forget they exist.

DD: Do you think there is a part of menswear at the moment, that craves protection or a 'warrior'-like feeling in what they wear?
Nicolas Petrou: There is indeed a need for feeling protected at the moment. It’s not a literal or an obvious thought but I think it does affect the way we think and design. For this same reason, my A/W 2010-11 collection is based on nomads and their travels and includes elements that give the wearer a feeling of protection and comfort.



PETROU/MAN S/S 10 Collection


Suit by Comme des Garcons; shirt by Jil Sander; Bodysuit by Petrou/Man; Visor by Lanvin; Tie by Jean Paul Gaultier // Jacket by Alexander McQueen; Top by Margaret Howell; Vintage Levi's customised by stylist from Rokit; Bodysuit by Petrou/Man


Grey bodysuit with metal poles by Vibskov and Emenius Projects; Bodysuit worn underneath by Petrou/Man

HENRIK VIBSKOV AND ANDREAS EMENIUS OF FRINGE PROJECTS
The Danish designer Henrik Vibskov has long been collaborating with fellow Central Saint Martins school mate Andreas Emenius on projects that go outside of the realm of fashion, touching on a variety of aspects such as performance, art installation, film and even tapestry. Their collaborative efforts have been building up so much in quantity, that they've closed their Fringe Projects together with a retrospective book. Now they have embarked on a new set of projects entitled 'The Circular Series'. Section 1 of this series gave way to the Bauhaus-influenced costumes used in the shoot, that were originally made for a film interpretation of a track by Mew. Section 2 sees them exhibiting an outdoor installation about loneliness, imprisonment and schizophrenia at the Wilhelm Wagenfeld Haus in Bremen (a video of the opening can be seen here)

Dazed Digital: How did you come together to work on the Fringe projects?
Andreas Emenius: We knew each other from London, we went to the same school there, and then by a series of accidents, I ended up in Copenhagen and then we did a few smaller projects, some theatre events and then this one request came about from Japan (Dazed & Confused in Japan actually) to do an image and that was the first Fringe-inspired idea and then we quickly realised that could be quite fun to continue to work on. And we focused and realised fairly quickly that we should do more projects with a playful theme surrounding it.

DD: In terms of the costumes you created for the Mew video by Martin de Thurah, Lasse Martinussen and Adam Hashemi, what context did you have in mind when designing them?
Andreas Emenius: We had some references to Bauhaus, and to the music of course, and also a little bit of a dream world and the idea was to have six identities. The initial idea was to have something dreamy, so the six characters do not necessarily have a narrative but are more like six different kinds of figures of this dream world.

DD: Can you talk us through the characters?
Andreas Emenius: They’re not as specific as such, no narratives but there’s a few ideas behind them.
Henrik Vibskov: There’s kind of darker identities; like a mother, a queen, and then she has these soldiers (the downward spikes costume) that are under her. They're the protectors, the troopers.

DD: How do you relate what you do with Andreas, these projects and installations, with what you do as a fashion designer?
Henrik Vibskov: I don’t know, I’m not sitting and writing a paper and saying this is one kind of project and that is the other. I think everything is floating together, like mix and match.

DD: What do each of you bring to the partnership; are there specific attributes that you each bring to the table?
Henrik Vibskov: We have different backgrounds. I‘m Swedish he’s Danish with different upbringings, different roots, which adds to the mix. I think we have different technical references that we can pull into the mix, maybe I know more about costumes and sewing and Andreas has different references to put in.
Andreas Emenius: The process is like a starting point where we figure out which one to go with. It’s a natural process. It might be that he’s slightly more playful and I come from a slightly more pretentious side....

DD: You're going to let me say you're pretentious?
Andreas Emenius: Yeah, maybe Henrik’s more playful and I’m more pretentious!


Sketches of costumes for The Circular Series, Section 1


Jacket by Dolce & Gabbanna; Top by JW Anderson; Trousers by Roberto Cavalli; Bodysuit by Petrou/Man; Visor by Lanvin


Waistcoat by James Long; Track top by John Varvatos; Bodysuit by Petrou/Man

CREDITS
Photography Kacper Kasprzyk
Styling Robbie Spencer
Set Design Andrea Cellerino
Models Michael and James at M&P, Craig at Models 1
Photography Assistant Pawel Pysz
Styling Assistants Elizabeth Fraser-Bell, Lynsey Gibson
Set Design Assistant Vincenzo Aiello
Location Spring Studios
Special thanks to Bar Bar
Film of shoot by Cameron Smith below.