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11 MAY 2018

ANGELOS FRENTZOS

Fashion

Name: Angelos Frentzos

Profession: Fashion Designer/Creative

Nationality: Greek

Online Identity: www.angelosfrentzos.eu (Website)

@angelosfrentzosofficial (Instagram) @AngelosFrentzos (Twitter)

Which are the basic personality traits of Angelos Frentzos?

My perseverance, my hard-working attitude, and a strong temperament.

Can you introduce your FW18/19 Women and Men Collections? Which are the collections' winning cards?

The Women’s Collection interacts with the terms of feminism and femininity.

I see the collection Radiant Sanctuary as an environment for women who project their femininity and their narrative, with a combination of tailoring and couture embroidery, alongside prints with texts by Louise Bourgeois.

The Men’s Collection, Credit Disorder, is a comment on the today’s state of the world and of fashion. It is an ironic approach to logos and credits that have become more important than clothes and design.

What is the role of research and experimentation in your work?

They have the leading and dominant role in my work. I have always been interested in research regarding patterns, fabrics, prints, and techniques. I cannot find any interest or pleasure in repeating myself, and in general, I don’t find intriguing any brand or design that don’t include any actual effort and don’t show respect to the audience.

How do your Greek Origins interplay in your creative identity?

I think they don’t, at least not in an obvious way. I travel very often since I was very young, and I have lived in an international environment. My creative idols were Belgian and Japanese designers. So, I don’t feel related to any folklore references.

Your FW 2018/2019 Mens' Collection "Who/What Are You Wearing," moves fashion editorial credits from the magazine's pages to the garments themselves, transforming the person wearing the outfit to a magazine page. What prompted you to this ironic approach?

I was researching the collection at a fashion library, and I found some older streetwear magazines from California, that had printed the credits on the clothes.

That was happening before advanced photoshop. So, I thought it would be quite funny to use this idea as prints and evolve some ideas I had initially for Off-White when that project started.

Which aspects of the creative realm (art, music, design, cinema, etc.) inspire you, and in what way?

Music has always been an inspiration throughout my career. I still listen to music when I am researching or designing. I’m also following art, as I visit exhibitions and fairs.

The same happens for design; They are all areas that show visual creativity on a different level, that can be an inspiration for my work too. Cinema is my least preferable art, but I enjoy the big spectacle of blockbusters and the smart and bold performances in independent films.

Your so far trajectory includes such collaborations with contemporary artists such as the Dutch artist Marc Bijl, the Korean artist Hyungkoo Lee, the Dover Street Market/DSM Ginza Store curated by 2Palms Ltd Editions, as well as the New York-based artist Michael Bevilacqua. Can you tell us a bit more about this "fusion" and creative merging between fashion and contemporary art?

Besides my main line, I design the Project Frentzos Collection, which is produced every time I find the right connection with an artist. That connection plays a pivotal role in the creation of the Collection. Its purpose is to showcase a version of the views and the discussions I have with artists that I admire. I set the bases, and they create the prints and the general mood.

Today Original is...

Nothing is original nowadays where recycling of ideas is the norm. The closest thing of originality is the creative use of references in ways that are unexpected or forgotten.

Can you please explain your creative process?

I don’t start choosing the subject, but the mood of the collection. I think about how I see a man or a woman for the next season. I design, I make samples, I try different things.

And then, sketch by sketch, sample by sample, the subject creates itself.

What do you learn from your collections? (In other words, assuming that each collection is a teacher, what does it teach you?)

Different ways of construction, of deconstruction, new techniques in coloring and printing. Every collection is an evolution of the previous one.

How would you describe/define the contemporary state of fashion?

I would call it adolescent. The basic elements of a wardrobe that most first-rate designers are concerned with are t-shirts, denim, hoodies, sneakers and a little black dress.

Nowadays, What Do Women Want? What Do Men Want?

If we are talking about fashion, something photogenic for the perfect selfie.

If you could be any piece of garment/accessory which one would you be?

An oversized shearling jacket. Big, warm, with a presence.

Two artists/designers that inspire you?

Thomas Schuette and Martin Margiela.

What’s your take on Eco-Fashion?

It’s something that is needed, something that I have respect and appreciation for and something that I use in my collections.

If you could interview another creative, who would it be and why?

I would like to talk with Martin Margiela, and ask him why, since he is one of the leading designers of the past decades and a major reference for many others, he would stay away from fashion and retire?

The greatest compliment you ever got?

After my first show in Milan, Milano Finanza wrote that I’m the next Tom Ford.

I found it both excessive and flattering.

A constructive criticism/advice that stuck with you?

That I shouldn’t demand from the people I work with to have a profound knowledge of fashion.

What’s next for Angelos Frentzos?

At the moment I’m working on my new Men’s and Resort Collections for Spring / Summer 2019, and I’m preparing a fascinating project for the Athens Biennale.

It will be a combination of fashion and art, presented in an unconventional way.

Content by Annie Markitanis

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