Ohne Titel is a New York based luxury women’s label, designed by Alexa Adams and Flora Gill. On a Friday afternoon in April, in New York, Alexa and Flora invited us to come to their studio to choose some looks of their collection for the photo shoot by Miguel Villalobos. I have known Alexa and Flora since they started Ohne Titel. I first met them in the gallery where they first presented their debut collection. Their luminous studio is the size of a shoes box and is located on the 9th floor of a building in the Herat of Chelsea. In front of their studio is a large new luxury condo with spacious apartments: apartments that the designers like to peer into when they loose concentration and indulge their imagination.
They had just gotten back from Stockholm, so I asked them about their trip. Both of them gave me the same answer: they fell in love with Djurgården [in English: Game Park], “it is an island right in the middle of Stockholm, known for its beautiful green spaces”, says Flora, “I want to live there, we just spend our days there, we don’t want to go anywhere else”. Talking about their trips to Europe, they tell me about Milan. I am personally not to crazy about Milan but the way they so passionately described their crazy adventures of, cool youth cheap hostels with open doors, and the bohemians everywhere lead me to a different perspective of the city. When talking to these two young, talented and successful designers you get a sense of their harmonious relationship. They met in New York in 1999 while attending Parson's School of Design. After graduating, Alexa worked for several years with the design team at Helmut Lang and in 2005 the two met again on the team at Karl Lagerfeld. It wasn’t until September 2006 that they founded the Ohne Titel label. Spring 2008 is their first collection shown on the catwalk and judging from their fashion designs, they are a force to be reckoned with.
Can you give a brief of your fashion journey?
Alexa: I was interested in fashion from a very young age. My grandmother worked at the Nacional Gallery and would take me as a child there for tours. I knew I wanted to go into a visual field. Then as I got older I started making my own clothing.
Flora: I've always wanted to design clothing. I love how fit and fabric can transform a person. It is so personal, you step inside of a garment, and it covers yet reveals, and frames the body. Tell me about your process when you create, your inspirations and your thoughts on construction.
Alexa: Flora and I design together. We bounce ideas and sketches off one another. Most of the designs share elements of both our ideas. Flora envisions interesting technical solutions and the latest on handcrafts while I focus more on shape and proportion. The final pieces are a product of both our ideas that sort of morph in the fitting process.
How would you describe your style?
Flora: We pair primitive and organic material with a modern sensibility. Inspired by the tension of disparate elements, we design for a confident and modern woman.
Can you explain the name of your brand?
Alexa: The name first came from a small collection we created that was inspired by the texturas and material use of Anselm Keifer's work. He didn't label most his work and we liked the idea of our clothing and brand creating an energy without a personal name, hence Ohne Titel, meaning without title in German.
Apart from Anselm Keifer, what other artists inspire you?
Flora: Lately we have been attracted to artists like El Anatsui. He uses an interesting mix of materials like recycled bottle caps and copper wire in his amazing textile hangings. His work inspires us because we are always searching for new textures and materials.
Do you think that working at Helmut Lang and Karl Lagerfeld has any influence on the designs that you create?
Alexa: We were lucky to work with designers we respected and admired. That experience informed our technical knowledge, which made our own process more fluid.
Your first collection was all about technical sportswear mixing textures like nylon and neoprene with cashmere, wool and gold. Your Spring / Summer 08 collection reflects an early 90’s inspiration of knit-pleat dresses and subtly asymmetrical draped jackets blended with striking graphic tribal prints and accessories in raffia. Do you always work according to a duality of the elements you use in your designs?
Alexa: Yes, we like to use contrasting elements whether it is in fabric or shape in our collections.
What can you tell us about your Fall 08 collection?
Alexa: The Fall 08 collection played on ideas of full body dressing with all-over Celtic and marble prints or 80's monochromatic suiting in royal blue, wine, and camel.
There is an obvious tribal iconography influencing your designs, how do you do your research?
Alexa: I am drawn to that strong silhouette you find in tribal art where the conventional body shape is re-imagined. Also, the recycling and reinventing of materials is something that excites us and we look for that in our fabric research.
Flora: Recently we visited the Quay Branley museum in Paris and were amazed by their massive collection of tribal crafts, costume, and sculpture from around the world. That experience definitely stayed with me through the design process.
What were you doing in Paris?
Alexa: We always look forward to Paris. It’s our time to meet with the European press who are so supportive. We throw little dinner parties and invite an interesting mix each night –buyers and editors, stylist and friends– it’s always fun. Talking about trips, tell us about your experience while you where in Milan.
Flora: In Milan most of our days are spent meeting with factories but we always find time to explore the city. I like to poke around off the beaten track. Last season we stumbled on a vintage clothing store near the canals that had some fabulous hand-made craft pieces from the seventies. This was a really exciting find.
How does emotion play into your work?
Flora: For me inspiration and design are always physical, like a feeling. During fitting's we respond to the work on an emotional level. A collar, hemline or volume feels correct or off. It's instinctive.
How do you develop your textiles?
Flora: We work very closely with the factories and the mills to develop new textiles. Often times there is a technique, or a look that we want to create based on our inspiration. For example, we might look for a soft silky fabric that has the body of neoprene, or embroidery that resembles tree bark and scribbles.
What is the reaction to your more conceptual approach to fashion?
Alexa: As a brand we are interested in experimentation, which might not be so common here in New York. The greater majority of support has come from the international press and I think even here in New York we are perceived as a brand with a strong European tilt. Eventually of course we want to show on the Paris calendar.
Why did you choose NY to present your collections?
Flora: As New Yorkers we love the energy of the city. This is where it had to start for us. There is a certain freedom here that I need and which opens creative doors.
What are your opinions about the New York Fashion Week compared to Paris Fashion Week?
Alexa: New York Fashion Week provides a great starting point and a natural platform for American designers but we admire Paris for its impressive and consist design level. We hope to show on the Paris calendar within the next few years.
