The Importance of A Designer’s Tribe

The modern designer does not operate alone. When he is poached from one house by another, he installs a coterie of friends around him in his new workplace, but those bold headlines trumpeting his arrival rarely mention the importance of this traveling entourage.

The recent case of Raf Simons’s appointment at Calvin Klein is a prime example. He made Pieter Mulier, his scene-stealing right hand man from the documentary, Dior And I, with whom he has worked since 2002, Creative Director, and Mulier’s boyfriend, Mattieu Blazy, Design Director of Womenswear; he enlisted the services of photographer Willy Vanderperre whom he has known since his 90s Antwerp club days to continue to shoot his ad campaigns, and Vanderperre’s boyfriend, Olivier Rizzo, to style them; he brought in L.A. artist Sterling Ruby with whom he has a 10-year friendship and set him to redesign the Madison Avenue Calvin Klein flagship store; Simons’s boyfriend, Jean-Georges d’Orazio, was also brought from Europe to assume the role of Senior Director of brand experience, whatever that is.

“My old studio manager called Raf my brother from another mother,” Sterling Ruby told the New York Times. “I grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania; he grew up in a very small town in a rural area on the Flemish side of Belgium. We both wanted out. . . . And now we’re both walking on tightropes, trying to figure out what we’re doing.”

Making magic happen

The stakes are indeed high in these mergers of star designer and established house, and sometimes nothing less than wizardry is expected to turn the sleeping brand around and make it relevant again. Therefore, not unreasonably, the chosen one has a trusted cloister of Hermiones, Rons, Hagrids and Dumbledores to buoy him against the relentless, and possibly alien, corporate pressure that threatens to snuff out his creativity with the swiftness of one of Voldemort’s DeathEaters.

Of course, fashion is a business like any other and the highly paid, in-demand creative must perform, but when he is bombarded by opposing demands––create the “it” handbag, develop a formidable social media presence, dress celebrities, prepare the company for an IPO, then become beholden to stock market fluctuations, all while making the brand as cool as (insert competitor’s name here)–– it is often only one of his insiders who can utter that gentle reminder to trust his instincts and shut out the voices that don’t ring true. When the designer feels like he is so far out on a limb he no longer recognizes himself or what he stands for, this confidant can present him with a mirror while his new bosses will simply present him with more figures. No matter how much the designer now earns, if he jumped about on a dancefloor with someone twenty years ago, and that person is still by his side, then chances are that person’s worth to him cannot be translated into dollars. The designer’s tribe is no mere Warhol Factory. It is not an assemblage of interesting people hoping to be seen, but a fashion family, in which each one has the other’s back.

We are family

Often the tight circle has immediate family members at it's core: Demna Gvasalia began Vetements with his business-minded brother Guram, before stylist Lotta Volkova came on board. Then, arm-in-arm, the plucky trio trotted on over to the esteemed luxury house of Balenciaga to bestow their charm on it. “Lotta is a walking source of energy,” Gvasalia told Vogue, “We met at some party four years ago, and then she came over to see the first Vetements collection and told me, ‘I want to wear some of these things, but the styling is terrible.’ So she’s been working with us ever since.” This method of team-building has little to do with the human resources department but is not a new phenomenon. At the heart of Giorgio Armani’s billion dollar enterprise, which he started with his now deceased boyfriend, Sergio Galeotti in 1975, are his nieces Silvana and Roberta Armani, although it has been strengthened over the decades with a band of loyal followers. “Because he has no friends,” Armani’s sister, Rosanna, told Vanity Fair. When the magazine asked Armani about her comment, his response was: “Tell me: when do I have time to make myself friends?” But the essence of his motivation is revealed in this sentiment: “Whatever I did in work was done for Sergio. And Sergio did everything for me. So that was the heart.”

The king’s court

Often the job titles of a designer’s court members can be more difficult to pin down that those of Raf Simons’s Calvin Klein team. Amanda Harlech, who had worked with John Galliano since his graduation but famously defected to Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel because she reportedly needed a better salary upon her divorce, told the Sunday Times Style Section. "Karl doesn't have a muse - he has a very close knit family who are incredibly loyal.” She explained her role as best she could: “If I do have a gift, it is as a map-reader, a pathfinder. I don't think I'm a muse. A muse inspires - but Karl is inspired by a lot of other women, men, books, a piece of furniture, a piece of music…’” Alexander McQueen kept two females at the center of his court: Isabella Blow who championed his graduate collection, persuading stores and editors to buy into his vision, and Sarah Burton, the young design assistant who apprenticed under him, eventually tasked with the company’s creative direction upon his untimely death.

For creatives, the building of a design empire is more than just a business. Emotional attachments override business strategies and growth projections. Current headlines suggest designers can be swapped out like outfits, but the designer’s tribe often has to be accounted for in negotiations. That bond is difficult to replicate in a new situation, but having his cherished people about him undoubtedly sets the heralded designer up to thrive. Tribe members shield designers from becoming poor isolated Icarus creatures flying too close to the sun. They bolster and protect. They inspire, invigorate, bathe wounds, and lift spirits. The designer is the lead figure fronting the charge for the house’s dominance over competitors, but it is the tribe whose arms he falls into as he returns backstage after taking his bow at the end of each show.

#TribeGoalz

“Squad” is an Instagram word used by celebrities to describe the elite crew they run with: Taylor Swift’s includes a bunch of Victoria’s Secret models and Lena Dunham, all of which she invites onstage at concerts. Leonardo di Caprio’s modern day Hollywood Brat Pack, which includes Orlando Bloom and Toby Maguire, enjoys hanging out with models on boats. The designer’s tribe isn’t basking in the sun or spotlit onstage or even being stalked by paparazzi. Its members are happiest being useful behind the scenes. Yves Saint Laurent described the essence of this unique relationship perfectly when referring to his longtime right-hand man, Pierre Bergé: “His strength meant I could rest on him when I was out of breath.”

By contributing guest editor Jackie Mallon, who is on the teaching faculty of several NYC fashion programmes and is the author of Silk for the Feed Dogs, a novel set in the international fashion industry.

Photos from Calvin Klein, Armani, and Chanel Facebook pages.