‘If you don’t know what turns you on, you will never get an orgasm’: the cult German designer gives his words to live by – look through his archive here
Runway-averse and cosumerism critical, Bernhard Willhelm, is the (now LA-based) cult designer who prefers giving his clothes to museums than keeping an archive, and finds inspiration everywhere from porn stars to shampoo. In fact, it was the latter that ended up laying the groundwork for his current MOCA exhibition: BERNHARD WILLHELM 3000: WHEN FASHION SHOWS THE DANGER THEN FASHION IS THE DANGER, which runs until May. This season, the self-proclaimed exhibitionist, masochist and trainer fetishist shows his AW15 collection amidst a mix of ephemera, garments, film and carefully constructed mannequins – but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s a retrospective. “The good thing about the collections I’m doing in LA at the moment is that they are not nostalgic,” he says. “I’m not touching the past, and I don’t try to repeat things I’ve already done.” He met up with Dazed to discuss his exhibition, new designs and the state of fashion today.
#1 PLAY BY YOUR OWN RULES
“There are no rules anymore, play by your own rules. Fashion shows are usually done for the press, but a lot of designers are realising that you don’t necessarily have to communicate with a fashion show to the public, you can do that in many ways. People want to see your character as a designer, so you can completely express yourself – whether that’s through an exhibition, art show or gallery.”
#2 KNOW WHAT TURNS YOU ON
“If you don’t know what turns you on, you will never get an orgasm. Sex plays an important role in fashion, and now on the Internet you have a lot of platforms for fetish, fetish socks, fetish underwear. It’s interesting how a fetish influences fashion and is still going on.”
#3 LET IT ALL HANG OUT
“I have the German approach – I don’t have a problem with being naked. The Germans call it F-K-K or Freikörperkultur, which means free body culture. I’m not always fixed on wearing clothes; I am a bit of an exhibitionist and I believe that you can be naked and still have attitude.”
#4 DECLARE INDEPENDENCE
“People feel like they have to fulfil other people’s desires. I might not have a lot of money but I have my freedom. That’s what’s so great about LA; Paris has so much history and there’s so much fashion already it’s an over-saturation. It’s a very hierarchical place, especially for the fashion business. Freedom is the biggest luxury you can have as a designer.”
#5 DON’T GET SET IN YOUR WAYS
“Fashion is constantly changing so if you cannot change as a designer, you have a big problem. We are surrounded by fashion and it is part of our society, influencing everything we do. I think you have to be very open as a designer – what you’re creating is a projection of your inner world, but if it isn’t relevant to anyone else you won’t be able to sell it.”
“People feel like they have to fulfil other people’s desires. I might not have a lot of money but I have my freedom. It’s the biggest luxury you can have as a designer” – Bernhard Willhelm
#6 ACCEPT INSPIRATION AS IT COMES
“Upstairs in the exhibition there’s a whole room with film and also products – Kevin Murphy shampoos. I like what these products are promising, for example ‘Kakadu Plum Infused Moisture Delivery System’. This shampoo makes my day. So that was the beginning of the new collection; my shampoo collection has an important role in the show.”
#7 TAKE A REALITY CHECK
“It’s the generation of the selfie. My mobile phone is my mirror and that mirror is immediately put out into the world. You should know that these images aren’t real; when there’s Photoshop anything can be changed. In LA everyone is obsessed with having no wrinkles but I think it’s good to see yourself age and to see how your face changes. Let’s call it a reality check.”
#8 OLDER = WISER
“I’m not interested in the next new hot designer. It’s important to understand that as a designer it’s possible to get older but it doesn’t mean one season you’re hot and the next season you’re not. I am far more interested in a designer’s life story, there is a respect for someone who has been in the industry for 20 or 30 years. People who have done a lot for fashion.”
#9 DON’T FORGET YOUR ROOTS
“There is a certain kind of freedom of how people work with clothes and with their sexuality. I mean I was a sexy underwear model when I was younger. I was modelling sexy Lycra. And what’s funny now, about the MOCA show, is that we’re selling the sexy Lycra I was modelling when I was around 18, the brand is called Tendenze. They still exist and they invented this fetish for Lycra.”
#10 FIND YOUR NICHE
“What is good about LA and what I appreciate a lot is that you can concentrate. You’re doing the things you want to do and nobody is around to disturb you. You can focus... more than you could in Paris. The biggest relief I ever had was just to break out, to decide ‘I want to do that, let’s book a gallery, do something, invite people’ – no matter who comes.”
BERNHARD WILLHELM 3000: WHEN FASHION SHOWS THE DANGER THEN FASHION IS THE DANGER runs until May 17th at the MOCA Pacific Design Center in LA.
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