Designer Q & A - R13

This week's Designer Q & A is with the mysterious man behind R13 who wishes to remain anonymous for the time being.

1) Why do you think after 200 years jeans are still one of the most popular items of clothing?
I think it's due to a sort of Darwinism effect for clothing. Survival of the fittest. Probably the most significant pieces of clothing man ever invented. We haven't come up with anything that can rival a pair of jeans since it was invented. Functional, timeless and nothing could be sexier.

2) Last time I counted there were over 200 brands of premium denim jeans, what makes your jeans stand out from the rest?
Every brand can be distinctive if it is true to itself. R13 is committed to its vision; it has its own individuality. It speaks to those who understands it.

3) Who do you imagine is a typical customer?
The individual who wants to stand apart from the rest...

4) Where do you get your inspiration from?
Right now I am really into old Joy Division and Jesus and Mary Chain music. Also new bands like the XX,White Lies, and Stricken City. I am also inspired by the work of Axel Vervoordt. I find it interesting that the energy and soul of all these artists are consistent even though they are decades apart and from different field. I try to be sensitive to things that move me. I would continuously absorbed everything and trust that it would affect my work somehow.

5) Which style and wash of your jeans are flying out of the shops the quickest at the moment?
All of them I hope. Our skinny jeans in vintage indigo wash is doing really well. It looks timeless, sexy and modern at the same time. To make a great pair of jeans, you need to start with the best basic ingredient, that is why we spend a lot of time looking for the best stretch fabric money can buy. When you wear our skinny jeans, it just feels more expensive. We also have a special way that we cut the legs so that it makes your legs look slimmer and longer.

6) Are there any essential jeans that everyone should have in their wardrobe?
A pair that will transform them into a confident and sexy goddess.
I think to look appealing today, at the very least you need to wear a pair of skinny jeans. It's also important what you wear with your skinny also; the shoes, how you wear your hair etc. If you are ultra cool, you need to wear a pair of Droopy jeans...

7) What are the first pair of jeans you remember?
Levi's 501 button fly

8) What have been your favourite pair of jeans that you have owned and why?
A prototype of a mens pair of R13. I spent weeks drafting the pattern for it. sewed it up myself with a couple of yards of handmade Japanese denim that I have been saving. I also wore it down from raw. That also took years, the longer it takes the more valuable it is to me...

9) What have been your favourite pair of jeans that you have produced and why?
I love all our jeans equally and yet distinctively. They all have their own unique proposition.

10) How many pairs of jeans do you currently own and which are your favourites?
I don't know. I just have a very large pile of jeans in my closet that gets larger and larger. I always think that a particular pair will be THE ONE, then I fall in love with another....

11) Are you a "wash your jeans after each wear" person or a "wear your jeans for six months before you wash them" person?
How can one have the conscience to corrupt indigo with water. insanity! : )

12) Do you own jeans for different occasions (for instance I have work jeans, smart jeans, weekend jeans, holiday jeans, jeans for going to concerts in, jeans for gardening in) if so what have you got?
I am faithful to one pair at a time. I would not part from it for months or years. I do everything in it. Until I am bewitched by another...

13) Which is your favourite jeans shop?
Double RL in East Hampton NY.

14) Which celebs are currently wearing your jeans?
I am dreaming that it would be Alison Mosshart or Emanuelle Alt. When our mens line comes out, I want Hedi Slimane to wear it.

15) How important big an effect does it have on your sales when a celeb is seen wearing a pair of your jeans?
In our celebrity obsessed culture, it's the ticket to the big time isn't it?

16) Who is your current favourite denim icon (male & female). I am thinking the person who has the most denim style?
The Kills- Allison Mosshart and Jaimie what's his name....

17) Which person living or dead would you most like to see in a pair of your jeans?
So many to choose from... All my childhood hero and crushes...Serge Gainsbourg, Jane Birkin, Francois Hardy, Steven Sprouse, Robert Smith, Kurt Cobain, Bryan Ferry, Axl Rose, Morrisey, Debbie Harry to name a few.

18) What is the worst denim crime?
I hate cheap indigo.

19) If jeans had not been invented, what would we all be wearing?
Nothing...

20) And finally, any predictions for denim in 2010
No fortune telling, but I like to promote the drop crotch as the next big thing. So unconventionally sexy.

AndyK: 22/12/09