Stylianos Kamperis, a BA student at the Institut Français de la Mode (IFM) in Paris, introduces his latest body of work, ‘Investigation, 2024’. Rejecting the pursuit of mere virality, Stylianos sees fashion as a medium for storytelling and emotional expression, aiming to provoke thought and connection through his art and hoping to spark a dialogue that transcends the conventional norms of the fashion industry.
hube: Could you share your experience of studying at the Institut Français de la Mode (IFM) in Paris? What motivated you to pursue the programme, and what are you most looking forward to gaining from your education there?
Stylianos Kamperis: When researching a BA course to further education in Fashion Design, I was drawn to taking a risk in moving away from home, leaving London, a city where I spent most of my life. IFM was an escape, a place in which students can learn together, but most importantly from one another, a place truly focused on preparing its students for the industry. The course places a strong emphasis on following prompts that allow for extensive experimentation with materials, forms and techniques, while also focusing on garment construction. I find IFM’s program unique due to its emphasis on pattern making and sewing, which is supported by tutors with years of experience in the fashion industry.
h: How does your approach to fashion design reflect an exploration of fundamental questions regarding the concept of life?
SK: To me, fashion, like all other art forms, is about communication. It’s a language. It’s a way of storytelling through the use of texture, form, colour and fit. When starting an investigation, philosophical and conceptual research take priority. I first look at what I want to say with my work, and then turn to philosophical concepts as my first concrete inspiration. My most recent investigation, for example, explores how we live in a time of extreme inequality, and although law creates a semblance of stability, the world is at war. While people die, others enjoy the luxuries of ‘lawful’ societies, fuelled by ideas of luxury and fulfilment. The investigation is supported by an Aristotelian concept regarding the pursuit of fulfilment in life through a metaphysical balance of law and chaos.
After identifying a concept that can support the overall message I wish to communicate, I turn to a wide approach for my research. Inspirational facets that connect to the main idea, often include cinematography, history and theatre. Research to me is the most important part of the process, it’s an endless exploration and interpretation of ideas. I refer to my bodies of work as investigations because to me that is what they are; I use fashion design as a medium to investigate different concepts and ideas that interest me, and that I hope my audience can relate and grow with. As investigations, my bodies of work never have an endpoint, they are open-ended questions that I hope to return to, reflect upon and evolve in the future.
h: How has your experience as a BA student at the Institut Français de la Mode influenced your creative process and the development of your artistic style?
SK: IFM has truly taught me the foundation necessary to create my own work and to construct garments. Learning how to pattern cut and sew has influenced my freedom of expression, which in turn has let me experiment with volumes, forms and restrictions. The school has enabled me to appreciate and recognise the importance of craftsmanship and meticulous work that goes into creating a garment. So much can be revealed from a garment by the way its patterns are drafted and by the way it is constructed. Through my most recent academic project, for example, I was pushed to work with the creation of a print, which in turn unlocked a new avenue of my artistic style that I am excited to develop further.
h: As a student, what challenges have you faced in balancing your academic responsibilities with your creative pursuits, and how have you overcome them?
SK: Being part of an intensive course at IFM, I initially struggled to balance the academic and creative standards I had set myself as a creative.
IFM has given me a deep understanding of the importance of craft and construction and the opportunity to push myself creatively through different design projects. Each project develops a new set of skills and requires students to follow a specified set of criteria. While this can at times feel limiting, it is a skill that ultimately needs to be mastered in order to work under a designer post-graduation.
That being said, I find that these years of education, especially art education, are the years to really go crazy and find your own creative identity. To do so, since the start of the course in September, I have constantly, and simultaneously my IFM projects, working on personal investigations. The duality between academic and personal creativity has been fulfilling, allowing me to grow as an artist and as a person. I have also, however, experienced some tough periods, where my drive has led to a sense of burnout, after many long days in the studio.
h: Could you explain how traditional silhouettes are juxtaposed with rough, distressed elements in your designs? How do you balance experiences created by restrictive garments with natural material choices like cowhide?
SK: Silhouettes are distorted and broken down. References that to me personify a sense of law, chaos, or even the shift between the two, inform the use of different traditional silhouettes. From the 1963 film adaptation of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies to traditional Greco-Roman influenced gowns worn by Josephine Bonaparte during a time of law and stability for France, my work creates an amalgamation of order and disorder, teasing this sense of duality through societal connotations attributed to specific fits, fabrics and textures.
Taking theatrical aspects into consideration is really important to me. I aim for my garments to not solely have a visual message, but to also be experienced in a physical sense. By taking movements and restrictions into account while designing, I think about how specific pattern-making and fit decisions affect or restrict the movements of the wearer, adding a new aspect of interpretation for the wearer and viewer to engage with. An example of this is a skirt pattern I drafted, designed to allow for no movement. The skirt is fitted to the exact measurements of the model’s knees, therefore, creating a chaotic experience of mayhem and claustrophobia that is counterbalanced by the natural origins of the material used, in this instance, cowhide.
h: What symbolism are you conveying through the use of lightweight paper to represent the fragility of emotion and the potential shift from peace to chaos?
SK: With a mixture of orthodox and unorthodox material choices, natural and unnatural, smooth and rough materials play with this sense of duality between law and chaos. From gouache-coated stiff wool to creased paper, fine silks and thick calf skins, this investigation allowed me to experiment with connotations attributed to specific fabrics and how they can instil feelings of order and disorder.
To me, the use of paper plays with the subjectivity of the term law. In terms of being natural, paper fits that criterion, so when placed in the same look as a polyethene hat, it can be seen as natural, while polyethene is unnatural. Paper can be soft and flat and it can also be manipulated and distorted into a fabric of sorts, though it is not one. Paper is delicate, and in that sense ‘lawful’, but it must not be forgotten that paper can actually cut and cause pain, so in that sense is it also a cause of chaos?
The use of paper held a symbolic importance to the concept of the investigation. For me, laws, rules and traditions have predominantly been passed down and communicated through paper, whether that be rules from a childhood classroom memory, religious beliefs or even contracts. How can those laws be challenged? Disregarded even? The mutilation and distortion of the paper symbolise a disregard for these laws, breaking away from possible restrictions caused by societal rules, and traditions.
h: As a new rising designer, what message are you conveying regarding the current state of the world and the need for balance, new ideas, and change through your work?
SK: I think that with the rise of social media platforms, fame and virality are marketed and glorified to everyday people as the golden ticket to success. I believe we need to go back to a time when fashion and art were used as a source of self-expression rather than an attempt to gain attention and money. To me, fashion, much like any other art form, is a medium of communication, a language. As my professor, Julien Baulu, often says, ‘Fashion is a mirror of society’. As society continues to change and evolve, fashion is a way to express our opinions and experiences with the current state of the world and to rebel through the expression of our dissatisfactions, fears and ambitions.
I aspire to be a part of a movement of young designers that create freely, embracing unorthodox inspiration in order to break societal boundaries and beliefs, creating bodies of work that people can relate to, grow and heal with. The future to me should no longer be driven by mass production; designers must be accountable for their impact on the environment and limit their scale of production, even if this is at the detriment of profit.
h: In what ways does your approach to fashion challenge conventional industry norms and advocate for a more meaningful approach to design beyond mere commercial success? As a student navigating the fashion industry, what challenges do you anticipate encountering as you strive to establish yourself as a designer with a unique voice and vision?
SK: I don’t see fashion as a means for financial gain or an attempt at fame or virality. In an industry that is being taken over by gimmicks and marketing ploys, I aim to use my work as a form of self-expression, and at times even self-therapy.
Independently owned companies, like Rick Owens, are the ones doing it right by not over-expanding and thinking about sustainable routes of production, while also not being afraid to experiment in unorthodox ways. I think that in order to develop into a true creative, one needs to fail and fail again. I, of course, anticipate financial challenges as being a designer and a creative in the industry has always proved not to be extremely lucrative.
At this time, I don’t like to place myself on a clear path to specific goals for the future. To me, that is an unknown I’m extremely glad to have. It’s all a journey; I love sharing my world with others, but that world still needs time to develop and solidify. I have been fortunate enough to connect with fearless, like-minded creatives, such as Dahc Durmer VIII and Diane Pernet, people I have learnt from and been inspired by, who, to me, represent the core values of the international creative community. I think an issue I am now overcoming, is that as a young designer in such a competitive industry, I let my worry for the future often take over my view of the world. I am now trying to step back and face that, appreciating the beauty in everyday life. At the end of the day, all we can do is try our best.
One cannot design out of necessity for success. To me, that’s simply wrong.
Photography courtesy of the artist
