1000 Ideas by 100 Fashion Designers

Imane Ayissi 125

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Hailing from Cameroun,

the son of a family of

artists and sportsmen:

his father was a

champion boxer, his

mother had been elected

Miss Cameroun in 1960,

and his brothers and

sisters are dancers and

singers. He worked as

a model, presenting

men’s collections and

brands such as Cardin,

Dior, Lanvin, Givenchy,

Yves Saint Laurent,

and Valentino. The

garments of Imane

Ayissi’s couture and

prêt-à-porter lines

meld African traditions

with western fashion.

His collections, often

featuring exotic,

evocative names,

combine craftsmanship,

materials, and

traditional African cuts.

Together with his use of

innovative fabrics there

is also often an infusion

of typically African-

style DIY or recycling

work, references to

Parisian haute couture,

and contemporary

creativity to create a

fashion targeted at an

international public.

Imane Ayissi

www.imaneayissi.com

© Alex Fadel

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© Marc Robin

352 INSPIRATION. Everything

can inspire me to start a collection:

object, picture, materials, words, story,

construction principle, smell, etc. Then

I put words on this inspiration and it

becomes the real theme of the collection.

For example, my summer 2007 collection

“Le Printemps de Satan” came from my

desire of mixing gothic with romantic. All

the challenge is then translating this theme

in outlines, garments, details, and more in

an intelligent way.

353 M

ATERIALS. Actually I can use

every kind of fabric, but because I am

more interested in the construction and

the architecture of the garments, I use

more plain fabrics. I choose them for

their qualities ( uidity, density, weight,

softness, etc.) which must correspond to

the outlines of the  nal garment I want.

I can even use very basic fabrics, like

cotton jersey, and “re-build” them into a

sophisticated material. For example, for

my 09/10 winter collection “Voodoo Mood,”

I created dresses made entirely out of

tied ribbons, cut in a very simple bamboo

jersey. I am more and more involved in

earth protection, so I look more and more

for organic fabrics, but it’s still very hard

to  nd organic fabrics that are a little bit

sophisticated.

354 YOUR RIGHT ARM? My business

partner and friend Jean-Marc Chauve, who

is also designer, art advisor, and consultant

at the Institut Français de la Mode (IFM),

the prestigious French fashion school and

research center.

355 I

NDIVIDUALITY VS. GROUP BELONGING.

I didn’t study in any fashion school and

while I come from a continent (Africa)

with clothes, jewelry, and other  nery

traditions, it lacks a fashion tradition.

Fashion is a western invention and so I

had to choose my in uences and references

by myself. Therefore I think I’m more

on the individual side, and maybe my

best creations are interesting because it’s

hard to characterize them (Is it African?

European? Haute couture? Avant-garde?)

But of course, as every designer, I’m

in uenced by several creative works, from

several creative areas: fashion design,

architecture, plastic arts, music.

351

T

RADITIONAL MANUFACTURING VS.

EXPERIMENTATION. In my opinion, the

de nition of fashion is experimentation and

innovation, so I always try to create something

new, even surprising at times. But innovation

should also be based on tradition, whether

a little bit or a lot. Thinking of creating

something from nothing is an illusion. In

the high-fashion range, a collection is a very

accurate exercise: for each collection you have

to create garments representative of your style,

garments representatives of the collection

theme, spectacular out ts for press, more

simple and affordable out ts for clients…and

all these items must be very coherent.

© Raffaele Soccio and Luca Sorrentino for Alta Roma

126 1,000 Ideas by 100 Fashion Designers

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