Meet GFF International Talent, Rebar Aziz, from Pforzheim University in Germany. Rebar’s inspiration for his final collection is the Bavarian king, Ludwig. “Ludvig II” explores themes of escapism, nightmares, dreams, delusion, life and death through craftsmanship and tailoring skills which Rebar was first exposed to as a child in his father’s tailoring studio. Read on to discover more about Rebar and his work.
Contact Details for Rebar:
Email: rrrebar@googlemail.com
Tell us about you, where are you from, what lead you to fashion and choosing that course?
My name is Rebar Aziz, I am 29 years old and have currently and successfully completed my fashion design studies at the Fashion Department at Pforzheim University. My current collection "Ludwig II", I am applying with, is my final thesis. During my childhood I was already surrounded by fashion. My father often took me to his studio in Iran, where I lived at that time. He worked there as a traditional tailor. At the age of 6, however, I had to flee my home country to Germany together with my brother. An idea for my professional future developed only after some detours.
During my high school graduation it was my career wish to become a professional soccer player. I trained hard for my goal, but due to a heart muscle inflammation I had to give up my dream. After the A-levels I decided to study mechanical engineering. But in my spare time and to finance my studies I continued to sew clothes for myself and friends. It was important to me to keep and continue this tradition of my family aside to my technical studies. The “Hochschule für Gestaltung” in Pforzheim became aware of my work and offered me a place to study fashion. So I followed my passion, broke off my studies of mechanical engineering and started to study fashion design.
The technical influence of my previous mechanical engineering studies is reflected in all my collections, however. Complex mechanisms and multiple functions are therefore as much a part of my artistic signature as my cultural background and my demand for special designs. For me, fashion is and has never been just clothing. It is home. It is the staging and expression of myself. It is creativity and passion.
Describe the inspiration and concept behind your work. Talk us through your final project and your research process. How did that come about?
I remember an episode at the beginning of my studies in Pforzheim when I was called "Ludwig" – I must have had a special appearance. But who was this "Ludwig"? Did I share more with him than a certain external similarity? Reason enough for me to concentrate more on the Bavarian "fairy tale king" and to take him as the basis of my final thesis. His early alienation from his parents, his not always easy-to-understand mental state and his mysterious death in 1886, were the starting points for the collection "Ludwig II". It was not the dealing with the historical past or the circumstances of his life that stood in the foreground for me, but rather to look behind the myth, his passion and his tortures of life. "I will remain an eternal mystery." I internalised this quote of Ludwig II. and began to tell my own myth, my own fairy tale, which was to be about my encounter with the Bavarian king in my dreams.
The legendary and nightmarish creatures I faced in the darkness of my dreams formed the basis for the development of the collection. Ludwig's megalomania, which was already apparent during his lifetime, as well as his supposed mental illness were also an important aspect in the development of the collection. Thus I created grotesque human sculptures as an expression of the figurative dream sequences. The result are clothing sculptures that symbolize Ludwig's obsessions and his escapism from the real world. Also these clothing sculptures allow his delusional fantasies to form in textiles. They are dreamlike beings beyond time. An eternal mystery...
Tell us about your design process. How do you work? How do you take your research and develop your own designs?
Honestly I am less keen on developing my design by drawing. My approach is rather three dimensional. Due to the process this has the privilege to interact directly between material, body shape and movement. Nevertheless my research for „Ludwig II“ started with the drafting of diaries to get closer to the emotional world of the king. Aside of the historical aspects, I was particularly fascinated by Ludwig's mental deformation, which I wanted to transfer into fashion. The importance of dreams for my design process led to a very special approach to the development of. A room-sized dream catcher that I created served as a scaffold in which the fabric was stretched and could thus be precisely controlled.
The resulting shapes were preserved in their monstrous dimensions and developed into elaborate looks. For the further looks I worked with the body sculptures already described, which I took an impression of and developed them into elaborate patterns. These cuts emancipate themselves delusionally from conventional body- and pattern-systems and go beyond the context of dress in many ways. Built-in mechanisms – such as a functioning "fountain dress" with a closed water circuit or a doll-inspired suit of armour with a key – bear witness to Ludwig's fascination with technical gadgets and mechanical moments of surprise.
Tell us about your Collection Development. How do you toile, how do you like to pattern cut, do you like to drape?
Form development is an important basis of my work, aside the mechanical functions and the use of unusual materials. Basic pattern making does not interest me. I hardly ever use it, but am always looking for new forms and silhouettes as an expression of my idea of body and look. Therefore I often go unusual ways. I experiment a lot with extreme proportions and altered body images. For my collection "Ludwig", for example, I have created a sculpture for each look. For the resulting deformed body shapes I then developed my elaborate drapes with up to 100 individual pattern pieces. These initially abstract and free forms I drive to distinct and coherent structures. This is the framework of my design.
Talk us through your final collection and each outfit. Why where these the final designs?
The looks are taken from Ludwig's biography and tell the story of his delusional fantasy.
1: Birth is the gift of death. The look is inspired by the shape of a pregnant woman, which symbolizes birth, and the devil angel Raphael, which stands for death.
2: Through the physical loss of giving birth the mother becomes vulnerable and at the same time stronger. She transforms into a protective warrior. The outfit is composed of elements of armour that elegantly develop out of the body.
3: The fusion of reality and dream, of human and animal beings mirrors in a cocoon-like broken-up form. This is continued in the materials: soft skin-coloured velvet and armour-like black wool merge into a hybrid look.
4: Delicate leaves enwrap the body and gradually fall away. Hidden inclinations come to light. The body between devotion and convention. Ludwig was homosexual, but he could never live out his orientation openly. He was trapped between sexuality and faith.
5: A wind-up doll. A rotating key on the back, symbolizing the lack of self-determination. Atrophied wings stand for freedom taken.
6: Straitjacket of poetry. Trapped in the swamps and roots of one's own thoughts. A symbol of the love and passion for art and poetry that Ludwig could not live out.
7: The oversized crown as a symbol of the overwhelming responsibility that constricts Ludwig's soul and makes him incapable of action. He withdraws, becomes lonely. Compulsions make him freeze. Doubts form a veil.
8: A walking fountain with a closed water cycle reflects Ludwig's fascination with technical gadgets. The water also stands for the never proven circumstances of Ludwig's death in Lake Starnberg. Here, too, the cycle of life and death is closed.
What materials have you used within the collection and how did you source them? Why were this the right material for your collection?
Sustainability and craftsmanship are very important topics to me. Value and persistence are requirements to all my work and the selection criteria for the material I use. For "Ludwig II" I have (as almost always) worked with very high-quality and durable fabrics - e.g. Calais lace and embroidered fabrics by Jakob Schlaepfer as well as velvet and tulle by Dolce & Gabbana. Since I am vegetarian most of my life, I try to avoid leather and fur.
As a leather substitute I recycled pond liner for the collection "Ludwig". It previously covered the floor of an old swimming pool in the same building where my studio is located. Actually it would have been thrown away. But now it served me as a basis-material for two of my looks. Fake fur replaced the fur that was inevitable in use for noblemen. For my fountain outfit I also used tiles with production flaws from the hardware store.
Tell us about your illustration technics. Explain your final line up and what art materials and technics you use to showcase it.
For me fashion illustration is a technique to sharpen my concept and to define the final structure of my collection. To do so I always adapt my drawing technique to the current project. In my collection ”Ludwig II” it has been really important to illustrate the dreamlike appearance of the looks. Therefor I chose extreme and unreal proportions and refused to define the faces of the figurines to keep the entire focus on the clothes. I liked the image of hybrid and mythical creatures, that belong more to the world of fantasy than the real world. For the illustrations I used a mixture of nail polish, copics and different metallic pencils to create the intended hybrid atmosphere.
What part of your final project have you enjoyed most and why? ie, the research and concept or maybe the manufacturing of the collection.
I can't tell you exactly what I enjoyed most. I guess it was the whole way from the idea to the collection. The designing on top of one another. The fusion of soft fabric and mechanical metal parts. On top of that, the symbiosis of jewellery and clothing in this project fascinated and incredibly drove me. But if there was one thing I had to decide for, it would be the design process. The abstract idea that shapes into reality as form. The sculptural approach that characterizes this collection like no other. The experimentation with the patterns and materials. To build up the deformed sculptures, which nevertheless develop their own almost supernatural aesthetics.
What’s an aspect of the fashion industry that you’re passionate about fixing or having a positive impact on?
Fast Fashion!! The craft of tailoring and its appreciation has been completely lost. Fashion shouldn’t be produced and consumed according to the rule: the cheaper and the quicker the better. Surplus Production, environmental pollution, animal suffering and inhumane working conditions are the result. We must go back to the roots of fashion. We have to go back to clothing with significance, with an emotional and material value – and beyond to an innovative use of materials and development. And to a craft with decent pay.
What is your plan once you finish your BA? Where do you wish to be in the future?
My dream is to be the founder of my own label, my own company. Where I can materialize my ideas and put my creativity to form.