Kristina Puljan and Martin Eichler’s latest collection for their brand Vektor was light and playful considering its bold androgyny. Fabrics included jerseys and layered meshes in pale blue, peach and whites. Puljan and Eichler were equally inspired by 90’s skater boys and ballet dancers, their pieces and the models who wore them on Tuesday embodied this equilibrium. At times the girls looked more likely to skin a knee from skating than the boys, and the boys looked ready to bust a pirouette in their sheer mini dresses. We caught up with the designers shortly after their show to pick their brains about fashion and the sexes.
Can you talk about the ideas behind this collection?
K: It’s not really how you learn it in school with first a mood board and then sketches, we saw this video of Sergei Polunin dancing [directed by David LaChapelle] to Hozier….
M: And then we were also thinking about the 90’s grungy skater kid.
You used a limited amount of fabric and textiles, how many were there?
M: I think only six or seven.
K: We just wanted them to breathe and to be functional.
Do you have a clear vision of the men and women you design for?
M: It’s changed over the years. It was a younger person before… We got free from the idea that we need to design for one person like a girl who is 25 and beautiful and very successful…
K: We see a strong person, who likes to take risks, who likes to wear see through pants too.
You had a lot of men in dresses and skorts, it seems risky to do that…
K: Is it?
M: It’s the same risk for guys as for girls.
K: You can’t imagine how many women’s wear clothes I’ve sold to men.
Do you think guys will really wear them in the way women wear men’s clothes?
M: I think it is tougher for the men to wear women’s wear…
K: But I want to see it. I mean, who says no? Why not? In the 60s everyone was wearing plaid pants, and then in the 80’s everything was terrible, then in the 90’s you had people recreating the 60’s in a grungy way and then now, today, we can wear whatever we want. So I don’t see a reason why men can’t wear dresses or skirts.
M: It’s always the same thing, though: first gay people start wearing it and then everyone else follows after a while.
K: It’s funny that heterosexual men who think they are men’s men follow the gay trends…
Is it ever difficult to collaborate?
M: No, no, never.
K: Even before, when we each had our own brands (and we had just met), we had our studios next to each other, and I was always going over there and asking him about my collection.
M: We are both pretty pragmatic with our design methods.
K: So if you had seen me backstage, I was running around with scissors making slits in the skirts like three seconds before.
And Martin were you the one running after her saying ‘No, not those pants!’?
K: No, no, no he was the one saying “look at him, does he need a slit?”
