Felipe Rojas Llanos

Yesterday, 1Granary met Felipe Rojas Llanos at his North London Art Trader Studio where the hot menswear designer, who graduated from the MA Fashion in 2010, creates his sheer and luminous clothes to make men irresistible!

1Granary would like to thank Felipe for letting us play around in his studio and shoot his beautiful designs, as well as for an insightful and fun interview, see below.

1G: How was your BA Menswear course? What you enjoyed the most?

F: The first year I enjoyed very much; it was fun and experimental. The second year I hated because it felt completely unstructured, so I felt lost. The year out allowed me to find myself. It was really important and I came back with more understanding; it taught me how a dress is made; there is no panic because you know the time scale of what you must do to equal the production. That is why I think a lot of the collections of final year students who gone out (internship year) and came back (to CSM) are stronger in delivering a collection instead of a few garments. Finally, the third year was the most important.

1G: CSM is known for it’s unconventional approach. Did it suit you?

F: It is very independent; everyone does whatever they like! It was beneficial for me personally because I take my own initiative. If it wasn’t for that, I would not have learnt to sew or lots of other things. I didn’t have seamstresses, so I worked towards the deadline alone. By experimenting and making a lot of errors you learn more. I think it’s good the way that CSM teaches the opposite to LCF. The MA is tougher than the BA. The two courses have a completely different approach into individual development; the MA is more of a ‘let him float and we’ll see if he learn to swim or drowns.’

1G: How was MA? And what’s up with Louise Wilson?

F: MA was tough, but amazing at the same time. I got an Armani Bursary for the MA, so that helped me with some money. A typical day at CSM… I’d come in, half an hour late, I’d be called up by Louise, who would shout at me for an hour, and tell me that my pattern cutter upstairs is furious because I’m late. Then, I would go upstairs and try to work with the pattern cutter, knowing that I’d been shouted at for an hour because of him. He’d try to change my designs! He would say something like, “This jacket would look better as a cape”…imagine! I would say, “No. It is a jacket and it’s not going to be a cape!” My patterns were always very complicated, and Louise would always tell me by looking at my work that I was doing couture! I didn’t even know how couture patterns were cut, actually, I didn’t know shit about pattern cutting.

I would always listen to music, have lunch together with friends, where we’d all bitch and moan about what happened downstairs. It really was amazing… I miss it so much! We all just wanted to stay there until late because we were creating, we were there on these little tables, all around friends, just having fun and creating something beautiful.

1G: Did Louise ever make you cry?

F: Never. I think that is why I got along with her so well. Louise would complain to me about crying people, she told me once that one girl even fainted! I am a very chilled person, so I would just listen to her. She shouted at me once, “Why are you fucking smiling?! You’re always fucking smiling!” She swears quite a lot, which is nice. I guess I was just happy there; I never stressed out too much over things; it’s just the way I am. At times, she would just start dancing in front of everyone and she knows Jay-Z raps by heart; I am one of the witnesses because she rapped it to Cornel Bolt and me once!

1G: What is your most cherished memory?

F: There was a time when I was having difficulties during the MA pre collection, but I kept on staying up late nights to finish my toiles. Once I finished, I took them to Louise and presented my work. She stood there and said; “I’m going to have you in the show because you are the only motherfucker up there who can design.”

Also, during my BA, when Louis (our pattern cutting tutor) saw my lineup, he said; “ Your collection is so Balenciaga…but gone wrong!” We laughed so much! And once I was done with my collection, I hanged my garments and one of the hangers was a Balenciaga hanger, so I added a piece of masking tape and wrote ‘gone wrong’ on it. (Laughs)

1G: Do you have any crazy stories to tell us?

F: I used to party a lot! I was always late, Louis (Menswear pattern cutting tutor) used to call me Mary Poppins because I popped in and popped out! The tutors never really understood; I always worked late – sometimes till four in the morning, therefore I’d come in at eleven or twelve. Whatever I should have done in the morning, I would do at night. My brain works better at night – I’m not encouraging this, it was just why I was always late!

I used to hear gossip about myself, which was bizarre. I worked during the weekends to pay my rent during MA. I found out that a lot of people thought I had a studio outside CSM with all my interns doing my work for me! It was so shocking when I found out. I couldn’t afford not to work on the side because the MA is so expensive! I used to work at Browns, and afterwards they bought my whole collection. They’re very supportive of young talents.

1G: Do you have any crazy stories to tell us?

1G: How did you benefit from your internship at Lanvin?

F: The best thing I got from it was the knowledge about fabrics. Now I know how exactly things work because they work with a lot of luxury fabrics. I did a lot of research in to the fabric whilst there. We’d get Japanese fabric designers coming in, proposing new materials such as silk, but mixed with new fibers. That’s why companies like Lanvin can charge so much; the fabric can cost hundreds of pounds per meter. And people will pay for it.

1G: Tell us more about your graphic novel.

F: I never get them published, but I love doing them! I write the stories, and I do the drawings. My latest one is about me and seven other CSM students, who are my friends; it’s a take on who we are and how we travel through the school. It went from being called “Three” to “Untitled CSM graphic novel.” It stars Felipe Rojas-Llanos (me haha), Rafael Cunha, Gabriella Massey, Lee Roach, Hampus Berggren, Alfhild Kulper, Didier Wong Kung Fong, Agathe “Ags” Finney and Melissa Thompson with the special appearance of Professor Louise Wilson. We are superheroes at Central Saint Martins.

1G: You have your own successful label. What would be your ideal world for it?

F: My ideal world is just to be happy creating. In London it is hard to find people to back you with money, I think it’s because of the recession. In New York, Paris and even Russia, I think, it could be easier. I want to have someone, who backs me up financially, so that I don’t have to think too much about money. Someone who will see my product as a luxury, by ‘luxury’ I don’t mean expensive, I mean something you can wear season after season…similar to Chanel for Womenswear. It’s my fifth season now; it’s a lot of work and very hard, but I love what I do.

I try to see how far I can push things and still be able to sell them. I wanted to see how advanced guys were in comparison to women; guys don’t like to be as exposed as girls, but my transparent T’s sold really well! It just means that we’re a little bit more secure with our sexuality than before. I do it because we always put girls in all this sexy, sensual stuff, why not boys?! Men aren’t really sexualized in fashion, and not in the Dolce and Gabbana way, not in a classy way. Why not wear sheer?!

1G: What’s currently happening with your label?

F: My label is changing, potentially getting bigger. Next season I want to take it to Paris, do a proper showroom. This time we showed at the London Mens Collections and now we’ve got two more stockists, so you’ll see us more. We have also moved to brand new studio, I find it all really exciting! We are moving forward step by step. And I love the London scene, personally; everyone is so lovely.

1G: Who are your stockists?

F: At the moment we sell at Browns and in Sweden. Also, there is something special, but I cannot tell you yet.

1G: You also teach at CSM as a guest tutor. How is that?

F: It is amazing! Willie Walters, who has always been very supportive of me, (once she even bought one of my BA collections bags in patent leather!) called and asked if I would be interested in teaching a live drawing class; she always liked the way I drew. I said, “Yes” straight away! After that, I did a tailoring project with FDM and planning on doing it again next term, as well as doing a project with Menswear that I am very excited about and looking forward to seeing the new talents and new ways of creating.

Teaching is amazing because when you see so much potential in people, you want to help and guide them. I looooooooove to teach!

1G: What advice would you give to students?

F: First years, be as experimental as you want! The thing with Saint Martins is that it is best to go fucking crazy because later on in life you’ll have to tone it down. Just go for it and get it out of your system! Second years, hang in there even if it is really hard at times and not motivating. Definitely do the year out; it will make you stronger and more focused for third year. The final collection is so much fun! Just manage your time and money.