Conversation

Oliver Kish is a photographer from Venice, CA. Having grown up a native Californian, he captures youth and culture in a way that shows the inherent energy of a modern but nostalgic Californian landscape. A long time friend to Creative Director Michael Abe, he's been an ongoing inspiration and reference for TheEternal. For the FW13 collection, we collaborated with Oliver and reinterpreted some of his images into our digital prints. The mood of his photos mixed with his understanding of Californian youth culture married well with the vision for the upcoming collection.

Creative Director Michael Abe recently sat down with Oliver for a little Q&A:

MA: What started it all?

Oliver: I really didn't start shooting seriously until I was 21. It all started with a disposable camera I took to sleep away camp on Catalina when I was 11. Design came later, I always had an affinity towards clothes and putting myself together and speaking through what I was wearing, as all who appreciate design do. It's funny because I don't love fashion, in fact I kinda despise the fashion world (in its traditional incarnation). I just love good design and that permeates all of my interests especially clothing.

MA: Your favorite things to shoot?

Oliver: Women, color fades, roadtripin, the street.

MA: Go-to camera?

Oliver: Contax G2

MA: 5 things in your go bag?

Oliver: Film, Contax T3, notepad, vitamins, moscot sunnies.

MA: What’s so inspiring about youth culture?

Oliver: Honestly this could sound so contrived and maybe this point is beat to death but I love how youth today have instant, thorough, and documented access to current culture and culture of the past. They can just tap in and learn about music, fashion, art, slang, from our youth and mix it with their take on it. I love that lines are becoming less blurred. When I was coming up I never followed convention but I could see others being into one genre of music and dressing accordingly. Now kids are all over the place and open to so much. I love it.

MA: Favorite memory?

Oliver: Oh man this is a really hard one. Could I just say one of my favorite memories? If so, driving up the Costa Brava in Catalunya from Barcelona with 2 of my dear friends taking photos along the way, meeting beautiful people, eating amazing food, and camping on the beach.

MA: Life’s mantra?

Oliver: Slow down.

Check out more of Oliver's work on his site, www.irunwiththehunted.com

Exploration

Process

The amazing thing about fashion is that many different hands are involved in brining a design to life. It's one of the reasons I fell in love with the tradition of making clothes.

I envision a concept, which turns into a design that is touched by many different people's labor to create a product that someone will take home and wear. And in some ways that person will come to know that item in a way more intimate than I will ever know it. 

The people that labor behind the scenes are very much artisans at what they do. Many have been making clothes longer than I have been alive. It is this tradition of making clothes that we pass down from generation to generation, that inspires me to continue doing what I love day after day. 

Inspiration FW13


I’ve always admired Caravaggio’s work, such a talented artist whose own demise was most likely the outcome of the passion that he was driven by. The common subjects of his works, dropped into the wealthy elites of art, was a subversive take for the time.

For my fall/winter 2013 collection, I wanted to take visions of the Californian youth culture and represent them in a way that translated the same sensibility and mood, similar to that of Caravaggio’s paintings.

I wanted to mix that thematically with a modern reinterpretation of grunge, to take street art and mold it into high art. There is a certain nostalgia I feel towards the 90s and I wanted that visible in my collection without being too literal. I wanted to approach the subject by taking it to a sophisticated level, so that it felt familiar but all together new and hopefully relevant. 

Reason - Leather Tank

The presence of leather in my collections is a constant. My love of a classic leather jacket will never cease, but I've begun to enjoy the evolution of the fabric as it finds itself in different colors and textures, on everything from skirts to tees.

Enter The Eternal leather tank from my SS13 collection. 

The Eternal girl is influenced by classic Californian style so I wanted to create a piece that embodied that. Leather jackets and accents aside, how would The Eternal woman wear leather? My thoughts drifted to the easy and effortless tanks of summer, a staple that gets thrown on at the start of a balmy day.

I took the shape of a classic tank and created it in the softest of Italian leather, ensuring the piece would be effortless while still adding a cool edge to an otherwise simple design.

When the heat of summer allows for little clothing, this sporty chic tank will keep you cool and take you from a day at the beach to an evening of drinks, on a patio under the stars of course. 

Reason - Sky Muscle Tee

Growing up in California, skateboarding and street style were a big part of my aesthetic evolution. With this piece, I wanted to pay homage to that period of my own youth so I took the classic punk cutoff tee and made it a bit more modern by pairing it with a graphic that was inspired by a dreamlike state.

I’ve always been fascinated by the sky and the clouds.  I remember lying on the ground looking skyward, and allowing my thoughts and dreams to combine with the shapes and contours of what I was seeing. Those moments watching the sky go by provoked thoughts of Heaven and the here and now.

I created the sky muscle tee graphic by taking a series of photos of the sky, and then layering them together to create the cyclical image you see.

The sky muscle tee hangs just right while playing with the idea of a woman off-duty, borrowing her boyfriend's tee. This tee is classically tailored yet perfectly worn in, with a graphic that lends a modern touch.

Made of 40 single 100% cotton, washed down, and rumpled, this tee was developed with a print that got set into the fabric to keep its softness.

Perhaps Heaven isn't up or down, but right where you are.