Raphaëlle H’limi : the slow fashion designer
“Olow doesn’t just create products, it creates atmospheres” – this here is what motivated stylist Raphaëlle H’limi to work on our wardrobe this season. Raphaëlle, an independent Parisian designer, chose to move away from fast-fashion in order to create modern and universal collections. Striving to mix streetwear, contemporary art and graphic design, she shares our vision of fashion: “the street as an art gallery”.
Hi Raphaëlle! Your talent has already been praised countless times by the press and textile and clothing institutions. How did you reach this status of “renowned” designer?
I think that the term “renowned designer” is slightly exaggerated, but I studied for a long time and I always knew I wanted to become a fashion designer. Events unfold both in your professional and personal lives and you have to know how to prioritise your decisions. I could have worked for a big Parisian fashion house but I weirdly always felt some sort of resistance to it. I chose a more difficult route, but one that offers a lot more freedom. I want to move at my own pace and offer timeless and permanent collections. I don’t believe in fast fashion anymore, creating 8, 12 collections per year. Small structures can’t keep up. We have to find another way to create desire.
Your style is very graphic. Why place such importance on structure, geometry and architecture?
I find my inspiration in silhouettes on the street but I like to mix them with things that are completely exterior to fashion, like contemporary artists or graphic design. My aim is to create something fundamentally modern and new – a mix between crafts, industry and art. Both my parents are in graphic design. I grew up with the smell of printing and paper. For me, geometry is a way of adding a graphic element to my designs. I make my own patterns, it’s a way for me to play around with geometry within the clothing’s structure.
You design for women whereas Olow is aimed at men. What do you like about our label?
What I like about Olow is that its creators don’t just want to create products, they aim to create atmospheres. They want to tell stories. They’re an incredibly complimentary duo, and I really like their distant and independent way of being a part of fashion and trends. Their collaborations with artists and how they promote them was very appealing to me; it’s a humble and ambitious approach. To not reduce streetwear to one single language, but to mix it up and play around with influences: the street as an art gallery.
What do you think about our 2016 Fall-Winter collection?
I think it’s a beautiful, complete and demanding collection. Olow offers a complete wardrobe today, and has a desire to establish itself as a full blown label in the men’s fashion world. Its poetry, the quality of its cuts, and the creativity of its patterns will seduce men who are after timeless and tasteful fashion.
What was your trip to our factories in Portugal like?
That trip was so intense workwise, but the atmosphere was so friendly that I felt welcomed as a member of the family. Through loyalty and fidelity, the creators of Olow have managed to create a true team around them. Their manufacturers are happy to support and work with a brand that listens to them and showcases them.
What trends inspired you when helping out with the creation of this collection?
This collection is titled English Breakfast at the request of Olow’s creators. They wanted to work around the English man, at times a neo-dandy, sometimes an authentic countryman. I therefore played around with English chic, with its tailoring codes, elements of urban workwear and bohemian simplicity with poetic, floral or graphic prints.
How did you go about choosing the shapes, colours and materials?
I chose to work step by step for this collection: I began with creating mood boards for general inspiration. From them, we chose a colour palette that was at once seductive, new, and respectful of the Olow man. Asserted, poetic then, but easy to wear. Olow fashion is one that you wear everyday. It’s not for fashion victims or an elite. It’s universal and timeless. It adds just that right amount of fantasy and romance to the one who wears it.
What do you think is this season’s key piece?
As a stylist, I like every single piece of this collection: the shirts, the coats that we worked very hard on, the sweatshirts that we tried to renew. But for me, the knitted pieces are the most original and representative of the change undertaken by Olow. The quality, the creativity, the materials and the colours, everything was thought out to create balanced and bold pieces. But the RETRO jumper is my favourite.
What does England represent to you?
When Olow asked me to work on this collection, I drew from my imagination: the music, the punks, the dandies, the gentlemen farmers, the Oscar Wildes and Paul McCartneys. English culture is full of references for men’s fashion. In it, we had to find what would make Olow’s man of tomorrow. Find the right balance.
We know you love music. Can you tell us about a concert by an English band that particularly stood out for you?
I saw Radiohead a few years ago and it was incredible, they were in total symbiosis with their audience. I usually have a soft spot for female rock bands, for women that sing rock and roll (Patti Smith, Hole, The Distillers, PJ Harvey). But Radiohead has such an exceptional, timeless sensitivity. They took me along with them with their more electronic sound. Their creativity is boundless, their sound is always perfect. English musicians have always had that knack of becoming universal, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bowie, or even the Arctic Monkeys today. They mustn’t be satisfied with only conquering their island. They see the bigger picture. Their aim is the whole world. Just like Olow!
• The stylist’s website
