CITY - Issue 61 - (Page 53)

“It’s about discovering new things and how far you can push new things. That’s why people were sent to the moon. It’s just about being inquisitive, really.” I t started as a joke. news story was circulating around Europe about a g oup of thieves who we e using ult asonic scanne s to tap into laptops at ai po ts and li the p ivate info mation of othe s. To be funny, the c eative duo behind DDCLab eleased a jacket lined with a light coppe mesh, p omising to p otect the wea e against the unwanted waves of an identity the scanne . Su p isingly, the jacket quickly sold out. Much like the othe pieces in the DDCLab collections, which t anslate mo e like the content of science ﬁction novels athe than fashion magazines, the jacket embodied exactly what the designe s we e hoping fo : anothe lighthea ted, successful fusion of new technology with natu al textiles. “It’s innovation,” say Savania Davies-Keille , one half of the DDCLab team. “It’s about discove ing new things and how fa you can push new things. That’s why people we e sent to the moon. It’s just about being inquisitive, eally.” This passion fo discove y has kept Davies-Keille and pa tne Robe to C ivello at the fo ef ont of futu istic fashion, even today as they ente the th yea with thei b and, DDCLab, and th yea with thei design studio, DDC US . Ove the yea s, thei collections have included eve ything f om steel (Inox) pocket accents to shield against cell phone and iPod adiation, to pape bodice lining to egulate body tempe atu e, and yes, coppe to p otect you f om identity the — all ealms othe designe s have yet to explo e. “Fo Robe to and I, what has been ou salvation and what has set us apa t f om the est, is that we eally have focused on what we a e since ely inte ested in,” says Davies-Keille , who c edits a chitectu e, d eams, books, and politics as thei inspi ations. “We’ve always been quite quiet and p ivate and just took these slow little steps; it’s been a long st uggle fo us.” Davies-Keille had been wo king at a television station in London befo e meeting C ivello ove dinne in . The duo ealized thei simila spacey fashion vision and joined togethe to fo m the o iginal DDCUS design studio that same yea . “We came with this desi e and this d ive and the push to discove technologies that would compliment, enhance, and make life easie ,” she says. They we e bu sting with ideas fo high-tech pe fo mance wea , but since neithe had a backg ound in science, they g appled to collabo ate with the expe ts. They found a home in DuPont, the chemical company known fo developing novel mate ials including nylon and Lyc a. Davies-Keille and C ivello signed up as design di ecto s fo the company’s textile division, whe e they spent the next six yea s wo king closely with scientists on new mate ial technologies to achieve what they thought was needed fo the appa el indust y. “Ou feedback was, ‘make this lighte , make this mo e b eathable, this is inte esting, but it’s too ough,’” Davies-Keille says. “Initially, the scientists would say, ‘no that can’t be done’ o ‘we don’t think this looks good.’ But when Robe to and I would look at it, we would say, ‘this is exactly what we want!’” Thei unique vision d ew int igue and conﬁdence f om DuPont, which invested in the duo’s own line of clothing, called DDCLab. While simultaneously wo king fo DuPont and making thei own collection, Davies-Keille and C ivello began designing fo othe b ands including the Gap, New Balance and BMW. In , they opened thei ﬁ st DDCLab sto e in New o k City, eleasing the ﬁ st co n and silk blended sweate . Thei eye fo pionee ing technology was only magniﬁed by thei knack fo debuting styles way ahead of the t end cu ve. (They showed the skinny jean in and the high- ise jean in .) Even f om the beginning, they designed simultaneously fo the pa anoid ne d and the fashionista. PORTR AITS BY DOROTHY HONG “We’ve always had two kinds of consume s,” Davies-Keille said. “One is the pe son looking fo a f esh take on things each season, in the sense that they a en’t going to walk down the st eet and see eve ybody else in the same thing they’ e wea ing. nd then the e’s also a ha dco e following of the techy people who come to us because they know we a e playing in that innovative ealm and we a e always t ying to discove something new.” s thei fan base g ew, the designe s g adually phased out thei mainst eam b anded clients and decided to leave thei positions at DuPont. They opened anothe DDCLab etail sto e in Los ngeles, and spent most of thei time expe imenting in thei design studio/lab in New o k, avoiding the limelight at all costs. “I eally think that has been what’s kept us kind of valid in this indust y,” Davies-Keille says. “We’ve always been these quiet kind of designe s. I mean, we go to the events we have to go to, but we’ve eally kind of kept out of that scene. We’d much athe focus on what we want to say and do, than be pa t of that big dance that is the fashion indust y, and ou fans like us fo that.” This past summe , they opened thei thi d etail sto e, ight down the st eet f om thei studio, and accepted the titles of global c eative di ecto s of the New Balance G oup, the only design client they kept. The team plans to open two mo e self-suﬃcient etail sto es a yea , which Davies-Keille says is now the only way to cont ol thei p oduct and avoid diluting thei b and. “ ou un the isk of seve al things in this indust y,” she said. “ ou un the isk of taking you self too se iously, which is usually at the det iment of you self and whateve b and you’ e designing. ou also un the isk of getting lost in the whole glitte that is the fashion wo ld. nd then you un the isk of designing fo sales people and wholesale, whe e they’ e always wanting you to design ve y basic, sellable stuﬀ, so you c eativity sta ts d ying up.” Risks the DDCLab duo has p oven they don’t need to take; thei ecently eleased New Balance tennis shoe, which inco po ates glow-in-the-da k c ushed glass, sold out and has a waiting list that “has gone a little c azy, to be quite honest,” Davies-Keille says. The pai is still chu ning out new f olicsome fab ic blends, using bamboo, co k, aluminum, aloe ve a, wood, and even Tyvek, a mate ial used in home const uction, many of which won’t be eady to debut fo a few mo e seasons. “We unde stand that we’ e not going to have the whole of the pie,” DaviesKeille says, laughing at the idea of anti-alien invasion Fedo as. “We can only g ow, hopefully o ganically, and hopefully at the pace that’s ight fo us.”

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CITY - Issue 61

CITY - Issue 61 Contents Our Friends Action Wanted City Moment Luscious Life Fast Food Inrogue Temporary Contemporary Diary Savania Davies-Keller & Roberto Crivello Pamela Love Sung-Joo Kim Jerome Berard Destination Dealerships Overly Opulent Inside Out Like a Clock in the Heart Qatar’s Crown Jewel BLING Urge to Splurge Just a Splash Luxe Life Solitaire Equus Where to Buy It Cityscape

CITY - Issue 61

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