Fast confession - Fashion designer Lukáš Lindner: Dress for Beyoncé
He looks for models with personality and despite the fact that he has already dressed many famous beauties, none of them compares to a single woman – his mother. She stood by him during the times he was trying to make a name for himself and continues to work by his side to this very day, at a time when he can already afford to turn jobs down.
They really sang your praises at the Mercedes-Benz Prague Fashion Week. What is that like? Because we first met at a time when people were only just starting to be aware of your existence.
Of course it is great and I am happy about it. The thing I like about the MBPFW is that it has continuity. It is like a sort of runaway train. A new collection every six months, which forces us to constantly work on something new. It is a world class event. That is also really motivating.
But I assume it is financially demanding.
It is demanding in all aspects. We all know that here in the Czech Republic, we are not brands the size of fashion houses. This is also why our creations and production of them are quite limited. I can’t afford to just release creativity without thinking what will come next. I have to think about the clients, to ensure that the designs interest them and that they go on to sell. Even though I would sometimes like to get stuck into something with no concern for those reasons, I sometimes have to restrain myself and finances also understandably relate to this. On the other hand, it is also a challenge in its own way.
As you mentioned earlier, the MBPFW is a world class event. Did you hope that it would bring in some foreign clientele for you?
I do have some foreign clients. Actually, they tend rather to be foreigners living in the Czech Republic. An event like fashion week is in general interesting as regards new contacts. Be this clientele or marketing and PR. Somebody could notice you.
You also do couture. But a lot of designs like that are quite often unwearable in real life. When you think about the clientele, does that mean that you try to make sure that your collections are marketable?
Couture designs are wearable too. As I mentioned earlier, I have to think about the future owners of my designs and let us not pretend that any of the Czech designers here are in the position where people are fighting over the whole collection after the show and the hangers are empty the next day.
Seeing as we are talking about collections, tell me what in fact is IN and what is OUT?
(laughs) I don’t like those sorts of questions.
I realise that, but I want to know the answer from your point of view.
I can’t tell you what is IN and what is OUT, because from my point of view, absolutely everything is wearable. If you look at a cross-section of trends, then various features do crop up in all of those collections. Oversized and minimal always work, a lot of geometry, but also a lot of houses had the precise opposite in their collections – lots of decorative features as compared to simplicity. This means needlework motifs, images, animals, flowers. Inspiration comes from the 80s and a lot of other features from the past keep appearing and getting mixed up in the collections of the top brands and houses.
So in your opinion, a lot of fashion from the past is returning?
Yes, but it is a long-term thing. Styles are getting mixed, being combined with various periods in all versions. Both in the world of luxury fashion and also in streetwear and that is amazing. You can have what you want, no dictate exists. You want tracksuit bottoms and a luxury jacket to go with that? No problem! :)
What can you not stand in fashion?
I don’t know why leggings are such a turn-off for me on women. I’m not talking about sport and leggings, it’s OK to wear them then. Outside of sport, I would introduce a strict dictate.
Thankfully I don’t wear those and haven’t got any on at the moment!
Absolutely not as part of any daytime clothing! And they could just as well be leggings worth a hundred and fifty thousand crowns, you still wouldn’t change my mind. You may have a great figure, but they come across to me as vulgar, cheap... But what bothers me in general is when people don’t respect their personality in the sense of the way they dress.
Explain that to me.
People have the feeling that they can wear whatever they want. They mostly try to emphasise something, but this frequently has the completely opposite effect. Less is more really does work. Even if I like extravagance and flights of fancy, it must always correspond to the given person. It may sound like a bold statement, but this relates a lot to self-confidence and intelligence. You don’t have to be a fashion expert, but if you are intelligent and are able naturally to perceive things, then I think that you also have refined taste and a certain feeling for it. I know people who don’t follow fashion at all. They are not all that interested what is IN at the moment and yet they dress absolutely wonderfully and do it according to some sort of inner feeling and that is something you cannot learn.
You have been helped with promotion of the brand from the very start by the model Renata Langmannová. You are still faithful to her and her to you. But is there any celebrity which you would like to dress?
Renata – that is already a tradition. Over the years, we have already become extremely close and I can say that she is one of my closest friends. We have come a long way together. Renata knows that for me, the person I dress must have personality. It is not enough for me that they are a superstar with the perfect body and face.
Could it be said that Renata is your muse? Does she still inspire you after all those years?
Renata does a lot of things which inspire me. She is a mature woman now, not a fifteen-year-old “rookie”. But which celebrity would I like to dress? I had that when I was younger. I have already dressed a relatively large number of celebrities in the Czech Republic. I could name a lot of foreign ones whom I would like to design for.
One is enough for me!
Beyoncé.
And now let me take it from the other end of the scale. Is there anybody you have turned down?
There have been some.
You don’t have to name names, but I would be interested to know the reasons you turn people down when they contact you.
With all due respect, I think that a lot of Czech celebrities do not have enough respect and humility as regards us designers. They do not appreciate our work. They often contact me asking to borrow a dress or something. I understand that PR works, where a famous face is a good advert, but there are rules to that too. It is my work and I spend a lot of time doing it. And not only me, but also my team and it takes a lot of effort. If somebody doesn’t appreciate that, they won’t be wearing my designs.
So you no longer lend out your dresses.
No. An exception to this is the faces which have been supporting me over the long term, but things work on the level of certainty, trust and friendship there. But Czechs have still not learned that they should pay for things.
And if somebody likes a dress from your collection and wants to buy it. They for example see it at that fashion week! How does it work?
It is strange, but a lot of people have no idea how to order things. They often don’t know how to reach us. We have a website www.lukaslindner.cz and then we have an official Facebook page and official Instagram pages. You can find complete collections there and the whole range offered by the brand. You can choose a specific look and we will tailor it specially for you, or you can choose an off-the-rack design from a collection. We do of course also offer custom tailoring. We do men’s and women’s fashion.
And what about the items from the shows?
Those are for sale too and they are of course tailored to fit the individual client. Collections often have so-called unique looks which are only available in one design.
You also create clothing for men, but not much was known about that.
I have been creating men’s clothing from the start. I love men’s fashion, its workmanship and the materials. I often also apply this to women’s designs. A lot of our customers are men.
But you have in particular dressed a lot of famous women and you make a living as a designer. Do you feel as if you are living your dream come true?
Yes, definitely. One hundred percent, but there are still some things wrong with it and negative aspects just like any profession. I will sound like a cliché, but the older I get, the more I appreciate how great it is that I am in fact doing what I want to do and something I love. And I am doing it my way. A few years ago, I had to compromise in many things, which is probably natural development, but things have gotten to that stage now when I really am doing what I want. Nobody dictates to me how I should shoot my collection, nobody determines the style I should work in and as regards the clientele, they trust me and frequently leave me with a free hand.
When you started, it was mainly your mum who did the sewing for you and I remember the days when your seamstress gave up on you and your mother was left to do everything by herself. What stage are you at now? How many people do you employ to help you?
Things haven’t changed (laughs). Mum is still part of things. I really do appreciate the fact that she is here, because I know that I can rely on her absolutely. As far as the team is concerned, that has grown quite significantly.
I take my hat off to mum! But back to you. Are you proud of yourself?
Do I have to answer that? I am a little.
I really do feel that Czechs are not capable of complimenting themselves properly. Don’t tell me you are one of them!
I am proud of the fact that I created something I wanted, but there are still reserves there and I try to keep my feet on the ground.
