stylistberlin Interview: Aurelia Paumelle 

 “I was dreaming of more. I always had the ideas but I was scared of my insecurity and my self-discipline.”

by E. Morin

Aurelia Paumelle in her studio in Neukölln, Berlin – Photo credit: Lansky Le Vrai

Born and raised in Normandie, Aurelia Paumelle studied modelling at l’Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Parisienne in Paris. After working as a womenswear model maker for six years for world-renowned designer houses such as Vanessa Bruno, Sonia Rykiel, Balanciaga, Galliano and Yves Saint Laurent, she moved to Berlin in 2010 and became a fashion designer with the launch of her own brand: Aurélia Paumelle. Her move is accompanied by a fashion direction change:  from now on, she is devoting herself to menswear.

Moreover Aurelia has been a music lover for years. She collaborates frequently with producers of the underground electronic scene. Recently she collaborated with techno producer and M_nus label owner Richie Hawtin for his Enter.freeze video, a kind of trailer presenting the artists of his Enter Ibiza party season. According to her, between fashion and music it’s just a question of aesthetics.

Thanks to her experience as a model she was able to take off with her brand and its eponymous menswear line.

In Berlin the practical has the upper hand over the aesthetics.

In Paris you worked for six years on womenswear. In Berlin you have chosen to dedicate yourself to menswear. In contrast to Paris, is Berlin releasing a manlier perfume?

Indeed! Berlin has this rough side whereas Paris has this singular side, which is actually not easy for everyone. Here it’s like we’re all in the same boat. For example, when it’s 20 degrees cold outside, you won’t wear your small and smart shoes. Here the practical has the upper hand over the aesthetics. I’ve a whole wardrobe and shoe collection that I only wear in Paris. In Berlin, they would be slightly deviated… Moreover, I would never have found my models of today if I had stayed in Paris.

 It was twenty degrees cold outside, so I started a T-Shirt line.

How was your eponymous brand born?

In Paris, I was exclusively working on women’s fashion, working for well known designer houses, which was well paid. Then I moved to Berlin and for the same job I was off-centre and poorly paid.

One day, a friend of a member of the Sleep Is Commercial crew – as you can see it’s still attached to music – was looking for a person to take charge of his atelier for men’s fashion. He made me an offer that I accepted, so I started to swot up because I had just been doing women’s fashion design so far (The difference to women’s fashion design is the volume of the cloth). I worked for six months for him until he was on the skids.

It’s very important for me to support my friends doing music.

Everything started with my friend, Damien aka Timid Boy. He left his job as journalist for French magazine Trax and signed on with the German label UponYou. In January 2011, he got his first booking at the Panorama Bar while he was at it. Because it’s very important for me to support my friends doing music, I designed him a T-Shirt. At the same time, a friend left for Tunisia and wanted to rent her atelier. I wasn’t working anymore and gave up my German lessons. It was twenty degrees cold outside, so I started a T-Shirt line, all with a different cut that can still be worn in one year or more. Certainly because of the colours I chose: black and grey. I got really nice feedback. Everything started at this moment.

Sometimes you never really know who you are when faced with new things, particularly in Berlin.

Slowly I was dreaming of more. I always had the ideas but I was scared of my insecurity and the novelty of changing my way of working. I had this experience with the atelier but I was still scared of launching my own ideas and scared of my self-discipline. Indeed, sometimes you never really know who you are when faced with new things, particularly in Berlin. I worked as a model maker with designers who were driving me. In fact, I realised that I was very motivated. I worked every day, produced a lot of clothes and got great feedback. The brand Aurelia Paumelle was born like this. I started with T-Shirts, after that I did a pant, then a jacket, etc. It began to get going. So I got a “Steuernummer” (taxpayer identification number – TIN, editor’s note), took on a French-speaking bookkeeper, and in January, I took a six-month break with Facebook to focus on the first shooting of my collection of June 2011.

  I make comfortable items of clothing in which your body doesn’t lose itself in the volume.

How would you describe Aurelia Paumelle’s style ?

Streetwear! I love long stuff, squeezed at the bottom. I make comfortable items of clothing in which your body doesn’t lose itself in the volume like in a jogging mixed with a suit in wool for instance. I also developed loads of party accessories that allow you to party with your iPhone, cigarettes and purse.

  It’s actually all about quality.

Aurelia Paumelle & E. Morin – Photo credit: Lansky Le Vrai

Which are the materials you love to work with?

My favourites are wool, cotton, cashmere. I also love to work with a mix of fabrics! In generally, I simply love quality. It’s actually all about quality.

 By dint of working you develop your own signature and your taste changes.

You first collection is quite colourful. The latest one is a black-grey collection. Why are you now exclusively working with these non-colours?

I broke away from my first collection and I have to admit that I sometimes feel quite uncomfortable with it. But you know, I think it’s normal because by dint of working you develop your own signature and your taste changes. Black and grey are very smart colours. It just depends of the person who wears them. You could have someone wearing black every day and giving off an air of austerity. It depends on the cut of your cloth as well as the choice of materials.

Every kind of music has its own established style.

You’ve been listening to electronic music from a very early age. What is the point in common between fashion and the music electronic scene?

Definitely aesthetics! Every kind of music has its own established style. For example you can recognise people who listen to rock, or, say, drum & bass, by their outfits. To my mind, everyone defines themselves by the kind of music they listen to.

I’m just trying to associate my French roots with my German inspiration.

Your latest catwalk looks very futuristic and has things in common with the M-nus identity that all electronic music lovers know. So what are, in general, your sources of inspiration?

Music has always been a source of inspiration. I’ve been listening to electronic music since I was 15 years old. I have been hanging around with friends of the house and gay scene, where people always took care of their outfits.

Furthermore the city and the street are important sources of inspiration as well. I’m an urban girl. Nevertheless I also keep up with the well-tailored style of Yves Saint Laurent. I never swot or never run to shops. I like to sit on a terrace or to gaze at people on the underground. Movements give me ideas but also the way that people wear their clothes for instance. Berlin makes me make things that I would never have made in Paris. I even behave differently here in Berlin to in Paris because here, I don’t have the same social pressure. I never thought I would make a jogging mixed with a pants suit. I got the idea when I went to the Bar 25 and as I saw loads of people wearing this famous jogging pant by Adidas. I love to mix clothes like a trouser, mixed with a jogging pant or a cardigan mixed with a jacket. I’m just trying to associate my French roots with my German inspiration.

We know that the techno underground scene and the fashion one are intrinsically bound and that artists like Richie Hawtin or Jeff Mills are close to the fashion world. So how was your collaboration with Richie Hawtin born?

Concerning Richie Hawtin, one of my friends, Natasha Debar, was stylist for the shooting of the Enter video in Ibiza. She was supposed to bring clothes from Paris for the video shooting. Because she likes my work, she told me that it could interest him with regard to the atmosphere they wanted to create in the video. She spoke with him and one morning I went to his place in Berlin. I brought forty T-Shirts with me, put them on the table and he chose sixteen pieces with his girlfriend.

In general, I love collaborating, particularly with artists from the music scene. In Paris, I also support a friend Jonathan Vigreux from Salon Records (Paris) by giving him some clothes.

Any upcoming projects and collaborations?

Of course! I will be part of SEEK (Fashion-fair) from January 15, until 17, 2013.

Moreover I’ve an upcoming collaboration with the label Rekids for the release album of Rouge Mécanique in the middle of January. We’re also working on the release party of the album planned for the beginning of February.

Aurelia Paumelle & a cotton-wool cardigan coat of her next collection

Photo credit: Lansky Le Vrai

About Aurelia Paumelle:

Website:  http://aureliapaumelle.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aurelia-Paumelle/221517701211597?fref=ts

Aurelia Paumelle in her studio in Berlin: http://vimeo.com/35847737

Aurelia Paumelle, Autumn-Winter 2012/13, Berlin: http://vimeo.com/35742167

Richie Hawtin presents ENTER.freeze: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZoC4wf7k9Y