March, 11th, 2013

Bow Your Tie | CHARLES OLIVE

Charles Olive is a menswear accessories label that specializes in bowties h andcrafted in Engl and. Chief designer and founder Charles Olive sat down with Mode Diplomatique to chat fashion, style, and what fashion really means to men.

MD: What was it that inspired you to start designing?

Oh so many things. It sounds a little pretentious but I’ve always believed that people should create. The thing that helped give our ances tors an advantage over other species was that they created things like s tone tools. If you look at the Chauvet caves man has been creating art or useful stuff for hundreds of thous ands of years. In a world that is so passive, where it’s about doing your work and then watching TV I think the only thing left is to create something. So I’ve always been in to creating whether it’s painting, lino or woodcuts or putting on a party – it’s important to create something new.

MD: What, in your own words, is the definition of menswear?

I think in essence menswear needs to have an element of function to it. A hundred years ago you would have men climbing mountains or digging in the desert for artifacts wearing a three-piece suit. A lot of womenswear is extravagant which is fine but to me menswear is about the ability to look great but also possibly climb a mountain.

MD: What function does style play in a man’s wardrobe?

I think it plays a very important part of a man’s wardrobe. To me menswear is exciting because of the possibilities of accessories. So style is critical to ensure that you have the basics covered. If you only have one suit it probably shouldn’t be a red velvet double breasted winter suit. Something like a mid-weight grey or navy single breasted wool that can be worn any season for any occasion would be best. From there you can accessorise to make the suit match the occasion.

MD: How did you get your start in making ties and accessories for men?

Well I’d been wearing bow ties for a year or so and I was frustrated at the lack of exciting bow ties on the market so I bought myself a sewing machine and started making my own bow ties with interesting fabric that I’d pick up around town. Then I discovered digital printing and tested some designs and made a few ties and it all really went from there.

MD: What inspires you to create neckwear for men? How do you reference but give new meaning?

I love his tory and when you spend time looking at his tory you really get a sense of how nothing is new – this recent resurgence in menswear is really just a return to how things used to be. Men have always been extravagant it’s just that the past 80 years have been a bit weird. I find that menswear is really about an ability to accessorise and I find the bow tie the best way to accessorise a suit or casual outfit. One of the things that got me excited about designing bow ties was on a visit to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and I saw a pho to of an old archeologist from around 1850 – he was wearing a grey 3 piece suit but his bow tie was made from African fabrics and I realised that to wear a tie made from exotic fabrics in that time would have been one of the only ways to show a little individualism – and I think it still holds today.

To me the idea of reference is inherent to the fact that I design bow ties. They’re an old school accessory so just giving them interesting prints to me is a lot.

MD: Do you have continuing ideas that have run through your collections?

The central idea or theme that motivates me is the clashing of old and new. What would happen if Beau Brummell had a tumblr? What would happen if Chanel had had an iPhone? What if the Bauhaus had been exposed to digital fabric printing? What if plate tec tonics where powered by an algorithm? I’m currently pretty obsessed by volcanoes and how they work – but then I’m super interested in how they’re represented in games like Minecraft that give them a digital persona and and algorithm to spout lava.

MD: What are the challenges of running your own line?

Cashflow! Money is a huge problem. Charles Olive the label is totally self-funded by Charles Olive the person which currently means working a full-time job and running the label around it. Luckily my day job is marketing and PR so I can do that for myself but manufacturing is something completely new to me so having to learn that is difficult.

MD: Some accessories designers find that the fashion industry does not provide as much as support for them as it does for clothing designers. Do you think this is true? If so, how can this be changed?

I’m pretty new to this scene – we only launched the label in December last year so it’s difficult to say. From what I’ve seen I can imagine that it’s difficult – I mean a new collection of bow ties doesn’t really warrant a whole catwalk show – but then I think there are opportunities – like I could do an art exhibition for my show which probably wouldn’t work for a full fashion label.

MD: What do you think of the status of menswear vs. womenswear? Is menswear a more difficult market?

Having never worked in womenswear I’d find it hard to comment really. What I do think is that the menswear market at the moment seems a lot more exciting than womenswear but I think it’s only because the menswear sec tor has been so stale.

MD: Are you looking to create a new idea of what menswear can be?

Yeah – I mean not a totally new idea but I’d like to think that through bow ties we can experiment or help men to experiment with colour and pattern. I mean we’re not about to try and convince men to wear skirts but if we could get them to rock a purple and gold bow tie then that’d be cool.

MD: Who is your favorite designer? What about your main style icon?

I’m not sure who my favorite designer is. I love Henrik Vibskov for his playfulness but then I love Etautz and Patrick Grant for his elegance and style.

MD: For some, fashion equals … ?

Everything. But it’s important to read his tory books. Feed your mind.

L’Edi tor