November 5, 2017 |
One of fashion’s few go-to guys for soundtracks, Frédéric Sanchez has been scoring Dior Homme’s shows and digital projects for the past year. “Since we started collaborating, we have designed a certain way to mix the soundtrack for Dior Homme, making the sound travel in the show space using a multicasting system,” he explains. “I will always remember the smile on Kris’s face the first time he heard it.” Sanchez shares with Van Assche an appreciation for “the romantic side of new wave”, which the designer grew up with and loves. The genre and its surrounding world have been the major frame for his recent collections, adding a new dimension to Van Assche’s work through glimpses into his teenage years growing up in late- ’80s Belgium, where he was in awe of the fearless self-expression of pop stars such as Boy George – SS17’s face of Dior Homme – and Madonna.
Madonna represents the “light side” of his musical world, as Van Assche puts it, something also shared by Sanchez, who recently used Bedtime Story in a Prada show. Anyone who’s ever witnessed a Dior Homme show will know the musical rush that comes with it. “He has a strong point of view, so he is not shy about telling me about all the inspirations that helped him design a collection,” Sanchez says. “He always shows me images, ideas of the set and the lights, and with all these visual elements the sound just ‘pours out’.” The feeling is mutual. “We really don’t need to talk about it much, he really gets it,” Van Assche says. “It takes few words and he really dives into it. He’ll go totally full-on in his little corner and he’ll come back in a week and it will become a story.”
Sanchez grew up in suburban Paris in a Spanish expat family. As a child he’d watch his grandfather listening to the Spanish radio, “struck by the fact that sound brings you the ability to ‘be’ in two places at the same time”, he recalls. “My obsession with sound and music comes from this state of mental dissociation.”
Next to Dior Homme, his soundtrack clients currently include other heavyweights such as Prada, Marni and Jil Sander in Milan, Comme des Garçons, Ann Demeulemeester and Lanvin in Paris,
Craig Green and Erdem in London and Anna Sui in New York. “My point is to emphasise the designer’s work,” Sanchez explains, “not to cannibalise it.” To Van Assche, he is a musical sounding board and a well of knowledge. “Frédéric is very intriguing because he’s very intense with what he does, and his knowledge has no limits. He’s the ultimate expert.” And a loyal customer, at that. “I just bought a suit at Dior Homme and I love it,” the maestro says. “It’s like my second skin.”
Text by Anders Christian Madsen
Photographer Ian Kenneth Bird
Taken from the latest issue of 10 Men, REBEL HEART, on newsstands now…
