August 6, 2011 |
FROM THE VAULT (WINTER 2010)
KUKI DE SALVERTES: CO-FOUNDER, TOTEM
Does he see himself as a pioneer? No.
“More a man with an aesthetic and lifestyle convictions who tries to stick to them. I got a true passion for fashion and the designers and that’s why I defend them since 28 years. More than a pioneer, it would be better to compare me as a modern Don Quixote. I think that if I wasn’t me, I would rather see myself as some kind of Brigitte Bardot who would care about animals’ protection and fight for their defence.” Just think, Peta would be defunct, they would never be able to compete with the power of Kuki. And don’t you think he’d look rather fetching in a blonde beehive? For now though, a kind of how you make it in the realms of fashion.
“I studied fashion and costume history at Esmod. During my studies, I made a lot of internships at Jean-Paul Gaultier, Azzedine Alaïa and Thierry Mugler, for example. Thanks to these multiple experiences, I met a lot of journalists and stylists very important at that time.
“In 1982, I made an internship at Nicole Ciano’s press office. It was one of the most three important press offices at the beginning of the 1980s. She had a true personal lifestyle and way of seeing fashion. She thought that every day should be a party and that everything she did and the people who surrounded her should have something funny for her.
“Thanks to Nicole, I discovered and adored the work of PR and decided to make it mine. I was her assistant for a while before joining the new Yohji Yamamoto press office in Paris.
“I don’t tend to think of things in terms of greatest achievements and disasters. For me, the best things are coming. I really hope life reserves me exciting surprises. I feel that we are in a moment of change and, from that, should arrive new, fresh and very exciting things, of which I want to be part.
But I can also tell you that I worked during seven years at the side of Franco Moschino and it was great. I also worked with Vivienne Westwood during the launching of her brand, which was great too.
“I launched the carer of Walter Van Beirendonck, Jeremy Scott, Raf Simons, Veronique Branquinho, Olivier Theyskens, Haider Ackermann, A F Vandevorst, Bernhard Willhelm, Benoît Méléard…
“For 10 years, I was an intimate friend of Isabella Blow. That is part of my past but I’m definitely more interested in the future.”
by Natalie Dembinska
Photograph by Maria Ziegelboek – www.mariaziegelboek.com
