Aside from the clothes, the first thing you remember from a legendary fashion show is its soundtrack. Inside 10 Magazine Issue 74, we spotlight 10 musicians and sound engineers who are adept in masterminding catwalk scores that have gone on to become certified fashion moments in their own right. Next up, Richie Hawtin.
With musical roots in Detroit’s ’90s techno scene, DJ, producer and composer Hawtin is one of electronic music’s most influential figures. The British-born Canadian-raised bleep king has a decades-long friendship with Raf Simons (they met at a 10-day techno festival in Ghent), collaborating with him on show music for Calvin Klein and, more recently, Prada.
Richie wears PRADA; portrait by LETIZIA GUEL, art direction and styling by GIANLUCA GAGLIARDI, courtesy of T MAGAZINE
What does music bring to a fashion show?
It brings an added depth and atmosphere to everything that is already there. The fashion show is something which is purely centred on the visual perspective and you’re getting a lot of information like that: the colours, the silhouettes. But with the right music, that can accentuate everything the eye is seeing. If you’re seeing reds or blues and the right frequencies are happening, then those colours actually feel like they’re deeper or more intense or even more subtle. So, the balance between sight and sound, music and fashion, when done properly, is very powerful.
What is your approach to creating a fashion show soundtrack?
I scored four of the Prada fashion shows during the pandemic and we always worked in the same way with Raf [Simons] and Mrs [Miuccia] Prada. First talking and they were sending me words and ideas andas the collection came together. As the moods and the looks developed, they sent me that and it always helped to steer me. But of course you’re working early on and things are also changing all the time because one thing leads to another, so you always have to be flexible. You’re there to support their creative vision, aesthetic and message, and you have to listen carefully to what they’re trying to achieve and support that with the frequencies you’re able to produce in the studio. I’ve been very fortunate to work with Mrs Prada and Raf, and I have a long history with Raf, so I knew they’d asked me because they already appreciated my type of frequency range and the sensitivity in my music.
How do you work with a designer?
It’s always a collaborative process, sometimes even minutes before the show happens. With any creative process, whether its fashion, music, art or design, there’s always an exploration. Maybe you know the destination, [but] you don’t know exactly which way you’re going to take to get there, so it has to be very fluid and spontaneous. Luckily, I love that process, when you’re flying by the seat of your pants and listening and feeling and using your intuition. That’s why I strongly believe that the work I was able to do together with Prada was a successful fusion of sight and sound.
Which track or artists have you used the most?
Well, I’m extremely lucky because I only use brand new recorded music that I’ve created bespoke for the shows myself. So I wasn’t putting my Richie Hawtin DJ haton and pulling from different places, I was just bringing in my experiences and my normal creative process and creating new material that I had hoped would be what they wanted to hear. There’s nothing wrong with using other people’s music and taking a DJ approach to a fashion show, that works incredibly well. But for me it was really exciting and I felt that excitement from Raf too, that the music was created specifically for that collection and then at the moment when people were seeing the collection for the first time they were also hearing the music for the first time. It’s a symbiotic first-time experience when people are just sitting there with anticipation of this unknown event that’s going to unfold in front of their eyes and ears.
Richie wears PRADA; portrait by SIMA DEHGANI
What makes the perfect finale track?
Techno and the form of electronic music that I do is very sparse and you’re working with very small particles of sound and melodies. You’re playing with different parts of it during the piece and the ending is always about bringing back your favourite parts of the music. It’s very similar to the ending of a normal runway show, when you’re bringing all the looks back and seeing the experience in a very condensed way. In those last 30 seconds, you’re giving everything and it’s always a ‘wow’ moment, so that’s what I’m trying to do.
What musical fashion show moments stand out for you?
There have been two moments, let’s talk about a good moment and a bad one. The good moment wason the third show I was doing with Prada. I sent over a song that I wasn’t sure was in the right direction because it was much more upbeat, clubby and trippy. I was on the phone with Raf and as soon as I heard his voice I knew the song had hit exactly the mark he was looking for. I could tell it changed the direction he was going in with how he wanted to present the collection, that’s my interpretation. We were at the right moment together at the right time and it was really exciting. On the flipside, I remember when we were finishing the fourth show and, as a studio nerd and technician, I like to go back and make sure everything sounds right. It’s not about changing the actual song, [it’s about making] sure the final mix was right. What happened was that it changed the way how Raf heard the song because one sound was a little bit higher than the other so the rhythm was different. And because he had spent the last few weeks listening to the unperfect version he was like, “Ah, what are you doing? You’ve changed the song!” I was like, “Raf, no, I haven’t” – it was quite heated! But then I realised that it was a miscommunication of language. I hadn’t changed the actual song, I had changed the mix. But to Raf I had radically changed the sonic structure and his ears were hearing a different version. I said, “Okay, I’ve got it, let me go take that back down.” He was like “That’s it! That’s it!” That was a big learning experience for me, because at the end everything is subjective of what sounds good or bad andit was one of those moments.
What music genre defines you?
I’m in the wide scope of electronic music and it is sometimes frustrating to be pigeonholed, but I prefer to work in a very subtractive, minimalistic electronic music approach. You follow the less is more approach, as you’re trying to touch people’s emotions and feelings while using the least amount of sonic information.
What’s one fashion show you wish you’d created the soundtrack for?
I was very lucky to have done four shows with Prada and I’m also quite lucky to be invited to go. Every show they do is a ‘wow’ moment for me, so any and all Prada shows. I’m also a big fan of Rick Owens. I was at one of his shows several years ago and I think the darkness and intensity resonates with my clubbing personality. The best shows are when the designers take their intuition to go beyond just the collection and bring in other artistic collaborations. Music is maybe the first thing you add, but the infrastructure, architecture, room, location, all these things are other threads that tie everything together and help to make the statement that the designers are trying to say through their clothes.
Which designer has the best musical taste?
That would be difficult [to say], because I only know so many designers, but I’ve seen other shows online. I like all styles of music but I love it when electronic music is used well within the context of fashion. I think both Raf and Rick Owens again are the two who have accepted and welcomed electronic music since the very beginning of their careers.
If you could only save three records from your collection, which would you choose?
[British electronic duo] Global Communication’s Amenity, which is a beautiful ambient song from the 1990s. I would have to keep some type of Kraftwerk record, because Kraftwerk was something I was introduced to by my father, so call it Autobahn [1974] or Trans-Europe Express [1977] or The Man-Machine [1978]. And then the third one, this would change every day but let’s pick something non-electronic. I would say Miles Davis’s [1959 album] Kind of Blue.
Taken from 10 Magazine Issue 74 – MUSIC, TALENT, CREATIVE – on newsstands now. Order your copy here.
THE MUSIC MAKERS
Creative Editor GARTH ALLDAY SPENCER
Text PAUL TONER
First Portrait SIMA DEHGANI
Second Portrait LETIZIA GUEL
