Backissues
Issue 1/2013
Styleguide Marrakech
Interview Jason Denham
Editorial
Do you love surprises? Then we recommend a trip to Marrakech! Because this Moroccan city will confound even the most jaded of city hoppers. We definitely had to keep rubbing our eyes at all the sights and sounds – and that’s with 30 J’N’C City Guide productions under our belts! The sheer amount of incongruous contrasts that characterise the North African trading hub at the foot of the Atlas Mountains even had seasoned traveller Adriaan Louw, our photographer from Cape Town, lost for words.
Exuberant luxury, the most colourful and opulent interior designs, as well as fashion boutiques, galleries and restaurants that would certainly not seem amiss in any western metropolis are all to be found here. And then, just two taxi-minutes away: street scenes straight out of the 18th century! Donkey carts, street vendors in traditional garb, artisans sitting working in front of their small shops. European-influenced lifestyles with fixed rules (and fixed prices) coexist peacefully with a seemingly chaotic existence with archaic traditions and haggling for every last dirham. Find out more about how Marrakech pulls off this balancing act with ease and how the contrasting worlds help to inspire local fashion in our City Guide.
J’N’C author Fredericke Winkler also brings a few surprises to light in this issue, albeit in a completely different field – although we should be used to that by now. She has, after all, been analysing the interaction between fashion and other social trends and phenomena for many years. This time the Berliner has turned her attention to the topic of fashion and technology. In her essay ‘Utopia Today, Reality Tomorrow’ she expresses surprise at the lack of innovative spirit in the world of fashion, which feigns a future-orientated outlook. So why are the realms of design and science so unwilling to cooperate and exchange ideas?
Speaking of exchanging ideas: we took some time out to do just that with Jason Denham. The eponymous Amsterdam cult label is celebrating its fifth birthday, and so, in an interview with Annekatrin Looss the smart designer talks about his top five heroes, his ‘Denham House’ concept and sending the first jeans into outer space. Andrea Canè, Creative Director of the Italian company WP Lavori in Corso, might not be planning a trip to the moon, but he has brought the label Woolrich to Europe.
What other surprises do we have in the bag? Perhaps the latest denim trends of the big brands for 2013/14? Or the coolest fashion spreads of the season? You want it, we’ve got it! Browse the pages and prepare to be surprised. After all, here in the fashion business we are all part of an industry that thrives on surprises! All the best for the new season.
Ilona Marx, Editor in Chief
Photographers
Nadia del Dò, René Fietzek, John Gripenholm, Adriaan Louw, Sabri Noor, Katharina Poblotzki, Axel Siebmann, Gunnar Tufta
Illustrators
Frauke Berg, Roman Klonek, Matthias Schardt, Matthias Seifarth
Authors
Andreas Grüter, Jolien Deckers, Gerlind Hector GH, Annekathrin Loos, Nadia Saadi NS, Eva Westhoff EW, Fredericke Winkler FW
