Photography by Molly Maltman.
Laurin Schuler is a 22 year old designer from Munich, now based in Berlin. Currently a student at Kunsthochschule Weissensee Berlin, Schuler’s eponymous label explores the intricacies of physicality through experimental designs. Working mostly with dead-stock tulle, Schuler is fascinated by the alternate perspectives that can be achieved through silhouette, colour and detail. Despite his age, Schuler has already presented two collections and hopes to redefine the meaning of what a collection is.
SLEEK: Let’s start at the beginning. How did your eponymous label begin?
Laurin Schuler: My label started back in 2020, during the first lockdown. This was when I was based in Leipzig, where I was doing a fashion residency. During my time there, I was offered an internship in London with Linus Leonardsson. Moving to London to work in fashion was a truly incredible experience, it gave me so much energy that when I came back to Leipzig, I felt an urgent need to create. I emerged during a time of uncertainty, when we were moving in and out of lockdowns. But in a way, this silence and stillness helped me to focus on my first collection.
S: You grew up in Munich, and are now based here in Berlin. How does your background influence your work?
LS: For me, I don’t feel particularly influenced by a certain environment or time. With my creativity, it’s about the connection between me and the material and so the environment doesn’t necessarily affect this. Growing up, I had a lot of freedom to decide my path. My process is very much about taking chances and being spontaneous. It’s always been about growth and change.
Photography by Molly Maltman.
S: In your latest collection, PERSPECTIVERSIAL, you presented audiences with a creative intersection where fashion met sound, lighting and sculpture all under the umbrella of performance art. Why did you choose to present in such a way? How are these mediums important to your creative identity?
LS: The concept was very much about connection and interaction, giving the audience the opportunity to walk between the models to experience different perspectives of the garments. The audience was entirely included in the show, and there was this feeling of not knowing what happens next. It was about bringing all the creative elements together, including the audience, to become one.
Being a student, I was very lucky to find MFE Event Directors, who supported me in collaboration with AMBION [the international production company for live experiences and digital productions] to realise my first collection at the Reinbeckhallen. I also worked with sculptor Lorenz Beckmann who designed the set and Moritz Kniepkamp who worked on the sound design for the show.
S: Similar to this, another project of yours, Zombody, explores the body through movement and physical abstractions. You seem to have a fascination with the body in a way that goes beyond fashion, bordering performance art. Would you agree? What is your creative relationship with the body?
LS: I like exploring how one can alter proportions and shapes; whether that’s through design or in the physicality of the body. The body plays an important part in my process. In this particular project that you mention, the model wears a nylon catsuit which was only possible to stitch whilst it was stretched. And so, when I was making this piece, I had to wear the piece myself in order to make it. Through this process, it was more like an act of stitching my own skin together. My process is very physical, I’m dealing with translating physical garments onto physical shapes that we have been given through our bodies. In some ways, I see the body as sculpture. I find this is so beautiful.
Image Courtesy of Laurin Schuler.
S: What drives you?
LS: A passion for the final result.
S: You’re only 22, and have already presented two collections. What’s next?
LS: My process is very much about being spontaneous. Being a student, I’m at a point in my career where I can take risks and work with it. Now is the perfect time to make mistakes and learn from them. So, I guess my plan is to keep growing and learning.
S: As a young person, what’s something that you want to change about the industry?
LS: I want to redefine what a collection is. As a designer, I don’t want to be bound by fashion’s structure of churning out collection after collection. Instead, I see collections as more of a story or a thought that has no end, like a continuum. I see collections being more about an idea, rather than a specific look, that can continue beyond the fashion show. I’m fascinated by creating a physical feeling in a show or ‘collection’ that stays with people.
S: How would you define IDENTITY?
LS: Identity is a story, told by yourself through different means. It’s an inner structure that can be communicated outwardly to others through interaction and connection.