ADVERTORIAL PARTNER: SVENCUM
MERDE VII launches Friday 9/8 and with it, a new print advertorial partner - SVENCUM. Read an exclusive interview with Paris based Creative Director Junyan Xu after the SS24 presentation this past June.
What does SVENCUM mean?
The brand name is inspired by Xu's original design of a Character who is rebellious but loves to read poetry, which means "sven scum".
When did you first decide you wanted to make this brand and how has the vision changed since then?
When I was a freshman, I wanted to build a brand and express my own aesthetic system. In the form of menswear, I can better present the ideas I want to express, such as a peaceful life attitude and my print style.
In the beginning, I wanted to create this brand for my hobby, I like to make menswear, also to express myself through design, output a peaceful life attitude, and enrich the menswear market, I think this is something I am good at. I have been doing it for 3 years, and always bear in mind my original aspiration, now the brand is more mature than before.
I used to think that people who love to buy menswear were those cute boys, but my first customer was an Italian woman, quite surprising.
No matter how complex the story is, I will not change my design style to cater to others' wants, I want to present and interpret Svencum in a better way.
What is your fashion education, and who are the current and past designers that inspired you in your studies/career today?
I graduated from Istituto Marangoni in Paris. I used to like Rick Owens, and now is CCP (Carol Christian Poell)
Who is your ideal customer?
Artist, fashionista
Where do you find inspiration?
Inspiration comes from my friends and family, my own life, and my thinking. Every year there will be issues that I want to discuss. I often use clothing to discuss the problems encountered in my life, thereby my own printmaking technique and pattern language.
Have you imagined a brand collaboration? What brand could you imagine SVENCUM collaborating with?
It should be a furniture brand or a shoe brand, but I have no idea about the specific ones.
Where do you see the future of SVENCUM going?
I believe that more and more people will learn about this brand and love it. I think I will keep showcasing Svencum in different countries, UK and Japan might be huge markets.
What are your favorite materials to work with?
Polyester and other fabrics with high plasticity, because they are easy to get the shape I want through the creasing machine, unlike cotton, which is easy to deform and appears rigid after creasing, we will not go too far in pursuit of some 100% fabrics, because these Very pure fabrics will make the secondary reconstruction of fabrics more difficult, that is, the plasticity will be greatly reduced.
What is your relationship like with the mainstream Fashion Market especially in Paris?
I think Svencum is still a niche brand, not very mainstream in Paris, more like an emerging and energetic designer brand with fresh thinking.
MERDE contributor Anaëlle BN captured BTS content at the SVENCUM showroom June 2023.
