Nicolas Ghesquière and Philippe Parreno discuss fashion and art exclusively for Vogue France’s December/January 2024

Philippe Parreno: In the end, it’s a sort of feeling of incompletion…

Do you ever feel like you lose something in the creative process?

Nicolas Ghesquière: Yes, of couse. We make models, meaning a piece of clothing that is incomplete. It takes on the form, and sometimes the right material, but it is not perfectly sewn. Often, this garment is exactly to my taste. Now, with experience, I have found the balance. The maquette is surprising. It gives me a new sensation. When we move onto the stage of reproducing it, it ends up losing some of its integrity. But I can continue experimenting knowing that time will show that what it carried over from it can also be very beautiful. This is actually where I can succeed, that is to say, succeed in reproducing something that conserves the aura of the original object…

You talked about using fiber optic in the material. Have you already worked with “intelligent” materials?

Nicolas Ghesquière: I have tried. In fashion, this is somewhat limited, but in any case, it’s the future. There is no doubt about it. Functionality, energy, protection, and reinforcement will all count when it comes to materials. This is already happening. It’s incredible, but it’s not really used in fashion.

Philippe Parreno: I think that materials will become more and more organic. We might start growing clothes, for example.

Nicolas Ghesquière: Of course! And why not compost them? Incidentally, there are some young designers, many of whom are Japanese, who are doing lots of work on this. And this incredible designer, Piero D’Angelo, presented at the LVMH prize. He’s a kind of bio designer who works with living organisms that are applied to the clothes.

Philippe Parreno: Living matter that grows on the clothes. It’s all very Boris Vian.. very Stanisław Lem, who has always been an inspiration of mine… his bioreactors, his living forms that communicate with humans and which write too… This is also a reference. This particular science fiction of the 1960s has been an inspiration for us.