Adam de Lumen: From Paris couture to a Manila label

MILAN, Italy — Vertigo, jubilation and a sense of doom: these were the emotions that rushed over me when my request for an interview with the reclusive Adam de Lumen was approved. Monsieur de Lumen, known in Manila as the force behind the maverick street label Havoc, is now based in Paris and part of the Diesel group’s think tank. Apart from the wildly successful Diesel Jeans line, this fashion giant also owns a collection of formidable, fashion-forward fashion houses that includes Maison Martin Margiela, Vivienne Westwood and Viktor & Rolf. De Lumen had been coaxed out of his shell to talk about, among other things, the recent Paris Fashion Week as well as a project close to his heart: the possibility of collaborating with a Filipino fashion or lifestyle label to raise funds to rescue children who are victims of catastrophe and poverty.

The location was at a Milan fashion shoot, featuring the offspring of some of Italy’s legendary screen stars — Lucia Belluci and Francesco Mastroianni — as well as Patricio Boccanza.

I arrived at the Via Argelati, astounded by a parade of Italian sports cars and security personnel. It was reminiscent of those ‘60s Fellini films, glittering with exotic vehicles.

Everything seemed like a scene from Cinecitta. I was brought to halls that echoed with the music of La Douche and Monte Fiori; the scent of the finest Italian food filled the air.

PHILIPPINE STAR: How do you feel after hearing praises everywhere for your outstanding presentation for Paris Spring/Summer 2012?

ADAM DE LUMAN: I’m glad that people thought it was a job well done. All the hard work paid off. It was a great team effort. And a great coup for our brand to establish that we are Paris’s authentic, cutting-edge and avant-garde fashion house, if I do say so myself. Actually, I love what the BBC called us: “The uber cool.” Sort of like implying we are the Chanel of the avant-garde French brands and houses.

However, it is but a short-lived victory. In Paris, you are only as good as your last collection and as the weeks pass, it will be an entirely new ball game for automne-hiver (fall/winter) 2012-13.

Does your Asian background, American work experience, and European training have anything to do with the rave reviews for the 2012 collection?

No. Fashion is a state of mind. It’s a thinking process. It has no relation to where you’re born or the color of your skin — well, for my style and sensibility, that is.

I’m not one of those “cultural” designers. I’m not rooted. To be rooted means to be stuck. If I take from culture for hints of inspiration, it has nothing to do with my background. It still has to work with my current train of thought.

Lucia Belluci (daughter of movie sex symbol Monica Belluci) is “fairly young but echoes her mother’s raw sex appeal in the Italian cinema,” says Adam de Lumen. “She is absolutely sweet.”

What is this shoot for? Why are you using the children of Italy’s most legendary movie stars?

In the beginning, our brand was synonymous to using real people for a raw edge. It has progressed through the years to adapt to models with a specific look, only defined by our aesthetics. I decided to push the envelope further and use the reclusive children of Italy’s most cherished movie stars: a reversal of the concept of incognito.

I have selected a number of actors and actresses, and had our press representative communicate with them. Fortunately, their children responded with enthusiasm, knowing the brand’s fashion-forward edge.

I am deeply fascinated by capturing their raw essence and, of course, their personalities as children of Italy’s most revered movie stars. They seem to echo a new generation of real rock stars by blood whom the paparazzi has followed since birth.

It is deeply raw to capture them in their own reality, and see how they respond to the camera since this time they are not running away from the camera flashes.

Lucia Belluci is fairly young but echoes her mother’s raw sex appeal in the Italian cinema. She is absolutely sweet.

Francesco Mastrioanni echoes his parents’ glittering persona and raw beauty that have been immortalized by Italian cinema.

The shoot is lovingly entitled “Figli del nuovo cinema Italiano” (Children of the New Italian cinema).

What are you busy with now?

I am quite excited by the possibility of creative direction and a collaboration deal for a one-time line for a Philippine label that shares a fashion-forward direction like Parisian brands, as I will be jetting back and forth between Paris and Manila. My agent is currently shopping for the best match and choosing properly from so many offers. My guideline is, it has to be a strong and intelligent, a sales-oriented collaboration fueled by creativity and fashion. I do want to raise funds to help the children in the Philippines break out of the cycle of disease, poverty and natural disasters. They are the future.

Why are you entertaining doing creative direction on a one-time line for a Philippine brand, considering you currently chair the venerable French Fashion House as directuer de creatifs?

On my last trip to Manila, I became aware of so many unfortunate catastrophes that have hit the Philippines one after the other — even just recently, two typhoons that arrived a week apart!

In addition, I was alarmed to find Manila — what was once flourishing and fashion-forward as I remember over a decade ago — suddenly moved 20 years backwards.

The in-your-face influence of American TV shows, American TV reality shows and bad Hollywood films were what I saw everywhere. It felt like an invasion had happened with the strong force of a Mussolini.

My goal is to simply give back to three local charities dear to me and, by the same process, trigger a new revolution that might jumpstart fashion again. We did it back there in the ‘90s and, a decade later, it needs jumpstarting.

Would you consider doing a fashion show in the Philippines?

I would definitely consider that. I would very much like to show them how it is really done here. Given the proper finances, I’d love to give the Philippine industry a first taste of actual supermodels walking a runway presentation backed by a conceptual show. I’m thinking of pulling strings with close friends who are supermodels, if a fashion show for the Philippines materializes with a local brand. I think it is high time they experience the sheer out-of–this-world sight on the runway.

I think Stella Tennant and Erin O’Conner would definitely be an alien-like vision for them — but hopefully this would become earthly and normal for Manila soon.