Fashion Designer Aziz condemns fast fashion and you should too.
Perfect: When were you first introduced to fashion?
AZIZ: During my childhood I was already surrounded by fashion. My father often took me to his studio in Iran, where I lived at that time. He worked there as a traditional tailor. At the age of 6, however, I had to flee my home country to Germany together with my brother.
Perfect: How have Germany and your heritage influenced your work?
AZIZ: German artists, music, the German's direct/straight way of expressing what you want and what you like. I don't feel like I belong to one culture, other cultures also influences me, not just my origins and where I live.
Perfect: Where does the inspiration for your designs usually come from?
AZIZ: I don’t have a main source. Most of my inspiration comes from nature, different shapes, everything that my eye perceives. My first step is always the sculpture, then with a lot of pattern parts, building the shape. The technical influence of my previous mechanical engineering studies is reflected in all my collections, however. Complex mechanisms and multiple functions are therefore as much a part of my artistic signature as my cultural background and my demand for special designs. Fashion shouldn’t be produced and consumed according to the rule: the cheaper and the quicker the better. Surplus Production, environmental pollution, animal suffering and inhumane working conditions are the result. We must go back to the roots of fashion. We have to go back to clothing with significance, with an emotional and material value – and beyond to an innovative use of materials and development. And to a craft with decent pay.
Perfect: What references from art, design and culture are most present in your creative universe?
AZIZ: The most important point is the sculpture, from which the clothing is made. I use soft natural forms inspirated from nature to cover the sculpture. If there was one thing I had to decide for, it would be the design process. The abstract idea that shapes into reality as form. The sculptural approach that characterizes this collection like no other. The experimentation with the patterns and materials. To build up the deformed sculptures, which nevertheless develop their own almost supernatural aesthetics. This is the process of how my art is made.
Perfect: What is most important to you when constructing a garment?
AZIZ: The garment must have the highest and unique quality.
Perfect: What do you enjoy most about fashion and design? What can be most challenging?
AZIZ: To create a mood, the way in which the clothes are created and the process. For me the challenge is to get better and better, to have a constant development process, transformation, and combining techniques (jewelry with clothes, ...). On top of that, the symbiosis of jewellery and clothing in this project fascinated and incredibly drove me. For me, fashion is and has never been just clothing. It is home. It is the staging and expression of myself. It is creativity and passion.
