Courtesy of Christian Blanken
After completing an MA in Fashion Design from Central St Martins, Christian Blanken worked in London, New York and Italy before establishing his own brand back in the UK in 2008. He has become well-known in the fashion world for his urban, utility wear made for the modern woman. MyDaily caught up with the designer during his presentation at London Fashion Week.
How would you describe the Christian Blanken signature look?
It's modern classics. I'm trying to make clothes that are really relevant in a contemporary urban setting. I'm trying to address modern wardrobe needs basically.
You're showing in London, what do you like about the city and how does it influence your work?
There's fantastic access to art but in London, you're dealing with a city that's very multi-cultural so there are a lot of different influences. It's quite fast so it keeps you on your toes. Those are the things that I like about London and they definitely influence my designs.
Are there any other cities that inspire you?
My history is with New York so there are parallels there definitely - I would say they are New York and London are the two that are important.
Looks from the s/s 2011 collection. Courtesy of Christian Blanken
What were your influences for this season?
There were three key element: the first was 1920s/30s athletic wear, the second was American sportswear designers like Claire McCardell from the 50s, and the last influence was taking classic urban staples like the trench coat, bomber jacket, biker jacket, the Crombie and re-working them in a modern way. Those were the three things that I tried to mesh.
Which woman would you most like to dress?
I think that Alison Mosshart is fantastic. I really like musician type girls mostly, rocker type girls. Models have good style because they have such good access to good clothes. I don't find actresses so interesting.
What can we expect from your brand in the future?
We're hoping to grow quite aggressively. At the moment we're looking at launching menswear for January. I think in this business you have to be tenacious, you just have to keep going and as long as you do this, you stay on the message and people learn to understand what you stand for and what your message is, then if people appreciate what you're doing, the fan base will grow.
Take a look at more of our London Fashion Week coverage here.