Designer Download: Victor Glemaud

By Stephen Watson
August 20, 2010

Haitian born designer Victor Glemaud has a personality to match his tall, elegant stature. Known for his finely detailed knitwear, he is a master colorist and produces some of the most unique and incredible sweaters on the market today.

Having launched his career learning the design ropes working for Patrick Robinson, Glemaud eventually switched gears and began doing publicity with the PR powerhouse firm KCD. It was there that he was exposed to the world of international fashion, working with such prestige collections as Versace, Marc Jacobs and Helmut Lang. Glemaud next moved to Paris and was able to return to design by working with his mentor Robinson on the short-lived relaunch of the Paco Rabanne collection.

Now back in New York, Glemaud has fine tuned all these experiences into building his own brand. He launched his namesake menswear collection in July 2006.

The Inside Source recently caught up with dashing Glemaud to talk unconventional cardigans, girls wearing menswear, how he learned to speak "fashion" and sharing the runway with his good friend Camilla Staerk.

The Inside Source: When you start thing about putting together your collection, what inspires you?

Victor Glemaud: I get inspired by books, films, and things that I see on the street. A color, a mood, a still image. I also think a lot about what I instinctually want to wear—and what feeling that I want to project for the season. Last season it was tailored things, suitings.

For Spring '10, I had the opportunity to visit "Five Thousand Years of Japanese Art: Treasures from the Packard Collection at the Met" an enormous collection of Japanese art, with lots of washed pale colors, golds, ambers, yellow, greens. I collect all these influences and then I edit. Ideas are already percolating for Spring '12. Sometimes there are ideas that got edited out from previous seasons that can suddenly be put to use again!

TIS: You have a background in womenʼs fashion, how did you get started designing mens fashion?

VG: At the time I was working at Paco Rabanne and living in Paris, and I wanted to stay living in Paris. From that point I was able to start doing menswear easily, and I was able to put the collection together all on my own and have it make sense. I just felt like it was the time. So without a business plan, and with the help of all my friends, the collection was born. There are many more difficult factors involved in launching a womenʼs collection.

TIS: You excel at designing knitwear, and youʼve designed a few collaborations in different categories. Do you ever want to design a full-fledged collection someday?

VG: Yes, of course! Definitely in the works.

TIS: Your first foray into womens knits for Henri Bendel was a very big success. Will there ever be a V.G. ladies collection in the future?

VG: Iʼve been thinking about this a lot lately. Girls really want to wear the collection, and it would be a really interesting idea that Iʼd love to pursue. Iʼve been asked about it from stores, editors and friends. Every winter everyone wants to buy a few new sweaters, no?

TIS: Having once worked as a fashion publicist (for PR powerhouse KCD) how has that helped your business?

VG: I was very lucky to work at Calvin Klein and KCD at very defining moments in fashion. I was exposed at a very young age to so many people working in fashion at this very high international level. It was an exposure where I got to learn so many different parts of the business, how a designer sees, what a buyer sees, what an editor sees, what a consumer sees. All the people and the friends that I have made along the way have become supportive to me now, and Iʼve been incredibly lucky. This is how I learned how to speak “fashion”!

TIS: Any new knitwear techniques or developments that we should look for?

VG: My background is not knitwear based, so I am able to challenge my manufacturers and knitters with many new ideas. For the last collection we developed the double front cardigan, which to explain to the manufacturer first had to be sewn. Another difficult project was the sweater with intentional holes knit in, the pattern had to be very exact and planned out—each hole had to be designed, and placed deliberately. There was a long one, a round one like a cigarette burn, and they all had to be placed in the most perfect strategic places. It took months to develop!

TIS: For the past few seasons youʼve shown your collection during fashion week, along side your friend Camilla Staerk. How did that clever idea come about? How has it been beneficial?

VG: She is a really really good friend. Our collections couldnʼt be more different, but the overlap of people that come to see us both really works out perfectly. At first we did it for economic reasons, but people now know that we are friends and it makes the presentation fun for everyone. We only have problems choosing the music—the only time we have to compromise. I want to hear pop!