A.P.C.'s Jean Touitou Talks Denim, Designing Menswear And More

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Over at GQ there's a nice little interview done by our ex-lover, Jake, with the current patron saint of denim, Jean Touitou of A.P.C. The notoriously stubborn and arrogant and just plain fucking awesome founder/owner of the brand dishes on the denim industry as a whole, why he doesn't follow other denim companies, how often he washes his jeans and why designing for men is a lot more difficult than we understand it to be. Take a look at some select quotes below and read the entire thing here.

On why he doesn't pay attention to other denim brands:

"No. No, because that is not interesting to me. If I were a customer, I would do a survey about the brands that are out there. Why should I look at that if I am doing it myself? A baker makes his own bread. He doesn't go to the other bakeries for bread. ... I don't want to know how other people are trying to knock me off. That's a bit disturbing. But I don't give a fuck. I don't care. There's nothing that could make me jealous. Sometimes if there are good jeans I see, the price is not correct. I believe you not only need a good cut and good fabric, but the price has to be human. Otherwise, I could do tons of incredible things. But if the price is not human, the mission is not accomplished. ..."

On the rise of denim prices:

"Well, yes, because denim is a goldmine. But also because at least one or two days a week now, a gentleman will wear jeans. It's impossible for a brand to exist without jeans now. But there are too many signs on them now. People want to put their own signature on them now. Ours have no signature, except their quality. ..."

On the magical A.P.C. denim recipe:

"… this fabric has a special recipe that has been put together by me and the weavers back in the day in Japan. The weaver is a real samurai, and he doesn't give the secret to anybody. He has a long line of people who ask, "Can we have the A.P.C. fabric?" and he will answer, "No! I gave them my word!" There is something secret in our fabric that nobody knows. Even I try to forget the secret so I'm not tempted to reveal it to anyone."

On what he regularly wears:

"You know, lately I'm trying to avoid wearing jeans. I prefer to wear sarongs, or a piece of fabric around my hips. … But I wear them in the office with my staff where no one would dare say anything. But it's more comfortable to wear a sarong than a pair of jeans or formal pants."

On washing your jeans:

"It's totally hypocritical of me. When I go into my closet, I have a pile of five jeans that are numbered one through five in Roman numerals, because I don't want to wear the same pair too many times. But whenever they start to smell a bit, I wash them in the machine but with cold water and very little detergent. And I use Woolite so the soap doesn't attack the textile."

On designing for men:

"A guy that looks too fashionable is not sexy for even one quarter of a second. All girls will tell you this, and all gay men will tell you the same. It's very difficult to do men's fashion, because you know aggressive fashion will be ridiculous. But it doesn't mean you do basic minimalism. I know it's a hard thing to understand, but it's the truth."

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