Matt Lehitka - Die Kraft der Kreativitaet
the german multimediaproducer Matt Lehitka and his multimediaconcept* s t r e e t n i g h t w e a r *
he is the hottest multimediaproducer export of Germany. Matt Lehitka is the leader of the new trends and ideas of a new multimedia generation. With his multimedia-concept *streetnightwear* he (nearly) plays with all human senses-it´s a mixture of form, film, music and feeling-fashion, influenced by the pulsating life in the metropolis, the music ... Fashion to combine and to be exchangeable, nasty and free-it reflects Matt Lehitka`s philosophy of life:
"imagination, force, love..."
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Matt Lehitka Sept. 2006 New York News Group interview by Florence Lynch
Matt Lehitka, a young German designer gaiattention in the fashion and multimedia world when he was hired to design for Christian Dior. In addition to his position with Dior he is actively creating his own line, known as *streetnightwear*. Matt is also pursuing the development and imanagement of StreetVoiceGroup Networks (SVGN), an international media & entertainment Network very active in New York, London, Shanghai and Berlin.
FL: Tell me a bit about your career as a designer?
I became interested in fashion and entertainment when I was fifteen years old. My mother was in fashion as well; she worked in haute couture. My interest in clothing started with her. She use to design for me and I didn´t like what she was making. Therefore, I developed an interest in fashion; she was my entry into the field. At sixteen and seventeen my desire to be a createur was so strong, that I decided, it would be my profession. When I turned nineteen I went to a fashion school in Düsseldorf; I was there one year then left and went to Paris where I worked free-lance with a number of designers.
FL: Who were some of the designers that you free-lanced with?
I worked with so many fashion labels. In Paris I worked for my own independant label Matt Lehitka, on my women´s line and Wha!? a art fashion label; in Milan I worked for my own license label Matt, on my men´s line. I only worked free-lance; I had to get a job but I was not interested in a permanent position. I wanted the freedom to travel and work on my own ideas. I think constantly of how so many companies made so much money with my ideas. They made millions; but I didn´t mine, it was my choice. I was twenty three when I began to make my own line. In 1990, I won the Sportswear International Prize for the best of the 90´s. So the magazine featured my men´s line as the best of the 90´s. I started with men´s fashion and then I went on to woman´s. In those days, I incorporated a lot of things one of which was music. It was very important for me to cross over my fashion with entertainment and music.
FL: Why was it so important for you to mix music, video and fashion
Music is an important articulation for me.
Is it actually fashion that you are mixing with music or body movement?
When I say i mixed with music I mean that it was very important for me to mix projects. For example a fashion with a related projects. In this case it was music. When I present in fashion shows my clothing appear with only light music. Light percussion or other light instruments. I have a very spatial program it´s not only a fashion show. It´s entertainment. One part is fashion, the second part is light and very important, the third part is music. This is my way of presenting fashion. It´s a visual power: seeing, hearing and feeling. Did you see my last show?
FL: Yes, I did. Now you have a video tape as well.
From 1990 to ´95 I worked on my multimediaprojects with fashion, created for other companies, and also worked on a very successful line, 50 Kleider, in which I collaborated with the international famous painter Ben Vautier from France...
FL: Was that your first collaborative project with art? I know now you also work as an artist.
Yes it was the second time I worked with art from there I went on to collaborate on a fashion musical named „Head to Head“, also very successful. It was done in the theater district in Cologne it was a collaboration with two Broadway performers, Ron White and Ron Talton.
FL: You did the costumes?
I did the concept, management, PR and the fashion collaboration with the artists.
FL: What do you consider the relation to be between your creation and the ultimate buyer?
My creation now is a concept: *streetnightwear*. I want to show that you must mix my fashion pieces with other creations. When you buy one thing from me you can combine it with something you already have to create a new look. Mix and match is the idea of *streetnightwear*. It´s a multimedia concept with fashion.
FL: Going back to the exhibition that I saw in Cologne, some of the outfits, as beautiful as they were, could not be worn by just anybody. I thought you were somewhat selective in terms of who could wear your designs. Not in so much that one has to have the right body to wear them, but that one has to have the right attitude. Your work is nowhere near an Armani or even a Dior whom you work for. It´s not quite Gaultier; it´s very unique, yet, one would need to be daring to wear it.
The collection is different but not so different. It´s about style. It´s about the moment, it´s couture and it´s not couture. That´s what I want. I ant to feel couture and pret-a-porter all in one. It is the senstion of the moment.
FL: What can you tell me about your market?
It varies. People who dress well, people who dress funny- they´re all different. The market is very much about the collection; perhaps it´s for people who are interested in art or in car racing...
I can´t even say I have an age group. I have customers who are over fifty and for the same style, I have people who are in their twenties. It´s very mixed and I think it´s very important that it stays way.
FL: Would you say that your designs are comfortable when worn? I have never had the good fortune of wearing one.
Well, you´ll have to wear them to find out. I do think they are very comfortable. For me the combination of comfort and look is very important. They are very beautiful; therefore, it´s worthwhile to have a good fit and a good look. I have a lot of people who work with me; they make very good samples and are very concerned about the fit. It´s a technical issue. And of course I have some pieces that are more art than fashion, hence not at all wearable.
FL: On that note I would like to talk about your ventures in art. You´ve had exhibitions in art galleries throughout Europe; why have you chosen to combine fashion and art?
For me art is very important. Art is a kind of entity. First it´s art then it´s design. Art is avant-garde, it´s foremost, it plays a very special role in the creation of my works. It´s like music. It´s a big influence, for my self, my projects and for my thinking. That´s why art is so important to me. A lot of artists have given me so much; so much feelings, much understanding. They have given me confidence in what I do. Art is like StreetVoice; it gives me a very real impression.
FL: So tell me about StreetVoiceGroup Networks.
StreetVoiceGroup Networks was founded in 1995; it´s an international organization with offices in New York, Shanghai, London and Berlin. It is, essentially, a marketing, media and entertainment consultancy, concept development, artist management, agency. StreetVoiceGroup Networks also manages my career.
FL: They manage you as an artist or as a designer?
StreetVoiceGroup Networks is a cross over company. It´s fashion with art, film with music, or film with art and sport. So they manage me as both, just as they manage a lot of other different artists.
StreetVoiceGroup Networks is a company in New York and London that you are closely involved with. In addition to them working with you as an artist and a designer, you are also part of management.
Yes, I also work with them from a managerial stand point. Before we created StreetVoiceGroup Networks, there was a real need for it. I had a lot of agencies who managed me and I was unhappy with them. For them, it was very chic to have an artist/ designer on their roster; it was only a question of images. I did more for them then they did for me.
FL: In your career, can you tell me where you are now and where you want to go.
When I think about it, I think there are 100 stairs and for now I am at the bottom of the stairs, I don´t mean with my fashion projekt but with StreetVoiceGroup. My vision for StreetVoiceGroup Networks is to built an international network and work with it in the cosmopolitan cities such as New York, Shanghai, London and Berlin. I work with creative people with a lot of visions so we can bring these ideas together to create a new world with freedom.
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