Why Duran Lantink Refuses to Follow Fashion’s Rules

Summary

Summary of "Why Duran Lantink Refuses to Follow Fashion’s Rules"

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Business of Fashion Podcast
• Host: Imran Ahmed, Founder and CEO of The Business of Fashion
• Episode: Why Duran Lantink Refuses to Follow Fashion’s Rules
• Release Date: July 25, 2025

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Introduction to Duran Lantink

Imran Ahmed opens the episode by introducing Duran Lantink, a Dutch designer who garnered attention with his first runway show at the tender age of 14. This show featured a unique collection made from repurposed Diesel jeans and his grandmother's tablecloth, which was subsequently picked up by a local multi-brand store. Today, Duran is celebrated for his playful experimentation, innovative collections, and provocative runway presentations. He is now embarking on a new journey as the Creative Director at the iconic fashion house Jean Paul Gaultier.

Notable Quote:

"From a very young age, Dutch designer Duran Lantink was fascinated by the transformative power of fashion." [00:57]

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Early Life and Influences

Duran shares insights into his upbringing in The Hague, Netherlands, highlighting the city's proximity to beaches and a vibrant electronic music scene in the '90s. Although The Hague isn't traditionally associated with fashion, Duran's family played a significant role in nurturing his creative instincts. His mother's involvement in fashion and exposure to drag artists and high-end brands like Goce and Margiela provided a liberating environment that fostered his love for self-expression through clothing.

Notable Quotes:

"It was always this freedom of expression and dressing up in the night that would be different than how they would come in pre-party." [06:06]

"I think it was always very nice to be surrounded by clothes. And somehow it just always spoke to me in a way." [07:15]

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First Foray into Fashion Design

At just 14 years old, Duran orchestrated his first fashion show by repurposing his stepfather’s unused Diesel jeans and his grandmother's apple green tablecloth. Despite a minor mishap where his parents had to replace damaged shoes, the show was a commercial success, with his collection being sold at a local multi-brand store. This pivotal moment solidified his passion for fashion design, even though he had to return to school shortly after.

Notable Quote:

"That was one of those moments where I really knew what I wanted to do in life or how I wanted to proceed." [13:11]

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Navigating Fashion Education

Duran discusses his challenging experience in fashion school, where his unconventional approach to repurposing and upcycling clashed with traditional curricula focused on patterns and fabric manipulation. Initially switching to art school, Duran found his footing at the Rietveld Academy, where a supportive department head allowed him to continue his unique style of design. His graduation showcased fully repurposed pieces, garnering both praise and criticism, which ultimately strengthened his resolve to pursue his creative vision.

Notable Quote:

"I always get these names, and I found that always somehow more quite liberated because I didn't really care." [15:30]

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Building an Independent Brand

Post-education, Duran embarked on establishing his own brand, focusing on recycling and upcycling deadstock materials from boutiques. His innovative approach caught international attention with creations like the "vagina pants" for a music video, despite initial reservations. Over the years, his brand expanded from being featured in select shops to being present in 45 stores, achieving financial break-even through strategic growth and winning fashion prizes.

Notable Quote:

"I was like, well, that's not really nice. But, yeah, it was weird. Like, it's weird dealing with things, but it's also good because it makes you stronger." [17:46]

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Transition to Jean Paul Gaultier

As Duran's independent brand gained recognition, he began receiving offers from established fashion houses. The opportunity with Jean Paul Gaultier resonated deeply with him due to the brand's history of freedom and non-conformity, aligning perfectly with his creative ethos. The transition involved multiple conversations and the development of a comprehensive proposal outlining his vision for the brand's future.

Notable Quote:

"The House of Gaultier is very much about freedom and about culture and about bringing artists in and all these things." [40:04]

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Adapting to Structured Environments

Despite his aversion to traditional "boxes," Duran embraces his role at Jean Paul Gaultier, appreciating the balance between structured processes and creative freedom the house offers. He aims to revive the brand's vibrant energy from the late '80s and early '90s, infusing it with fresh, innovative designs while maintaining its non-conformist spirit.

Notable Quote:

"For me, I'm just doing it step by step." [40:30]

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Advice for Aspiring Designers

Reflecting on his journey, Duran advises emerging designers to trust their inner instincts and remain true to their creative visions, even in the face of external pressures and potential setbacks. He emphasizes the importance of perseverance and authenticity, drawing from his own experiences of overcoming challenges and staying committed to his unique approach to fashion.

Notable Quote:

"Whenever you have a very strong inner feeling of, okay, this is right for me, I think you should be really going for it and not being distracted by commentary from outside." [43:35]

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Conclusion and Future Outlook

Imran Ahmed and Duran conclude the episode by expressing excitement for Duran's upcoming collections and his tenure at Jean Paul Gaultier. Duran remains optimistic about the future, eager to push boundaries and continue his legacy of innovative and rebellious fashion design.

Notable Quote:

"It's gonna be great." [46:56]

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Final Thoughts:

Duran Lantink's journey from a young, passionate designer in The Hague to the Creative Director of Jean Paul Gaultier underscores the power of staying true to one's vision. His emphasis on upcycling, creative freedom, and non-conformity serves as an inspiration for aspiring fashion creatives worldwide.

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Note: Advertisements and non-content segments have been excluded from this summary to focus solely on the substantive discussions between Imran Ahmed and Duran Lantink.

Transcript

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[Imran Ahmed]

Hi, this is Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of the Business of Fashion. Welcome to the BoF podcast. It's Friday, July 25th. From a very young age, Dutch designer Duran Lantink was fascinated by the transformative power of fashion. His journey began in his early teens, culminating in his first Runway show at just 14 years old. That collection, made from repurposed Diesel jeans and his grandmother's tablecloth, was picked up by a local multi brand store and the rest is history. Today, Duran is known in the industry for his playful experimentation, innovative collections and provocative Runway presentations. Now he's stepping into a major new chapter as the creative director at Jean Paul Gaultier.

[Duran Lantink]

Well, I'm all figuring it out now. For me, I'm just doing it step by step. A house of Gaultier is quite a free house. It's not like a Dior or it's not like a Chanel. Like I'm, I'm, you know, as a kid I always wanted to. I did my presentation in elementary school about Chanel, so I always liked Chanel. But later on I really fell in love with this sort of non confirmative thing and I feel that the House of Gaultier is very much about freedom and about culture and about bringing artists in and all these things. And I hope that I get the freedom and the possibility to really bring that in and really bring back that vibe from the late 80s or the beginning of the 90s and that really excites me and I really kind of want to go for that and I need to push for it, I guess.

[Imran Ahmed]

This week on the BoF podcast, I sat down with Duran in Paris for his first ever English language podcast to learn about his personal fashion journey, the source of his creativity and how he's thinking about stepping into the big shoes as the creative director of an iconic fashion brand. Here's Duran Lantink on the BoF podcast. Duran Lantink, yes. Hi, welcome to the BoF podcast.

[Duran Lantink]

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

[Imran Ahmed]

It's a sunny day here in Paris.

[Duran Lantink]

It is, it's very cold inside, but outside it's quite warm.

[Imran Ahmed]

It is warm. And the summer heat wave is happening and couture is happening and so much is happening in the industry and you're part of that. So I'm really delighted to have a chance to talk to you. Your first podcast in English?

[Duran Lantink]

Yes, I think so. God, I don't know. No, I did like a couple in Dutch, but yeah, English is. It's not my mother language, so.

[Imran Ahmed]

Well, speaking of, I wanted to start with growing up in Holland. Yes, the Netherlands. Yes, the ha. Yes, most people know the HA for the International Court of Justice. But can you help to tell us a little bit about the ha? You know, people know Amsterdam, maybe some people know Rotterdam. But the HA is an interesting place to grow up.

[Duran Lantink]

It is. I mean, it's a very comfortable place. It's a place near the beach which is really nice for child.

[Imran Ahmed]

Are there beaches in Holland?

[Duran Lantink]

Yes, they're very nice.

[Imran Ahmed]

Do people go to the beach?

[Duran Lantink]

Well, I mean, yes, especially like, I mean we go all year round actually, even in the winter. So it's kind of. The beach is a very big part of the Hague. I would say it's very nice. Like as a child I would, you know, it's only a 15 minute bike from my house to the beach and I really grew up at the beach as well. So in the summers we would stay on the beach, sleep there, play. I think it has been a very nice youth. The Hague is nice. There's a lot of music going on there. I think there was kind of a big electronic music scene in the 90s, even though I was very young. So it has something, it's nice, but especially the beach is nice.

[Imran Ahmed]

And as a place, how did it shape your creative sensibilities? I mean, one doesn't think about fashion when one thinks about the Hague. So like where did that develop your interest in fashion, your creativity? How did growing up there influence you?

[Duran Lantink]

I think my mom and my family were very much into fashion and it was also, what was it like beginning of the 90s, so house music was very much a part of fashion and things. So as a young child, my mom would always dress up with her friends and then she would go to Amsterdam for clubbing.

[Imran Ahmed]

And you would tag along?

[Duran Lantink]

No, I wouldn't tag along to the clubs, but I was always there. And then my grandma came to, you know, to babysit me for the whole weekend. But I was always there when there was like people coming over, drags coming over, dressing them in Goce, Margiela. They were always sort of playing around. So it was a very, I think it was a very free upbringing, which helped me a lot, I guess, in the way I'm thinking, because it was always there. Like it was always sort of this freedom of expression and dressing up in the night that would be different than how they would come in pre party.

[Imran Ahmed]

Did you say drag queens were dressing up at home?

[Duran Lantink]

Yes, yeah, yeah, they had that day. My mom had quite a lot of friends that would go drag at night and then go out. So I would sort of see that. And that was very exciting and felt very liberating somehow. And I grew up in the center city of the Hague. Even though it's very small, it had the first shop that was selling Chanel in Hague or in Holland. So there wasn't a flagship store of Chanel yet. So you had Fred van Vordracher, which was selling Emilio Ungaro, Gianfranco verre, Lanvin, Yves St Laurent, Chanel and Dior. And I would go in there and I would look at all the clothes and the shop ladies were quite familiar with me. So as a young child I would get all the lookbooks and window insulation, decoration things.

[Imran Ahmed]

And you were going in there all by yourself?

[Duran Lantink]

Yes.

[Imran Ahmed]

How old were you?

[Duran Lantink]

I think nine or eight or something. Very young.

[Imran Ahmed]

So what do you think it was about clothes and fashion that attracted a nine year old boy in, in Holland?

[Duran Lantink]

I think it was very much about the sort of the transformative aspect about it that I found very interesting that people could dress up and all of a sudden become a different identity. And I was always very much interested in that. And it was just, I think it was just always very nice to be surrounded by clothes. And somehow it just always spoke to me in a way. It was just, I don't know, some way was always very exciting to me. And I felt it very sort of necessary also to experiment on myself also, I guess. I mean, everybody does that, right. When you dress up in, I don't know, dresses of your mom or your grandma. I was fortunate. Everybody does a nut bag. Probably not in my world everybody does that. And I was very fortunate that there were quite nice dresses and things. But I don't know, there was just always something that I found very interesting.

[Imran Ahmed]

In close and then your root into fashion as like, you know, studying fashion. I mean, clearly from a young age you were drawn to it. You know, age of eight or nine going into this boutique. But talk to us a little bit about how it turned into your profession. Really.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah. Well, that also, like, I did my first fashion show in the Hague when I was 14.

[Imran Ahmed]

Wait, wait, rewind for a minute. So how do you do that?

[Duran Lantink]

I'm gonna tell you. So basically what I did was my stepdad had a big pile of Diesel jeans and he was about to throw them away, but I was always cutting up things. So somehow my grandma had quite a nice sort of apple green tablecloth. I was like, oh, it would be so amazing to create a skirt with that jeans and the tablecloth. So I went to my grandma, who was always. I don't know how to say that in English.

[Imran Ahmed]

Say it in Dutch.

[Duran Lantink]

In Dutch you should say she was always the lu. Which means that she had always has to do the things that I wanted to do in terms of stitching, because my grandma can stitch quite well. So I'd go to my grandma, cut up the jeans of my stepdad and we started creating skirts and the skirts became quite nice. And that's how we kind of found out just like, oh, it would be amazing to do like a mini collection. And it was like a summer break and I didn't have to go to high school and I had quite a lot of high school girlfriends that were very tall and very pretty. So everything sort of came together. And then we knew the guy at the beach club. And then I asked if I could do my first fashion show at the beach club. Wow. So that's how that came about.

[Imran Ahmed]

Tell us about the show. How did it go off?

[Duran Lantink]

It was really amazing. It was, I have to think, like we had loads of floral prints and then we had sort of a catwalk was going sort of like a snake. And there were like friends and family. And I borrowed shoes from the Rod de Lobre, which was a shoe shop in Amsterdam. Sorry, in the Hague, that had like loads of Dolce and Gabbana shoes. So I borrowed all the shoes, but I didn't put the tape underneath the.

[Imran Ahmed]

Shoes to protect it.

[Duran Lantink]

To protect it. So that was a very big mistake. Stake. My parents ended up paying for all the shoes, which I needed to pay them back in the end. But it was a very big success actually, because my collection was bought by Ropa, which was a multi brand store that was selling WNLT and Diesel style. Up and all those kind of things and they sold that collection. And I think till now that has been my most commercial successful experience. So I really wanted to just be a designer and not go back to school anymore. But Unfortunately I was 14 and had to go back to school.

[Imran Ahmed]

I heard there's some like after party situation that happened with this show. Is that right?

[Duran Lantink]

Yes. With Chaka Khan? Yes, yes. Oh my God. Did you read that somewhere?

[Imran Ahmed]

Maybe. I mean, I could not help but ask about Chaka Khan because growing up in the 80s, Chaka Khan was.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah, that was insane, actually. So basically in the Hague you had once a year called north and Nazi Jazz Festival was like a big thing where all the jazz artists would gather in Holland and they would perform in the Hague and then they would do an after party in. What's the hotel called? Shit, I can't remember the name of the hotel. But anyway, there was an after party in that hotel and me and my friend, she was completely dressed, still in the collection with the Dolce and Gabbana jeans, pumps with like a pointy thing. And we were like pretending to be very important. We just sneaked into the after party and then we ended up. I probably shouldn't say what we were doing, but we ended up in the bedroom of the son of Chaka Khan till six in the morning.

[Imran Ahmed]

One can only imagine what you were doing at that hour.

[Duran Lantink]

It wasn't that bad, though.

[Imran Ahmed]

This is a PG13 podcast, but so you have this amazing thing, you have this experience, you put on this show, you go to this after party, someone's wearing your clothes. It's the most in quotation marks, commercial thing that you've ever done.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah.

[Imran Ahmed]

You wake up the next day. How did you feel?

[Duran Lantink]

Oh, I can't remember. I probably had a huge hangover.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah.

[Duran Lantink]

No, I mean, I felt very happy, but that was very quickly disturbed by my mom being really angry for shoes and coming home at 5am So I did feel very glorified. But the shoes were taking over the pride, I would say quite quickly. But it wasn't amazing. Like, looking back to it, it's quite insane if you think about it. You're like 14, 15, doing all this stuff. It was amazing.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah. You know, we have these defining moments in our lives where something clicks, something happens.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes.

[Imran Ahmed]

That sounds like it was one of those moments.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah, it was one of those moments because I do think that, like, I never really looked back at it at that in that way, but it probably was one of those moments where I really knew what I wanted to do in life or how I wanted to kind of proceed.

[Imran Ahmed]

To have that clarity at the age of 14 or 15 is pretty remarkable, right?

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah, it is. But then it's also. I would say I'm not necessarily super stubborn person, but I kind of want to always follow my own path rather than people. I've never really been a person that just follows the path because it needs to be that way. So that makes it sometimes also quite complicated. But I do feel like that's my path, and that feels authentic, or it's weird to say authentic over yourself, but it felt like it's an authentic way of sort of proceeding in life, what I'm doing, hopefully.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah. So talk to us about fashion school.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah.

[Imran Ahmed]

You know, you clearly, you got on this path, non path. You want to do things your own way. How does that manifest during. You know, probably like, every fashion school has its own structure, how things work, you know, how did you navigate that kind of system?

[Duran Lantink]

Well, I mean, in the beginning, it was very hard. It was difficult because I've always been very obsessed with cutting up clothes, mixing clothes, and it was never really my interest in. I never really had interest in patterns or flat materials, fabrics. It was very much about sort of creating my own identity or language with the pieces that are laying around. And that was definitely not fitting in the system that I was entering.

[Imran Ahmed]

And that was before everyone talked about upcycling and repurposing and all of this stuff. Like, you had this innate.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes.

[Imran Ahmed]

You know, so everyone's creative process starts from a different place.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah.

[Imran Ahmed]

So even back then, your process began and continues to begin with starting with things that already exist.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes.

[Imran Ahmed]

Why do you think that is?

[Duran Lantink]

I get inspired by things that I see. So, you know, when I see something, and especially things that are kind of like, feels that it's forgotten. Like, especially things you go into a thrift shop or you find something in the street and you kind of see it and you think, oh, I could transform that. And it could be. If I change this and this, it becomes like, it gets a different meaning. And I find that always exciting. It excites me. Like, I find it interesting to shape shift in a way. So that was always my method, and that was difficult. In the first years, I also switched from a fashion school to an art school because it didn't work in the fashion school. Then I went to Rietveld, which went better. And then a new head of the department came who was actually quite supportive. But in the beginning, they were really like, oh, you're maybe more A stylist or. No, you're more an artist. I always get these names, and I found that always somehow more quite liberated because I didn't really care. Like, I just wanted to do what I think works for me and whatever name a person wants to call it, like.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah. I mean, there's this tendency, particularly in traditional educational institutions, to try to put people into a box.

[Duran Lantink]

Exactly. That box that was. It's very hard. I mean, it has been very hard for people to put me in a box, but I guess I'm slowly putting myself in a box. No, but it was good. Like, the funny thing, I think with my graduation was kind of a bizarre situation because it was obviously fully repurposed. I think it was 2012, and at a certain point they were saying, well, maybe you should lie and not say that. It's, like, made from existing clothing pieces might come over, that you're a lazy designer. I was like, well, that's not really nice. But, yeah, it was weird. Like, it's weird dealing with things, but it's also good because it makes you stronger and it makes you more confident and more understanding that you really believe in what you're doing and that it doesn't really matter what other people say.

[Imran Ahmed]

So where do you find that conviction? Because, you know, I think about myself at that age and people trying to put me into boxes, not just professionally, but also personally, you know, and at that age, so many of us are so worried about what other people think. Yeah.

[Duran Lantink]

I came out of the. How do you say that? I came out as gay when I was 13 or 12, maybe. So there were. There's always. There's always this thing where I kind of feel the urge to do something and don't really care about the meaning of others, or I do, because I. I do care about the meaning of other people. But I don't necessarily let it define you. Let it define me once becomes like a negative connotation or like something, because I. From a very young age, I think I started understanding that that's more the problem of the person that thinks that rather than that it's my problem. So I guess I've been quite lucky with that. And maybe that's because from an even younger age, I grew up in this quite free world where people. Where I experience people being quite free and dressing up.

[Imran Ahmed]

And I would also say that's a bit. And you tell me if I'm wrong, but I spent about four months working in Rotterdam, and on the one hand, the Dutch are this kind of very direct, very straightforward, very dry. Very like dry to the point people. But also there's this kind of like no rules culture.

[Duran Lantink]

No, definitely.

[Imran Ahmed]

And do you think that shaped for.

[Duran Lantink]

Sure, I think Dutch people, I mean in comparisons to. I always, I was a very weird comparisons, but I always make the comparison between Germans and Dutch because Germans always stop when there's traffic lights, even though they're very free. If you go into the, you know, into the house scene, but it's very much being free into a box. But then when you're in Holland, everybody just walks through red and it's just like kind of everybody does his own thing and that's kind of the difference. But then we are, I think quite direct, which I really like. I like direct communication and not being like swirling around too much and being. I mean it's always really important to be polite, but you can be direct and polite.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah. And it's always nice to know where someone stands.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes.

[Imran Ahmed]

I always felt that. We'll be right back with more on the BOF podcast.

[Duran Lantink]

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[Duran Lantink]

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[Imran Ahmed]

Okay. So this upcycling, repurposing materials, it becomes, you know, your thing.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes.

[Imran Ahmed]

You find a way of navigating through art school and fashion school and stay true to yourself and that takes conviction.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes.

[Imran Ahmed]

When school finishes, what happens next?

[Duran Lantink]

So, yeah, bachelor. And then I did my master also. During my master, I started working more with designer closing pieces and I did my graduation for my master's with going into boutiques. So small shops, multi brand shops. Because I started finding it quite frustrating in media and in ways of shopping that there would become less and less nicely curated shops. You know what I mean? So you would always have like either a Gucci shop or a Balenciaga shop, but you would never anymore had this amazing curated shop. The multi brand. The multi brand, yes. With this amazing buyer that just like knows how to pick all the perfect things and create this.

[Imran Ahmed]

And they almost know who they're buying it for.

[Duran Lantink]

Exactly.

[Imran Ahmed]

They know their customers.

[Duran Lantink]

Exactly. Yeah. And that kind of like was slowly disappearing and I sensed that and I didn't really like it. So I started thinking, you know, if they're not allowed to sell certain brands anymore, they must have like that stock from it. What are they doing with it? Like, how can I sort of go into the shop and Then my idea was to ask for the dead stock or the sale items, archive pieces, and create these mix of different brands into one outfit. And luckily, Van Ravenstein, which is a shop in Amsterdam, used to be a shop, was the one that say, okay, we're going to give you some items. And there I found. I don't know, it just felt right. It felt like I was a baby again that could go into my mom's closet and had these amazing pieces and cut them up and create this new identity.

[Imran Ahmed]

The diesel beans and the apple green tablecloth.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes. Yeah. Somehow that kind of like, it all made sense again. So I started doing that, and I think I got a bit of. I don't know if I got recognition from that, actually.

[Imran Ahmed]

No.

[Duran Lantink]

Maybe not like, I mean, in Holland, but then I did the vagina pants, which gave me more international recognition.

[Imran Ahmed]

This is the Janelle Monet thing. So how did that happen?

[Duran Lantink]

One of my best friends. She's going to hate me, that I'm saying. One of my best friends. Now, Emma Westenberg, she was the director of the music video. And she asked me, and it was like. I don't know. I wasn't the one that was initially asked, but I think they were not happy with the first designer. So five days before the video clip, I got a call from Emma, if I can please make something that would look like a vilva or a vagina. And at first I said no, because it's like, I really don't know what to do. But then we started getting into it and talking, and I was like, okay, we're doing a vagina pants. And became kind of a really fun project. But we only had five days, which was really crazy because I was just graduated. I was in Amsterdam. I never. Besides, you know, going my 15 in a hotel room, I was never really in contact with any celebrities or music artists. So I really didn't know what to expect because I had to go there myself and go to the video thing and everything. It was quite interesting. So I was happy with it. It's not my favorite thing to do, the celebrity stuff. No.

[Imran Ahmed]

So how did you find your path to the stuff that, I mean, the industry really knows you for?

[Duran Lantink]

For the recycling, you mean?

[Imran Ahmed]

Well, just, you know, I think, you know, just to fast forward a bit, you know, it's been pretty remarkable to watch the impact that you've had.

[Duran Lantink]

Thank you.

[Imran Ahmed]

The creative impact, especially in the context of an industry that has become more commercial, where we have lacked creative innovation and experimentation and boldness.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes.

[Imran Ahmed]

And I think that's why so many people have responded to you. I mean, for you to have just kind of. It feels like you kind of came out of nowhere. Right. It just kind of.

[Duran Lantink]

Very long path, though.

[Imran Ahmed]

Of course. It always is a long path. And that's one thing we've. I've learned in doing these conversations for the BoF podcast. There's always a long story, but there's a moment where, you know, something clicks.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah.

[Imran Ahmed]

How did that happen for you?

[Duran Lantink]

So the most important thing, it's always. It's so weird because it's. I guess for everybody, it's kind of different. Right. Sometimes for me, it always has been sort of step by step. So then I did my drone show, and then after the drone show, I got more recognition.

[Imran Ahmed]

That was the one during COVID Yeah.

[Duran Lantink]

The one during COVID where, like, finally found out that, like, nobody could go to a show. So I was quite happy because that was, like, the moment for me to reach out to a bigger audience, because nobody could go anywhere anyway, so.

[Imran Ahmed]

And it flattened the system in a way, because anyone who had a creative idea and could make it happen.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes.

[Imran Ahmed]

And it was really interesting because some of the big houses would do these digital shows, and they couldn't get their head out of a woman or a man walking down Runway.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes. Yes.

[Imran Ahmed]

But you kind of flipped it.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah. And that was really nice. So that was. I think that was so exciting for me. Like, I mean, it's really weird to say that it was very exciting for you to do a show during COVID but it kind of made sense. I was like, it's amazing. I can finally do a show and I could pretend all the important people are there by putting drones as audience and then faking that there's an Anna Winter bot and a Rihanna bot. So that kind of made sense. And then Betty Wilson was very sweet and very kind for supporting me and doing the styling on remote, and that happened, but that kind of happened. And one granary was helping me there with the pr, so that kind of went over the Internet, and I really. That was like, really the moment. I was like, okay, now I don't want to stuff anymore. Now I just want to do shows, and I don't want to be dependent on stores that give me stock and then I can do. You know.

[Imran Ahmed]

So how do you make that leap? Because that's one of the things I've always wondered.

[Duran Lantink]

What do you mean? Sorry?

[Imran Ahmed]

I mean, making the leap from relying on stores that will be generous and give you some excess merchandise to turning it into something that can actually work well.

[Duran Lantink]

I mean, in the end it was kind of a necessity also, because during COVID the buildy brand stores were quite generous still. But I think I got a bit more recognition where certain brands started blocking stores on giving me their clothes. So, you know, I would want to have a piece from a certain type of brand which was in that stock, but then I couldn't have it anymore because the PR side of the brand didn't want to provided. So that made me think I was like, well, to be honest, I don't necessarily need the brands and I also maybe don't necessarily need to work in this way. I can find a system for myself that works rather than to be depending. So the first thing that I did was I had quite a lot of stock in my own studio. So I started doing that and doing still one of a kind pieces. And then afterwards we did a show a year and a half later when we decided we wanted to go to Paris and do a physical show because Covid was done and everybody was back at their usual business. So it made sense to go to Paris. And there I started working with deadstock material rather than only clothing pieces. So I started implementing fabrics, which I normally would never do.

[Imran Ahmed]

So you're kind of going further back into the fashion supply chain, right?

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah, yeah. And it was quite interesting because there we could actually do little skus of certain.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah, you could do production runs.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes, right, yeah. So that was interesting. And then I think at a certain point, I think it was 2023 or 2022, and normally I would hybrid loads of things. And I kind of got fed up with it because it became so popular in a way. Like there were loads of brands also working together. You would see the Gucci Balenciaga show and you had the Versace whatever show.

[Imran Ahmed]

The mashups.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah. So it became a bit like, ah, no, I don't want to do that anymore. So I started thinking about my obsession for clothes and what that was kind of meaning and the urge of changing a closing piece. But by changing, I was always limiting myself with the idea that I have to use two different clothing pieces and merge them together. Where now I was starting. Oh, I can actually change the shape of the clothes. So you could create a bubble denim jacket by sort of, you know, opening it and adding extra same toned fabric and then just change the shape of iconic clothing pieces.

[Imran Ahmed]

And there was the erogenous zones. I thought about like the. The people can't see what I'm doing because it's a podcast, but around the hip. Yeah, you know, there were. And the way the. The trousers or the jeans would sit or like those shorts that would. I remember Leon.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The Leon.

[Imran Ahmed]

I remember he was wearing those shorts. I was, like, playing around with shapes a lot.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. That was kind of my. Sort of my new era where I kind of. Where I kind of fall into. Or fell into, which I find quite exciting still. But I'm thinking about different things now, trying to kind of figure out what my new obsession with clothes is going to be.

[Imran Ahmed]

So you get all this recognition? You get a ton of editorial coverage.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes.

[Imran Ahmed]

You know, I mean, for an independent brand to get that kind of visibility, you win a number of fashion prizes. You get all this stuff, like, tell us what was there in terms of an actual business.

[Duran Lantink]

Now the business of fashion is coming.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah, well, I mean, that's.

[Duran Lantink]

That's.

[Imran Ahmed]

We have to get there. You get. You know, this is something I've seen a lot with designers over the years, that you get a ton of PR in quotation marks.

[Duran Lantink]

No, I mean, the prices and things were definitely helping. I'm not going to be saying that I have a. That I had, like, an extremely profitable, profitable brand, because I don't. I didn't. Which I. I feel is also normal for me. It was very much important to tell a story and it's kind of my storyline and it's evolving. Like, I think now for the latest collections, we're selling at 45 shops, so it really grew because my first collection in Paris, we sold to one shop, I think, and the second one we sold to all the doe for street markets, which was really nice. They. They supported me from the second show and slow. Oh, and sorry, H. Lorenzo as well. So it slowly started. It became bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. But now. Yeah, so now we're at 45 shops, I think. I mean, we kind of broke even this last season also because we won a prize or two.

[Imran Ahmed]

Did those fashion prizes matter for you, do you think? Like, you know, did you.

[Duran Lantink]

In terms of recognition or in terms.

[Imran Ahmed]

Of just generally, like, do you think?

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah, they do.

[Imran Ahmed]

There's so many of them now, right?

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah, no, they do. Because, like, honestly, I'm not backed financially by anyone. So it's also independent. It's very stressful. It's very hard to set up a show. It's obviously super expensive. I'm extremely lucky that there are so many people around me that support me because I think they get excited about something and people are willing to support when they Start getting excited, too. But wouldn't I have won those prizes? And then especially the money side of it. It would have been very difficult for me to proceed for the last two.

[Imran Ahmed]

Seasons and stay true to your creativity.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes, definitely.

[Imran Ahmed]

So then you come to a really, really big decision. Right. Because one of the things that's quite. It's a pattern that I see now. When, you know, when designers become current and when people are looking and watching at what they're doing, you know, people are going to come knocking. So Jean Paul Gaultier eventually came knocking.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes.

[Imran Ahmed]

Tell us about how did those conversations start and why. Why was this the right move for you at this time? You know, if your business has just broken even, you're starting to find, you know, commercial model that works, you. You're going to shut your label down now. Like, that's a lot of decisions to make at once, Right? Which is, one, you want to design under another brand. Two, you need to find a brand that you can design under that feels like a good fit. And then three, in order to do that, you need to close your own business.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I don't know. It sounds a bit weird, but when the opportunity came, like, there wasn't one conversation. There were multiple conversations with different brands. And when this opportunity came, it made so much sense because it went back to where I came from, which was that obsession of this nightlife and these people dressing up. And I was very much a sort of a goche kind of spirit. So when I thought about it, I was like, well, this could actually be good for me. Like, it could be good for me to go to a house, to step up the game, to move fully to Paris, to have a bit more security on the financial part, to start understanding also how the business works in a bigger structure. And I really just love Jean Paul Gauche. I mean, it's one of the most iconic houses for me.

[Imran Ahmed]

A lot of people are curious about what the process is like to be selected for one of these jobs. And you said you were having multiple conversations.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes.

[Imran Ahmed]

Could you give us a win? I mean, there's so many young designers that listen to this podcast. I mean, can you give us a little window about what that process is like for a designer? What do you have to do to convince someone you're the right person for the job?

[Duran Lantink]

Well, yeah, I mean, it starts with conversations, obviously. And for me, I had a few other conversations, but that didn't really feel right for me. So I kind of knew that I wanted to go for Gaultier So I put more effort in the one that I really wanted to go for.

[Imran Ahmed]

What did that effort look like? Like, what did you have to do?

[Duran Lantink]

Well, I worked on a proposal on how I see the brand or what I think is good for the brand and how I would interpret it. Jean Paul Gaultier in 2020. What is it? 2025? Yeah. So I wrote a concept. I wrote, like, kind of how I see that world and how that Gaultier world is sort of in my mind, and now how I would roll it out in the end, I think that's like.

[Imran Ahmed]

So it's like a visual project.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah.

[Imran Ahmed]

Do they actually get you to show them?

[Duran Lantink]

Nope.

[Imran Ahmed]

No, no, no, no, It's a visual project.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah, it's a visual project.

[Imran Ahmed]

I had someone write to me recently that she shared a bunch of her ideas with a brand and then they didn't hire her, and then she saw the brand use some of those ideas. Did that ever occur to you? Like, what? Are you afraid that when you are very open with your ideas, that.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah, no, I'm not. Like, I'm. I think I'm not really afraid for those kind of things. I also find it difficult because sometimes things are just in the air. You know what I mean? Like, it's not like I'm not that special or the other person is not that special. Sometimes you have an idea and then three weeks later you see another brand doing it. So I always kind of believe that there's something in the air and everybody is kind of sensing it and doing it in its own way. And obviously it's very unfortunate if you see your work back and you're not getting hired. I would be pissed off as well. But then somehow I would always think, oh, yeah, you know, might have been a coincidence or something.

[Imran Ahmed]

So you find alignment around this creative idea, clearly buy into it.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah.

[Imran Ahmed]

Earlier in the conversation, you said you're not someone who likes to be placed in boxes.

[Duran Lantink]

No. And then I said, I'm slowly putting myself in a box.

[Imran Ahmed]

Right. So this next stage for you is going to be not the same as going into an educational institution and trying to prove to them that you don't need to be in the box of designer or artist or whatever. But there's going to be more structure, there's going to be more process, there's going to be more constraints. There might be more money and budget to do things in your imagination. But how are you reconciling yourself with that?

[Duran Lantink]

Well, I'm all figuring it out now. For me, I'm just doing it step by step. I think I have a clear vision of what I want and that's just very important to me. And I think I just want to deliver good collections and a good job. And a House of Gaultier is quite a free house because if you think about Gaultier, you think about freedom and obviously there's products, but it is still a sort of a non confirmative place for me. It's not like a Dior or it's not like a Chanel. Like, you know, as a kid I always wanted to. I did my presentation in elementary school about Chanel, so I always liked Chanel. But later on I really fell in love with this sort of non confirmative thing. And I feel that the House of Gaultier is very much about freedom and about culture and about bringing artists in and all these things. And I hope that I get the freedom and the possibility to really bring that in and really bring back that vibe from the late 80s or the beginning of the 90s. And that really excites me and I really kind of want to go for that and I need to push for it, I guess.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah. The spirit of that house is non conformist. But I think the other thing I just occurred to me is like, unlike Jonathan starting at Dior or Mathieu starting at Chanel, to use the examples that you've cited, in a way you're having to build something not from scratch, but you're building something from quite little. Right. So there's an opportunity for you to help shape the new codes, the icons, the products, the retail environment. Like all of that is up for grabs.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes. And I think that's very exciting. That very much excites me because that really gives you an opportunity to create something completely new or like new. I don't know if something is new, but like something that kind of feels fresh and that gets me excited. And whenever you're excited, I think things will turn out positively, I guess. No, but I mean, I mean I do. Whenever I'm excited, I always think things turn out in a positive way and there's loads of opportunities there.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah.

[Duran Lantink]

So I'm super happy with being in a box, but still feeling quite free.

[Imran Ahmed]

Well, we're all really excited to see what you do in September. I just wanted to conclude with a little bit of advice.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes.

[Imran Ahmed]

You know, because I think what something that's so refreshing and strong about you as an individual is that conviction that you've had to your instincts to staying true to like the things that you were drawn to from a very young age. And finding a path that works for you. So for someone else out there that's navigating some of that right now, what advice do you have to offer?

[Duran Lantink]

It's such an annoying answer. I always find it hard to advise other people because I never really know if I took the good path. But I think whenever you have a very strong inner feeling of, okay, this is right for me, I think you should be really going for it and not being distracted by commentary from outside and really try to kind of dig deep in and think, okay, even though maybe now it doesn't seem the right part, but it somehow, deep inside is the right part. Just, like, really go for it. But, like, I'm also, like, maybe I'm also very fortunate that I could do that. Like, not. Probably not everybody is able to do that. So it's not something.

[Imran Ahmed]

I think this thing about digging deep.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah.

[Imran Ahmed]

And kind of knowing yourself is really important.

[Duran Lantink]

Yeah.

[Imran Ahmed]

And sometimes people ask me, well, you know, like, because I spent a lot of my career doing stuff that I wasn't really passionate about and eventually ended up in industry. And people said to me, well, how did you know? And I said, well, when I was really young, even before anyone told me, yeah. What my path should be or what the right decisions would be or what the careers should be, there were things I was drawn to that I can't explain to myself, one of which was watching Tim Blanks on fashionphile growing up in Canada. And really, I don't know, I think sometimes when you have the ability to go back before anyone framed up what was right or wrong or good or bad, there's something to that. There's something to those things we're drawn to as children. And that feels true for you as well.

[Duran Lantink]

Yes. I think. I mean, I think about it a lot, actually. I really think about it a lot. I think, like, when you're very, very, very young, even things that are almost a bit unconscious, I think there's influences that kind of shape what you will be doing at some point in life. And I think I'm lucky that I've kind of kept following that from a very young age and that I never really went off track. Like, I always. It was just always fashion, and it was just always, like, telling stories, and it was just always making up ideas and things, and that just kept me going. Even though, like, there were moments in life where it was, like, harder. It just always made me think, oh, yeah, but this is what I want and this is what I'm going to do. Either how, you know, What? I mean, even if there's no support at this point, I will know that I will continue doing this. Even if I would be now on my own somewhere in Rotterdam or in the Hague in a room, I would still be thinking about shows, collections, how to do. Just keeps me going. And I'm fortunate now that I have a bigger audience and an amazing house where I can now continue this work.

[Imran Ahmed]

Well, we're fortunate to have you and really it's just been a real pleasure and real. I mean, I just can't overstate to you just how much of an impact you've had for so many people. And like this past few years when creativity and fashion has been so lacking.

[Duran Lantink]

Thank you.

[Imran Ahmed]

So refreshing to have you. And I'm like I said, I'm so excited to see what you do in September.

[Duran Lantink]

Scary. No, it's gonna be good.

[Imran Ahmed]

It's gonna be. Be great. And good luck.

[Duran Lantink]

Thank you so much for having me. Thanks.

[Imran Ahmed]

Of course.

[Duran Lantink]

And hopefully see you in October.

[Imran Ahmed]

Absolutely. The BoF podcast is edited and produced by Olivia Davies and Eric Brea.

[Hannah]

Hey guys, it's Hannah from Giggly Squad. You know, I love beauty and that's why I go to Sephora. It's not just shopping, it's like a glam experience. The beauty advisors actually get beauty, unlike those big BO stores and they give me all the advice I need. And I love going with the products you can only find at Sephora, like my new favorite Kayali fragrance, my perfect shade of Haus Labs foundation, and finally restocked my Lineage lip mask. All with the help of real experts. Oh, and if you haven't tried Day shampoo, go try it. It's a game changer. Sephora isn't just a store, it's the beauty destination. Go. You'll thank me later.

[Duran Lantink]

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