Cufflinks usually come in pairs, but not at Samuel Gassmann's atelier. The Paris-based designer has indeed launched new cufflink designs sold not in pairs but in trios.
Gassmann's latest designs are inspired by specific landscapes borrowed from art: the "Day Landscape" cufflinks feature a reconfigured Jardin du Luxemburg setting from Manet's Le déjeuner sur l'Herbe; the "Colour(s) Landscape" come in a wide range of nuances borrowed from Gerhard Richter's painting 1024 Colours (1973), while "Evening Landscape" is inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, but only features two apostles at each ends of the table to create a minimalist intimacy.
Wearers can opt to combine the cufflinks according to their desires, reconfiguring the landscape and adding in this way an architecturally art note to their suits.
Why "the pair" is not "the standard" anymore in this new collection?
Samuel Gassmann: I have worked for 4 years on the strict rules of the concept of portrait with specific constraints regarding lines, materials or colours. For this collection I wanted to use these rules while subverting things a bit by tilting the side of the portrait to landscape format. With this exercise, I wanted to express my inability to control everything, offering a sense of irrational freedom against the ordinary cufflinks sold in pairs. What amuses me about the final result is the fact that these new objects allow greater freedom and originality to the wearer. For example, the person who opts for the "Colour(s) Landscape" cufflinks can be almost sure that he will be the only one out there to wear this colour combination!
Landscapes can be interpreted in an arty way but also in an architectural way: which aspect fascinated you the most about the landscape theme?
Samuel Gassmann: Before taking a portrait picture you may ask your subject to style their hair and make up and smile, but, when it comes to a landscape, there is not much you can do with it. You can't select colours, re-arrange the objects, the framing and so on. Through the "Day" and "Evening" landscape cufflinks I was instead able to tackle the issue of framing and fiddle with the elements in the frame, while the "Colour(s)" designs allowed me to re-arrange the colour scale.
Which kind of materials did you use for this collection?
Samuel Gassmann: This season I used a lot of shells - mother-of-pearl, grey mother-of-pearl and also troca for colours. These materials are very discreet on a wrist, and this is what I like about them.
In which ways did you rework some of the elements and colours borrowed from the artworks?
Samuel Gassmann: For the "Day" and "Evening" designs I looked at two images that focused on a very French habit, that of eating three times a day at the table. Eating is a social act in France and Le déjeuner sur l’herbe by Manet and The Last Supper by Leornado da Vinci feature scenes with people eating. I reduced Manet's Le déjeuner to such a small scale that it was no more a story of men eating with a naked woman; for what regards The Last Supper, I kept only two apostles at each ends of the table, so that there is now only a chic dinner taking place, without any heroes or Judas. The customer gets three cufflinks which enable three opportunities to frame the image in different ways. What interested me when it came to Richter was the cold and distant approach he employed in 1966 for its "colour" series. I started from a provided colour chart as he did, trying to use it entirely. I actually dyed 400 cabochons in 74 different colours. As in nature, the mix of colours seems consistent, even if the customer is only able to compose a mismatched pair.
You picked different art references, from Leonardo Da Vinci to Richter, for this collection. Is there a period or an artist you prefer in the history of art?
Samuel Gassmann: I studied Art History at the Sorbonne, which is why many art references can be found in my work. In my initial research on the portrait, I moved from the work of Malevich and Mondrian. The period going from 1907 to 1914 which corresponds to modern movements such as Constructivism, Suprematism and Cubism that developed tools to simplify and better understand the world in which we live, is my favourite one. But I confess that I also love antiquity and the Middle Ages!
Art has become a firm inspiration in fashion collections, do you feel that this inspiration has been overexploited by fashion designers?
Samuel Gassmann: Many brands think that printing a piece of art on a garment or object gives content to their products and in thsi way they forsake about focusing on the quality of materials, production, and design, but I'm not sure if these strategies will pay in the long term, we'll see!
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