Interview: Luiz and Andreia of Vish

Being an enormous fan of Brazilian unisex brand Vish, I thought it’d be nice to interview Luiz Wachelke and Andreia Passos, the lovely duo behind the brand, about Vish, their past and how they see the brand developing, and I couldn’t have been more right!

What is Vish?

Vish is something fresh. When we decided to create the brand, we wanted a name that would reflect our way of approaching fashion, design and art. What we like to do is take classic elements and put a fresh perspective – whether it is through prints, or through twists on traditional items of clothing. So Vish is freshness – we associate it with a sound, something fast, effervescent.

What were you both doing before you established Vish?

Andreia and I were both working in the fashion market, coincidentally in the same brand – she was fashion designer and I was a graphic and textile designer. Andreia first started as a journalist, but it was only after she decided to go live in London for a while that she discovered she was meant to design. She came back to Brazil after a while and in a matter of months she was already working on fashion brands, responsible for whole lines. In contrast to Andreia, I was still finishing college when we decided to establish Vish. It was only after a couple of collections that I went abroad and took a few courses in London so as to complement my background in fashion. When I came back I moved to São Paulo and established a second office.

What do you both do when you’re not working on Vish?

Andreia and I are a bit of a workaholic duo. Apart from Vish we have a creative studio where we work as creative directors for other brands. The projects vary from product development, print designs, branding, creative direction for campaigns and styling. It is safe to say we keep our hands full – but we love it!

On the other hand, as for what we do in our spare time, one of the most peculiar things about us as a duo is that we can be so similar and so different at the same time. It is easy to say we both love going to art exhibitions, watching movies and all sorts of cultural and creative activities – I’m not a big fan of theatre, though. I don’t actually know why!

Aside from Vish, what are your favourite brands?

We admire some brands, some because of what they stand for, others for their relevance nowadays, including: Balenciaga, Miu Miu, Opening Ceremony, Rodarte, Maje, Chloe, Celine, Eleven Paris.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Our inspiration comes from both of our backgrounds and our present observations. Andreia and I have a great dynamic when it comes to our creative process; we are always talking and discussing things, as random as they may be. It is what we call a “never-ending-dialog” that ranges from what we’ve just read on the internet to our oldest childhood memories.

Where do you see Vish in 5 years time?

Vish will grow, that is certain. We have a very specific view on where we would like it to grow to. We know it will never be a gigantic brand. Exclusivity, limited editions and attention to detail are key values of Vish, so it is natural that is stays focused on that, rather than in expanding in numbers. We are very aware of the international potential of the brand and we strongly believe it will cross a lot of frontiers in upcoming years. Vish is already in Spain, Italy, New York and Singapore. We’ve just been approached by a Tokyo showroom and we’re also studying other countries to set foot in. So, in answer to your question, we literally see Vish everywhere in 5 years time!

When it comes to how we see the brand evolving, we believe it will get even more mature and complete. We plan on starting a basics line – smart and fresh plain designs – and developing even more the work on our signature printed aesthetic. As the collections go by, we are getting more and more involved in the textile design of our fabrics – from printed textiles to jacquards – so we believe our collections will show even more of that side of ours – with much more variety.

If you could collaborate with another designer or brand, who is it that you would ideally like to collaborate with?

We would love to collaborate with two different profiles of brands and designers. We have a soft spot for streetwear and major fashion chains – after all, that’s where most of the people find their clothes – so we would love to be involved in that sort of collaboration project. It would be indeed a dream come true to launch Vish by H&M or Vish by Topshop. Can you imagine?

Vish has a very strong conceptual take on fresh and easy pieces, so it would be very interesting to go into more conceptual scenario and collaborate with stores such as Colette and Opening Ceremony. We strongly believe these collaborations would work wonderfully, considering everyone is committed to the same fresh point of view when to comes to fashion and life-style.

What has been the highlight of your fashion career so far?

I think the moment we are living is the highlight of our careers. It is very reassuring to see the international potential Vish has and how it is coming true. When we were first mentioned on a WGSN report and we were featured in a book on fashion forward designers of the world, we realised there are no limits to where we can reach – and it sure feels like a highlight.

What initially made you want to establish Vish?

Vish was born in Buenos Aires from a desire to create something of our own. Both Andreia and I had been working in a women’s brand for a while and we both decided to leave at the same time. We were already great friends and we decided to go to Buenos Aires together for a couple of days. Visiting the city together and talking about our observations was the start of a dialog that never ended: we discovered similar points of view, similar takes on fashion, and similar takes on design. By the time we were back in Brazil, we started thinking of how to bring this desire to create something more personal to life. It was very interesting to discover how our own personal references and points of view would play such an important role in the process and very rewarding it would be to see people getting interested in the work.

Which do you prefer, designing for men or women?

One of the great things about being a man-woman duo is that we are always with both men and women in mind. I believe Andreia is more focused on designing for women and I do believe I pay a lot of attention to the men’s collection – for obvious reasons: we like to design what we would want to wear! As we’ve mentioned before, Vish is all about repertoire, personal references and observation, so it is clear that it assumes the role of solidifying what we would like to have for ourselves.

Designing for women can be very exciting, the possibilities are endless and girls tend to be a lot more open to new takes on fashion. When it comes to menswear the approach is completely different, we have to think about how to break the rules and create something fresh, without going too much. Although the clothes have a strong aesthetic, Vish is a wearable brand, so we need people to feel comfortable wearing them.

Do you have a ‘signature’ aesthetic?

There are two key elements that define our aesthetic: a fresh take in classic pieces and our printed aesthetic. As we’ve mentioned, wearability is very important to us, so we design clothing based in classic pieces with a twist, a new take.

Our textile work is also very important. We design and create all of our fabrics. From pencil and paper to ink and canvas, all of the designs are created by us, by hand – so, not only the designs carry our personal references, they also carry our own artistic identity, our way of drawing, painting, collaging. We realised it is very important to us to keep this do-it-yourself attitude towards our work, it brings a whole other level of involvement towards what we are creating.

Do you have a design process?

Yes, we do. It was something that started to take shape after a couple of collections, almost intuitively. Considering we had already worked in other brands before starting Vish (and we still work for other brands, so we are always in touch with processes), we already had already assimilated a lot of practical procedures. The dynamics between the both of us evolved through the first collections and nowadays it is so mature that we manage to design our collections living in two different cities.

It first starts with the previously mentioned never-ending dialog. Our conversations lead to a theme – usually our very own take on zeitgeist. From that theme we start reaching for references, interpretations and reflections on it. The next step is to think about colours, textiles and prints: we draw, design, test colours, start thinking about shapes. With the fabrics ready, we start deciding on shapes and pieces, we experiment with the different textiles and mix and match them so as to achieve the most beautiful group. The process ends when we think about the campaign, our visual representation of the collection – we always get intimately involved in the concept of our campaigns and lookbooks.

What advice would you give to aspiring fashion designers?

The most important thing you need to have as a designer is a point of view. All the other things – sewing, drawing, managing a business – are thing you can learn, but your own vision of the world is something unique. So hold on to it and use it to your advantage.

Photography by Hugo Toni

Images courtesy of Vish