| FASHION & GRAPHICS
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Paul Boudens got his first break with Walter Van Beirendonck, who employed him straight from college in 1990. Boudens acts as a conduit for Van Beirendonck's bright and bold graphic ideas, although the relationship works both ways: Boudens has thought up many a slogan for the designer's T-shirts. Over the years, they have collaborated on the ultra-graphic W & LT brand, and most recently on Van Beirendonck's own label and his provocative streetwear collection, Aestheticterrorists. WALTER VAN BEIRENDONCK PAUL BOUDENS |
 Swing tag for Walter Van Beirendonck's Aesthetic- terrorists collection. |
 Jigsaw puzzle show invite for Walter Van Beirendonck, 1999, designed by Walter Van Beirendonck in collaboration with Madeleine Warmenbol and Paul Boudens. |
Walter Van Beirendonck first became known as one of the Antwerp Six, the group of Belgian designers, including Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester, who first showed at the London Designer Show in 1986. He designed for almost ten years under his own name, before developing his W< brand for Mustang Jeans in 1993. Since 1999, he has been working under his own name again as well as his label, Aestheticterrorists. Since 1990, he has collaborated with the graphic artist Paul Boudens. 'When I was at school, he asked me to work for him', says Boudens. Previously, Walter had been working with the graphic designer Anne Kurris, and Boudens was introduced to Van Beirendonck through her. He took a desk space at Walter's office and was free to work for other people while he was there, as well as working full-time for the designer. 'From the first projects I did together with Paul (a newspaper invitation called "Fashion is dead") Iliked his way of working and his flexibility to react to my ideas and add a value I appreciated', says Van Beirendonck. His work has always been as much about graphics as fashion. 'Walter's stuff is not really mine: says Boudens. 'He always knows really well what he wants: He'll have a drawing, or he'll fax an idea to Boudens, who now has his own studio. 'In the beginning, I had the same taste as Walter. I know perfectly what he wants: Perhaps as a result of their time together, Boudens says he is not afraid of colour.  Walter Van Beirendonck's early show invitations were printed on cheap corrugated cardboard. |
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 This page and opposite Walter Van Beirendonck's early show invitations all followed the same format, with bright colours and bold patterns. Sometimes Boudens simply used a word to sum up the collection; other times, he and Walter invented cartoon characters, reflecting the playful nature of clothes. |
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 This page and opposite Van Beirendonck and Boudens have worked together on two books. The design of the books follows the fashion designer's own aesthetic. The designer is pictured here, above the label for his latets collection, the provocative Aestheticterrorists T-shirt line. Both the man and his taste for graphics are big and bold. |
 Walter's work is often about communicating a message - a word or a slogan. 'I believe that fashion designers should try to change boundaries and make statements: says the designer. 'Slogans and messages (sometimes even secret messages) have been all over my work from the beginning. Of course, Paul helped (he is good with sayings, too) to optimize and translate it graphically.' His collections have titles like 'Let's Tell a Fairy tale' (summer 1987); 'Shoot the Moon, Shoot the Sun, Be a Star' (winter 1988-1999); 'Fashion is Dead!' (summer 1990). His most recent project, Aestheticterrorists, uses slogans like 'Cherish Creativity' and 'Ban Fashionazis'. He continues to print his show invitations on basic corrugated cardboard. For his No References collection, the invitation was a cardboard puzzle. Most things go through Wolter's brain and end up on Boudens's drawing board. 'As we started to work together such a long time ago, it is really a trust collaboration: says Wolter. 'I know that I can sleep on both ears when he takes responsibility for a project. The influence that Paul has on my ideas depends on the projects. For the collections, prints and invitations, I am quite precise about how it should be. For real layout, printed projects it is a real collaboration.' 'I hod the luck that I could work at Wolter's after I graduated: says Boudens. 'I just rolled into fashion. I didn't plan it.' As a result of their long- term collaboration, Paul Boudens is often associated with Wolter Van Beirendonck, but Boudens points out that he is a conduit for Wolter's own vision. He still enjoys working with him, but has his own voice too. He has designed two books for the designer: Believe and Mutilate, a ring-bound notebook, complete with cut-outs and examples of work and imagery from over the years - something Walter refers to as his 'mental notebook'. 'When they say my work is fashionable, I explode: says Boudens. They don't toke me seriously.' With Wolter Van Beirendonck, however, he has created a body of work that includes two books, and has stood the test of time to become a vocabulary all of its own. |
