In the new issue of AnOther Magazine, Hague-born designer Duran Lantink talks about his love of Walter Van Beirendonck’s brand W<
This article is taken from the Autumn/Winter 2023 issue of AnOther Magazine:
“In 1996 I was nine years old and obsessed with Walter Van Beirendonck’s brand W<. Its mascot was this blue alien, called Puk Puk, that had a condom hat. Maybe it was a sperm cell. Anyway, I had all the Puk Puk merch – pencils, keyrings, T-shirts – all of which I’d wear to school. I’d repeatedly watch CD-Roms of the W< shows – cyberpunks with wild hair in fluorescent latex and trippy graphics of burgers and poodles raving to techno music on the catwalk. I felt like this group of people were from outer space, almost untouchable, and I needed to be in that world, with its craziness, colour, speed and dance. It opened my eyes to this playful sense of creativity, styling and design. Always busy trying not to fit in at school, I’d wear these huge dresses and style my friends in W<, sending pictures of them to the label’s office in Antwerp. I actually shaved my hair into a mohawk and dyed it shocking pink after seeing the Spring/Summer 1996 show. It was all about this extreme energy and fever, yet at the same time, somehow, bliss.”
Worn by Billie Eilish and Beyoncé, among many others, the Hague-born designer Duran Lantink’s namesake label is known for its asymmetry, dissonance and form-focused splendour. Built from disassembled vintage, deadstock or disused materials, each piece is one of a kind, each collection an exploration of fashion’s subcultural layers. The designer has upcycled clothes since he studied fashion at the Rietveld School of Art & Design in Amsterdam, graduating in 2013, and today circularity and innovation are central to his work. Dedicated to providing a platform for creative opportunity, Lantink also works collaboratively with SistaazHood and Sweat (organisations supporting transgender sex workers in Cape Town), along with the Dutch photographer Jan Hoek; LeBelle, a theatre group supporting people with learning difficulties in Amsterdam; and Pennywafelhuis, a creative space for refugees in Zeeland, southwest Netherlands.
Hair: Yulia Pantiukhina at St Vincent Management using GHD. Make-up: Akari Sugino at St Vincent Management using SUQQU. Producer: Philippa Schoeman at Artistry
This story features in the Autumn/Winter 2023 issue of AnOther Magazine, which is on sale now. Order here.