Tasked with creating the show journal for one of the most finely honed visionaries in contemporary fashion, Hedi Slimane, in this, his first outing in menswear collection at the helm of Saint Laurent Paris, Brian Roettinger was taking on a huge task. Yet Roettinger is one of the few creatives to rival Slimane in the breadth of his passions and expertise. While the latter has excelled in clothes design and photography, the former has fashioned careers in design, publishing, album cover design, art and science. Recent projects include a Grammy nomination for his work on No Age’s Artist Music Journal and working on Theremin Sans, an extraordinary sonic script where noise is translated into LED letters, and therefore language.
"Brian Roettinger is one of the few creatives to rival Hedi Slimane in the breadth of his passions and expertise."
For Saint Laurent A/W13, the artist created Licht und Blindheit, a design of darkly chic daubs that, while remaining inert on the invitation, come to life online in slo-mo monochrome swirls, drops and splashes, a design which can be downloaded from the house's website. The work is a marriage of sophistication and enigma, of intellectuality and cool, and one that references elements key to both artist and designer.
Text by Tish Wrigley
