Achilles Ion Gabriel
You defined yourself as a shoe maker rather than a shoe designer. I find it pretty honest and fascinating, meaning that you give lots of value to the technical side and craft. Going back in time, do you recall any moment as a kid that you can define revealing as a future manufacturer?
I remember my little siblings and I playing a lot of games, we even invented our own! We were always creating, rather than handcrafting. We used to play a lot with Lego, we were literally creating crazy things. We had many of those bricks and built so much that in the end it always looked like a city. We’d create our own boardgames, or we’d modify them, since we found the original version way too boring. I always led, because I’m the eldest one. Even when we were playing video games, we were reinventing the rules, trying to make things a little bit more challenging. I’d say that was the way I manifested my creativity on an early stage. Going into shoes, I used to really think myself more as a shoemaker in a way, because I was really hands on, doing shoes by myself, but I haven’t had the chance to do it for many years, so right now I really see myself as a creative director. I’ve changed a lot, at the moment I’m directing different projects. It’s nice, although some days I miss sketching. I‘m really hands on still, but I can’t be hands on everything, it’s impossible.
What fascinates me about shoes is that they’re listed into the big family of accessories, but they always have a side category. To me, shoes are key factors of how we feel when we choose them and how we feel living in them. Probably because they literally carry us around, or be- cause they affect our attitude. How much do you think a pair of shoes can reflect and influence our feelings?
I know shoes belong to this huge accessory group, but for me accessories are what you don’t need to have. A common person wouldn’t go crossroads barefoot and, in that sense, shoes are essential, something to cover yourself up: you’d probably get arrested walking into a restaurant naked,
and you wouldn’t walk in barefoot either. Well, it actually depends on where you are: if you’re at the beach no one will care, but if you’re in Paris it’ll be different and probably they won’t let you in. Hence, for me shoes don’t belong to accessories, but I do understand people easily putting them in that category: for a lot of brands it’s either, because they don’t do shoes or shoes are just a side thing for them. Gong into feelings, I do believe that shoes can change your mood completely. For instance, this morning I decided to wear a suit and asked myself: ‘Do I want to wear the suit casually, or do I want to wear it more dressed up?’. I decided to feel comfortable, so I opted for sneakers with my ‘Tormenta’ style. Shoes can change your mood: for instance I don’t own so many high heels, I have a few Tabi with heels, but they’re not that high anyway. Truth be told, I don’t know how to walk in really high heels, the Tabi heel is my maximum (Laughs, E.D.). Tabi’s are easy for sure, but I’d never go around New York City in a pair of Tabi the whole day, I’d go for sneakers instead. It’s not just for comfort, they actually sent the pace and mood for what I need to do.
Another thing I pay lot of attention to is the sound shoes make. It can be annoying or catchy, somehow it can also introduce a person immediately. What’s your opinion about that, and do you consider the sound aspect during your creative process?
For me, the worst sounds are made by squeaking shoes (Laughs, E.D.). However yes, I love this idea of the sound shoes make, I’m obsessed too! For example, if you take a pair of heavy leather boots, you’ll hear them and it’s quite
a demanding sound. There’s also something pretty snooty and bad related to the sound shoes make, because not all people are comfortable with making any kind of sound with their shoes. Personally, I love it. It can be also a feeling of danger somehow, like in a movie scene. It’s very different to hear someone walking in a pair of sneakers, or someone walking like in the ‘Kill Bill’ movies’ hospital scene. I love this idea of how a person can be introduced by the sound their shoes make.
What’s, at the moment, your favourite material to work with and why?
I’m really into being sustainable of course, but when it comes to the craft, I’m very good with leather, since I come from a really traditional school for crafting. For me, it’s the easiest material to work with. When we’ll really have an alternative, I‘ll change, but there’s not a good alternative to leather yet. We can grow leather in a laboratory, but it’s cra- zy expensive for everyone, both the companies and client. Then, there’s the option of mushroom leather, but it’s not good for shoes: you can do some parts with it, but if you do the whole shoe in mushroom leather, it’ll last way less than real leather. Right now there’s nothing that can replace the polish of leather either, so for all those reasons I have to say that my favourite material to work with is still leather. I’m open-minded about that: I do understand that we need to replace it when we can, and I often do so. This issue doesn’t involve sneakers obviously, due to the huge amount of com- ponents they have and the fact that you can play with them, but when it comes to boots, we still don’t have something more beautiful and durable than leather yet.
If I had to describe your work at Camper Lab over the years, I’d say something along the lines of: ‘chaotically balanced’. I love the way it’s unpredictable, just like chaos is, yet classically balanced in terms of the brand’s values, as well as your personal signature. Do you see yourself more into chaos or balance?
I think it’s something that‘s there with me all time, without making me consciously thinking about it. I never notice it myself, but people tend to say to me: ‘You’re so unpredict- able’, but I feel like I’m always doing the same stuff. This sense of unpredictability is something I‘m very passionate about, but my boyfriend too always says that people don’t know what to predict with me, and I’m always surprised by that. The truth is that I‘m my own person, and I follow my own thing and taste, my signature if you want. I’m also one of those persons who get bored with things easily and just want to move forward. However, I also believe in what I’ve done in the past, so I don’t really see the reason why I should abandon that. To me it’s more like a progress, for in- stance if you compare the current collection to a collection of mine from five years ago, you won’t find that they have anything in common, but if you go through my work collec- tion by collection, you can definitely see the evolution I’m talking about. I think that’s what people should do, evolve. When the chance to evolve comes, you should take it.
What’s the most exciting product you had to design and why?
The two sneakers we recently launched, ‘Tormenta’ and ‘Tossu’. Sneakers need to have a 360° approach, due to the huge amount of components. With Tossu, it was all about recycling and making no waste, while with Tormenta it was all natural. People wear sneakers a lot, so we can have a bigger impact with sneakers than cowboy boots. I like when something becomes quite commercial but is still esthetical- ly pleasant. It sells, but under all that there’s an attention to sustainability that hasn’t much to do with aesthetics but with challenging the market. That’s why I find these pro- jects really interesting, and I’m happy to say that next year we’ll have more.
Camper Lab is focused on sustainability, with a zero waste attitude. You’re obviously aligned with that, and
I read you said something pretty straight to the point about it: ‘The only way to be 100% sustainable is to avoid to produce at all’. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in order to be as sustainable as possible?
Not waisting water, not having toxins released into nature, not using components that’re harmful, avoiding by all costs any plastic - we’re doing huge work on that, we still have a few components that’re really difficult to change, but it’s
a tiny percentage of the shoes we have. I’d say longevity is key, because what’s to ‘work the hardest’ out of anything you wear is shoes. I say that because the production process is the most harmful thing for our planet. So if you use ultra sustainable materials, but the shoes you make will only last one year, you’ll end up increasing the production. That‘s the reason why I‘m also really into the idea of repairing shoes, it helps a lot. I wish more companies would offer that.
Once someone asked me to describe my personal taste. I found it to be the hardest question ever. I realised the reason why something catches my attention or not is ab- solutely linked to my heart. I think taste is something we were born with, and it’s beautiful to be immediate and instinctive in that. Have you ever tried to question your- self around why you find something beautiful or not?
Not really, I’m very intuitive when it comes to this. How- ever, I do know that I‘m always attracted by something that someone with a universally good taste wouldn’t like. I like tacky things as well. This is the reason why I love what Miuccia Prada does, she’s always playing with something that people don’t consider beautiful and actually makes it beautiful. She manipulates it for all those I like to call ‘beige people’ (Laughs, E.D.). I‘m never happy with some- thing that’s overly tasteful: it’s scary for me, because it also means there’s nothing new about it. Universally good taste is something most people like, but how can that even be considered fashion if most people already like it? It’s too safe, and fashion is something that should lead us to the future. The majority of people tends to live in a comfort zone, because they believe that their choices are going to determine whether they’ll be accepted or not. For instance, I was wearing a pair of Tormenta in Florence for Pitti and there was this old woman who asked me: ‘What kind of shoes are those you’re wearing?’. I replied, saying: ‘They’re sneakers’, and she said ‘Ah, ok. I’ve never seen anything so bizarre’. Well, she was for sure one of the ‘beige people’ (Laughs, E.D.).
Well, she noticed them and asked a question. She was curious, that’s what matters.
Most of the people I call ‘beige’ appreciate different things, but they don’t see them as something they’re allowed to wear. The status symbol they decided to chase, wouldn’t understand it.
Moving to what surrounds us, something pretty relevant for everyone, do you associate Mallorca in Spain more to the sea or the inland, and why?
Definitely inland, because that‘s where the real Mallorcans live, the beach is for tourists. So, for me the real Mallorca is Inland, and not so many people know that part of the island. Also, it’s not very easy to really get to know that side of the Mallorchine life, because Mallorcans are a very close-knit group, they don’t want to be associated with tourists in any way.
Well, many islands are more associated to the inland when it comes to the real culture of the place.
That’s because of pirates. The people by the shore would get robbed of everything, that’s why in certain places and islands many locals used to live in the inland, they needed to defend themselves.
Talking about your personal space, is there something you definitely need to have?
I like my house to feel cozy. Generally speaking, it’s total chaos: it‘s clean, but a lot of people ask me if I actually
live there. Beside the basics, I have to say that I feel very uncomfortable in a white space with no art or books. I rest much better when those things are around me. Without that, it feels like a hotel and I don’t like that. I spend much of my time in hotels, so I kind of need to break free from that. So, what I really need to have around me is books, art and plants. Another thing that freaks me out is when all the furniture is brand-new: I love the combination of new and old living together.
Silence can be synonymous with peace and harmony. It can be a matter of respect, but also a sign of surrender, that may be caused by embarrassment or cowardice at worst. Can you tell me when you appreciate silence and when you don’t?
One of the things I really love of living in Mallorca, espe- cially in my house, is that it’s in the middle of nowhere and very silent. There’s some animals’ noises and the occasional plane flying somewhere, but it’s very silent and I love it. Compared to Paris, that‘s really noisy, I find it easier to concentrate in my quiet house. Another thing about silence is that I come from Finland and, in the Finnish culture, it’s completely normal to stay silent. I’ve noticed that in Spain or France, if you sit around a table with someone in silence, most people will panic, because they believe something’s wrong. For me, if you can be silent in company, it’s a signal that you’re comfortable with that person. Of course, now that I’ve been living abroad for 15 years, I don’t really do that anymore, because I know how people will react to it (Laughs, E.D.). On the other hand, I don’t believe in silence being associated with taboos: if there’s an issue, it has to be brought up. I believe in the romantic side of silence, it’s beautiful.
