Hixsept

Interview with Hixsept

Hixsept was born in 1999 from a fusion of the ideas of two french : Aurelien Arbet and Jeremie Egry.
Forerunners of the process consisting of adapting graffiti related items to clothes, they constantly try to mix art, graphic design and clothing.The brand itself always willing to stay on the side.One course of action: create and show. The artistic environment created around Hixsept makes it a brand with attitude, a graphical activist through urban art. The urban environnement added to the personnal experiences of the foundators become everlasting sources of inspiration. Open its eyes to capture images, movements, unexpected moments becomes fundamental.Each collection is a challenge.A sentence, an image, a print, a garment, a pattern,a detail, nothing's left to luck.

Between spontaneity and subversion, nothing's free, up to each one to claim the concept.The pigeon named "The Grey bird" has become the company's logo and sums up it's spirit. Actor of the urban space on the side of sidewalks, pedestrian crosswalks and concrete. It remains insignificant for some and upsetting for others. Audacious and subversive, it roams through the city during the day while it sleeps under rooftops at night. The grey bird can be compared to a graffiti writter:he's forgotten and hated,he dirties and disturbs.As part of the everyday's life no one pays attention to him. Just like graffiti that doesn't shock people anymore. He's a rude witness of the greyness and daily rythm of our cities.

Daily Motion : Spot TV COURIR, It's time to switch

- Can you tell us a little bit about yourself as an artist (both of you) and HELLO.

A: Hello is a creative studio - we started in 2004. We are two French designers - Jeremie Egry and me (Aurelien Arbet).  We like to work on different spheres - it goes from Art, Publication, Photography, Fashion, Illustration...

- Can you tell us a little bit about Hixsept.

A: HIXSEPT is the first project we started together - It is our clothing Brand. For Hixsept, we do all the clothing design and Art direction. It is our main project. The year 2009 marks ten years of HIXSEPT since starting, but we always try to challenge ourselves and start from zero every collection.

- Can you tell us a little bit about the new collection, what were your initial concepts?

A: We actually have two different series. First, the line Le Terrain Vague, called '50% Grey'. 50% grey is woven into a print. The right balance of black and white dots creates a surface of grey. Created through a period of sweet sleepless nights and dark long days, '50% grey' is a clothing line that is at once balanced, mature, conceptual, pop and avant-garde. Secondly, a series of three T-shirts created around the theme of symbols, called 'Atomic Peace'. - We asked Samuel Francois, who is best known for his lucid spirit and his taste for symbols, to design the artwork that represents this line. The result is a drawing full of worrying realism, with a strange character to it that becomes the guru of a new world where anarchy, peace and duality become universal precepts.

- What is the most important facet to pay attention to in your designs?

A: One important aspect is that there is always an important reason why we will do a design. But this reason is not necessary easy to understand
You could maybe understand it through our other Artwork - the name of the models or through our catalogs... Nothing is left to chance, everything has a meaning!

- Do you have any favourite materials/fabrics and/or special techniques you enjoy using?

A: I will take it in reverse by saying what we try not to use! Then I would say that we try not to use screen print anymore, and also not to do co-branding, as we both think there is an overdose of it!

One thing we used to do is to play with the re-interpretation of classic clothing or classic print.

- In the beginning, what actually made you get into designing?

A: We both started graffiti - and that’s definitely what brought us to meet each other and to go through creation and design.

- How would you describe your style?

A: Inspired from the street, subversive, on the side, sophisticated, mature, minimalist.

- What are your opinions on the current Europe art/fashion scenes?

A: I think it's great - there’s a lot of great designers and artists. Europe can be proud - we do not need to always look to the U.S.! We made a creation around this idea - it is a video and a T-Shirt called Union.

- Where is you favourite place to relax or to have a day off?

A: In the Vercors mountains (French alps), above the city we came from, Grenoble.

- What are your career plans, do you have any future goals?

A: There are many projects that are emerging,
We plan to go to New York City all summer, as we are going to participate to the Capsule Show to present our new HIXSEPT collection.

We are actually doing the release of a book we initiated in 2004 about Polaroid and graffiti called Like Lipstick Traces. We’re also working on different publications and a website about photography with Je Suis une Bande de Jeunes. And finally we are working on some exhibition projects!

- Do you have some words of wisdom for any our readers?

A: Nothing is true, everything is permitted!

HELLO : hellocreativestudio.com/

Hixsept : www.hixsept.com/en/index.php

Written by Yuka Maeno