Kris Van Assche first reached out to Brian Rochefort to collaborate on Berluti spring 2021 straight after the last show in January. The results are creatively serendipitous because—even via a grainy Zoom—the primevally violent patterns of Rochefort’s roiling, volcanically-inspired ceramics appear highly appropriate for the churning uncertainty of now.
Over that Zoom Van Assche discussed on a collection that is to be launched via an online video of himself in conversation with his LA-based collaborator. The collection hasn’t been shot yet—in fact only a small proportion of it has even been delivered due to production delays—but what was on the rail looked strong.
Courtesy of Berluti
Van Assche said: “After two years here, I felt ready and comfortable to invite another person to the table. Until now I have been concentrating on finding and refining the balance between my personal style and the DNA of the brand. And so after the last show in January, I immediately contacted Brian to do what I thought would be my next runway show. And then shit happened.”
He added: “I admire Brian’s work a lot. I have collected ceramics for years, starting out with traditional French ceramics—pure and perfect and smooth and traditional—but little by little I learned about more contemporary forms and artists doing freer stuff. And Brian is really the most unconventional ceramicist I’ve encountered… He is the bad boy of ceramics!”