ALECSANDER ROTHSCHILD
CAN YOU BE PUT INTO A BOX?
Trained at Paris fashion house Mugler before enrolling into MA Fashion course at CSM, Danish designer Alecsander Rothschild challenges the eye and mind. His provoking silhouettes and daring use of material such as latex resonate with his desire to question (gender) stereotypes.
THE BUKAREST STYLE
As an homage to his artists family and his admiration for French-Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi, Rothschild’s Bukarest celebrates clean, geometrical lines. In the appearance of becoming a sculpture itself, the sandal stretches the definition of art and design.
INTERVIEW WITH ALECSANDER ROTHSCHILD
For this collaboration with Birkenstock, your inspiration came from Brancusi – a classic reference. What was it that fascinated you about his forms and work?
I decided on working with Brancusi as reference because I really liked the simplicity of his work. One of his principals when creating was “simplicity as principal” - I thought this was very much in line with Birkenstock’s idea of their sandals. Upon further research into Brancusi, you find all these minor details that are quite contradictory, such as a smooth surface but somewhere the sculptures have zigzag forced into the marble or brass, which becomes a super contrast to what you see overall when first looking. This became the foundation for my idea for my sandals.
What were the things that surprised and intrigued you most during your explorations into the Birkenstock history and archive?
When starting this project, I really didn’t know that much about Birkenstock as a whole, so I was actually super surprised about finding out Birkenstock has existed since 1774. I was also intrigued to learn that Birkenstock was the first to ever put shape into the in-sole of shoes - before all shoes were completely flat inside - so I was surprised how monumental the footbed and Birkenstock are in the history of fashion as a whole.
I decided on working with Brancusi as reference because I really liked the simplicity of his work. One of his principals when creating was “simplicity as principal” - I thought this was very much in line with Birkenstock’s idea of their sandals. Upon further research into Brancusi, you find all these minor details that are quite contradictory, such as a smooth surface but somewhere the sculptures have zigzag forced into the marble or brass, which becomes a super contrast to what you see overall when first looking. This became the foundation for my idea for my sandals.
What were the things that surprised and intrigued you most during your explorations into the Birkenstock history and archive?
When starting this project, I really didn’t know that much about Birkenstock as a whole, so I was actually super surprised about finding out Birkenstock has existed since 1774. I was also intrigued to learn that Birkenstock was the first to ever put shape into the in-sole of shoes - before all shoes were completely flat inside - so I was surprised how monumental the footbed and Birkenstock are in the history of fashion as a whole.