CR: You’re from Sydney, which has a much more laid-back pace compared to cities like Paris where you also spend time. How do these different environments influence your work? Where do you feel most creative?
Christopher Esber: I think it’s the mix that is so inspiring, actually. Sydney is still a city, but it’s a lot more relaxed. I think the attitude here is a bit more undressed and free. In general, I’m inspired by natural elements, so being able to play into that and being amongst it is quite interesting. I travel so much for work, so I get a bit of everything—it lets me see that duality of women who are living bi-coastal. This has always been really interesting for me, to look at the tension between the two. Ultimately, Sydney’s aesthetic and this undone approach to getting dressed has always been part of my work and how I process things.
CR: You’ve said you were inspired by your aunts, who were tailors, growing up. What was it about creating clothing that first appealed to you? Was becoming a designer always the clear dream?
Christopher Esber: It was. My mom comes from a large group of sisters, they would make outfits for themselves and their friends. So there was this constant energy of things being made—it was a little bit chaotic. They were cooking, they were sewing, and I always found it really magical when you see something flat and then it comes to life three-dimensionally. There’s an energy to it. I always find the person behind the piece really interesting and exciting. Even today when we work with different seamstresses or ateliers, I always want to know the people behind the piece. Generally with somebody’s approach or attitude, the way they are, you can kind of guess what will work for them. Okay, she’s a bit spicy, so I think she’d be really good with a dress like this. Or, he comes off quite strict, so let’s give him some tailoring. There is this personality aspect to it, and growing up around a family who was creating pieces, I was inspired by how that all came together.
CR: Your pieces often balance precise tailoring with fluidity and movement. How do you find that balance in your designs and why is it so important for you?
Christopher Esber: I like when there’s something a bit peculiar when creating pieces—I’m always looking for that moment where you can mess it up a bit and then clean it up. Of course, we design and develop with a plan, but for me, the magic really happens in the fittings and finding moments of surprise and areas where we can evolve the initial thought. That fluidity is central to the brand. Even though the foundations are quite strict and there’s a lot of traditional elements with our tailoring and construction, there is a freedom in the pieces. A lot of the time, we’re letting the fabric speak for itself and bending to that. I think that tension between structure and fluidity is more in the energy of the piece and what it wants to be, less so than trying to balance masculinity and femininity. When I’m designing the collections, it’s very much fabric first. I try to understand how it moves and what it wants to do naturally. I think that structure-fluidity piece is essentially the brand, we’re always trying to find an element of that in every collection.