DESCENTE ALLTERRAIN × David Hellqvist

Q.1.⁠
⁠How do you ensure your voice is translated visually in a global market?

I get dressed in a way that translates who I am and what I feel like. My visual aesthetic is a representation of me, and that’s what I project to the world.

Q.2.⁠ ⁠
Do you consider your style to be a part of your voice?

Very much so. It’s the loudest and most consistent voice in our artistic toolboxes. No other expressive aspect of our lives is as constant as getting dressed every morning, even if you don’t leave the house.

Q.3.⁠ ⁠
What do you consider to be most important when dressing? Aesthetic or honesty?

You really shouldn’t have to choose between the two. If your aesthetic isn’t true to yourself, you’re doing something wrong, aren’t you? That’s not to say I have never been dishonest in my aesthetic choices – we are all human and make mistakes. But the beauty of it all is that the next morning, we go again!

Q.4.⁠ ⁠
As a multi-disciplinarian creative, when do you feel most complete in your practice?

I love the process of getting dressed, whether it’s on me or a model. So much of it is instinctive. You put something on and start building a look, but not everything makes sense once it’s on you, or the model. So, you shave off a layer and start again till the outfit just jells – it’s a gut feeling, I think. From an art direction point of view, it’s a similar feeling but just a bit more ‘big picture’. Looking beyond the outfit, I get the same pleasure from an image coming together, almost like laying a puzzle where every piece is a component in the picture, be it the model, clothes, props or the surrounding area.

Q.5.
⁠ ⁠Travel is the ultimate means to bestowing upon us both cultural empathy and a deeper understanding of our world. Is there a place you have travelled to that has completely changed how you think and feel?

More than a place, I think the beauty of travel is to see polar opposite places – that’s when their individual qualities stand out the most. Through my work I’ve been to everything from Rio de Janeiro to Moscow, Svalbard to Tokyo, and Los Angeles to Seoul. Experiencing the diversity of each place has shaped me more than one of those individual trips.

Q.6.⁠ ⁠
Where are you happiest?

Good question. Maybe in the kitchen cooking. I find cooking food very satisfying, but also extremely stressful at times. It’s the high and lows, I suppose. Creative genius or culinary disaster, it’s a fine line.

Q.7.⁠
⁠Do you travel heavy or light?

It’s a lifelong ambition of mine to travel smart and light. Sometimes I succeed, quite often I fail. C’est la vie.

Q.8.⁠ ⁠
What is the most valuable lesson you have learned in your artistic journey?

‘The better you look, the more you see’, care of Bret Easton Ellis.

Q.9.⁠ ⁠
Can you give us three scenarios in which Allterrain would serve you best in your personal life and schedule?

Breakfast, lunch and dinner. I love my clothes to a serve a purpose throughout the day. I’ve never got the idea of getting dressed up go out, or dressing down to stay in. These Allterrain pieces are part of my everyday wardrobe, whatever day of the week and time of the day.

Q.10.⁠ ⁠
We are designing to be the intelligent choice of those who are native to their terrain – what part of the AT range do you feel best represents your innate individual style?

The suit I’m wearing sums up my style in many ways. I wear suits as uniforms, an armour that empowers. The innate elegance of a suit mixed with the pragmatism of purpose, that’s what I like.