The Fashion Designers Dries Van Noten and Christopher John Rogers in Conversation

For the Taking the Lead series, we asked leaders in various fields to share insights on what they’ve learned and what lies ahead.

When Christopher John Rogers was an aspiring designer in middle school in Louisiana, he came across the work of the Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten. One runway collection in particular, with a segment of “algae green” fabrics, stuck with him.

Now 29, and with three critically acclaimed runway shows to his name, that influence can still be seen, and felt, in the way Mr. Rogers synchronizes his electric colors with high-sheen fabrics and occasionally clashing prints to great effect.

Yet until joining a video call in early November for this conversation, the men had never met.

Mr. Van Noten, 64, was calling from his studio in Antwerp, where his company has been based since its founding in the mid-1980s. (In 2018, after three decades of independence, Mr. Van Noten sold a majority stake in his brand, though he remained as chief creative officer, chairman of the board and minority shareholder.)

In 2020, Mr. Van Noten helped spearhead an open letter urging a “more environmentally and socially sustainable” schedule of deliveries and discounting in fashion — an industry where the appetites and budgets of conglomerates seem to set the calendar for all fashion companies.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/12/style/fashion-designers-van-noten-christopher-rogers.html