Ryan Keys is a young South African designer, born in Johannesburg. After developing a passion for fashion at a young age, he studied couture at Spero Villioti Elite Design Academy, and has successfully launched a store in Parkhurst. We had the privilege of having him in studio with us to answer a few burning questions.
1. How did you first discover your passion for fashion? And who influenced you into pursuing this?
From a very young age. Funny enough I actually used to dress my mom for a lot of events and all of that sort of stuff. Then I started getting big into photography and looking at all of those sorts of things and from there I decided that I need to do it and take the leap and decided to study fashion
2. What was the first garment that you ever made?
The first thing that I made was actually for a school project, we had to do a photoshoot for Art. So I went and made a skirt and jacket- well I bought the jacket and added the extras. And then we shot the stuff and yeah… That was the first official thing that I made.
3. What inspires your designs?
There are a lot of things that inspire my designs- one of them being travels. I like to travel a lot, whether it is in the bush or traveling abroad, I get a lot of inspiration from that. And mainly, funny enough, I actually look at the beauty in nature and those sorts of things. But the instead of looking at the beauty I look at the more evil side to things. So I might look at a butterfly but then I might look at it drawn to a flame or something like that, which does sound quite gross but at the end of the day it’s about what emotion you feel when you see the clothes.
4. What is your favourite part of being a fashion designer?
Creating fun, beautiful things. I like to see the look on a bride’s face when she sees her gown for the final time, the smiles. It’s probably the most gratifying part of it all: you’ve worked for two months straight to try and create a beautiful connection and people love it. I mean you never know, some people might hate it or love it… You never know what people will think of it. So I think that’s the major thing- seeing people’s reactions and liking what you do.
5. You were one of the designers at SA fashion week. What was that experience like?
It’s very very fun. That is one thing that I think people want to know the process of: Basically you get invited to show, and then after that you go for castings where you will see maybe one hundred different girls, they will walk for you and then you choose which ones you like. You then take measurements and then alter your designs. Then you do the final checks before the show and then you show. But everything is absolutely taken care of, I mean on the day you have people steaming your garments. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun but there is a lot of stress which keeps us on our toes.
6. Do you have a specific research process when designing a new collection?
Not necessarily, because I feel that every collection is very different. I think that the first collection that I did for fashion week was more about introducing myself to the people, so actually more of showing them what I can do. This year I was concerned about showing people dominance versus submissive. So with that I might read a book, like 50 Shades of Grey, and be like “okay. This inspires me” and then do a lot of research into why people like about it and how they harness it. So I will look at a whole bunch of things. So that I know what it can and can’t do, and basically live that collection for a while.
7. Who inspires you the most in fashion?
People around me, like my friends and family. I don’t actually look at other designers or things like that; I look at the people around me. The things they do. And from there I gain inspiration from them, whether it be a vacation that they have been on and then I decide that I need to go there and see these beautiful places or things like that.
8. What is your philosophy on the art of fashion?
I am very focused on my fabrics. Like I focus on my fabrics and fabrications and I feel that with fashion you are very much reinventing the wheel. But I feel that with my design aesthetic I am more concerned with the fabrication and how you make things. So your fit needs to be perfect, I mean you can take a cheap pair of pans, but tailored perfectly they can make you look like a million bucks. My fabrics I like to source all around the world and there are a lot of beads. So it may be a simple A line dress but then it’s completely beaded, and that’s the wow factor of it.
9. What do you think makes your fashion unique?
I’m very set on textures so I like to maybe make one thing out of feathers and then the bodice of it maybe leather, so it’s playing with many things. A lot of people have said to me that I like to use different things, so it may be a gold lace on a pure white and then people are like is it a bridal gown, is it an evening gown… And it can really be anything.
10. Which celebrity would be your dream client?
I would love to push the boundaries and dress someone like Lady Gaga, with something like that I would go absolutely crazy and push the boundaries. But then again I would like to dress someone like Jennifer Lopez. I mean she has been around for so many years but still has an amazing body and looks absolutely amazing in anything that you put her in. So I would really like to dress her and do something classy and elegant.
11. What does the future hold?
I can definitely see a lot more stores, the online store is launching soon. Dressing a lot more people, hopefully a lot more international celebrities, a lot more local celebrities, and just expanding the business in general. I don’t just see us being a fashion business, I see us doing accessories and then branching off into more luxury goods, I see us branching off into homeware. I can see us branching off into absolutely anything and everything, things that go with the brand.
Written by Ghia ten Doeschate
