YIGAL AZROUEL – Spring/Summer 2014 Interview

Yigal Azrouël – Born and raised in Israel of French-Moroccan descent and having traveled to locations metropolitan and remote, Yigal Azrouël draws inspiration from everything and everywhere: art, culture, architecture, nature and his hometown, New York City. Yigal Azrouël launched his eponymous women’s wear label in 1998 to critical acclaim and by 2000 began his participation in New York Fashion Week. Azrouël defined his aesthetic using high-quality fabrics to drape ultra-feminine, modern silhouettes.

In August 2000, Azrouël opened his full-service atelier and showroom in New York’s Garment District; the company continues to produce 70% of the collection locally. The success of these early collections allowed Azrouël to open his flagship boutique in February 2003 in New York’s Meatpacking District. The store opened as one of the neighborhood’s pioneer retail ventures, helping pave the road for the District’s evolution into a worldwide fashion destination. The Yigal Azrouël Boutique, and award-winning website, both collaborations with Dror Benshetrit, have been recognized for their unique vision and innovative design.

For the Fall 2010 season, the young designer continued to expand his growing business by launching a new contemporary brand concept called Cut25, which earned instant commercial and critical praise worldwide. With the designer’s global visibility increasing and evolving product portfolio, the Yigal Azrouël online store was launched in September 2010 in partnership with Intersect, a global Internet retailing partner for leading fashion and design brands, specializing in e-commerce, social media and mobile operations. Simultaneously, with the launch of the brand’s online store, a strategic social media campaign was also initiated, which includes a blog titled, “Inside The Studio”, which is an interactive platform for readers to understand what drives and motivates the inner workings of the company.

A few days ago Yigal Azrouël unveiled his Resort and Spring/Summer 2014 collections, for the first time during Fashion Houston 2013 presented by Audi, at the Wortham Theater Center – Grand Foyer in Houston, Texas. We had the pleasure to have a Q&A with designer Yigal Azrouël before his show.


MV: Yigal, first of all thank you for taking the time to be here with us at Metrovelvet.

Yigal Azrouël: My pleasure

MV: How do you feel to be here in Houston?

Yigal: If feels great, I been here before but this is my first time showing my collection during Fashion Houston, so it feels good!

MV: Let’s talk about what we’ll be seeing tonight on the runway…

Yigal: I will be showing my Holiday Resort and Spring/Summer 2014 collections mixed together. To me, is all about creating a look and sort of like an attitude of a woman that is kind of masculine and feminine at the same time.

MV: What was the inspiration behind the Yigal Azrouël Signature Spring/Summer 2014 collection?

Yigal: You know, my inspiration always comes from the fabrics. So I like to start by draping then I start creating a story, but it also comes from architectural and geometrics is like creating an outline…

MV: When it comes to the colour palette, what can we expect to see tonight on the runway?

Yigal: A lot of black and white, very minimum.

MV: Black and white… no splashes of colour?

Yigal: We do have some colour, but most of the collection is in black and white since is my favorite colour.

MV: Can you tell me more about Cut25 by Yigal Azrouël…

Yigal: Sure, Cut25 by Yigal Azrouel is more of a contemporary brand concept combining high fashion with a day-today simplicity. Is more for the younger and trendier crowd, at a more affordable price range.

MV: Any future plans or new projects that you can share with us?

Yigal: Yes, well actually we just launch our new website for both of the collections Yigal Azrouël and Cut25, were people can buy online and we will also be doing collaborations with other designers and artist.

MV: Once again thank you for taking the time to be here with us. Good luck and happy holidays!

Yigal: My pleasure, thank you Metrovelvet.


Runway photos by Scott McCombs

WEB BY:NIVEKSTUDIO
WEB BY:NIVEKSTUDIO