Bernhard Willhelm was invited to curate NºB magazine in 2001, as the second issue of a series conceived by Walter Van Beirendonck for the six fashion statements of the Landed Geland fashion festival in Antwerp. Nearly ten years later we caught up with him in Paris after his Spring Summer 2011 menswear show, to chat about his experiences with NºB, his current take on media and how much things can really change in a decade. Candid, brutally honest and with more than a hint of cynicism, Bernhard offers a glimpse of his own wandering spirit, and presents the very real condition of independent designers working today.

A MAGAZINE: What was it like to be invited to make NºB?
Bernhard Willhelm: My problem with Antwerp was a little bit that also at school nothing ever changed, its just always the same people giving each other jobs, and so I said I’m doing this B magazine only when I could work with my own graphic designer. It was a bit the idea of this magazine, I said OK lets do it. And with Ludivine (Billaud) I worked a long time, though now at the moment I don’t work with her. I always change, I don’t want to work with the same people.

A: There are a lot of people in the magazine who you have had in the team, and who have left…
BW: Yeah but I wouldn’t do the magazine like it is now. I would really do something completely different I think.

A: It’s a different time, it’s a different digital age..
BW: It’s completely not my thing anymore, not at the moment. I mean I haven’t looked at this magazine for years. What I still liked is that it was about fashion, photography also poetry kind of things. So I don’t know if I would not cut too many edges, if I would do something now I would really just go in one direction. Only that. We don’t need so much information, and also I think what’s in my head at the moment is that we have too much information. It’s too much and we’d rather have a little bit less of some things. Also I realise now after ten years of being a designer that you cannot make everybody happy. It’s fine not to. Not to be too obvious, and satisfy all the needs. So yeah, lets see..

A: Do you ever go back to Antwerp?
BW: I go sometimes. I also like to go to Amsterdam.

A: What do you like about Antwerp?
BW: Ah, the bookshops. I always go to Tuf Tuf, because they have a little second-hand porn corner which I like. And the people there know me so they always keep things for me.
And Amsterdam too, I like for shopping. I like the flea markets, I always find good stuff.

A: What do you like to collect?
BW: Now it is mostly more like magazines and books and clothes a little bit. And whatever falls in your hand. But I am not really buying second-hand clothes at the moment. I am inspired enough. I don’t need old clothes to copy, you know, I’m not Marc Jacobs…

A: Who that you worked with on NºB are still a part of your life? People like Wolfgang Tillmans?
BW: They became more like friends, I mean he is really busy Wolfgang, he doesn’t want to work so much anymore – he does his exhibitions and that’s it.

A: Say we invited you to make a magazine today, who would you work with almost ten years later?
BW: I don’t know, I wouldn’t work with people to do things. I would just collect things from the internet. It’s there. It’s out there you just have to find it, you know. There have been so many magazines, so much information that I don’t know who needs these magazines. Just put it online and that’s it.

A: Well, that is our concept for the archives now, and we are writing about the contents of the issues, explaining a bit of who’s who in the past. One of the interesting parts of NºB is the cooking with all the different people…
BW: Yeah I even stopped cooking.

A: Why did you stop cooking?
BW: Because I got tired of it. Nothing really is for ever. There are sometimes things you have to change in order to miss it again later. And also in Paris, I don’t have an oven…

(Bernhard offers a macaroon)

A: What keeps you going if it isn’t cooking, isn’t producing images. Is it the fashion itself?
BW: No at the moment I am more into teaching. I am teaching now in Vienna. I am doing a few projects like bands, like Bjork and Scissor Sisters, these kind of things. We are working on our own website, we never had a website before. It’s a lot of work and money so maybe yeah also selling online.

A: Can you tell us more about the school?
BW: The course goes four years plus a diploma, so it’s quite a long course actually. And you are always very personally involved with your students – their mother dies, then the other one goes to the psychiatrist, then the other one has a drug problem…
There is always some problem, there is a lot of talking. You have to be there from the morning until ten o’clock at night.

A: Is school finished for the semester?
BW: Yes that is finished. We had to show two weeks ago and it was a good show so I am in a good mood. Then five days later we did our show, but not many people saw the show

A: How is Vienna as a fashion city?
BW: I was always a fan of Wendy & Jim and Fabrics Interseason. I like them, and I like what they are doing. There is a little scene in Vienna.

A: Does the city itself influence a certain style?
BW: You have the classic Vienna, you have the student Vienna. There are some nice shops, we sell in two shops in Vienna. There is money, and there is a certain interest. There is a big art scene actually. Maybe come next time for the jury…

A: What was the concept behind the presentation for spring summer 11 in the Swedish Institute for Tranoï?
BW: It was actually more by using the gardens, so we had the idea with the foam and the smoke. It was an experiment on colour and on sexiness, and we made our collection out of it.

A: Where do you see yourself going now? Do you want to continue making collections?
BW: I don’t know for the moment. I need a holiday.