Five Things - Paria Farzaneh
5 things - 5 pertinent questions posed to prominent protagonists. A means to seek opinion and the truth. A window to the soul.
Paria Farzaneh is a London Based Menswear Designer. Her namesake label incorporates elements from her Iranian heritage. Inspired by the beauty of her culture she creates vibrant tailoring and textured sportswear with an aim to educate the world about Iranian culture. Her AW19 collection will be presented at London Fashion Week Mens in January 2019.
What was the moment that changed your world ?
February 2018, I had come to realise that I lost my uncle in Iran, in a plane crash, in the Dena Mountains. I guess you always hear about these things on the news, and hear it happening to other people. You never think it will happen to you, sometimes an injustice, and sometimes just someone’s fate. It took me a long time to believe it actually happened, and deep down I thought he was still out there, but in reality he was gone. This was a major turning point for me, everything came into perspective, and pointless things which once bothered me, became irrelevant, distant feelings. We are here for such a short time, for me, it’s so important to leave something special behind, whatever that is, a memory, a feeling, a scent, something that you can always go back to, regardless of where you are, who you are, and what you do.
Where in the world is your physical and spiritual home ?
I grew up in North Ferriby, a small village outside of West Hull, in Yorkshire. When we were growing up, me and my friends would spend hours walking through farmers fields, talking about how we would plan our dream festivals in that space, moving to London to go to University, and ideal careers. Nothing can replace the feeling of being surrounded by mass amounts of trees and land, and standing alone in the midst of it all. You don’t really get that in London, constantly being surrounded by so many people, almost too much sometimes, gets hard to breathe in that aspect, and I miss the North for that main reason.
What does the world need now ?
Honesty. The fashion industry is so oversaturated right now, everyone is doing the same things. Fashion wasn’t ‘fashionable’ 5 years ago as much as it seems like a trend right now, to social media brands and influencers who are carrying this kind of artificial ‘fashion’ more so a streetwear movement. The world doesn’t need any more clothes, last year, 235 million items of clothing were sent to landfills. So if we are making clothes, taking 6 months at a time to research intensely, develop, and come up with concepts for collections which make people feel a certain way, or them relating to what we are doing, then this makes it worthwhile to me. I believe everything I design and make should be special in its own way. The new wave of online brands, don’t feel honest, they are not really saying anything, or portraying a particular message. I feel like everyone is ‘having a go’ to make a quick buck, this was never my intention when I started, if I wanted to make money, I would have gone into investment banking, or worked in Canary Wharf...
Who and what rocks your world ?
My Mum and Dad. Truly. Number one fans and supporters. They have been there for me since day one, and not once have questioned anything I have done to be ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ they didn’t have the opportunities we had when they were growing up, it’s crazy to see how different things have changed and moved on.
How do you use the world to inspire your creative process?
Listening, looking. Always. I think if you’re not inspired, you’re not looking, you’re not listening. There’s so much going on around us, I think the biggest problem is that when people are encapsulated in social media, they lose their biggest inspiration. There’s nothing inspiring or creative to me about scrolling through Instagram. People forget to walk outside and not listen to what’s going on around them, not plugging in headphones once in a while and listening to what’s going on around you.
I walked up to Hillyfields near my studio a couple of weeks ago- a park near me in South East London, as the name gives it away you can imagine it is on a hill, I walked right to the top, I saw a middle aged man with what looked like it to be his dying Mother, in a wheelchair, watching the sunset. It was evident that she didn’t look very well, and this what most probably one of the last times she would see the sunset. It was so beautiful, seeing them in the moment, appreciating real life, for what it truly is.
