A Feel for Fashion: Benjamin Simmenauer

Benjamin Simmenauer is a Director of Research at Institut Français de la Mode (IFM) where he is also a professor working with students in both design and management programs. With a background in analytic philosophy, his research primarily focuses on semantics applied to clothes and fashion. Simmenauer is a regular source for media covering the industry, often delivering direct and rational insights. 

What creates an emotional response for you in fashion today?

I try to develop an analytical perspective on fashion, focusing on its symbols and messages. And as I am not a very emotional person, it’s really hard to tell. It depends on the valence of emotions. Positive ones are scarce… 

Often we see several designers arriving at a similar idea during a season. How do you explain this creative intuition?

I think it has to do with the fact that fashion is a very small world. People borrow from each other a lot, without always referencing their sources. They also tend to have the same lifestyle, go to the same places, watch the same TV shows, look at the same Instagram accounts. So they can end up with similar ideas.

How do you feel about designers expressing or interpreting their worldviews in their collections? 

No problem with that, provided it reflects in actual design research and not just printed messages on basic T-shirts.

How would you like to see fashion evolving this year?

More experiments, more jokes, more politics, less bluff.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.