A Feel for Fashion: Gustave Rudman

Last year, Gustave Rudman composed original music for Balenciaga, Alaïa and Gucci – in each instance, determining a unique and evocative sonic alignment with the collection. For while shows can resonate when the music is familiar, the experience can feel even more immersive when music is being heard for the first time as a kind of parallel creative expression. Before being embraced so enthusiastically by the fashion world, Rudman already had an impressive résumé. Having arranged and produced music for artists such as The Weeknd, Sia, Labrinth, while he was studying classical music in Paris, he composed music featured in films and series such as the HBO series “Euphoria,” and “Tranchées,” a documentary about the war in Ukraine premiered at the Mostra of Venice. He is currently working on a film score. 

What creates an emotional response for you in fashion today?

I like when you feel a sense of poetry from the designer, and that the creations are rooted in their experience of life. Some of them, like artists, manage to tap into the zeitgeist, the collective unconscious – and their creations can be a form of catharsis for culture. I like when the collection feels like a cultural commentary that transcends fashion, and that it says something about the world we live in. 

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

Part of what we create comes from our collective experience, and part from our individuality. Those who manage to root their creations in their life experience often manage to reach something more personal. I believe intuition taps into the collective, as the heart is the universal gateway into ourselves. But it’s how we express and unfold this intuition that [allows] our individuality to comes through. 

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

Fashion has an inextricable knot that, at its best, is an art form, but is fundamentally attached to the market – to a need. There's always a limit to how much truth one can express within commerce, but that is true of all of means of expression within our system. Some manage to transcend this, but it's quite rare. I think you express your worldview no matter what; to speak or not to speak about a subject is always a decision, conscious or not, and says something about your character. But I do think there will always be room for sincerity and redemption. That’s how I feel as I composer, navigating different worlds. Emotions transcends all mediums; there is something deeper than the rational that I always try to address with the music.  I think expressing your worldview – committing and taking risks – is essential; but it has to come from the heart, not from a place of manipulation, which always ends up looking like a parody.

How would you like to see fashion evolving this year?

I would like to see fashion evolve towards more accountability, specifically regarding the damage the industry does to the planet. Also, I would like to see designers push boundaries much further in terms of what presenting a collection can be. What's stopping them? We have a responsibility to bring real beauty into the world, not just to sell, but to move and inspire each other.