INTERVIEW - Brunel Mintona

 Who Are You? You seems to be a shy guy. Give us more details about your career? and your dreams...

Im Brunel Mintona. Im 23 years old. I grew up in Belgium but my parents come from the Congo. Its true – Im a quiet person in public but in private it’s a different story …

 how did u get into fashion design?

Since I was a kid I wanted to be a designer and I spent my final two years of high school in Bischoffsheim which is a technical school for fashion design. I continued for the following 2 years in St Luc in fashion design. I was fortunate enough to do a stagiere for Madamoiselle Jean and for the last year I have worked for Benoit Bethume as an assistant. For Marie Claire and Citzen K magazine.

 

Brunel Mintona by GabrieleTrapani 

 Do you feel your formal fashion education helped prepare you for working in the industry?

Yes I feel this plays a crucial role for me but I feel what I learned in high school was more useful to the work that I do now on a technical level i.e. for patterns, how to present my dossier and learning all aspects about the different fabrics.

In St Luc I benfited from learning how to advance my ideas and push my creativity.

 What do u enjoy most about designing clothes?

Seeing my clothes that I have worked so hard on. And thanks to the outfit it makes the person look better.

 What one piece of advice would you give to someone wanting to start a career in fashion?

Work hard inform yourself on everything in fashion, be open minded and aware that fashion is unfair, difficult and short lived.

 Where do you get your design inspiration? origins?

From old people because they are the last ones who have the knowledge of real elegance. People in the street, in parties and movies from La Nouvelle Vague.

 How do you like living in Brussels, are you glad you made the move?

I always lived in Brussels and I could travel anywhere but Brussels feels like home.

 What is the most difficult aspect of running your own label, i.e. design, production, sales, finance, advertising?

The most difficult aspect of this is finding people who want to invest in you and propose something that will work in the market while staying close to your spirit.

 Tell us about the staff you've worked with for "Customisez moi"

For the collection I did everything by myself. Micheal Querin did my shoot for me. He is a great photographer who really helped me. My girlfriend make up artist Orla McKeating was supportive , boosted my morale and believed in me.

 Whose your most influential fashion designer?

Maison Martin Margiela, Nicolas Ghesquiere, Stefano Pilati and Hussein Chalayan.


Does your work reflect your personal fashion taste?? Can you describe your style?

I find this hard to define as it is not fixed, for me style always changes as feelings and mood change. I could define it a conceptual elegance.

Do you like brussels and why?? best bars, restaurants, shops...?

I like Brussels because I was born and bred here.

Sometimes it can be really boring but in the same way it is full of interesting people and there is beautiful areas.

My favorite spots are Fontainas bar, Tigre near place Flgegy is always great. I miss Dirty Dancing in Mirano … McDonalds in La Bourse for it’s top quality gourmet food at 2am. ☺

Photography : Michael Querin

Hair & Make-up : Orla McKeating
Styling : Brunel Mintona