“Guess technology isn’t ready for pancake teleportation”.

Niels Peeraer from Antwerp just graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and is now based in Paris. His graduation collection tells us a story about a boy who has an imaginary boyfriend and prepares himself as if he were to get married, every single day. He wears his grandmother’s couture jackets and does nothing but play video games and eat sweets all day long.

Written by Suzanne van Heerde

With his final collection, Niels won 5 awards which included a handbag collaboration with Delvaux and a personal gallery exhibition in MOMU. As of now the concept store RA in Antwerp sells his leather accessories line exclusively through their online store. He is one to keep an eye on.

S: If the situation would happen to occur, what would the first thing be that you would like to teleport?
N: Myself or, as in my title: food. I really love food and when I see pictures of friends of mine having dinner at a restaurant or cooking at home I always want to be there. That’s where the title comes from.

S: What is more appealing to you: the visual appearance of all things sweet or the rewarding flavour explosions they hold?
N: Definitely the visual appearance. I’m not an avid sweet tooth myself, but as I was developing my concept/story of my graduation collection, I started buying donuts and cupcakes. I always try to live and breathe my collection in order to really understand the character that I created. This way I am able to enhance the collection even more. I need to know how he eats, looks at things, the way he sits. But to be honest, I didn’t really like the donuts!

S: What were you like as a child and how did you spend your time outside of school?
N: I was actually very shy as a kid. I was always drawing and reading. My mother said that one thing which was very particular for me as a child was that I was always looking for ‘beauty’.

S: Your sense of dressing as of now is lovely and experimental. As a child, did you dress yourself? If so what did you wear?
N: No I didn’t dress myself as a child. I only started to wear ‘different’ clothes when I reached the age of 14. However, the term ‘different’ is the way others labeled my style, this was never my own intention.

S: Where does the attraction to the grandmother’s couture come from? Does it also apply to your own experience?
N: No not at all. I have noticed that a lot of websites refer to ‘my’ grandmother’s couture, but she didn’t own any couture jackets. It’s a misinterpretation when it comes to my collection. It is the grandmother of my character who owns couture jackets, not my own grandmother.

S: You juxtapose strong materials such as leather and spikes in combination with light and airy fabrics, what does it tell us about your muse?
N: People own many characteristics and on different  occasions we show different sides of ourselves. So for me it would be very illogical to only dress according to one side of yourself. I want to keep a perfect balance between cute and tough, romantic and aggressive.

S: The boy who had an imaginary boyfriend, plays video games, eats sweets, wears his grandmothers couture jackets whilst preparing himself to get married, every single. It sounds like a lovely fairytale. Would you ever consider taking your perspective to another level by turning it into a storybook for instance?
N: I don’t think I’m such a good writer. I have a very vibrant imagination but I’m not amazing with words. I ‘write’ my stories through other creative disciplines.

S: If you could teleport yourself to any given time and place, when and where would that be?
N: For the people that know me, this isn’t a very original answer, but it would be old Japan. I would just love to experience that, see (or be) a real geisha, witness kabuki (old Japanese theater). Walk around in kimonos and getta’s.

Visit his website: Niels Peeraer