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fashion
SS19 Linder Q&A with Sam Linder

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The NYC based art-minded label, Linder, was founded by Sam Linder and Kirk Millar. The two designers thought mindfully in dividing up their collections: Sam, head of womenswear, and Kirk, menswear. Conceptualizing contemporary ready-to-wear clothes, Sam debuted his SS19 collection with contrast stitching, plaid, and color-blocking. In the Highline room of The Standard Hotel, the SS19 collection was delivered in an innovative, yet simplistic approach. In hopes of capturing all angles of the garments, Sam included mirrors facing the East, West, and South walls, in addition to a live detail display on TV monitors. Models glided down the runway while a voiceover gave narration to each look, leaving no detail to the imagination. We spoke with Sam post-show to discuss the SS19 collection, his design process, and overall mood of Linder: **Tell us a little bit about this collection.** We wanted to start from the viewpoint of our customer and what they want to wear. They may not be looking for a complete look, but want a few pieces that are interesting. They may want a certain garment to bring into their closet and style their way, but wouldn’t buy into the rest of the collection, and we’re embracing that.  **What’s your favorite piece?** Probably the green leather long coat. It almost looks like a green crayon. **How did you decide to voiceover the details of the garments throughout the runway presentation?** Honestly, it’s because I’ve felt some frustration with past runway shows. You get only one image, a frontal view, and that image gets trafficked, but I don’t think people consciously take in the aspects of the clothing. I wanted to over design it so that people would see more from the clothes. I wanted people to see different angles of the models, so mirrors were there to see both front and back of the garments at the same time. The camera panning \[displayed on TV monitors\] was there so we could look at some details and the voice was giving notes because the collection is very detailed.  **In what way does this collection compare and contrast to your archive of shows?** The main difference is what I previously talked about, but in the past, there was more creative expression and personal point of view. This time, I put my perspective on the back shelf a little bit and listened to my team's sensibility about what’s wearable and what’s not and tune into that. This season was an entirely different approach.  **With co-founder, Kirk Millar, how do you work unified and individually throughout the design process?** Since we do separate collections, we go off on our own, but we’re always there correcting each other. We cast an eye to see if something has been taken too far or not far enough. We almost criticize each other.  **How would you describe the overall mood and message of Linder?** It’s about starting from specifics and thinking about an individual person- how they want to relate to it. We let that be the guiding light rather than dictating an aesthetic. There’s an aesthetic there, but we’re not consciously trying to enforce it. We focus on specific garments and let people extract an aesthetic from that.  To see more by Linder click [here](https://linder.nyc/). * * * Interview conducted and written by: Morgan Vickery