Speak ya clout is a series of heart to heart conversations, exclusively found at BSTN Chronicles. From insiders of the fashion business to blazers of new trails and creative forces from other industries, topics vary for each conversation. This time, we sat down with fellow Munich resident Mirko Borsche, the founder and lead designer at Bureau Borsche and the creative behind the IKON collection in collaboration with On.
On discovering graffiti as a youth:
It originally started when I had to change schools in the late eighties. We lived in Haar [on the eastside of Munich] and all of a sudden, I had to attend school in Pullach [on the southside of the city] which meant that I had get across town twice a day, so I spent a lot of time on the train. During that time, graffities became more and more common in Munich and the S-Bahn [suburban train] line ran right past a lot of them. The artworks caught my eye immediately. It was something new, something that I had to try.
A few friends and I went to a spot at a flea market in town, because we had heard that you could practice spraying there. We ran into a bunch of the old school graffiti heads and most of us got their cans taken away. (laughs) I could keep mine because, apparently, they were of decent quality. That’s how I met some of the original artists from Munich, like Loomit, who ended up teaching me the art of graffiti over the next few years. We started getting commissioned work and used the cans we had left over from those commissions to paint our own pieces all around town. That’s how it all started.
On the appeal of creating graffiti:
One of the main draw factors for me personally was the fact that you could create something that is noticeable within the city all by yourself. And in addition, you could collaborate with your friends. The more people you involved in the project, the bigger the project could become.
As a result, especially on the bigger walls, a lot of planning became necessary. Sometimes you were able to work with sketches, sometimes you were not. But I’ve liked early on that so many different opinions and tastes came together and worked together on the same projects.
On clothing as a symbol of recognition:
I try not to put labels on people based on what they are wearing. But it’s not easy, since a lot of different pieces have associations or connotations that they are connected with. And especially if you have worked in our industry for a while you can get a sense of how much effort went into certain outfits. But in general, I love when personal style evolves with whoever is wearing the outfits or if someone can change between different styles.
To go back to my early days within the graffiti community in Munich, there was no such thing as streetwear. It simply didn’t exist. You couldn’t just go out and buy a hooded sweatshirt, for example. The only hoodies that were available were souvenirs from the Hofbräuhaus because they were actually adjusting their merch portfolio to the large number of tourists that went through there, a lot of whom were Americans. So, a lot of graffiti artists back then were wearing those HB branded hoodies … if they didn’t try to be as inconspicuous as possible.
The design of the IKON collection that we came up with offers something similar. It’s a look of uniformity to a certain degree through the track suit for example while still allowing room for creative and self-expression through the way you wear the pieces and also through the pieces you combine it with.
On working with On:
It’s a great opportunity because it’s a brand that creates performance products on the highest level both in terms of technology but also in terms of production quality. This allows you to bring the same expectations you’d have for a performance product (in an athletic context) in regards to its capabilities and its quality to the creation of streetwear products. That’s only possible if you have a strong collaboration partner like On.
On the role of the track suit:
In my opinion, track suits have a large cultural relevance. Whether it’s in television series like The Sopranos that have certain characters appear in a track suit for 80% of the time or across so many different genres of music videos, ever since Beckenbauer wore a track suit back in the day, it has made an appearance in fashion time and time again.
For us, it was important to create a track suit that is fairly neutral and therefore versatile for the person who is wearing it. You should be able to incorporate the pieces of the track suit – individually or together – in many different looks. Layer it on top of different pieces or underneath others …
And on its evolution:
There is no doubt in my mind that the track suit is much more established in everyday fashion than it was two or even one decade ago. It certainly has its roots in sports, but it has become much more of a key piece outside of a sporty use. And I believe it’s only going to become more popular over the next couple of years.
If you look around, a lot of brands, even upscale fashion brands, include track suits in their lineups, but they do it with (occasionally fairly heavy) retro nuances built into their designs. We wanted to go into a little bit of a different direction and create something that is facing forward and is building its own heritage. Thanks to its cut and its fit, it also has a chance to age really well. I think it’s a great product.
On creating for the next generation:
We aimed for something modern that also looks and feels like a classic. We wanted to look towards the future rather than looking backwards. Therefore, we strived to create something for the On IKON collection that can be timeless. This also applies to the colors. The sort of off-white, desert shade as well as the tone of black that both look like they have been around for a while give you a chance to integrate them into any outfits you might come up with going forward.
