THE Q&A:
Robert Geller & Ben Stubbington
In an era of brand collaborations, Robert Geller x Lululemon feels different. More solid. Less of a stunt. Perhaps it’s in the foundation: 15 years of authentic friendship between cult menswear designer Geller and Lululemon SVP of Men’s Design Ben Stubbington. To talk about the collection, available now for presale as a Moda world premiere, Geller called from his NYC showroom and Ben from Lulu’s studio in Los Angeles.
What’s your personal history together? You’re old friends, right?
BS: The first time I met Robbie he was playing soccer at the park on the West Side Highway in New York City. I was with Ruth, who was friends with his wife Anna. That was probably about 15 years ago.
Your first joint collection together debuted smack in the middle of Mr. Geller’s FW’19 runway show, as part of the Geller world.
BS: That’s the beauty of it. It looked perfect for the catwalk in New York, but is also true functional sportswear that a guy can train or travel in. It has Robbie’s handwriting all over the color, the print and wash applications, and this sophisticated undertone.
RG: They told me they wanted to make clothes that helped you move through life. I loved that idea. We weren’t trying to make fashion clothes or streetwear clothes, but really functional clothes for travel, going to work, exercising, all these things.
BS: We paired Robbie with a director I have in New York called Dylan Moran Taverner. What we tried to do was condense 96 hours of Robbie’s life. So playing soccer on the West Side, going out to the Hamptons and playing with the kids in the ocean, jumping on a plane to Japan, and also exercising at The Class – Taryn Toomey’s The Class, which has elements of meditation and yoga to it.
Taped seams/taping in the garments: do these accents also help the garment hold shape?
BS: Yes they help make the shape and also to make things waterproof, and help eliminate abrasion and rubbing, by flattening everything out.
RG: It’s an inside-out thing. I always loved looking at technical clothing for how beautifully everything was finished. The challenge was, How can we bring that to the outside of the garment, where it looks beautiful as well?
BS: In some cases on the product it’s reflective. So it’s giving functionality in addition to being a seam sealer.
I love the dark tie-dye, the dusty colors, the texture.
RG: Color theory and color combinations are what I spend most of my time on, and a signature of my brand. We started with color cards and narrowed it down. We wanted the right amount of energy with that neon yellow, but very balanced and shades that work well with each other.
BS: From the print and wash perspective, there’s a wabi sabi happening. I love it. You don’t see those kinds of washes on conventional sports product.
RG: One of the challenges we put on the table at the beginning was how to bring texture into this world where you don’t normally see it. The washes bring texture, warmth, lift and feel.
BS: With that pink, almost tie-dyed looking ripstop fabric, it nods back to what Robbie’s doing in his main line. We had to push our raw materials team. We normally choose a softer silkier hand, but wanted a dry, crisp tone that holds up for travel. You can pack it up and then throw it straight back on, no wrinkles.
In our editorial, we’re styling these clothes with Geller x Common Projects shoes, which were part of the runway show, and have the same color scheme. But it occurs to me those weren’t part of this collaboration with Lulu. Is this just great synergy between brands? What’s the relationship between those shoes and this collection?
RG: Me! I designed the shoes with the Common Projects guys. It’s just something I thought would work well with the collaboration. It’s also in the general spectrum of what I like in color at the moment. Beautiful off-neutrals, with a little pop to play off. It makes these jewel tones feel more special. I thought it would work really well with the Lululemon collab.
It does. It almost feels like a collaboration within a collaboration inception.
RG: Ha ha.
Maybe we’re all in a collaboration right now.
RG: We kind of are, actually.
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