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.
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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.