1. Who is Valentin Lessner and how would your friends/family describe you?
V.L.: Nothing if not a product of the bavarian hinterlands where I was born and grew up in, always in search for a personal, meaningful expression. I think (hopefully?!) My F&F would describe me as very ambitious and determined, but in a respectful way to my surrounding and the individuals that are close to my heart and that I work with.

2. What is the story behind this collection?
V.L.: My collection resurrectio (Ultra Ripam Alpina) is a personal confrontation about my bavarian roots and my personal tailoring family heritage in a contemporary context with the approach of giving back craftsmanship and human made artefacts a more significant meaning in todays fast paced society.

Aesthetically, I have been trying to create this visual universe uniting a lot of personal experiences and interests merging into more like an attitude or emotion, pretty much like a metal or hardcore concert in the bavarian alps – having on the one hand this romantic love to nature and idyllic kitsch contrasting with the aggressive constant change and adaption to contemporary progression, leading into a feeling of inner fragmentation between melancholic and nostalgic indulgence about the past and the desire for innovative development and evolution in the present and future.

3. What were the inspirations for your trims and headwear accessories?
V.L.: The idea for the caps comes actually from my grandmother, as she often wears fur hats in the winter that I aesthetically like. I wanted to have a more younger approach to it, and was focusing more on the shape of a 5-panel cap then – also deconstructing the cap in its main parts and then studding it back together, similar to how bavarian wooden clogs are made.

The balaclavas come originally from army archetypes, as I have a fable for military garments and their functionality. I wanted to give them a more fragile look, like a spider web, and luckily L&T was more then able to transform the idea into a final product.
For the trims it is pretty dull: I like metal (musicwise and materialwise). Everything else being build upon this has been just thinking about functionality, durability and finishing.

4. What led you to collaborating with L&T
V.L.: A coincidence. Like I was browsing on Premiere Vision in February as I was looking for a collaboration partner for trims & hardware. I heard about L&T before, but only had a vague idea of what is possible working together with you.

5. Now to keep it real, name a positive and an extra positive note on working with L&T ?
V.L.: When it comes to an idea, I am very demanding in terms of realizing it the best way possible, always reaching out for perfection. Sometimes I suppose it‘s not the easiest creations I come up with, but L&T from the beginning on always replied  “How high ?” when I kindly asked to jump.

Extra positive is that everything happens on a very friendly and respectful level, taking care also about the individual and not only about work which is not so common in the industry. I am very glad that they believed in me and my ideas, they have been really my divine saviours.

6. Last but not least; what do you want to be when you grow up ?
V.L.: I don‘t like to have the focus on me as a person, more on the work that the team and I are able to do. I would like to continue creating meaningful products in a responsible way, anything else is not defined yet.