An Irrational Element

 An Irrational Element’s Einfühlung 1/3

 An Irrational Element is just over 3 years old now and in its existence there has not been an explicit explanation about the origins of the name, philosophy and used methodologies. In journal posts there are references to the methodologies and An Irrational Element’s body of thought, though there is no magnified coverage explaining where its name derives from and why it is the driving force behind the brand. In this triptych the aim is to paint a clearer picture of An Irrational Element’s visions.

On the ‘About’ page you find a quote that is at the heart of An Irrational Element and reads as follows:

 'My view of the matter, for what it is worth, is that there is no such thing as a logical method of having new ideas, or a logical reconstruction of this process. My view may be expressed by saying that every discovery contains an ‘irrational element,’ or 'a creative intuition,’ in Bergson’s sense. In a similar way Einstein speaks of the 'search for those highly universal laws … from which a picture of the world can be obtained by pure deduction. There is no logical path.’ he says, 'leading to these … laws. They can only be reached by intuition, based upon something like an intellectual love (Einfühlung) of the objects of experience.’

 This is a quote from Karl R. Popper’s book ‘The Logic of Scientific Discovery’ and part of the quote can also be found on An Irrational Element’s hand stamped clothing labels. The lesson of this quote is to be rational and irrational when aiming to create anything new. Sometimes a more rational approach is required and other times a more irrational approach, there is no right or wrong there. Popper is also well known for his openness and wanting people to try and test even if mistakes are made, trial and error. New mistakes could lead to new answers and that is why it could not hurt to just try. These are all key ingredients to An Irrational Element’s creations and it could be said that they are the cornerstones.

An Irrational Element’s design philosophy, the irrational and rational

Here we also touch on An Irrational Element’s methodology of using intuition and reason in the design process. Firstly a part based on intuition; I digest colors, shapes, art, nature, books, people, music, sports and so on to conjure my intuition into making me feel like creating certain items using certain fabrics. The intuition which you could call the irrational part of the process is all over the place and never predictable. My choice for fabrics is mostly based on intuition and only later will I reason if the fabric will also make sense in a practical way, my luck here is that in some cases intuition already takes care of everything and my reasoning only has to agree with my intuition. To return to Popper’s quote wherein he describes the German word ‘einfühlung’ as ‘intellectual love’ although it could also be translated to ‘feeling into’ or ‘with feeling’ and exactly this word has the capacity to describe my irrational decision making.

Then there is the rational part wherein I order myself to oblige to certain directions that fit within the world of An Irrational Element. This reasoning helps create a framework to reference.

Interchangeability has the power to shift a garment’s purpose

Firstly in this framework is the trial and error part, which I view mostly as a personal research and starts with taking an existing An Irrational Element style and modify it. To produce a garment you would need patterns, they can be see as its blueprint. What interests me most is the influence a fabric has on the pattern. If the pattern stays the same although the choice of fabric would change, what would happen? Distinguishing differences occur, the garment its shape, sturdiness and feel would change. An item that first would be very stiff and hard to break in is now soft and stretchy, the look and feel has changed.

If, for example, we take 2 ‘x’ trousers and for the first a ramie fabric is used and for the second a moleskin fabric, the differences between the 2 trousers can be noticed straight away. The moleskin x trouser would be uncomfortable to wear during periods of intense warmth though comfortable during colder periods while the ramie version offers coolness and comfort and might be suited for most times except the really cold ones (though this is all relative as there are hundreds of moleskin and ramie fabric types and it all comes down to their individual characteristics determining its usability). The change of fabric seems minor and calling it a research might be a bit much, though it makes a difference and tells you that even though the pattern for a garment remains the same the fabric has a leading role in shifting and depicting its purpose and image.

With this sentiment in each collection existing styles return in new fabrications and alterations are made when necessary.

Collections as a cohesive story

 Moving on to another important aspect within the creation of garments. What is important to An Irrational Element is the continuity of cohesion in collections, the collections are as chapters in a big book. Each chapter stands on its own while simultaneously being part of a cohesive story resonating with all other chapters. The aim is to create collections that are intermixable within the An Irrational Element realm even and outside of that realm. The wearer has its own story and I only feel lucky every time An Irrational Element becomes a character in that story.

Openness in wearing An Irrational Element garments

Lastly, for this first journal post about An Irrational Element’s background while being zeroed in on the design methodology, is the importance of openness in wearability. When designing the very first collections a lot of buckles were used to have a sense of adjustability as to shape a garment to the liking of each individual. Adjustability is still used and expanded while also looking more to shapes fitting more (body) types. Garments by An Irrational Element have a purpose of bringing out the personal style of the wearer, there will be no one in this world wearing item ‘x’ like you are wearing it. Multiple items even encourage wearers to personalize it, there are natural colored items such as the Camera Coat and Artist Shirt that are ready to be dyed, painted on customized in any other way. It adds to what I believe is personality and what we coin as style. So what I’m basically trying to say is to just have fun with it and pick items that resonate with you mentally and physically.

In the 2nd installment of this serie I will talk more about Karl Popper’s influence and how it impacts the research within the brand.