Achilles Ion Gabriel, the surrealist from Camper: "I don't make shoes for museums, but for people"

By the time this article is published, it is likely that Achilles Ion Gabriel (Finland, 35 years old) will look different from the one shown in the photos.

During our first meeting, in the Parisian

of Camper, the brand he leads, he almost looked like a modern Antinous: Balenciaga shorts;

loose-fitting T-shirt over that elongated and youthful figure that characterizes him;

sturdy blue clogs designed by himself and sandy blond hair, tousled as if she had just returned from the beach.

Two weeks later, he was seen on Instagram wearing a sharp bowl dyed fluorescent green, almost the same shade as the bottom of the cow-print loafers in the current Camperlab collection.

Anyone who has followed Gabriel long enough – online or through the shoe line that bears his name, Ion – knows that this designer changes his style with the ease of the seasons.

Hair more than anything, but he also plays with his oversized, colorful wardrobe or his double-breasted suits.

“I don't take myself too seriously, so I'm not obsessed with looking good,” he smiles.

The resulting image is what a friend described as a

, but he has been well received in his offices: so much so that he has even surprised him.

“Even the most conservative have loved it.

The rest just pretend not to see that I have green hair, ”he laughs.

Camper has also undergone changes in three years with Gabriel as creative director: first of Camperlab, the experimental line of the Spanish firm, in 2019, and from the following year, of the entire brand.

The Finn's vision is optimistic and unconventional, something that, together with his deep faith in the multiple possibilities of what a pair of shoes is and can be, makes him the ideal complement for a firm that has marked several generations of national clients, but also from abroad, and that contributed to the modernization of our country.

The creative director of Camper wears a Dolce&Gabbana jacket, Boss pants and tie, and a D'heygere necklace.

Schmid Challenge

Achilles Ion Gabriel captures his life in his creations: his education in Finland, professional training in Paris, the new life in Camper's native Mallorca... Since he arrived, there has been a palpable change.

Is it possible a design reduced to its minimum expression and, at the same time,

?

Even exaggerated?

In Gabriel's work there is no embellishment beyond the finishing of the surfaces: his skill is to add maverick ideas on basic styles.

His Traktori clogs, for example, have vulcanized, welted toes and lugged, slightly playful soles.

They almost look like the slim sister to Crocs.

This fall, he will present the Tossu, a sustainable Camperlab sneaker made up of an internal sock and injection-molded recyclable panels.

The unisex collection is inspired by the world of the office, now that it seems we are back: a very specific blue reminds us of a shirt;

orange, to stationery, and there is a pattern created from crumpled papers.

He doesn't lack humour.

"The office is the central axis, yes, but, starting from there, let's have a little fun and capture what comes out," explains Gabriel.

The position at Camper is his first office job, or as office- like as an office in

can be, away from the noise of an urban center.

“I love working here, but at the same time, I'm dying to get out,” he admits.

He moved to Mallorca during the pandemic, into a remote home featured in the June 2021 ICON Design issue: spacious and packed with art, eclectic furnishings and oversized plants.

Now he has moved with his partner, Romain, to another, also in the middle of the field but with a pool.

His arrival at the Mallorcan firm began with an informal coffee in Paris.

By then, he had occasionally collaborated with firms such as Marni, Sunnei, Marimekko, Études or Esteban Cortázar, and he imagined that they called him for the same thing.

That talk came to nothing.

But the next morning, Gabriel received an invitation to Mallorca and, after a tour of the headquarters, he was offered the position.

He didn't say yes right away, but he always intended to accept.

“I saw a lot of possibilities,” he recalls.

“His aesthetic of him allows you to use many colors and show volumes.

In addition, having his own workshop... he wanted to work like this and not with the hustle and bustle of the self-employed ”.

By joining the workforce, he thought, he could have a bigger and more lasting impact than as a contributor.

It might even end up encompassing brand identity: the fashion world loves a reinvention.

But, he immediately clarifies, that could not be the only objective.

“There is no doubt that part of my job is to be innovative, but at the same time, I find myself unexpectedly commercial.

I like that combination.

I don't make shoes for museums, but for real people”, he explains.

Balenciaga jacket, pants and boots, Boss shirt and tie and D'heygere earrings.Reto Schmid

He also acknowledges that Camperlab allows him more room for maneuver than on the main line and, therefore, that he maintains a certain distance with this second line.

“What I bring to the table is obviously something very personal, but I don't design for myself.

I am at the service of the company, ”he explains.

This service includes having restored Camper's international relevance –in design, innovation in materials and sustainability–, while at the same time adjusting to an offer that can reach a thousand different styles.

The commercial imperative of your assignment cannot be ignored.

“It is my responsibility to keep the business running,” he declares.

So far, the numbers are going well.

The house expects to close 2022 with an approximate growth in net sales of 25% compared to last year.

This growth is 8% compared to 2019, the year before the pandemic.

Gabriel grew up in a remote area of ​​northern Finland, near the city of Rovaniemi (pop. 61,000).

His mother, a sculptor, launched a tombstone business hoping to find a constant market (Gabriel remembers that

next to his house: almost a fake cemetery).

For the shoot he chose a mythical name.

When Gabriel presented his brand in 2012, he considered playing with it, but ended up opting for Ion.

"It would be tacky to make shoes and have the name Achilles," he agrees.

Before entering the world of shoemaking, he considered becoming an architect.

“I had no clear destination.

I was very interested in fashion and then I got hooked on shoes, ”he recalls.

At first, the technical aspects seemed “super boring”, but they were necessary to get to where he is today.

"It's not impossible to manage without them, but it would be very difficult for me to come up with something new or to organize the team if I didn't know what I was talking about."

During one of those classes, Camper was naturally talked about.

"I thought they were pretty crazy, actually, but it was crazy cute, and I like nothing better than crazy cute."

His interpretation, he maintains, brings "joy", with some Scandinavian influence.

“I can't help it;

without a doubt the Scandinavian is present in the most minimalist or accessible parts of the design”.

But he is determined to absorb the color and character of Mallorca: the Traktori, for example, he describes as the "surreal shoes a farmer might wear."

means farmer in Majorcan.

Wear Camper shoes and Y/Project pants and Coperni.Reto Schmid jacket

Gabriel hopes that his company will be associated not only with a certain audacity, but also with his extreme respect for the environment.

"Back in the 90s they had a campaign that said: 'If you don't need it, don't buy it', which was something daring for a brand back then."

Lorenzo Fluxà founded Camper in 1975 inspired by the production of handmade but mechanized footwear started in 1877 by his grandfather Antonio.

Miguel Fluxà, who today runs the company, recently received the B Corp certification, the highest level independent standard for social and environmental performance.

Gabriel supervises a group of between 50 and 60 people, between the design studio and the technical team.

He has also built a close circle that includes the artistic director Emanuela Amato and the brand director Lauri Kopio.

Together, they develop the realistic yet ambitious vision for present and future collections.

He hints that a clothing raid is underway.

“It will not be for next season.

We have seen fantastic prototypes, but for a shoe brand to move to clothing is very complicated, and it must make sense, ”he announces.

Any designer, from any discipline, can name something they would like to have designed.

For Gabriel, the answer is easy: Crocs.

His inescapable ugliness fascinates her, almost as much as the fact that they are shoes that "anyone can wear, from a doctor to someone in the fashion world."

That is, to some extent, their goal with Camper: to be accessible across demographics, career orientations, and personal styles.

And this brings us back to this season's collection and its ironic connotations.

Gabriel feels that he has found a good balance between work and leisure time.

On the island, she leads a quiet life: with designer Michelle Elie and Rossy de Palma as neighbors, she faces fewer temptations to buy herself fads (hence why she picked up an olive green Prada bag during her visit to Paris).

He does frequent the market and goes to Cala de Moro at seven in the morning.

His priority is clear.

With the fall collection in stores and the preview for spring 2023 seen by the editors, Gabriel finalizes the designs for 2024. What will the world be like then?

"I do not know",

reply.

“But we will still need shoes.”

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