De Pino Is For The Dreamers, Pop Divas, & Very Soon, You

Picture this: You are on the last day of a whirlwind Couture Week in June 2024. A then-unknown designer, Gabriel Figueiredo of De Pino, is presenting his off-schedule debut ready-to-wear collection. You sit down for the runway, and the opening looks are what seem to be Balenciaga Fall/Winter 2006 pieces, recreated down to the hats, but blown up in proportion, like Nicolas Ghesquière was making custom pieces for giants. Suddenly, “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga starts playing, and the Balenciaga homages turn into Prada and Maison Margiela references, all in the freakishly large style Figueiredo has now made his signature. If you thought you were being punked, that is exactly the point: De Pino is, in the words of his “North Star” Lady Gaga, not afraid to reference or not reference.

In an age when everything is a copy of a copy of a copy, with reboots, capsule collections, and celebrity style all stuck in permanent homage, De Pino is both a fun jab at our obsession with the past and a deadly serious way for Figueiredo to pay respects to his fashion icons. Born outside of Paris, Figueiredo came to love fashion like any zillennial gay with Internet access: watching clips of Britney Spears, Gaga, and of course, fashion shows, then experiencing it all IRL when he first went to the infamous Parisian concept store Colette and fashion-people raves. It wasn’t easy to access, which was part of the allure, he tells NYLON: “I liked this idea of needing to dig into it to access it. Once you’re in it, you feel like you belong to something special.”

The “something special” he loved were specific people (Carine Roitfeld, about whom he says: “I’m doing everything for her, actually”) and specific collections, like Balenciaga Fall/Winter 2006 and Prada Fall/Winter 2008, which he honored through his debut. Roitfeld was a jumping-off point for his second collection, “Skinny Jeans,” which focused on the b*tchy Y2K aesthetic of French fashion editors and girls-about-town that defined an era for him. His clear love for women and fashion’s most referential depths have made him a talent to watch; with just three collections under his belt, Figueiredo is up for the LVMH Prize, where he was just announced as one of nine finalists alongside Colleen Allen, Lii, and Julie Kegels.

The business aspect of fashion might, at first glance, seem like more of a chore for the dreamer in Figueiredo, but he actually expresses excitement around figuring out how to make his larger-than-life runway and editorial ideas into realities for, say, the average Net-A-Porter customer: “If you can influence the way people dress, it’s super powerful.”

Below, Figueiredo talks to NYLON about always remaining inspired — and not being afraid to directly show it — plus his current muses and the Carine of our generation.

I love the “Skinny Jeans” collection. It feels of a different time but also looking toward the future of fashion. Tell me specifically about that collection and what drew you to the skinny-leg silhouette.

My first show was a reference to shows and collections that shaped my vision of fashion. For the following collection, I wanted to pay homage to the wardrobe of fashion editors or the people in the industry during this time. It was a lot of Carine Roitfeld and fashion editors of that time, and this specific silhouette that is sexy, but in a specific way.

You love fashion, but you love music too. Getting Michel Gaubert to do the music for your first show is a fashion lover’s dream come true.

Yeah, totally. It also created a link with this show I loved. There were a lot of references from this Balenciaga show from 2006 in my first show, and Michel did the music of that show. It made everything really more relevant.

Lady Gaga wore a piece from that collection after you plated “Poker Face” on the runway, so that felt like a full-circle moment too.

Yeah. During the process with David [Siwicki, his public relations,] and with Joel [Traptow, his stylist], we were speaking a lot about Lady Gaga. She was not the inspiration of the collection, but she was there all the time. We were speaking about her, speaking about her music. I was listening to The Fame while working on this collection. It was really fun that she wore a look from this collection.

It’s a different side of the Y2K revival; it’s super fashion-y. I love that Adéla just wore the hat from your latest collection. She feels like someone in that universe. Are there any other musicians that speak to you the way Gaga does?

I really like Addison Rae too. I mean, the thing is now they’re referencing Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, and other pop stars, which is great because I was a huge Britney fan when I was a child, so it speaks to me. I was young at that time, but Lady Gaga, when she came, she was unique. It’s been a while since we’ve seen pop stars having a real interesting aesthetic and visuals. It’s always been an inspiration for fashion, so it goes together. It’s nice to do these pieces through the shows and the materials, but it’s nice if someone wears it. It needs to be someone like Adéla or Addison, because otherwise, who would wear it?

You are up for the LVMH Prize; it was just announced that you’re a finalist. What do you see for the future of your brand?

For now, the collections are small, and I’m on my own. The most difficult thing is being alone, so having a team would be the biggest and the most helpful step. That’s why you do all of this also: to share it with other people and to share your process.

It’s also important for me to think about what kind of business I want. These are very important questions, and the LVMH Prize forces you to think about it. You look back at everything you did, and you think of what you want to do next. You’re not always thinking about it when you’re doing a new collection. During the semifinal, you need to explain your brand, and sometimes you need to explain it in one minute. It was super helpful to train and think how I could explain my brand in one sentence, because that’s how you realize “OK, this is what I’m doing.” It’s complex, but at the end of the day, it’s also one thing. So it was helpful to figure out what the brand is and how it is seen.

What were the most important points you wanted to get across to the judges?

It was this mix and duality between a very sophisticated Parisian world and something super fun, a bit silly, and conceptual. What I want to show is that you can be both worlds. You can be super sophisticated, super sexy, mysterious, Parisian, but still a bit goofy and fun. It goes together. Elegance and sophistication can meet this more fun world.

The fun is evident, for me and other fans. Is there anyone on your bucket list of who you want to dress?

My star is Carine Roitfeld. I’m doing everything for her, actually. She was the only LMVH Prize judge I was waiting for; I hope she will make it for the finale. For me, she represents the contrast between this mysterious, sexy, sophisticated character that can be quite intimidating — this super dark, sexy fashion editor — but when you see her, she’s always smiling in pictures. She’s super joyful, she looks reachable. For me, it’s the essence of how I see fashion. Even Gaga, at the beginning was into this fancy, conceptual character, but a bit goofy at the same time. This is a mix I like.

Everybody you’ve mentioned takes their work seriously, and that allows them to play once they get into it. We’re not curing cancer here. We’re having fun with clothes.

I also love Dara Allen. Dara is kind of the new Carine for me. She gets this sophisticated, fancy, almost like a caricature of the fashion editor. People from outside of fashion would think of a fashion editor this way, but it’s not like a protection or a mask some fashion editors wear to be unapproachable. She does it because she wants to have fun as Carine does. She was at the LMVH Prize, and we met. She’s really inspiring for me. She’s a character, and the way she dresses — the way she’s super fancy — nobody else is dressed like this now. Everybody’s super casual. In fashion, we need those people who are put together and represent fashion as a character.

She lives that life. I loved when she wore your finale gown to the BoF 500 Gala with the yellow hair. She encapsulates a lot of what the brand is about. It’s interesting that you bring up everybody being so casual, because your clothes are effortful. They take up space. I’m interested to see you navigate making “everyday pieces” and bringing it to retail.

That’s quite an exciting challenge for me also. It’s easy to do a showpiece, but then to translate it into something that people want to wear and still keep the same vibe, it’s challenging but exciting. I don’t want to do only showpieces or custom looks. When I was a teenager, I would go to Colette or some parties, and it was inspiring to see what they were wearing and how they were dressing. It’s not only the shows, the editorials, and the celebrities, but also people and the way they dress. If you can influence the way people dress, it’s super powerful.

Brands and designers that I like, it was not only about shows. It was also the way people were seeing themselves in the clothes. The shows were crazy, but there was a silhouette people could reproduce in a simpler way because it was super fancy, sophisticated dresses. Because the silhouette was quite unique, you could also reproduce only with a sweater and a pair of skinny jeans and feel like you’re part of this. This side is also super important to me.