5 Minutes With... Martina Langer
It took Martina Langer a long time to stop believing in magic – and one suspects that belief has never quite melted away. The jewellery designer-turned-advertising creative has a whimsical eye for beauty in the most unexpected places and it’s enough to leave you convinced that the world still has room for a little fairy dust. Perhaps it’s a result of her magical childhood in Prague or perhaps it’s her years of experience working with clever, luxury brands but Martina’s got an affinity with the details and subtleties that transform something from standard to special. LBB’s Laura Swinton caught up with the Leagas Delaney creative director to talk luxury, jewellery and why naïve optimism has been key to her success.
LBB>Where are you from originally and what sort of child were you?
ML> I was born in Prague and my childhood was quite magical. My grandfather – an author and playwright in the Czech Republic - would conjure up surprises I had been spending months secretly wishing for, so I definitely believed he was a magician. I wasn’t dissuaded from thinking otherwise and these experiences had a big influence on me because I’ve never felt anything was impossible, which paved the way for my future. As a child I was determined, curious, independent and extremely happy to be doing things on my own, in my own imagination. I never got bored – ever.
LBB> You’ve worked on some real luxury beauty and fragrance brands – what sort of trends and directions are you seeing in this sector?
ML> Luxury brands are behaving in a much smarter way than their mainstream counterparts are. They are more playful, irreverent and appear to take themselves less seriously. Chanel does some really engaging and witty ideas online for their beauty ranges. What interests me is finding something different, new, unexpected and surprising.
La Labo, which I found in NYC, is quite intriguing, bespoke to a point. It’s one of those brands that is cleverly positioned to be ‘discovered’ which makes it all the more interesting. The smart thing is they mix your choice of fragrance for you fresh then print the label with your name, who mixed it and where, so you really have something that’s yours alone.
I bought their ‘Another 13’ fragrance - a collaboration with Jefferson Hack (of Another 13 magazine) – when it was a limited edition in Barney’s LA, and though no longer available except at Colette, Paris, if you have the original bottle you can have it refilled whenever you run out.
CB I Hate Perfume is truly bespoke. Christopher Brosius is a ‘nose’ in the traditional sense like the great ‘noses’ of the big French perfumers, but creates edgy “street” smells called Burning Leaves or Wet Pavement London. Again his thing is about word of mouth, of being ‘found’, rather than advertising in the traditional way.
LBB> On your blog you curate some really exquisite examples of design – what makes a piece of design catch your eye? (We strongly advise you spend sometime browsing Martina's excellent Tumblr).
ML> What catches my eye is something that is exquisitely crafted or pared down to the basic minimum to tell a story. Simplicity is far more difficult to do because there’s nowhere to hide errors so I’m always drawn and fascinated by that. I love a quiet kind of luxury – the things that only a certain eye will recognise as being so because they are so understated.
I like pieces that make me look at things differently and challenge my ideals. Questioning why I reject things is also a pretty interesting exercise and can make me fall in love with the oddest, most unexpected things!
LBB>You’ve designed jewellery for all sorts of brands. How did you get into jewellery design and what is it about jewellery that makes it a creative medium you love to work with?
ML> Getting into jewellery design was like the toss of a coin because there was no real thought about it. I have always loved typography, design and illustration, but at the same time I was always making things – even as a small child I was raiding my grandma’s boxes of silk, beads, stones etc.
When I applied to Central Saint Martins I had to decide – graphics or jewellery? Although I really enjoyed it there, I did find the jewellery design course a bit stifling because I like spontaneity. To work on one piece for six months was both commercially unrealistic and bored me. I also approached briefs in a pretty unorthodox manner. On one project, we were asked to draw what inspired us in our jewellery design so I did a series of oversize, crayon drawings of all my shoes - each for a different mood or adventure! It definitely perplexed a few tutors who were expecting the usual flowers and nature stuff. When I left I started designing fashion jewellery, which is a much more immediate thing, and if you make a mistake it’s not a financial disaster like working with precious metals. The most successful collection came about because I was going to a very grand birthday party and couldn’t afford the kind of dress I wanted to wear. So I bought some scarlet jersey fabric and made a big ‘rocket’ pin to hold it together at the back. A look that was so inexpensive to make was fun, and sexy to wear because of a piece of jewellery!
I ended up doing a whole collection on the back of that pin and selling it to Liberty’s and Harvey Nichols, as well as stores in NYC and LA.
LBB> How did you first get into advertising? Was it an industry you’d always wanted to work in, or was it more serendipitous?
ML> I was designing and selling my own jewellery to great stores here and in the USA, did work for the BBC and had pieces featured in Vogue and various other magazines and newspapers, all of which had been on my wish list.
But I was missing something in my work - the challenge I guess, because it all came too soon, was too easy. I was working part-time in a bar and these guys would come in every lunchtime, and we would chat. They worked in advertising and I thought what a great job - in 30 seconds you can change how someone sees a product or brand. One of them ended up showing me around DDB, and I knew I really wanted to work there one day, which I did.
From that point I became quite single minded. A jewellery store hired me to work in-house and the owner, because I guess she saw I had a good eye and lots of ideas, got me to work on concepts for a book of their collections – the results were irreverent, playful and witty stories despite the pieces being very expensive. From there, I helped develop her brand identity. A meeting with a design company who wanted to work with us turned into me asking them for a job, and I stayed there for a couple of years before moving into advertising.
The most important thing in my journey has been this kind of experience. When I have met the people that have given me these opportunities, it’s because they can see I’ve got passion and, I suppose guts. In the beginning though I did things without ever thinking they might not work out. I think my naivety definitely worked in my favour – but people just read it as confidence!
LBB> How would you characterise your creative process?
ML> I love getting a new brief – the challenges it presents, finding something new or unexpected but relevant to say.
I look for interesting angles that will make people view it in a fresh light. Ultimately, I’m very intuitive and rely on my own instinct to a degree - I create something I completely believe in. You’ve got to do that and love your work for other people to love it. And I always have a lot of fun working.
The aim is to try and help brands understand that if they step outside of their comfort zone, they can do great things. Consumers want to be excited, not bored - whether it’s a packet of crisps or chocolate or a fragrance. They want witty, smart – something that makes them want to buy that product. It’s even more important for brands that are ‘functional’ – sure, consumers’ need the reassurance that the stuff works, but if you strike the right balance you can be entertaining in the persuasion. A brave brand is seen as a confident brand and that’s a trait people are drawn to.
LBB> Who or what are your creative inspirations and why?
ML> People who follow their own heart and path and overcome barriers and are successful as a result of that. Some rebellious spirit is not only healthy, but also necessary. In general, people who break the rules for what they believe in aren’t doing it to make a point but because they want to create something better, push the boundaries, excite, surprise, challenge themselves as well as their audience. You have to be unafraid – what’s the worst thing that can happen, someone says ‘no’?
Inspiration comes from a mix of things - some that I have a long-term love for and others that are more fleeting: Alber Elbaz’ illustrations for Lanvin; the new Louis Vuitton Series 1 campaign; Constantin Brancusi who took sculpture to a new level; the Sunset Marquis in LA; Hermes because they are above fashion and work across all ages (they can be styled rock and roll or street or simply understated); the bar at the Hotel Costes after midnight. There’s a quote from Yasmin Reza who wrote ‘Art’ – "Nothing beautiful was ever created through rational argument" because ‘rational’ can only take you so far! The work of Paul Rand, the Parisian designers Kuntzel + Deygas, Pierre Soulages’ ‘black’ paintings and 4am anywhere in the world is quite a magic time.
I also like things that aren’t obvious as to why they are so special – a brown paper bag can be exquisite and desirable if treated in the right way and that’s what I love about the work I do.
LBB> Which recent advertising projects that you’ve been involved in have really excited you and why?
ML> I’ve been working on a number of projects – each one different but all waiting to go ‘live’, so I can’t say anything about them at the moment. But it has meant working on some great campaigns with new, young and talented photographers. Maud R-Lonvis in particular is very interesting. She takes the minimalist approach to a whole new level using angles, symmetry and clever lighting in an inventive and unexpected way. Discovering and working with new talent is very refreshing – it stops you getting too comfortable and keeps you on your toes!
LBB> The phrase ‘looking for fresh crumbs in a stale loaf’ really stood out in your bio – what’s the secret to being able to find a new perspective on something old?
ML> It’s about finding out as much as possible about a brand, about uncovering something that is relevant but unexpected and showing it in a way that is surprising and different. It’s about asking yourself if you can do more with what you know about a brand – have you pushed it far enough, have you explored everything? That’s my thing, really. It’s everything I do. To portray things in a way that changes established perceptions – that’s pretty exciting.
