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Hupfeld Hoerder
From Fijitimes Online (Sunday, 28 January 2007) Hupfeld wears fashion design career with ease LOCAL designer Hupfeld Hoerder is one of those people who seem to have a career that's made to fit. At 35 years old, Hupfeld has made a name for himself in the local fashion industry. His hand-painted designs are distinctly unique, eye catching and simply Hupfeld. He has always had an artistic flair. In school, while he often doodled in class during certain subjects, he would put all his energy into art classes. "I would only concentrate in art and I remember during physics class, there were two of us who would just draw instead of listening. "I attended Veiuto Primary and Suva Grammar Schools and after that I went to the Fiji Institute of Technology catering school where I am teaching now." Apart from teaching at FIT, he also tutors at the University of the South Pacific and in between all that, still finds time to design and make outfits. "It's a busy schedule, that's why I'm making the most of my holiday," he laughed. Family Hupfeld is the second of four children. Used to people finding his name peculiar, he takes it all in his stride and often finds himself explaining the origins of his name. The Hoerders are descendants of a German merchant who was based in Levuka. And funnily enough, Hupfeld was the surname of another German family who also lived here in the colonial era. "Hupfeld like Hoerder is a German surname. My great grandfather was a merchant here and he operated from Levuka. He was the first German consul here," Hupfeld said. "And Hupfeld was another family but they were related. They both worked at Vatukoula so when they left for Australia, they didn't want us to lose the names." Because his family name was already Hoerder, he was thus named Hupfeld just so the names wouldn't be lost. "So when people say to me, 'What a peculiar name', I just tell them, 'Well it's a surname'." Hupfeld's mother is from Malhaha in Rotuma. Despite their German roots, the Hoerders consider themselves Rotumans first and foremost. Last year, the Hoerders of Germany came to meet their Fiji relatives and this year, Hupfeld plans to reciprocate the visit. Inspiration Hupfeld gets his inspiration from anything and everything but especially from nature. "Inspiration comes from anything, like nature. A lot of my work is based on natural things and if you look at my work without really being told that it is my work, you'll know straightaway that it's my work. "When you say inspiration, that's interesting since I think that every artist has to be original because once you copy someone else's work then that's not your work. "A lot of people who come to fashion shows would know immediately that an outfit is mine even before it is announced. "Because the basis of my inspiration comes from vibrant colours and the underlying theme is the Pacific theme." Hupfeld says just by looking at his designs, one can tell he is from the Pacific. "Like whether I handprint them or sew things on them like magimagi or things from the trees or fibres from the bark of the tree or things like that." These things, he says are symbolic of Pacific Island cultures. To add some spice to his work, he merges symbols from different cultures to set his designs apart from others. Designing Hupfeld started designing when he was 20 years old. He has a steady list of clients and then there are those who come now and then, to have him design something special for them. One of his most devoted clients, as mentioned last week, is the Interim Minister for Labour, Tourism and Environment, Bernadette Rounds-Ganilau. Hupfeld says Mrs Rounds-Ganilau has been with him from the start and is always loyal--a fact largely due to their friendship and his peerless designs. "I have been designing for the last 15 years now and have a steady list of clientele and it's better like that." That means he knows exactly what his clients want. "It's not what I want but you decide from what the market wants, I mean I want to expand and you have to have money to do that," he says. Hupfeld is currently turning his attention to bridal wear away from the time-consuming task of making everyday clothes. He operates from his home. He says the time taken to complete an outfit depends on the design and the material. "If it's a wedding dress which needs a lot of detailing, embroidery and all that, it can probably take me two to three weeks or over a month. "And a normal evening dress can take me about three or four days because I come back from work and do it. I work over the weekends." So, his normal schedule is going to school during the day (to teach of course) and when he gets back home, he works on orders from clients. At times, these keep him up until the wee hours of the morning. But Hupfeld doesn't let his all-nighters affect his work and his students don't even know that he may have stayed up the night before. "I make sure that it doesn't affect my work. My parents see the light on in my room and they know that I'm working." While that may seem like too much for some, Hupfeld has learnt to cope because he was pretty much doing the same thing while he was studying. "Even my friends from Grammar used to ask how I coped but the thing is when I first started designing and entering those awards, I was running my dance group, going to school and doing this all at the same time." Because he was able to cope then, he knew that he would be able to handle the load and has been doing so for a few years now. "I always take it for granted that people would say that (admiration on how he coped) but the way I think of it is that it is really time management. "However I wouldn't say that it was easy." Like with most artists, inspiration comes to Hupfeld at the oddest of times like when he's asleep, relaxing or doing something. To keep the idea fresh, he jots it down. As a designer, he has to be brutally honest with some clients who want dresses straight out of a fashion magazine regardless of whether the style will suit them or not. "The main thing is that some girls look at magazines and they think, 'Wow, Naomi Campbell looks nice there and I want to look like her'. But I have to be honest with them. "I don't like to make them think that they will look like that because they will never look like that and so I'll just be straight up with them. "That's an important aspect with customers, you just have to be straight up with them." Likes and dislikes Hupfeld teaches Hospitality Management at FIT and never fails to remind his students of the importance of marketing. That basically means telling customers what suits them best. "The thing is they have to trust your recommendation. "I have about 20 steady clients but in between this, you have people coming in because I also send wedding dresses overseas. "Some people send me the measurements and I send it (completed outfit) over and sometimes adjustments are done there (overseas) because I do it loosely." He recently returned from a course in Singapore and found it a lovely place apart from being cheap and having affordable attractions for a designer. Hupfeld doesn't have a particular fabric of preference but likes to work with a lot of plain materials. He said while buying fabrics at a factory outlet, everyone else was looking at all the different colours whereas he went for the plain coloured material. "On the basic colours, I handprint or I put things on. I'm like that kind of person I don't like to buy a fabric that has everything on it because I like creating these things and saying that's my design." Apart from his designing, Hupfeld does some painting (as in pictures) but his greatest love at the moment is hand painting clothes. "The time taken to complete an outfit depends on the designs on it, if it is very elaborate it may take three days because it has to dry over and we have to paint over that. "I've done a lot of stuff for Bernadette (Rounds-Ganilau) and some of it I've forgotten and then when I see it, I think, 'Oh wow, I did that'." Patience is a virtue Designing, as Hupfeld tells it, takes quite a bit of patience. "It can be stressful too sometimes but you can't hurry your work, especially if you are going to carry out something unique because people can always see a rushed job." Apart from that, he has a lot of encouragement from his parents and close friends. "Bernadette has always had that confidence in me and from then, I started making her clothes. She would wear them to the Miss South Pacific pageant, overseas conferences and would always promote my clothes overseas. "And she was one person who really encouraged me a lot. "I had a lot of very close school friends who believed in me but anything I do, she would say, 'Huppy I believe in you'. "And when somebody says that, it really gives you the confidence. Even before a competition, if you don't win something but someone believes in you, it'll make you have the drive to excel." Word of his designs has travelled far and wide and former school mates living overseas have often emailed him in admiration of his work and his status as a renowned designer. "I'm still the same person, I'm very lucky that my parents and family support me very much in every way. And anything they see (for his designs), they get for me," he said. Words of wisdom Hupfeld is of the opinion that those with a talent for designing should be encouraged to pursue those talents. He said some young designers had lost interest because they had been told that designing wouldn't put food on the table. He said while the logic could be understood, those with such talents should be encouraged to expand on their talents. Sometimes, he has been asked to talk to some of these young people because they lacked confidence and needed motivation. "And because they lack the motivation, they're not encouraged to go to the edge. "The other thing is that they need to believe in themselves because if you feel that you can do it than you can, nothing can stop you," he said. In his particular field, Hupfeld is up against females and doesn't find that to be a hindrance. Hupfeld says designing in Fiji is very conservative but he doesn't let that get to him. And he has relied a lot on divine guidance saying that when you ask God for something, He will give it to you but only if you really deserve it. "So anything, I want, I ask God and he gives it. It's like that and I even share my experiences with my students." Awards His designs have gained recognition and he has won accolades for them. In 2005, he won the Fiji Development Bank awards, in addition to the Red Cross and Wella Fashion Designer Awards. In total, he has won about 20 awards but for him, the highest achievement has been the FDB Awards. "My highest achievement has been in terms of fashion designing, the FDB Awards because I didn't just win the premiere awards. "You win the premiere and the business awards like the small business awards and I never knew because I was the last entrant. "I won the handicraft award and accessories, and guess why they put me in the handicraft because I don't only do designing, I go into painting and accessories like that and I won the Young Entrepreneur because you have to be 35 years and under and the first year I was 34 years. "The highlight would be the that award and then I won the South Pacific Games uniform and the uniform for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, so right from 2000, any team that has left the country they wear my designs on their uniforms." Another highlight was winning the premiere Red Cross Fashion Awards. "So I mean when I look at it, it's like an achievement because I've won major awards, I've won other ones but those are the major ones." |
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