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40-min brainpicking HELIOT EMIL™ Julius Juul: Danish avant-garde narrative finding balance between industrial and elegance.

40 minutes brainpicking HELIOT EMIL™Julius Juul

After majoring in communication and starting his professional career in advertising and design with brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Donda, Julius Juul got together with his brother Victor to create their own label — HELIOT EMIL™ .

“I was fascinated with this idea that you can create with an artform and showcase it through who you are and what you're wearing and that your personal attire and what you wear sort of send certain signals about who you are and what you're about.”

METCHA - HELIOT EMIL - Julius Juul - Julius Juul creative director and co-founder of HELIOT EMIL wearing leather pieces

Named after their great-grandfather, their unisex, ready-to-wear collections feature Scandinavian, monochromatic aesthetics that bring forward thought-provoking and detail-oriented designs.

“Small little details can change the entire setup and the entire look of a garment.”

METCHA - HELIOT EMIL - Julius Juul - clothes and leather pieces by HELIOT EMIL

In charge of all creative aspects of the company, Julius tries to push the boundaries on innovation, exploring, with each new collection, different technologies, aesthetics, and authenticity.

“We like to always experiment with finding the perfect balance of industrial elegance. So, we take something that's very industrial and very raw like leather and, then, combine it with something that's a bit more elegant, like tailoring or suiting. Seeing how you can balance those two and create interesting products with those two concepts in mind.”

METCHA - HELIOT EMIL - Julius Juul - a woman wearing clothes and leather pieces by HELIOT EMIL

Recently, we had the opportunity to have a 40-min, deeply insightful chat with the Co-Founder and Creative Director about his BG, experimentations, and process. Check out next our featured moments, and we hope you get inspired.

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METCHA - HELIOT EMIL - Julius Juul - a woman wearing clothes and leather pieces by HELIOT EMIL

Before all your work, what drew you to enter the creative industry?

I always liked to create different things and I think that sparked a very big interest in creating films and things that people could use in a certain way. So, if there was like, logos or packaging, or t-shirts, or designs, or something like that – something that people could show what they were about through. And I think that led me to think that the way to do that was through advertising and that sort of energy only exists within advertising. That people captured an energy and translated that through either the product or a voice, or a story, or something like that.

But simultaneously to that interest, I was also very fascinated by the fashion industry. And I was very fascinated by the idea that the fashion industry is sort of an overlap between a basic product that people need, just clothes in general, and a means of expressing a certain art form. So, I was fascinated with that and, culturally, Denmark is not a place where people really go crazy or go all-out, in sort of like, energy. Everyone's very, you know, down to earth and very rational, I would say. So, it's not a place where you really experiment with a lot of different things.

And I think that's why also I was very quickly fascinated by looking outwards. I moved to New York when I was 21 and I worked in the advertising industry for a while there. And then transcended into working in the fashion industry and working for some different names in New York. And sort of grew more of an understanding of what need to be in the fashion industry and what kind of roles are involved.

METCHA - HELIOT EMIL - Julius Juul - leather accessories by HELIOT EMIL

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METCHA - HELIOT EMIL - Julius Juul - a man wearing leather accessories by HELIOT EMIL

Where do you start creating? Is it an idea, a material, a mood?

It's important to stay agile, especially if you want to be innovative and if you want to be seen as someone who's at the forefront of what's happening. You can't say like, "Oh, we have to start with fabrics," or "Oh, we have to start with the concept." You have to be open. Things might change, you know, three years from now, we might all be in the metaverse and saying, "Wow, remember when we had Fashion Week?" You just have to sort of think about it as an abstract form, you can't say that there's one specific waterfall method that fits all situations. And that's the situation, you know? The situation is that there's no situation.

METCHA - HELIOT EMIL - Julius Juul - a man wearing leather accessories by HELIOT EMIL

You use leather in an innovative way in the tailoring universe you are creating. How does this material work for you? For your construction, your tailor-making, your experimentation.

I think it's always interesting to innovate on product categories. And I feel like tailoring is super interesting because it's such a craftsmanship feel. There are so many details that are very specific about tailoring. Small little details that can change the entire setup and the entire look of a garment. Like, just how it's fused, or how the breakpoints are, how it's sort of like manipulated or constructed throughout the entire piece is so important for the expression of the piece.

So, for me, tailoring is particularly interesting because it also has sort of a reputation, or a history of being the pinnacle or the ultimate product category, right? And being able to innovate on something like tailoring is very interesting because there are so many things that you can do. It's hard to innovate on let's say, a hoodie, a t-shirt, or sweatpants, something like that. There's not much to work with, but once you start working with tailoring and these types of categories, I think there's way more that you can innovate and touch upon.

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METCHA - HELIOT EMIL - Julius Juul - a woman wearing leather accessories by HELIOT EMIL

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METCHA - HELIOT EMIL - Julius Juul - a man wearing leather accessories by HELIOT EMIL

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METCHA - HELIOT EMIL - Julius Juul - a couple wearing leather accessories by HELIOT EMIL

And then, obviously, there’s using different materials like leather, understanding how leather works, understanding how you construct with leather, and understanding how you construct with different materials in general. Like, what is the difference between constructing with some that's like very stiff wool felt-like fabric, versus doing something that is very soft, polycotton thing, you know.

And how the product reacts to your choices throughout. I think that's where it gets very interesting: When you can combine different layers throughout the whole process, and sort of see the impact that it has in the end. And then obviously, I mean, we like to always experiment with finding the perfect balance of industrial elegance. So, taking something that's very industrial and very raw. Typically leather would be seen as more of like, a raw product. And then combining it with something that's a bit more elegant, like tailoring or suiting. And then seeing how those two, how you can balance those two and create interesting products with those two concepts in mind. Having something that's industrial and something that's very elegant. And that's sort of like, a principle that's running through the entire collection and the entire brand aesthetic in general.

HELIOT EMIL™ is recognized worldwide for its avant-garde fashion and vision. But what does this recognition mean for you?

You know, ideally, I would want to not have an ego about what I do, but in the end, I'm hoping to satisfy my own ego when I do something. So, it's not like I do it for a certain aesthetic, or a certain thing that's like, not my own. It's really what I think it's cool to do, and what I think it's the right thing to do. So that other people are recognizing it, it's super valuable and really appreciated. But in the end, I'm 100% doing it for myself. In the sense that I'm the one I'm trying to please, you know? Like, I'm not trying to please someone else's opinion, I'm hoping to please my own opinion. And I think that's also a valuable lesson for people to learn. You can't run around trying to please everyone or someone other than yourself ‘cause it's not gonna come across as authentic and people aren't gonna appreciate it because they'll know that they are the ones that are being spoken to.