Meet new womenswear Paris brand ‘Bankrobber’

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Congratulations on the launch of Bankrobber’s debut collection! What was the inspiration behind the name “Bankrobber,” and how does it reflect the brand’s identity?

We played around with lots of names at the beginning and there were a lot of contenders. Being very transparent about it, I think we were sitting around listening to The Clash song of the same name and we both said “Bankrobber”! So, it’s a little bit tongue in cheek. But after a while, the whole idea of a Bankrobber started to shape what we were doing. There’s being rebellious, notorious, even damned, if you like. And more than that, there’s this idea, which you get in a film like “Bonnie and Clyde” or even “Thelma and Louise”, that once you have broken the law, you become free. You’re on the run, you cannot rest; you have no home but you also don’t play by society’s rules anymore. The true meaning of the word outlaw. We hope you see that in the clothes. There should be a sense of transgression.

Your collection is described as embodying a “rebellious elegance.” Can you dive deeper into that concept and explain how you managed to blend simplicity with this sense of defiance and sophistication?

So, “rebellious elegance” comes from the ideas I listed above – from our name. If you look at the collection though, there is a sense of daring to those clothes. The other key factor in this collection is simplicity. To be simple is to be defiant, isn’t it? One of our main rules was to stay with black and white (which we didn’t quite stick to) as a colour. If you look at the design elements, if you look at the monochrome dresses, even Baby Face which is a leather dress, but has black graphic details on it, they are sophisticated, but with a real minimalism. Or that is what we tried to do. 

They are also unique. They are special pieces. It’s not a dress you find somewhere else. It could be a party dress. It’s a dress that stands out. So if you wear a Bankrobber dress, you’re unique. You have to have a certain character to wear it. It is not boring. Which is why we keep using these words like unique, bold, and elegant. It’s a statement piece.

The collection features sleek monochrome designs with thoughtful details. What are some of the key design elements or techniques that you used to ensure each piece stands out yet remains versatile?

What we do is start by researching fabrics like silk, leather, and high-quality viscose. These materials are usually quite plain when we begin. And then we transform them. We embellish these plain fabrics with rhinestones, cutouts, embroidery—you name it. We carefully select fabrics that are unique to our dresses. We have a deep love for detail, which you can see in every piece. The intricate details are what make each dress truly special and one of a kind.

You mentioned that the collection is small but special. Was there a deliberate decision to keep it limited, and how does that align with your brand’s long-term vision?

Back to being unique. We wanted to create a world with Bankrobber – but we also wanted to make sure that if you bought it, you are one of the few people to wear it. We don’t want to give numbers away, but these dresses are very, very limited. If you walk into a room wearing one, you will stand out and you will be the only one wearing it! It was always in our minds to do a limited edition collection. We’re more interested in seeing people wear them than selling tens of thousands. That just isn’t our goal.

How do you balance your artistic vision with the demands of the fashion industry, particularly in a time when trends can change so quickly?

Sabine has had over 20 years designing clothes for various brands. So she brings a lot of experience with her. The idea of doing something ourselves was to avoid the demands of the industry. We’re not affected by trends. We wanted to do something true to ourselves. Having said that, there are references that people could pick up in the clothes, but we were determined that they would be modern and now. 

That’s joyful. Not actually creating something for a market, but because you love it. And so again, our only interest is to share that with other people.

With Paris as the backdrop for Bankrobber, how does the city’s energy and fashion scene influence the brand’s aesthetic and direction?

So, Bankrobber is two people, Sabine Dreher, who is a German-born designer and John Hughes, who is English born, sometime musician, with experience in marketing. We’ve both lived in Paris for over 20 years and it is the heart of fashion. That’s exciting and you see it on the street every day. It is chic, it is often minimal, like Bankrobber. You see people carefully dress themselves. We would also say that in Bankrobber you can see Sabine’s more austere, practical, unfussy design that certainly comes from a German aesthetic, whether that is Bauhaus or something else. I’d add the English sense of practicality. Stripped down. There’s nothing romantic to be seen here.

Can you walk us through your creative process when designing for Bankrobber? How do you go from an idea to a finished piece?

Bankrobber was accidentally born from Sundance Kid, which is something we had for over a year before we moved forward with the rest. There was a Kimono exhibition in Paris that we saw and that drove a lot of the inspiration.

I think once we arrived at this idea for everything to be design, for it to be black and white, monochrome – basically imposing rules about what we couldn’t do –  paradoxically created more freedom and inspiration. There’s also years of inspiration in it and our mood board featured everything from Donna Summer, to Joy Division to the model Verushka. With all of these influences though we wanted to make it modern. And then we worked. With many of the designs we cut down, took away, and made elements smaller or more simple. The final process was actually to reduce the amount of design and reduce the details that were there.

Your pieces focus on “being true to the wearer’s style.” How do you approach designing garments that allow for individuality while still being recognizable as part of the Bankrobber brand?

We hope the liberation Bankrobber gave to us is translated through the clothes. As we said before, the goal is to have people wearing them and we hope they are versatile enough to help express that person’s personality. That’s what we want, anyway. If you take on one of our dresses you become unique, but you already were. We hope you can also become an outlaw, that you too can become free.

You’ve been growing your audience since December and have had positive reactions so far. What kind of feedback have you received, and how has that shaped the way you’re planning future collections?

So, we started teasing the brand for about a week – but when we did do the final reveal, we were shocked at how positive the response was. We knew we were making something that pleased us, but while you’re doing it you can worry that no one else will like it. Or that it is too uncompromising. People have reacted with lots of encouragement and as our audience grows – this is also happening in France, UK, Germany, US and more… so…. so far, so good. 

We want to do a second collection and the different discussions about each style do affect how that is created. We’re very conscious that we would also like to keep the freedom we had from the first. Namely, doing what we wanted to do, without listening to anyone else. Clothes are interesting. They need to be worn to exist. Different types of clothes exist for different events. We’re conscious of all of those things. But the next one will be uncompromising. It has to be if it will be Bankrobber.