Dušan Paunovic

“I’ve always done tailoring. Always, always, and always the same. It’s so boring ”

Interview by Caroline Issa

In the last decade of social media “comet success” – brands finding instant, huge audiences through viral looks only to flame out when the next thing knocks them out – Dušan Paunovic has steadily maintained a loyal customer base with his laser focus, and a big dollop of I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude. You need a bit of rage, a bit of rebelliousness and a lot of single-mindedness not to care about the traditional milestones of success – the mainstream magazine cover credits, the celebrity red carpet game, the department store wholesale orders – but it demonstrates Paunovic’s acumen that most of these milestones mean nothing today. Success can be built on the fact that women just want a coat that makes other women come up to them in the street to ask them where it’s from. When you wear Dušan, that happens a lot.

TANK caught up with Paunovic in his bonsai-populated, treasure-filled cave of wonders in central Milan: a calm oasis in which Paunovic himself is a hurricane. An hour with Paunovic, the most indiscreet of all discreet design masters, will leave your sides sore. Here are some of the gems that have made Dušan the best-kept non-secret success in the business.

On why it’s the perfect moment for the brand today
You need to offer pieces to customers that you can justify the price of. There are prices out there that are so expensive you cannot justify them in any sense. I had a customer who came in 25 years ago and bought an outfit that she’s still wearing today. That is the biggest recognition of quality. But you know what, the absurd quality of our collections is also a problem. You can wear the pieces forever, so the customer doesn’t ever need to come back.

On tailoring
I’ve always done tailoring. Always, always and always the same. It’s so boring, so I don’t know why people are still buying it. But you know, how many times do you buy something good, return to the shop, and they don’t stock it anymore? That is the biggest pain. That’s where retail is losing it because you have many women who will re-buy the pieces they love. For example, if you make trousers that fit well, offer them in new colours, change the fabric! To find trousers that fit a woman is very difficult, so why change the design constantly?

On colour
I love grey. You know, it’s a sadness from Eastern Europe.

On where he gets his textiles
I get nearly everything in Italy and Japan. Nothing is as good as Japanese cotton – nowhere in the world can copy that. This fabric [showing TANK pieces from the AW24 collection] is called “black sheep”, from Australia. It’s a natural fabric, undyed. It’s so nice.

On retail
I never did my own retail or boutiques because it’s too much trouble. The fewer people you have to deal with, the better it is. People are impossible.

On being educated
I have studied many things in my life, so at least I’m not ignorant. I’m very proud of that. I grew up in a Communist country, and we may not have had beautiful stores, or beautiful clothing, but we were taught, maybe even too much. You want to die, reading War and Peace for four months when you’re 12 years old.

On the cities that give him energy
London and New York – nothing else deserves to exist. I worked for Zoran in New York for many years. I like working with Americans because I like their love of minimal, beautiful sportswear, which you don’t have in Europe. Clothing is not clothing if it’s not wearable. Anyone can make clothing which you cannot wear.

On his showroom
In 2010 I moved into this showroom. Before, I was in a beautiful building from the 18th century with a fireplace. This is a historical building designed in 1936 by Gio Ponti. In its original state, it was a disaster, because it had so many little rooms and every room was in a different colour. I returned it to its original structure, with Roman temple-style arches, which glorify Italian fascism.

On all the objects in his showroom 
This is my Wunderkammer. Colombian. Chinese. Mexican. African from Mozambique. This is Egyptian. Etruscan. Iran, Afghanistan. Roman glass. Who is interested in these today? Only old women. They are patient. When you talk about these [ancient objects] to younger people, they want to vomit in your face.

On 25 years
It’s incredible to survive independently without jerking people off – not constantly calling journalists asking them to come and see you, but for them to come when they are ready. If I’ve survived 25 years without them, I can survive another 25 years! .