Not in Paris? Check out one of the videos that will be part of a Bless Videopalooza

Bless, the label founded by Desiree Heiss and Ines Kaag, celebrated its 25th anniversary last year in its own way. This is a significant achievement for any label, let alone an independent label operating between Paris and Berlin. To mark the occasion, the duo invited the over 400 interns (they rotate every three months) who worked with them to celebrate. The number “accumulates over the years,” Heiss said dryly, wearing cat-rug pants in the label’s unmarked Paris store. “Our oldest former intern is, I think, 69, and the youngest are our children, aged 14, doing school internships.” There was a new book released in various creative ways and various creative new launches, including tote bags , representing different pages of the latest Bless tome.

Heiss and Kaag do not appear on its pages. Designers' refusal to be photographed hasn't slowed them down, as a Bless x Supreme collaboration for fall 2023 and a Bless x Fendi collar for Design Miami show. The latter included an installation as well as Bless's iteration of the Peekaboo bag, which looked like an airmail package. The brand's “Jeansified Object” collection (e.g. brooms wrapped in jeans) is a good example of the designers' focus on the everyday. Before the designers launched Bless, Martin Margiela used the “matching” wigs they made from vintage fur coats on his fall 1997 runway. Reuse and reformulation are pillars of Bless's transdisciplinary practice. A chair is at home in the Bless universe, as are adjustable shoes, double-waist trousers – circa 2010 – or a scarf cut from a toggle coat.

Maison Margiela, fall 1997, ready-to-wear

Photo: Condé Nast archives

Maison Margiela, fall 1997, ready-to-wear

Photo: Condé Nast archives

As one can imagine, Bless's approach to presenting work is unconventional. On the first day of October, Heiss said, designers will “turn the store into a little movie theater, and people can buy slots – there are only 10 to 15 – and watch the films at their leisure.” They will also be on the outside of the of the store so that passers-by can see them.” The impetus for this was last year’s show at MACRO, where the videos were shown. “We haven't done presentations in a while and people kept contacting us asking if we would play all of our videos because a new generation is interested in Bless, so we're going to do that now,” she explained. The brand gave Vogue Runway a sneak peek of one of the films screening in Paris. Heiss also reflected on the brand's beginnings and its latest project.

Once upon a time…