Philipp Plein (Munich, 1978) describes his career as “a modern fairy tale”. He considers it a feat to have carved out a niche for himself in luxury fashion and is overjoyed because he has just become the father of a child with instagramer Lucia Bartoli (28) – in addition, he has another 9-year-old son with his ex-partner Fernanda Rigon.
The signature of the self-styled “king of bling bling” has seduced stars like Paris Hilton, Jennifer Lopez, Meghan Fox, Kylie Jenner, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Mauro Icardi, Maluma and not a few rappers. He defends that the product should be liked for its own sake, but he turns his parades into enormous shows with media models such as Irina Shayk, Adriana Lima or Jeremy Meeks, known as “the most handsome prisoner in the world”, who debuted on the catwalk hand in hand from German.
Far from the rhetoric of the great couturiers, he does not want to do art but business, as he explains to La Vanguardia in his store on Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, full of glitter and skulls, and where he has presented the novelties of his line of glasses.
Who is Philipp Plein?
A dreamer who fulfills his dreams. Someone motivating because he has shown many that it is possible to make something out of nothing. A designer who cares about people and business. An often underestimated brand, a lifestyle. A dream and a nightmare.
More designer or entrepreneur?
There are many designers in the big brands who work for themselves. And it’s an ego trip. When you go to a fashion show, a lot of people say, who can wear this? Because it is not made for people, it is very often made for themselves, for their ideas, for their dreams.
Design for the street
“There are a lot of designers in the big brands who work for themselves. It’s just ego”
Paris Hilton, in the Philipp Plein boutique in Milan
Isn’t fashion also something conceptual?
I don’t make art, I work for people on the street. The highest praise is that whoever works hard to earn his money buys our products. It’s not like people say, oh, it’s beautiful. Or the press write about it. No, the most important thing is that people buy from you.
You yourself are the image in your campaigns… a matter of ego or are you the best ambassador of your brand?
I have always been the ambassador to transmit a very clear lifestyle. Thanks to this strong approach I have built an image in which the consumer identifies.
Philipp Plein and Meghan Fox star in the firm’s eyewear campaign 
He says that the big luxury groups underestimated him.
They said, who is that German guy. He’ll be out in a year, maybe two. We are not rich, we do not have rich parents. We don’t have money from an investor or a bank. The only reason we exist is because there is a customer who buys the product and not the brand. Because when I started, this was not a brand.
What makes a t-shirt different from yours?
If you look at this shirt that costs 1,000 euros, it is full of rhinestones, that makes it special.
And their plain t-shirts that only have the logo…
I agree, there is no difference between a white t-shirt from, let’s say Amani, and one from Zara. One costs 120 euros and the other 20… and Philipp Plein’s costs 300… Okay, you’re right.
It’s all about the logo…
You pay for this beautiful decoration, for the shopping experience. But when it comes to glasses, I want to have a product, not a name on it. They are very complicated to design because it is something that you put on your face. And that is very intimate, very personal. That’s why glasses are a big challenge.”
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More is more and less is boring?
Many people understand that if they pay a lot and get a lot for their money, what they pay is in line with what they bought. If you pay more, you get more. That was always our philosophy, to be different and to sell to customers who are looking for something special.
What is luxury?
Isn’t it crazy that people are asking for something, even though they already have so much more than they can really use? When you go shopping, it’s a luxury because you don’t need more clothes to cover your body. You need clothes to maintain your facade. That is all. What you consume above your limit, let’s say, is luxury and every fashion purchase is a luxury because we all have more than we need. So basically in this industry we have to create the demand.
So he’s a manipulator…
Absolutely, ha ha ha, I’m really good at this. I am a salesman with a lot of psychology. It is very simple, you have to understand your market and for me it is simple because I am one of them.
Philipp Plein during the interview 
What do you think of those who call you tacky?
They don’t know the Phillipp Plein line. We are a small brand, but, but we are successful and independent. I think our brand has a pretty sophisticated product approach.
Philipp Plein and Maluma 
Run away from minimalism?
Minimalism is beautiful. And I personally love it, but it is very difficult to sell you a shirt for 1,000 euros, which does not appear to cost 1,000 euros. That is why the concept “more is more” works.
Fashion with a message?
“If I was paid for my opinion, I would be a politician, but my job is to make people happy with clothes”
He was one of the first to choose transsexual models for his parades. Campaigns with all black models, fashion shows with people over 50. Is fashion becoming more inclusive?
I am not a politician or an opinion leader. Fashion brands go too far with political statements, and I think we should stand our ground and just do fashion. If someone paid me for my opinion, I would become a politician, but my opinion is not important. My job is to make people happy with clothes.
Philipp Plein and his partner, Lucia Bartoli, before she gave birth at the end of last May 
You have a 9-year-old boy and another newborn… what lesson would you like to pass on to them?
When you have a child, you have a very big responsibility. First of all, because the baby is completely innocent. He has no hate, he has no pain. He is not afraid, he knows nothing. It is one hundred percent pure, a blank book. What happens to you from the first second of your life to the last builds character.
How to help them?
Children must be given the opportunity to decide for themselves. But we can only be there until they are strong enough to make their own decisions. I am not the one to dominate the life or the opinion of my children.
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