I love listening. It is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time. — Nayyirah Waheed — Saturday October 18th — —

The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Saturday October 18th — —

“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Saturday October 18th — —

Inspirations — Nick F. Cerutti

Since the moment lifestyle brand GERTRUD & GEORGE came to our attention, we knew we wanted to find a way in seriously cooperating with such a like-minded brand. After a couple of months we found the right context and to our great pride GERTRUD & GEORGE became the main collaborator of Our Current Obsessions Nº 1 – NOIR. The inspirational brand is the brainchild of the very gifted Nick F. Cerutti. Founded in 2001 to serve bespoke and semi-bespoke purposes prominently in Japan to begin with, GERTRUD & GEORGE nurtures an intrinsic sense of equilibrium between aesthetics, function and execution in order to conceive pristine high-end goods. Since 2011 Nick and his partner Mathieu Annen have shifted their focus towards accessories and bags, which resulted in a perfect jet-black line named The Esquire Suite, consisting of 7 models which come in three different sizes and varying river buffalo grains and depths. Being highly inspired by Nick’s tremendous history, his current work with GERTRUD & GEORGE and his overall vision, we’ve asked him some questions on his inspirations in life.

—

Please introduce yourself.
Nick F. Cerutti.
Founder of  GERTRUD & GEORGE.

Who is the most inspiring person in history and why ?

Gertrude Stein.
For her body of work, pioneer of Modernist literature.
For her patronage of the Arts, whose prescience and historical importance helped define well beyond the 20th century.
For her preeminent role in the evolution of gender perception.

Who is the most inspiring person in your life and why?
That is classified information, I’m afraid.

Who do you consider the most inspiring photographer?
Photojournalists tend to inspire me more than others in that they truly seize the moment, the perfect storm. The list of prominent such photographers is common knowledge, but the work Vivian Maier produced unbeknownst to everyone over the course of her life is quite noteworthy.

And the photograph that will always stay in your mind?
Leonard Freed’s “Handcuffed” (1978).

Who for you is the most inspiring artist?

Dominique Blain, Pierre Soulages, Vija Celmins.
Their respective bodies of work very much influenced my process.

And what is the most inspiring music?
Whatever gets my heart to skip a beat.

The thing you never go without?
iPhone and/or iPad tucked in a GERTRUD & GEORGE overnighter.

Your favourite city?
New York City is one of them. The timelessness of it, however, is like no other.

Your favourite hideout?
Shimokita (Shimo-Kitazawa), Tōkyō.

The website you often check?
GERTRUD & GEORGE’s for routine checks.

The books on your coffee table?
Gertrude Stein’s “Writings 1903/1932” and “Writings 1932/1946”.

The books on your bedside table?
Gore Vidal’s “Point To Point Navigation”.
Alan Cumming’s “Not My Father’s Son”.

What is your dream?
Going much further with GERTRUD & GEORGE is, to put it mildly, quite tempting.

What would you do if you could start all over again?
I probably would opt for minor changes here and there, but only to end up here anyway.

—

See here for more information on the exquisite GERTRUD & GEORGE Esquire Suite collection.

See here for Our Current Obsessions Nº 1 – NOIR which continues to display the entire Esquire Suite on the Schippersgracht 7 in Amsterdam until the 15th of November.