For the latest installment of the Lingerie On Film profiles we chatted with our friend and menswear designer, Robert Geller.  Robert was nominated this year for the CFDA Menswear of the Year Award amongst other designers ~ Tim Coppens, Thom Browne, Raf Simons for Calvin Klein and Todd Snyder.  As a contributor for our 2011 lookbook he shot his wife, Ana Lerario Geller, founder of Fiftytwo Showroom. Here we asked him to answer some questions regarding, well...all kinds of things.  

Stella Jones: Do you remember how you met Araks?  What was your first memory of her?
Robert Geller: We met at my wife’s showroom (Fiftytwo Showroom) many, many years ago. She cracked me up, because she was waiting for Barney’s and I think that they had rescheduled twice already and we laughed about how awful that felt. I loved that she didn’t get anxious or sad. She was laughing about it, and I knew she was my kind of a person.  

SJ: Where did you grow up?  What were you into as an adolescent?
RG: I grew up in Germany until I was 21, except for three years when I lived in LA. I was into skating and smoking and hanging out with friends and falling in love.  

SJ: When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up
RG: First a cook, when I was really young, then a photographer. I even worked as an assistant for two years after high school. I switched to fashion at RISD.  

SJ: When did you know you wanted to be a fashion designer?
RG: I’m not sure there ever was that moment. I knew that I wanted to learn how to be a fashion designer when I was at RISD. I think it may have happened at my first Marc Jacobs show. I was an intern there and I remember when the run-through started, the lights and music came on and these amazing creatures started stomping down the runway. My eyes filled with tears and I felt that I was watching the essence of everything that had ever attracted me in my life.  

SJ: Which traits have led you to where you are today?
RG: I think it is mainly authenticity. I was never good or interested in faking anything, so I worked hard to make things that are real, act real, and have real conversations and interests.  

SJ: Did you work for any designers before starting your own label? 
RG: I worked for Marc Jacobs for 2 years and then relaunched Cloak with Alexander Plokhov. Those experiences taught me all the things that school couldn’t, how it all works and how fucked up this industry is.  

SJ: What is your favorite part of being a designer?
RG: Designing. I love the process of having ideas and being able to turn them into clothes.  

SJ: Is there a particular time period in fashion or sub culture that you feel a special kinship with stylistically?
RG: I think I feel super close to the whole post-punk thing. I like the time, I like the sound and I like the look.  

SJ: Can you tell us some of your muses through the years?
RG: Really just one: Klaus Kinski  

SJ: How does your work influence the way you see the world?
RG: It’s the other way around. I think that it is the way that I see the world that let’s me design the way I do. I feel like I am a filter that processes the outside world and produces designs on the other end.  

SJ: Describe your style in three words
RG: Romantic. Masculine. Worn.  

SJ: What is something that you feel is overrated?  Underrated?
RG: Hype is overrated. It is a career killer.

SJ: Is there anything you could recommend to us?
RG: There is a band named The Sound. It’s a hidden gem. It is early 80’s post-Punk heaven.  

SJ: Can you tell us a joke?
RG: Yeah, my daughter just told me one. Why was the math book so depressed? Because it had so many problems. :)  

SJ: What’s your favorite Instagram post that didn’t receive the love you think it deserves?
RG: Whenever I post a picture of my family I lose like 100 followers. So fucked up :)  

SJ: What is your favorite Instagram account?
RG: Araks, of course.  

SJ: What item of clothing have you gotten rid of but wish you still had?
RG: Nothing. I really don’t regret much. Not that I don’t make mistakes, I just don’t feel a lot of regret.  

SJ: Could you name a quote that sums up how you live your life?
RG: “Life doesn’t have to be either or."  

SJ: What’s your favorite store to shop when buying something for your wife?
RG: There is a little store called Feliz in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Near to where we live. It is full of beautiful little things.  

SJ: Best piece of advice you have been given?
RG: “Never settle for unhappy."  

SJ: What’s the last photo you took?  If it’s good, can you share?  

SJ: What are you currently…

SJ: Coveting?
RG: My Wife  

SJ: Wanderlusting?
RG: An Island with turquoise water and tons of colorful fish.  

SJ: Watching?
RG: Twin Peaks  

SJ: Listening?
RG: A lot of Nina Simone  

SJ: Reading?
RG: Just Started Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. Not sure if it is any good.  

SJ: Dreaming?
RG: About warm days in New York and running and eating healthy and feeling really good. 

SJ: Beauty is:
RG: Being at the bottom of the pile underneath my three daughters and my wife in our Sunday morning love fest. Wait, I hope that doesn’t sound weird. Ana and I grab our three young daughters and we try to hug them for as long as possible : )  

Thank you Robbie! 

View the Lingerie On Film series.