Charles Bitton is hard to miss in a crowd. An attractive gentleman in his early 30s, he sports a well trimmed Dali stache that accentuates his dark eyes and complements the fitted light colored suits and vintage scarves that he favors. Ten years ago, this Brooklyn native – then partner of a boutique NY based marketing firm- would have never dreamt of building his own brand and resurrecting an unfinished dream, all of which is happening right now in a studio parked on Kol Israel Haverim Street, in Neve Tzedek, one of Israel’s most influential art and design districts.
It’s late spring in Tel Aviv, the clock strikes 17:00 hours and Charles Bitton is hustling to meet his deadlines…proposals, contracts, designs, sketches, patters, samples, photo shoots, look books, fabric, and media kits to name a few. While Charles is pinching for time, I rush to set up my laptop and interview questions on Avenue A, NYC, (about 5,683 miles (9146 km) away from Charles's Neve Tzedek studio).
I set up an interview with Charles after joining his network on facebook. Facebook pictures tell me he’s a good-looking musician with Brooklyn roots, who now spends most of his time in Tel Aviv and living THE LIFE…http://www.hippush.com/ tell me he’s an entrepreneur pursuing his dream in Tel Aviv…I am instantly intrigued and need to know more about Charles. I am drawn to Charles's incredible ability to sketch. I like his style. He seems a little odd which I relate to completely. Is Charles's on the outside looking in, as I am? I don’t know and I want to find out. I want to know why he moved to Israel…I mean, that’s MY DREAM and he’s practically living it…Charles inspires me.
I rest my blackberry on my desk and set it to speaker…expecting my call, Charles answers with a friendly hello and we instantly start to chat.
KICK’N IT NYC: So Charlie…before we start the interview, you must tell me…Israeli? American? French? Where are you from?
CHARLES BITTON: Haha…I’m from Brooklyn, a Native New Yorker Yael.
KNYC: So what’s a New Yorker like you doing in Neve Tzedek? You know, you’re living my dream Charlie.
BITTON: Well, I was an art director in New York City for six years before coming to Israel. Hippush started here, in Tel Aviv.
KNYC: Am I pronouncing it right? Like the word Hip? Push?
BITTON: Actually, it’s pronounced hee-poosh.
"It’s inspired by the Hebrew word “to search.” It defines me as an artist; constantly searching for inspiration…music is my passion…any form of expression is something I go for. I’d like to think of myself as a well rounded artist…everything I do is self taught."
-Charles Bitton
KNYC: How did you get into this?
BITTON: About eight years ago advertising was knocking at my door. I guess I was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time. I was offered to be a partner in a marketing/advertising company. So I took it!
KNYC: And??
BITTON: I learned a lot of the business side of things and was quite successful. But I felt like I was losing my identity…the whole thing is a narrow venture that you have to adhere to. So I started IMUZE in 2006. It’s not new…I sold 2 seasons of IMUZE at Gallery Lafayette in Paris (it’s like Paris’s Bloomingdales). IMUZE did very well…
BITTON: I saw a few t shirts left hanging around and when I asked the sales girl about the rest of the collection, she said that they were sold out! I broke even and as amazing as it was, I still needed to make an income. I had no choice but to put IMUZE on the back burner. So I went back to the agency and put IMUZE behind me. I was working 18 hours a day, jumping from one project to the next, constantly meeting deadlines with no room for air.
"We were a young business so it was deliver or die. I was working like a horse. I sometimes felt like I sold my soul to the devil…I needed to get out and find myself. I refused to get lost in ‘the system.’ So I did the unthinkable…I took the leap. I moved to Israel!"-Charles Bitton
KNYC: That’s insane! I wish I had the balls to do that…
BITTON: I’ve always wanted to move to Israel and felt, if not now, then when? So I started hippush last year. It is a range of everything I’ve been involved in; print, web; I touch on the different outlet’s…we are a little bit of everything. A Jack of all trades.
KNYC: So now that you’re living in Tel Aviv and managed to escape the Corporate American ‘dream,’ what about survival? Income?
BITTON: So far so good. I’m only 6 months into IMUZE. It’s not like I deserve a victory flag. My bread & butter is hippush which is more freelance work. It’s my agency experience tied into my creative side of music, art and design.
BITTON: Collaborating with artists and designers from different parts of the world to create one collection, Yael.
"Every piece has a life and a story to tell, like you and I. "
Everyone pitches in! Our Knitwear designing team is from Greece. Our hand bags are made in Israel and are made out of canvas from the Indian military. At the base, there’s me and the designer in Milan. Everything is made by hand…very old fashioned, authentic, and high quality. IMUZE is against the whole mass production, assembly line thing. KNYC: Yeah…it’s so not personal. So your customers basically are an extension of the story you’re telling? They’re the delivery of your message they too believe in. I like that.
BITTON: Our customer may not the most affluent but is someone who is willing to invest in something that is made by hand…there is a story to what you’re wearing. IMUZE hangtags will have the creator’s inspiration with a personal note. We believe in fare trade and therefore pass on a fair price to our customer. Our message and our label mean something to our customers; our planet means something to them. The IMUZE customer is hip and fashion conscious. Our customers are in their 20’s and 30’s…they’re free thinkers! When you wear IMUZE, it will resonate with you…You Are What You Wear.
"IMUZE is a handmade universe where everyone is equally different." - Charles Bitton
KNYC: We are what we wear…literally. It’s our identity and essentially who we are. Where we’re going and where we came from.
BITTON: “The Circus of Life” is the name of the collection. IMUZE is serious and playful at the same time…the whole attitude of the collection is about not taking yourself too seriously
KNYC: So if everything is made by hand, what happens if demand succeeds production?
BITTON: If Barneys New York were to order a few hundred of pieces of each model, we would have to diversify our labs in order to increase production and deliver…but at a certain point, it’s not about the mass production there is a limitation to our production… as we speak we are in development. We are hoping to launch our men’s and women’s collection September 2011. The collection will launch in September with sales online. We are going to have a presale for our core fans on facebook.
We are going to be in stores in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. We already have a sales force in Milan, Paris, Tel Aviv and I’m working on New York. We are going to have to be selective as to where the collections will go.
KNYC: So what next for Charles Bitton?
BITTON: Ulpan (Hebrew Language School)! That’s what’s next...haha. I want to launch IMUZE off the ground. I want to find the time to write and perform. For now I really feel my whole heart is in IMUZE and I just got ‘a get it out of me.
Once I tell the story…the next story may come…or, it may not.
