IBIZA ROCKS WITH
DAWN HINDLE
With a mixture of talent, taste and a celebrity-filled address book, Dawn Hindle has created a thriving enterprise. Her hotel and jewellery business is a hit with the A-listers, and her passion and eye for design coalescence the cutting edge bohemia. Absolute’s Kasia talks to this maverick female entrepreneur.
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Ibiza is a vibe and a trend in itself, imitated and copied worldwide. The interiors, the colours the relaxed boho vibe.”
D
awn, tell us a bit about the early explosive days of your Manumission events. What were the people like? How did it impact on your future creativity? We started the Manumission parties in 1994 when I was in my very early twenties, and Ibiza was still very underexposed and quite a heaven of bohemian freedom. It felt quite isolated from what else was going on in the world back then and was a real eye-opener for me and a great contrast from life as an architecture student from Manchester. It literally meant freedom from slavery and that’s what we attempted to do; give a freedom from everyday life and offer an alternative manumission universe full of loud music, heavy spectacle, sex, opulent surroundings and a laissez faire attitude. It was wild and wonderful and a giant melting pot of people from all over the world, and a sort of non-democracy of backgrounds.
businesses to earn a living from. It actually is taking your passions and creating a business from them. I feel very blessed with that. I love making people find the freedom to express themselves and manipulating environments to achieve that. I loved learning from working with great people like Gavin Turk, Mark Fisher, Fischerspooner and countless bands and designers. I think I see in a very 3D way that helps and leads to countless webs that flow into new projects daily.
With the Ibiza population ever-changing, how do the vibe and trends on the Island differ year by year? What’s the definition of ‘edgy’ now? You were the original pioneers of cool & edgy. Ibiza is a vibe and a trend in itself, imitated and copied worldwide. The interiors, the colours the relaxed boho vibe. A mix of Spanish, North African, the island of pines or the White Island- it has many names and faces. But its landscape is constant. The Mediterranean sunlight that inspired many great artists such as Picasso and architects like Le Corbusier and helped define the modernist movement. The designers, the artists, still flock here. They change over time, some stay but they all take something away with them – a little bit of Ibiza. As do the tourists, whether it’s a drunken night in San Antonio or a world-class nightclub or from the hot summer sun and magical beaches.
Anything goes, and it usually did it at least three days later! It took the rest of the week to recover then it was back round to Monday. On the dance floor, you could find a plumber from Birmingham rubbing shoulders with transvestites for NYC, John Paul Gaultier to Norman Cook and everything in between. The idea of VIP was nonsensical as it didn’t matter who you were. As long as the attitude was maximum enjoyment and love of life, you were in the party. As the Guardian famously said, Manumission was clubbing for the previously disenchanted and it didn’t disappoint. I had studied art and architecture and had always had a creative outlook, but I think it made me very aware of people, spaces and how to manipulate that. Use of the unexpected and out of context has always been key for me as well as working with or out of scale. I’m sure that came from the Manumission days; the 360 vision, the sound, smell and action that goes with space and how people use it. The soundtrack to everything, the soundtrack to life. The entertainment industry also has to be one of the most enjoyable
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Top right, Dawn & Andy
The island is a must-see for upcoming trends both musically and visually. It has a very diverse market and clientele. The edgiest thing you seem to be able to do right now is going against the bling tastic monied power struggle and opulent displays of cash and go back to basics! Get a small fishing boat and take that to sea, sit around a fire pit and look up at the stars, actually feel the spirit of the island and dance barefoot. Even great venues such as DC10 are just too packed now. Understated opulent is way more edgy, not giving a damn and not following the crowd. Being an individual in this time rocks. Where have all the freaks gone? Be one.