INDEPENDENT (UK) – AUGUST 2009

AUGUST 2009

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DRKSHDW EASTPAK. WILL THERE BE ANOTHER COLLECTION FOR SPRING '10? 

NO. I DROVE THEM SO CRAZY WITH MY CONCEPT FOR THE SECOND SEASON THAT THEY DIDN'T WANT TO GET SUCKED INTO MY K-HOLE. THEY WERE VERY SWEET ABOUT IT BUT JUST FELT THAT THE PRODUCTION WOULD BE TOO DIFFICULT AND RELEASED ME FROM OUR CONTRACT. I THINK THE COLLABORATION THING JUST ISN'T FOR ME. 

BEFORE KNOWING YOU WANTED TO BE A FASHION DESIGNER, WHAT WAS THE BIG PLAN? WERE YOU ALWAYS INTERESTED IN THE CREATIVE SIDE? 

I WANTED TO BE JOSEPH BEUYS AND MARK ROTHKO AND FRANCIS BACON AND JULIAN SCHNABEL. SO I WENT TO ART SCHOOL BUT DROPPED OUT. IT WAS JUST TOO DAUNTING, AND A FAILURE WOULD BE TOO PERSONAL. SO I WENT INTO FASHION. A FAILURE IN FASHION CAN BE BLAMED ON A LOT OF FACTORS OTHER THAN YOURSELF. 

WHAT INTERESTED YOU CULTURALLY, THEN? 

MY PARENTS HAD A BIG LIBRARY AND DIDN'T ALLOW A TELEVISION IN THE HOUSE SO I GREW UP ON HUYSMANS, PIERRE LOTI, COLETTE AND WAGNER AND DEBUSSY. BEING AN ONLY CHILD AND A LONER, THIS WAS PRETTY GREAT, ALTHOUGH OF COURSE I DIDN'T APPRECIATE IT AT THE TIME. AND OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE I HAD KISS AND ALICE COOPER. I THINK WE CAN ALL SEE HOW MY CHARACTER WAS ESTABLISHED. NEVER IN MY IMAGINATION DID I THINK I'D LIVE IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS I'D READ ABOUT. 

AND THE MOMENT OF CLARITY? WAS THERE ANY PARTICULAR EPIPHANY? 

THIERRY MUGLER'S METROPOLIS COLLECTION. 

WHAT WERE YOU DOING AT THIS TIME? 

ACTUALLY, I GOOGLED AND IT WAS AROUND 1977! I WAS 15! I DON'T KNOW HOW A 15-YEAR-OLD IN A SMALL TOWN GOT AHOLD OF FRENCH VOGUE. 

AND I REMEMBER SEEING THE BOWIE 'DIAMOND DOGS' ALBUM COVER IN THE SALES BIN AT THE KMART IN MY LITTLE TOWN. I FELT A SECRET I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I HAD HAD BEEN DISCOVERED AND EXPOSED. IT MADE ME VERY UNCOMFORTABLE AT THE TIME. 

PEOPLE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE NAMES YOU GIVE EACH COLLECTION. 'CREATCH' MADE ME TAKE NOTICE. AND ALSO THE SWING TAGS THAT ANNOUNCE THEM. ARE YOU AWARE THAT (LESS AFFLUENT) FANS LIKE TO DETACH THOSE RO TAGS OFF THE GARMENTS IN STORES! MUST BE A BIT LIKE SNAPPING THE MERCEDES EMBLEM OFF THE BONNET OF SOMEONE'S CAR. A TROPHY? 

THAT'S ONE OF THE NICEST THINGS ANYONE'S EVER TOLD ME. THAT MEANS SOMEONE FEELS THE MAGIC I USED TO FEEL ABOUT DESIGNERS. WOW. IT WORKED. 

YOUR DESIGNS ARE OFTEN DESCRIBED AS GOTHIC, OR GOTH-INFLUENCED. HOW DOES THIS RESONATE WITH YOU? THERE WAS THAT WONDERFUL QUOTE IN VALERIE STEELE'S BOOK LAST FALL, 'GOTHIC: DARK GLAMOUR.' JOURNALISTS, ESPECIALLY FASHION, CAN OFTEN BE LAZY. ARE THEY KEEPING UP WITH YOU? WHAT DO YOU FEEL COULD BE AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF YOUR DESIGN AESTHETIC? 

I DON'T MIND. JOURNALISTS HAVE TO SUMMARIZE, AND COMPARED TO MOST DESIGNERS, I CAN SEE WHAT THEY MEAN. IT'S GOING TO TURN A LOT OF PEOPLE OFF AND RESTRICT ME TO A NICHE, BUT THAT'S PROBABLY MY OWN FAULT. I WISH SOMEONE HAD COME UP WITH 'ASTROGOTH.' I GUESS I'LL JUST HAVE TO DO IT MYSELF. 

GOTH SOUNDS A LITTLE PUERILE, BUT I HAVE FAITH THAT PEOPLE DETECT A LITTLE MORE. OTHERWISE, I DON'T THINK I'D HAVE GOTTEN THIS FAR. 

YOUR APPROACH TO SEXUALITY IN FASHION SUGGESTS A DEEPER LEVEL OF THOUGHT THAN, SAY, EXPOSING AN AREA OF THE TORSO SIMPLY FOR VISUAL IMPACT. IT'S A DIFFERENT BODY CONSCIOUSNESS. THERE ARE DARKER, MORE EXTREME REFERENCES AT PLAY HERE. THIS HAS BEEN CREDITED IN PREVIOUS CONVERSATIONS TO YOUR EARLIER INTERESTS IN SEX CLUBS. WOULD YOU LIKE TO ELABORATE FURTHER ON THIS PERIOD OF TIME? HOW IT INFLUENCED THE DESIGNS, FOR EXAMPLE. 

I THINK I SATISFIED A LOT OF MY APPETITES AND I THINK MY CLOTHES PROBABLY REFLECT THAT. THEY'RE NOT CLOTHES TO GO OUT AND GET LAID. BUT THEY'RE CLOTHES FOR A BODY THAT'S USED TO CERTAIN AMOUNT OF PLEASURE AND NOT TOO WORRIED ABOUT IT ANYMORE. 

WHEN WE MET IN NEW YORK LAST YEAR, YOU MADE A CHARMING ALLUSION TO GARETH PUGH AS THE PRODIGAL SON, MICHELE AS STRICT MATRIARCH, AND YOU AS THE DOTING FATHER. 

ACTUALLY, MICHELE IS THE NURTURING MOTHER AND I'M THE DISTANT, CRITICAL FATHER. I THINK WE UNDERSTIMATED THE RESPONSIBILITY OF GARETH COUPLED WITH THE GROWTH RATE OF THE RICK OWENS BUSINESS. WE ALL HAVE OUR HANDS PRETTY FULL RIGHT NOW. 

IS THERE ANYONE YOU CARE TO MENTION WHOM, YOU FEEL, PLACED YOUR DESIGNS INTO THE PUBLIC EYE? IF YOU PREFER NOT TO NAME ANYONE SPECIFICALLY, PERHAPS SOME INSIGHT DETAILING HOW HOLLYWOOD DISCOVERED YOU, AND WHAT HAPPENED AS A RESULT. WAS THIS BEFORE VOGUE INVITING YOU TO SHOW IN NEW YORK? 

I'M MORE PLEASED WITH THE EDITORS THAT HAVE WORN THE CLOTHES: ANNA WINTOUR, CARINE ROITFELD, EMMANUELLE ALT, SALLY SINGER... THEY'VE SEEN IT ALL, AND THAT'S A REAL TEST PASSED. CELEBRITIES HAVE ONE OF EVERYTHING THAT'S HANGING IN THE RIGHT STORES AND ARE PROBABLY GOING FOR A DIFFERENT EFFECT THAN I CAN PROVIDE. IT WAS MY RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE STORES THAT I ADMIRED THAT WERE WHAT I CONCENTRATED ON AT THE BEGINNING AND MADE THE DIFFERENCE. ANDRE LEON TALLEY CALLED ME UP AFTER SEEING A RICK OWENS WINDOW AT BENDEL'S. HE'D NEVER HEARD OF ME AND I'D BEEN SELLING CLOTHES FOR YEARS. 

BACK IN APRIL, THE DESIGN OF THE LONDON STORE WAS DESCRIBED AS A WORK-IN-PROGRESS. HAS IT REACHED A MORE STABLE CONFIGURATION NOW? ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE WAY IT LOOKS FOR THE TIME BEING? 

I HAD TO TEAR DOWN A FEW WALLS FROM THE FIRST DESIGN, BUT AM DEEPLY PLEASED WITH IT NOW. I HAD MY FURNITURE GUY GO AND STAY THERE FOR A MONTH TO HAND-APPLY THE CONCRETE TEXTURE TO THE WALLS. I WANTED IT TO LOOK LIKE A COMBO OF A BRUTALIST MONUMENT AND A CHEAP UNDERGROUND CAR PARK. IT STILL NEEDS A FEW WARM TOUCHES LIKE SOME MORE CASHMERE DRAPES AND SOME GOLD STOOLS BUT THEY'RE ON THEIR WAY. 

FINALLY, HOW IS THE TOKYO STORE PROGRESSING?