Like all eccentrics, Stephen Jones is fascinated by history. The merry milliner and Anglophile finds inspiration in everything from Britain's neoclassical architecture to those romantic poets, with their tight bonnets and loose turbans. Currently on view at the glorious Bowes Museum outside London, he's donned vintage mannequins with items from his personal hat collection and given the exhibit the rather provocative name From Georgiana to Boy George. Here, Jones gives us his unique perspective on Georges King and Boy, the Diamond Jubilee (where there will be only one Queen, mind you), his ongoing gig at Dior and the inimitable Elsa Schiaparelli ...
Tell us about the show, Stephen. It sounds fantastic.
It's a collection of hats from Georgiana to Boy George that I've collected over the last 30 years. I've always loved Georgian neoclassicism. It's in the Bowes, a museum built in the 17th century. Basically one branch of the family got the title and the other branch got the money. The guy who got the money went to Paris with an Englishwoman, and stuffed this mansion full of amazing paintings, antiques and furniture.
What makes a Georgian hat Georgian?
A Georgian hat has a very elegant line. Most of the old buildings in London are Georgian, built around 1750. They're the nice neoclassical ones, with really beautifully proportioned rooms. But then when it gets into the next era, Victorian, it gets gothic and really itsy bitsy.
Interesting to have Boy George in the title of your show. You two go way back.
Yes, here's a funny story about George. I used to have this little minivan. One day I was driving around Parliament Square and George was singing in the back of my van. George has got the most exquisite singing voice and I believe there's no recording that sounds as good. It's unbelievable. I remember telling him he should be a singer. He said, "Oh, I'd really like to, but I haven't got the confidence." How things have changed!
Glenn O'Brien, Writer
What did you do immediately before this questionnaire?
I planted strawberries and pulled weeds.
What will you do immediately following this questionnaire?
Cook dinner.
What is your idea of bliss?
Stay home, play some bridge, drink some wine and eat some caviar, go to bed.
What is your idea of misery?
Economy class.
What is the strangest article of clothing in your closet?
I guess my Supreme hoodie that says “Illegal Business controls America.”
What is your proudest moment?
Being a father.
What is your greatest regret?
Not marrying my wife earlier and going for a daughter.
What would be the first sentence of your biography?
“I always skip the first chapter in biographies.”
What catchphrase do you use the most?
It was “Fuck that!” until my three-year-old started saying it.
In the spirit of Mad Libs, for Valentine's Day we asked Hint sweethearts to show us some love and fill in the blanks...
DRIES VAN NOTEN
Make omelettes not war
Warming makes the world go round
All you need is space
Lead is in the air
What's recession got to do with it?
Confusion at first sight
Tainted identity
I visit New York
Justify my prices
Passion will find a way
Can't buy me art
Missed connection
The threads of my life
Lucky in life
Psycho handles
Head over heels in dizziness
Confidence conquers all
STEPHEN JONES
Make hats not war
Fashion makes the world go round
All you need is a first class round-the-world ticket
Veiling is in the air
What's reason got to do with it?
Sex at first sight
Tainted reputation
Justify my neediness
Google will find a way
T connection
The bane of my life
Lucky in your pants
Head over heels in Manolos
Disco conquers all
SIMON DOONAN
Make corsages not war
Drag queens make the world go round
All you need is Goyard
Glade is in the air
What's dwarf-tossing got to do with it?
Groping at first sight
Tainted taint
I dry-humped New York
Justify my Moncler
Barack will find a way
Can't buy me youth
Spandex connection
The tuna melt of my life
Lucky in Louboutins
Chelsea Handler handles
Head over heels in my gay sister's composting toilet
Cheekiness conquers all
How better to end a floppy year than with an uplifting Q&A with the legendary Cynthia Plaster Caster, she who, with the hopes of bedding rock stars, began casting their naughty bits in the 1960s? Her first cast is also her most famous, Jimi Hendrix. An equal-opportunity artist, she's recently started casting women's breasts. Here's hoping her casts are shape of things to come next year...
What does Cynthia Plaster Caster want for Christmas?
I want Santa to make a nice big pledge to my Kickstarter project to help me finish my memoir, Plaster of Paradise. I think the incentive most fitting for a man of his stature is the limited-edition copy of Jimi Hendrix's cast, for a pledge of $2,000.
Have you done a cast of Santa?
I have yet to cast any bearded man. But a superhero like Santa is always welcome in my collection. One of his elves can be the plater, while another can prop up his stomach so I can reach that dick.
Besides Santa, who are your dream casts?
I dream of casting Marianne Faithfull and Keith Richards. More of a pipe dream, because realistically, the times are long gone when they might've considered being casted. It tends to be a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing that happens shortly after I pop the question. You've got to work fast after the butterfly net has bagged the prey!
Simon Doonan: Writer, Bon Vivant, Window Dresser, Fashion Commentator
What did you do immediately before this questionnaire?
I gulped down a green tea from Starbucks.
What will you do immediately following this questionnaire?
I am in Seattle, so naturally I will go out and look for some grunge.
What is your idea of bliss?
Paddle-boarding with my husband.
What is your idea of misery?
Any medical procedure.
What is the strangest article of clothing in your closet?
Paul Smith made me a gorgeous jacket out of his mum's old curtains.
What is your proudest moment?
Appearing in the Kim Carnes video for Bette Davis Eyes in the early 80s.
What is your greatest regret?
Falling asleep during a Jimi Hendrix concert in 1970 and missing Voodoo Chile.
What catchphrase do you use the most?
Attention, girls!
Aside from a small handful of well-known exceptions, Rick Owens is fashion's most esoteric, recherché designer. He's like a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma under a black leather tunic. And yet, most of the time he can't wait to get out of his clothes, disrobing in the form of naked wax sculptures and flexing sleeveless arms at every turn. I've long known of this dichotomy, his ability to be both vampishly evasive and brutally honest, yet I learned it all over again as I caught up with him on the release of his massive (no, really) new monograph from Rizzoli...
It's been forever since your last and now-legendary interview on Hint. A lot has changed for you since then, and yet I feel like you're exactly the same person. What's your take on your evolution?
When was that last interview, about eight years ago? I don't think I've changed. I'm turning 50 this month and I hope I've kind of settled into who I am. There are still days that I look in the mirror and see a silly cunt, but I've learned to forgive my shortcomings. I'm not saying I've got it all figured out, but I'm not as worried about it as I used to be. I'm with the same business partners, same love story and they both feel great. I've certainly gotten more than my fair share and I know it.
For someone concerned her English is less than perfect (it's perfect), Carine Roitfeld sure has plenty to say. I had the pleasure of interviewing French Vogue's former editor-in-chief and fashion's freest spirit for The Independent. The topic was her fantastic new book, Irreverent (Rizzoli), an unconventional biography told mostly through images, 30 years worth, sprinkled throughout with short Q&As given by friends and one giant Q&A given by Purple magazine's Olivier Zahm. Naturally, our conversation began to veer, as conversations with visionaries (she'd say dreamer) often do, as ideas, perceptions, recollections, and other pearls of wisdom tumbled forth with disarming candor and charming nonchalance. Which is of course absolutely fine, because who wouldn't want to know as much as possible about being Carine Roitfeld?
On the book's genesis...
It was not my idea to make the book. Olivier Zahm proposed the book. He asked me if I would like to do a book with him for Rizzoli, and I thought why not? Because I really like Olivier. He had good ideas about the text for the book. He was working on the text and he said I only had to take care of the pictures. I know he is a smart person, he is one of the cleverest people in fashion. I said, "With you I have confidence in the book, but I really don't want to be nostalgic." I told him I don't want it to be like a lifetime achievement. I think when you are doing a book sometimes it looks like a lifetime achievement, like it's the end of your career, and this was not my thought process. The book was supposed to come out a year ago, but because Olivier was always late, and because at that time I was editor-in-chief at French Vogue, I had a lot of work and it was difficult physically to find all the magazines from the past thirty years. As I do not have archives, I had to go in my cave [cellar] and to the very last chest of my wardrobe to find old Face and Arena Homme Plus, and all these magazines from the past 30 years. I was very happy to look at all of them. It's funny because my son just came in my room with the luxe edition of the book and I am very happy with it. It’s exactly what I wanted from the beginning. I think it's very chic and I am very happy with the finished product. It's not too expensive, and hope that people will buy this one.
Inflatable balloon masks printed with the words "Blow Job." Horn prostheses on models' foreheads. Hairy T-shirts. Vests with wings. Tulle sculptures shaped like clipped trees. Blow-up doll bodysuits with long, snaky phalluses.
Those are just some of the wearable oddities that have sprung from the fertile mind of Walter Van Beirendonck, who's been pushing the boundaries of fashion for thirty years, addressing thorny issues such as AIDS, war, ecology, mass consumerism and the burqa. Along the way he's collaborated with artists (Orlan), industrial designers (Marc Newson) and dancers (the Royal Ballet of Flanders). In essence he's bridged the gap between art and fashion, proving that garments could also express extreme concepts, and he's always done so with ample humor.
Now, finally, Van Beirendonck is being consecrated with a retrospective, Dream the World Awake, at MoMu Antwerp. There will be 100 outfits on view, from his 1980 graduate collection through today, as well as costumes and videos from the U2 Popmart tour and a kind of wonderwall covered with the designer’s various inspirations. These include memorabilia, images of contemporary art, and ethnic objects that he has been collecting since childhood. We spoke with the bearded visionary about masks, love, art, Bowie, and, perhaps his greatest inspiration, penises.
David Armstrong is a master of suggestion, and it is a testament to this sensibility that his portraits of underwear-clad young men, in various states of dishabille and nonchalant repose, do not come off as lurid or salacious. Despite the appearance, these are not hustlers captured post-coital or bored playthings of rich old men. Collaborating with Armstrong in the creation of art, these are in fact models posing for his new book, 615 Jefferson Avenue, his address in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. This is also where Ryan McGinley, himself a portraitist of soft-focus youth, caught up with the photographer on everything from growing up with his lifelong friend Nan Goldin to still getting stiffies in his fifties...
Ryan McGinley: Since this book is called 615 Jefferson, we should explain that it’s actually the address of your infamous brownstone in Brooklyn, New York. It is also some sort of flophouse for young male models.
David Armstrong: I love that.
What do you love about it? Do you just like being surrounded by pretty boys?
Oh yeah, don’t you? They’re very decorative. And they’re always so sweet—like having kids around. They make macaroni and cheese and watch TV. It’s fun to have them here and I like running a rooming house.
Do you feel like Udo Kier in My Own Private Idaho, where River Phoenix is scrubbing the table in his Dutch-boy outfit?
No, no, no. I never do. The thing is, I’m always the one doing all the work for them. Sometimes I feel like Mrs. Doubtfire.
