30 newyork| december9–22, 2019
runwayshowsare thebestwaytoshowfashion
atthemoment.Are youcommittedtothem?
Absolutely.Theywerethelast thingI ever
dreamedofwhenI starteddoingclothes.I never
evenconsideredcomingoutfora bowat theend
ofa runway show, whichis themotivationfora lot
ofpeoplewhentheystartthinkingofbeinga
designer.It tookmea minutetofindmy voice,to
allowpeopletoregistermeanddecidethat they
weregoingtotoleratesomebodythat madeslow
movements.WhenI startedout,themovements
werea lotslower,andnowthegesturesarea lot
granderanda lotmoredramatic,butI didn’t really
realizethatI wasgoingtoenjoyit that much,the
theaterofit.Theopportunitytobeabletotalk
aboutthingsotherthanjustclothes.That’sa gift,
beingabletohavea platformtoexploredifferent
typesofbeauty ina morebehavioral-socialway.
You’vehelpedchangethewayweseebeauty.
I thinkit’ s just a primalthing.Peopleare
alwaysgoingtowantceremonies;they’realways
goingtogathertogethertoexperiencesomething
movingasa community. It’sDruidceremonies,
it’ s church,it’s voguingballs.Andthereneedsto
bea senseofrisk,thatsenseofcompetition,and
that’s what runwayshowscanbe.It’sseeing
somebodytakea riskandmake a leap.We will
foreverbelookingforthat thrill.Especiallynow,
withInstagram,runwayshowsaremorerelevant
thanever. Peoplecancommunicateaboutthem
ina morespeedywaythanthey couldbefore.
Let’s talkaboutLarryLeGaspi,the’70scos-
tumedesignerwhoworkedwith Kissand
Labelle. Youchanneledhimfora 2019collec-
tionandwrotea bookabouthiswork.Whyhim?
WhenI startedthat book,I knew it wasgoing
tobeanautobiography explaininghowmy
aestheticdeveloped—throughhim,ina way.
WhenI was 13 andKissexploded,it waskindof
unprecedented.TherehadbeentheNewYork
Dollsandglitterrock,butthisonewassobom-
basticandwithsuchfull-ontestosterone,with
thevomitingofbloodandthepyrotechnicsand
fogandthevitalityofthesemenintheseheels
andblack.Andthenitwasverymuchmore
blackleather. Lateron,it becameblackspandex.
Butthenit wasmoresinisterandmoredepraved
andmoremenacing—authenticallymenacing
frommyperspectiveasa 13-year-old.Thatwas
supposedtoimpress,andit did.
Therewasa melancholysideof thistoo;it’sa
lo st generation.It expressedthisutopian,idyllic,
in nocentworld—andthethrillis thatthiskindof
campsensibilitybecamepartof theblacksoul
culturein Americaandthenbecamepartof sta-
diumrock,middle-Americanculture.Thiscamp
sensibilityfroma gayman[LeGaspi]becamea
hugeinf luence.That’smy DNA.Thatgenderf lu-
iditybutwitha vitality.Swagger.Thatprimal
male swagge els.And
withmena cipeis
ki ndof my p ay, my
personalperception.
Thiswasyourprimalscene.
DistinctlyRick2 015
Owenssendswomendownthe
Parisrunwayinthespringcarrying
fellowmodelslikesurrealcargo:
a commentonthesupport
andstrengthofcommunity.2 018
InSeptember, Owensputs
o fearsomemodels
be Hereferencesthe
el,andVogue
callsit fashion’s “firstknock-down,
drag-outMe Toocollection.”2 0 13
Forhisspringcollection,hecasts
stepdancerstomodelthe
clothesandperformat hisshow,
literallyshakingtheindustry.2 017
Theinfluenceofglampioneer
Larry LeGaspihoversoverOwens’s
work.Owenswrotea bookabout
LeGaspiandhisdesigns(like this
one,onAnnaCleveland)thisyear.And knowing that there was some place to go
and be that—that it was a possibility. That hadn’t
occurred to me. That I could be this guy spewing
blood in makeup and heels doing a guitar solo. In
fog. That’s who I wanted to be.
Vomiting blood?
Yes! And laying waste.
Do you think you’ve achieved that?
To a certain extent, I suppose I have! I’ve always
been very honest about it all being self-invention,
and if I can do it, anybody can do it. It’s all about
figuring out who you are. That’s something I’ve
always tried to say through clothes, too. Figuring
outwhat’s wrongwithyouandlettingit go and
working on it but not killing yourself over it. Just
working with what you’ve got. I’m very honest
about it all being complete artifice, but that’s fine.
That’s all it needs to be.
That sensibility in your work seemed to
emerge fully formed—that dark aesthetic, the
scary power of it.
I don’t know. I was a pretty fey kid, pretty fragile.
It was a pretty long road; it took a long time. There’s
definitely a lot of fragility there sometimes. It’s still
very much a work-in-progress—as we allare.
In recent collections, your pieces have
seemed as much architecture as fashion.
When I started, it was a very languid,drippy
si lhouette. As I learned how to executethings
more precisely, it started engorging. It startedget-
ting stiffer and more sculptural. You canseethis
ar c of somebody learning how to have somefun.
At the peak of your life, I suppose in theory,the
id eal scenario is you gradually reach somekindof
le vel of serenity and self-awareness.Andmy
se renity ... My father was so interestedin self-
awareness and learning. As he got older,though,
he just became more frustrated and morebitter
and the opposite of serene. I don’t knowif that’s
because physically there’s a deteriorationthat
makes you fearful and reactionary andif that’s
in evitable. But I’ve also seen older peoplewhoget
to a place of peace that I admire. Maybebythat
ti me, I’ll just have grandkids and kittens.
Your wife, Michèle Lamy, is a muse andyour
collaborator. How does your relationshipwork?
Michèle is almost all id. There are timeswhen
I’m just not ready for her and I have toremind
myself to open up to her in a different way.A lotof
my life is just thinking logically how togetfrom
point A to point B in the straightest line.If I’min
that kind of mood, I have to change mybrainto
have a conversation with Michèle. She isgoingto
ge t completely abstract. She is pure poetry.Some-
times I just have to remind myself, Get outofyour
uptightness and listen to this, get into thismood.
This mood is essential. She reminds metonotbe
so rigid. She pushes me around in differentways
that somehow I had the good sense enoughtosee
I needed to have to normalize me. It’shardto
quantify what influence she has, but I trusther.
And somewhere deeply I know it givesmesome
kind of sense of balance. Otherwise, I wouldjust
ge t too uptight. ■intelligencer