Fashion Boy London Interviewed by Molly Farrell
For the number of incredible people Stephane Raynor has worked with, sold to, employed and dressed, that today his name is relatively unknown except within certain circles is pretty shocking. During the 80’s and 90’s, his legendary label ‘BOY LONDON’ was eponymous with cool; it was a brand that was worn by every face of pop culture (the Sex Pistols, Boy George, Madonna and Andy Warhol, to name a few). Raynor was, and still is, the unsung pioneer of punk, acid rave and New Romantic fashion who is only recently again getting the recognition he deserves. He started his first store, ‘Acme Attractions’, with John Krevine in 1972, two years before Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s boutique ‘SEX’ was established. Raynor’s outlet was the core of the burgeoning London punk scene, counting punk DJ Don Letts and current Rough Trade MD Jeanette Lee as its workers. In 1976, BOY was created. The spirit of the scene that surrounded BOY defined the Punk movement as it was and became the inspiration for the New Romantic style’s creation. (Oh, and Billy Idol happened to work there…) In 1978, Raynor then went on to create yet another famed shop, ‘PX’, which was where he advised worker Steve Strange to start the original club kids night, ‘Blitz Kids’, at local bar Blitz; a place famous for turning Mick Jagger away for not being ‘trendy’ enough.
From then on BOY LONDON was iconic, and the brand spiralled to a height of international and commercial success that proved to be too much. Since then - and up until about five years ago - the label has been a memory stumbled upon by past fans and fashion enthusiasts alone. But with the opening of his latest East London store ‘SICK’, and its Urban Outfitters and Cobra Snake endorsements, BOY has experienced its rebirth and is tearing up our streets once again... You’ve talked about ‘Pop Culture’ before in interviews as being what you see Boy to be about- what would you define that as exactly? BOY LONDON: The pop explosion was the 60s in art, music, fashion... it changed the planet, creating everything that’s taken for granted now: the teenager, street fashison, media creation. I am part of that movement; creating the pop sub culture, pushing barriers, being the avant garde, crossing the line. I am the enfant terrible of fashion. What are your views on personal style? BOY LONDON: Never get stuck in the moment you’re in, always respect change don’t get comfortable in your style, don’t imitate, create, be the first on your street, take the blame.
Could you describe yours (if you think there is one) in 5 words? BOY LONDON: I wear no logos, no labels, a blank canvas, ready to play in the background and love to be surrounded by my amazing entourage. You’ve described how your brand suffered from brand theft and the copying of design in the 90s - how would you say that experience affected Boy? Do you think that’s something that you can ever really avoid in your industry? BOY LONDON: I got fucked by the USA, if you make yourself big enough you’re gunna get shot down. Name one person living/dead who you most admire and why. BOY LONDON: As a girlfriend said 2 me - Steph why haven’t you killed yourself as all the great artists did? I don’t have any heroes as such, I like bits of them, plus it’s true, they’re all fuckin dead. If you could give one piece of advice or ‘life lesson’ to us now, what would it be? BOY LONDON: Depends who you wanna be. If you wanna be me? Don’t have friends, don’t live with anyone, don’t get married, don’t depend on anyone, fuck with everyone, have fun & get remembered.
GUM / issue 1 / 2012
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