OZON International 2010 - Heroes

INTERNATIONAL ISSUE

HEROES

[LIFE A F T E R S K AT E ]

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2010

We A c t i v i s t s SHOT BY C H E RY L D U N N w w w. w e s c . c o m

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editorial

men that hit the mark

mahret kupka

antonio fiengo

natural born heroes

unforgettable

fashion films

mick rock

caroline issa

mean queen

contributors

joe dallesandro

gianluca fallone

marios schwab

heroes & lovers

backstage

charlotte gainsbourg

teenagers in tokyo

rise & fall

beauty

dames that made the cut

duncan jones

dim mak

twisted heroes

p.l.us.

OZON International Issue/ ATHENS Publishing Director: Yorgos Kelefis Editor in Chief: Tina Sardelas Senior Editor: Danai Alaska info@ozonweb.com Creative Art Director: Panos Papanagiotou art@ozonweb.com Advertising Director: Efi Lymperopoulou ad@ozonweb.com Marketing Director: Kika Kyriakakou sales@ozonweb.com Direct Market: Simos Michalopoulos simos@ozonweb.com Digital Director: Aris Karatarakis web@ozonweb.com International Coordinator: Janosch Boesche Fashion Department: Alexandra Petsetakis fashion@ozonweb.com, Marianthi Chatzikidi, Sissy Souvatzoglou Beauty Editor: Maria Papadopoulou, London ozonweb coordinator: Vania Micha Contributors: Manolis Kranakis, Loukas Mexis, Maria Antelman, Black Athena, Manos Nomikos, Artville, Natasha Papachristou, Vagelis Kamarakis, Yorgos Stamkopoulos, Viviana Miliaresi, Sandra-Odette Kypriotaki, Antonis Katsouris, Spilios Gianakopoulos, Janosch Boesche, Oliver Arlt Photographers: Yiorgos Mavropoulos, Jolijn Snijders, Yiannis Papadopoulos, Costas Avgoulis, Nikolas Ventourakis, Thanos Tsakonas, Eisuke Negishi, Anouk Morgan, NĂşria Rius, Quentin de Briey, Akio, Ascari Luca, Jovanka Savic, Christoph Musiol , Krzysiek Kozanowski English/Greek Adaptation: Costis Nikiforakis, Antonis Katsoufris, Pandora Giamalidou Distribution Manager: Eleni Savidou distribution@ozonweb.com, Address: Yorgos Kelefis-Contempo Publications, 50-52 Valtetsiou St., 10681 Athens, Gr, T: 210 3634009, F: 210 3634008, E: info@ozonweb.com, www.ozonweb.com twitter.com/ozonmagazine myspace.com/ozonmagazine facebook.com/ozonmagazine This magazine cannot be republished or reproduced without the permission of the publisher. Ă— Cover Credits | photography: Luca Ascari art direction: Jovanka Savic hair & make-up: Alemka Krupic stylist: Alemka Krupic stylist assistant: Aurelio Bruzzone AUDREY jeans jacket: Cheap Monday bra Occhi Verdi | FERNANDO all by Les Hommes

editorial Heroes

With every morning awakening, all suddenly dissolve. Faces, situations and feelings disappear in a few seconds; their reminiscence fades away in the first sip of coffee.

These are my own heroes, the almost always night visitors and comfort givers.

Lingering between reality and myth, amid words and mumble, they are small and big respectively. Their value is always significant, companions in a world both ideal and absurd, themselves violent as well as affectionate like family. Yes, these are my heroes, characters with random names, faces forgotten long after their existence.

Scattered words, meaningful glances, entire truths, broken promises, mad feelings.

And just as they come, they leave too, leaving me with the plenitude of an embrace.

Every morning the first sip of coffee is followed by the next one, anticipating the subsequent hero to follow too. The hero for a night.

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Text: Yorgos Kelefis | Photo: Yiorgos Mavropoulos

unforgettable

Fifteen Minutes of fame are not enough anymore.

‘Less’ is not enough, we want more. We long for ‘forever’ and today is not good enough. Ambition or vanity?

David Robert Jones, known as David Bowie, speaks in 1977 about the importance of the day, about a young couple falling in love in the shadow of berlin wall. This, at least regarding the lyrics, is the story of ‘heroes.’

However, with regards to image, in the video clip Bowie stars on his own. Emphasis is placed on features such as his tall slim figure, his razor cut cheekbones as well as his ice-cold and yet - somehow - heartbreaking face expression.

‘Heroes’ seems more of a plea rather than a confession of love. The young lovers inspiring the ‘White Thin Duke’, were far from coincidental; they were in fact Bowies’ producer at the time and his ‘forbidden’ lover. The time when the song is written, is also significant for Bowie. It was during his Berlin era and ‘Heroes’ is the second out of three albums that became known as the ‘Berlin Trilogy’ (‘Low’ being the first one followed by ‘Lodger’). It is a time when glam rock and his Ziggy Stardust persona belong in the past. A time when Bowie fights to overcome his addictions and helps his friend Iggy Pop produce a new record. Bowie himself assisted by Brian Eno, Tony Visconti and Robert Fripp, experiments with minimal sounds and a new era for his career is rising. During his career Bowie interchanges successfully from pop to rock ‘n roll, from psychedelic to glam rock and electronic sounds with the same ease as he moves around the world; leaving London for America, moving to Germany, then Switzerland and Indonesia. A matured Bowie proved he is indeed a ‘man of words, man of music’, as is the title of an early record. Reaching out not only in the world of music, but also in cinema and theatre and most importantly, not only for a day but for much longer.

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Text: Natasha Papachristou

HEROES • I, I Will Be King •And You, You Will Be Queen • Though Nothing Will Drive Them Away • We Can Beat Them, Just For One Day • We Can Be Heroes, Just For One Day • And You, You Can Be Mean • And I, I’ll Drink All The Time • ‘Cause We’re Lovers, And That Is A Fact • Yes We’re Lovers, And That Is That • Though • Nothing, Will Keep Us Together • We Could Steal Time, •Just For One Day • We Can Be Heroes, For Ever And Ever • What D’you Say? • I, I Wish You Could Swim • Like The Dolphins, Like Dolphins Can Swim • Though Nothing, • Nothing Will Keep Us Together • We Can Beat Them, For Ever And Ever • Oh We Can Be Heroes • Just For One Day • I, I Will Be King • And You, You Will Be Queen • Though Nothing Will Drive Them Away • We Can Be Heroes, Just For One Day • We Can Be Us, Just For One Day • I, I Can Remember (I Remember) • Standing, By The Wall (By The Wall) • And The Guns Shot Above Our Heads • (Over Our Heads) • And We Kissed • As Though Nothing Could Fall • (Nothing Could Fall) • And The Shame Was On The Other Side • Oh We Can Beat Them, For Ever And Ever • Then We Could Be Heroes, • Just For One Day • We Can Be Heroes • We Can Be Heroes • We Can Be Heroes • Just For One Day • We Can Be Heroes • We’re Nothing, And Nothing Will Help Us • Maybe We’re Lying • Then You Better Not Stay • But We Could Be Safer • Just For One Day • Oh-Oh-Oh-Ohh, Oh-Oh-Oh-Ohh • Just For One Day • × SINGLE BY: DAVID BOWIE & BRIAN ENO • FROM THE ALBUM: HEROES • RELEASED: 1977

contributors Action Heroes

Christoph Musiol

Manolis Kranakis

Christoph Musiol works as a fashion photographer and is based between Paris and Berlin.His work is regularly published in national and international magazines and he produces campaigns and catalogues for a variety of fashion clients.Recent magazine editorials: Glamour, GQ, Myself, Maxim, SZ-Magazin, Vsya Evropa.

He was born in Athens in 1977. He studied Law but was meant to become a film critic. His life would have been different if he hadn’t met, early in his childhood, what made him a better person: The Smiths, Paul Auster, Alfred Hitchcock, Henry David Thoreau, Andrey Tarkovsky, The Clash, David Bowie and some few people that taught him what love is all about.

Oliver Arlt

Jovanka Savic

German born fashion writer and stylist Oliver Arlt moved to London three years ago to escape Southern Bavarian boredom and comfort. After being quickly integrated in East London’s fashion circles he decided to document some of the hottest parties and people on his blog thebeautifulman.blogspot.com.

Jovanka is based in Milan, working as fashion Art Director for living and as a photographer for her soul.

She has been taking pictures of nature, friends and people, since she was 15. For this issue she chose to make portraits of those who are brave enough to love and who are proud to show their love to the world.

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backstage Preparing A Hero

‘We can be Heroes / Just for one day’.

It was a certain notion that triggered Yiorgos Mavropoulos and Marianthi Chatzikidi to transform Dominika into a hero, just for one day. An everyday protagonist that you could pass by on the street, meet and not strike you as something extraordinary.

No, this everyday hero could only be unmasked when you take a closer look and notice a twinkle in her eye. Metallics, paint, glints of shimmer and light sprinkled with an element of intergalactic idolism are captured by Mavropoulos’ multiple lenses.

Each snap encapsulates the multiple characters an everyday hero keeps buttoned up under the façade of yet another soul co-existing amongst millions.

Text: Alexandra Petsetakis / Photo: Yiorgos Mavropoulos

Dames that made the cut Heroes Of The Zeros

With a decade now gone we sieved through the female designers and stylists of the past ten years and bring you the selection of ‘heroic’ women who came out on top.

Fashion follows a well-known cyclical path; the trend is to create the style, put it to the side only to bring it back regurgitated and spit it out moderately altered. Thanks to this routine one would not be wrong to presume the powerful get-up and go female is back. She has risen to strive in a dominantly male creative industry, headstrong and exuding a ‘no-bullshit’ attitude. Women designers and stylists of the past decade have made their mark, stood out from the pack and clawed their way through the mundane to success.

Rei Kawakubo - Comme des Garcsons

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Text: Alexandra Petsetakis

Design heroines today have created the attire for the woman who questions her surroundings, is slightly cynical and sarcastic, a bit of a daredevil and thirsty for collections that won’t outrage but reflect intelligence. This is the mind-frame of a woman designing for a woman.

Leading with the Master of Deconstruction, Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons, has a knack for taking the human form and tearing it apart then stitching it back in a way that would make you question why it wasn’t created that way in the first place. Her multi-million dollar business includes original perfumes (that contain notes of nail-polish and burnt rubber) and collaborations with Vivienne Westwood and Fred Perry. Her collections are consistently tagged as avant-garde, generally a Comme des Garçons piece is like no other, and its exclusivity beams between the masses on a rail. Another directional force is Ann Demeulemeester, one of the Antwerp six batch that jumped off the bus from Belgium accompanied by Martin Margiela and Dries Van Noten. Her classic lines and impeccable tailored influences are urban yet gritty, emanating her authentic hippie cavalier. She follows the path of a strictly neutral palette but her jackets and shirts are staples that accentuate the Demeulemeester woman’s warrior demeanor. On the other side of the colour spectrum, we find Consuelo Castiglioni who founded the Italian brand Marni after deciding to experiment with her husband’s fur business with no previous training. She is a woman that creates pieces that steer away from obvious sex appeal and instead experiments with eclectic colour, idiosyncratic prints and odd-fitting shapes.

There is then the girl crew from the UK, Stella McCartney, zany Luella Bartley and Phoebe Philo. All graduates from the infamous Central Saint Martins in London, these ladies exude an air of effortless ‘cool’. McCartney has conquered the industry of eco-fashion with her vegan approach to finding substitutes for leather and fur. Her iconic collections and creative guidance for Adidas has changed the way we view women’s sport-wear today. Stella McCartney also directed French label Chloé and was then succeeded by Phoebe Philo who redefined the soul of the brand by giving it a fresh bohemian feel of floating femininity. She also kicked off the celebrity craze for ‘it’ bags making millions off the Silverado and the Paddington leather bag with its larger-than-life padlock.

After six years with the Chloé brand, Ms. Philo took on a new project and was appointed creative director of luxury house Celine for some much-needed rejuvenation. Last but not least, there is Mrs. Bartley who began her career as a journalist for the Evening Standard, British Vogue, The Face and Dazed & Confused before deciding to hand in her pen for a pair of scissors. Her characteristically witty collections such as ‘Daddy, who were The Clash’ that Bartley describes as ‘the kind of clothes you can get drunk and fall over in’ were a smash from the start. Her designs are known for taking typically charming British quirks and playing her own spin on them.

Two slightly newer London designers that are gaining their spot in the fashion forum are Hannah Marshal and Louise Goldin. Hannah Marshal with her angular armor bob designs edgy, body-conscious collections mostly in tones of black that center on reinventing the LBD (Little Black Dress). Knitwear designer Louise Goldin has taken your typically frumpy knit and textured it; pulled it apart into a colorful spidery web and sculpted it into geometric forms. The designer transforms her yarns into check-boards, stripes and delicate ruffles and has found success rapidly with the high level of her technical abilities.

Louise Goldin

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Text: Place Text Here Photo: / Photo: Nikolas Place Ventourakis Text Here

Hannah Marshal

Last from the design crew is someone closer to home, Sophia Kokosalaki who produces collections raved for her elegant touch in sophisticated drapery. She was the chief costume designer for the Olympics in Athens and in 2007 became the creative director of the French label Vionnet, which played a big part in the fundament of 20th century dressmaking.

Other than designers, stylists can also play a huge role in the way a look and fashion trend is presented to the public. Their interpretations can be just as creative and laborious as producing a collection themselves. In the last decade, the women that impressed are the ones that can combine all art forms to create an underworld that draws attention to the designs with an unexpected mysticism and vigor. Number one is the ‘maverick princess of cool’, Katie Grand who has become one of the most wanted women in fashion. She has launched magazines Dazed and Confused with photographer Rankin and Jefferson Hack and bi-annual LOVE, a fashion and art periodical. She was the fashion director at The Face and Editor-in-chief of POP magazine; she contributes to multiple editorials, is the creative director for Mulberry and consults on advertising campaigns with some of the biggest brands in fashion today. Another member of the Dazed crew is senior fashion editor Karen Langley who started her career

at 19 under Katie Grand’s reign and has proven herself worthy with some of the most innovative spreads currently in editorials. Finally impeccably dressed fashion guru Camille Bidault Waddington has made a name for herself in the French capital as the ultimate laid-back Parisian. Collaborating with the top-ofthe-top gentlemen photographers Knight, Testino, Teller and Richardson has granted her an international career with designers world-wide and is currently Fashion Director at the hard-covered Self Service on the side.

The unique quality of these dames is that they all have a temperament that sets them apart, they know their stuff and constantly feel a need to better themselves. They share a will to push fashion and design in directions that haven’t been explored and which might seem bizarre and out of place. They challenge the stubborn and do what they want to do and don’t look back. So to survive in an industry that is chocker-block full of copycats and monotony, a girl has to have that certain je ne sais quoi to make a sit-up and wake-up distinction.

Men that hit the mark Heroes Of The Zeros

The Most Influential Menswear Designers of the Noughties During the noughties, menswear had a bigger than ever impact on fashion in general. For the past ten years boys, men and girls that dress like boys looked dapper, cool, edgy, trendy, fierce and sexy because of the great ideas of all designers that influenced the shape and form of menswear.

Hedi Slimane - Dior Homme

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Text: Oliver Arlt

Lanvin

Though it is very difficult to point out who the most influential designer of the last ten years was (or still is), the list can be narrowed down to two names that influenced menswear like no other. Certainly that would be former creative director of Dior Homme, Hedi Slimane, and Raf Simons, who since 2005 is also the creative head of the Jil Sander brand. Both having very significant influence on some of the biggest trends during the noughties and an indisputable achievement.

During the past ten years, the modern male’s relationship to fashion has become stable and solid. An ample variety of fashion magazines entirely for men emerged. Luxury fashion houses like Balenciaga or Givenchy started producing trendsetting and innovative menswear and like never before fashionable men in Rock n’Roll influenced what was seen on the catwalk. Finally it was okay for men to love clothes and enjoy fashion. The market for menswear is growing continuously with an increasing customer base.

Former youth cultures and what was seen on the streets had a vast effect on the collections shown on the catwalks during the noughties. British subcultures of the 70s and 80s have been highly influential and that brought back tartans in various forms, the skinhead look and skin tight trousers.

And that brings us back to Simons and Slimane. Both swear by the significance of street wear and youth culture. Both designers were born in 1968 and have become design wizzes without ever having any formal fashion education.

Slimane, French born and son of a Tunisian father and an Italian mother, altered the shape of men’s clothing. He was responsible for the creation of a whole new look with his thin waisted black suits. His designs of razor thin jackets, trousers, low cut shirts and lean shapes revolutionized fashion in general, and not only for men. Even famous women like Madonna, Nicole Kidman or Charlotte Rampling have been seen wearing Slimane’s creations. And when it comes to men, the list is almost endless with celebrities like David Bowie and Beck to bands such as Franz Ferdinand or The Libertines. Karl Lagerfeld himself said that he slimmed down only to fit into Slimane’s creations.

Raf Simons - Eastpak

Hedi Slimane - Dior Homme

Today in 2009, from Tokyo to Paris, London, Berlin and New York, even two years after Hedi Slimane stopped working as a fashion designer to become an internationally renowned photographer, you can see boys (and girls) in skinny jeans and with that certain lean Rock chic that he invented. This look is not for everyone. It is that rock star ambience that one needs to aspire to; to be as cool as Pete Doherty or These New Puritans drummer and model George Barnett for example. And most important of all, you need to fit into the new silhouette. Gone are the days of bulky, masculine and buff Dolce & Gabbana models. Androgyny is in. Without Hedi Slimane we wouldn’t have models such as Cole Mohr, William Eustache, Josh Beech or Ash Stymest.It was his own decision to street cast his models while he was still working for Dior.

And there we have another similarity between Slimane and Raf Simons, who also prefers working with boys he scouts on the street.Simons is mostly influenced by street styles and the boys wearing them. However, he transfers this streetwear into futuristic designs, mixes formal menswear with notions of youth culture and modernity. His creations are fashion forward, always exciting and one step ahead. For that reason he is considered by many to be the most influential menswear designer of our time. And contrary to Hedi Slimane, he is still working as a fashion designer. Not only for his own label which he founded in 1995, but he is also the creative head of Jil Sander. Thanks to him the minimalist German label is back to being highly successful after its eponym designer left in 2003. Simons is responsible not only for the men’s but also the women’s collections, which is always a highlight at Milan Fashion Week.

His clothes are original, über-cool, super slim and sleek. There is always lots of denim and it seems the Belgian born fashion designer not only knows the direction menswear is going; he is moreover responsible for that direction.

Gone are days when he solely sold his designs to a European niche market consisting of the ‘cool’ people. The label Raf Simons as well as the cheaper Raf

by Raf Simons can be bought all around the world.

But what makes Simons’ creations so modern and bold? Is it because he isn’t afraid to reference everything, from eco-terrorism to skateboarders or Anish Kapoor? Or maybe just because he doesn’t get bogged down in details? He is mostly interested in the form and shape of the pieces and their innovative tailoring. Most probably it is the exciting blending of all of these talents of Simons.

The past ten years marked a new beginning for men’s fashion. Men finally seem to have fun with fashion. Menswear no longer is hiding from its big sister womenswear. It actually seems to be the other way round. This article has concentrated on Simons and Slimane but more would be necessary to do justice to all the designers that changed menswear this decade: for instance Lucas Ossendrijver who is responsible for Lanvin menswear or Ricardo Tisci for Givenchy. Or the Londoners Kim Jones, Gareth Pugh or James Long. However that can only mean that the next decade looks very promising with regards to the wardrobes of stylish men.

fashion films Fashion Heroes In Action

It’s funny how times change. In fact, one should stand back and marvel at the irony that is Fashion film.

Words like ‘narcissistic’, ‘self – referential’ and ‘irrelevant’ seemed to be thrown around film festivals, out of the mouths of esteemed members of the press, critics and film lovers who believed that fashion as a cinematic theme was something to be sneered at, some pure fluff – eye candy for feisty fashionistas who hadn’t had enough of their bi-annual catwalk fix.

It’s funny how times change. In fact, one should stand back and marvel at the irony that is Fashion film. Words like ‘narcissistic’, ‘self – referential’ and ‘irrelevant’ seemed to be thrown around film festivals, out of the mouths of esteemed members of the press, critics and film lovers who believed that fashion as a cinematic theme was something to be sneered at, some pure fluff – eye candy for feisty fashionistas who hadn’t had enough of their bi-annual catwalk fix.

It took one David Lynch, with his hauntingly mesmerizing 2007 campaign for Gucci to spark a genuine interest to what a fashion film was really about, driving other filmmakers to experiment and express their inner – surrealist. Once the flood gates opened, tales of 40s femmes fatales, Giant monolithic tubes, dark liquid princesses appearing in a white background like ink block tests, and Chien Andalou homage combined with 50s 8mm aesthetics materialized, taking fashion to the art world, and the art back into fashion.

A film is where a designer has countless options to either ‘express the essence of his collection’, pay homage to whatever has inspired him/her, or if you are a cynic, simply employ one more medium to promote each collection. It’s not an ad, it’s art.

After all, the world is a stage, and in the 3D digital era, a catwalk by itself is an incomplete platform. Indeed, purists will disagree and throw anathema to heretic views such as this, but the fact remains, that every now and then things do evolve. It happened before, when Roy Halston decided that models showing clothes in big salons holding cardboard signs, while dazed out, bored Park Avenue housewives gulped martinis, was a thing of the past. Instead, there came a runway, loud music and the models strutting in their Halstons, held a copy of Valley of the Dolls. It was theatrical, it was innovative, it was bound to happen.

What occurred with fashion films was like waiting a bus for a decade, then suddenly 10 of them appear at once.

On a smaller production scale, Vanessa Bruno’s film with longtime collaborator Stephanie Di Ciusto, beautifully depicts Lou Doillon as a wild child / urban warrior, speaking directly to consumers by launching the video on vanessabruno.com and YouTube which features the A/W 2009-2010 collection that’s currently in stores. Bottom line, it’s a lookbook, but oh, so beautifully and cleverly presented.

Is it the end of the catwalk? In times of world economic crisis, one would suggest that a film is more powerful, direct, and definitely cheaper than a full scale fashion show.

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Cynicism aside, the argument whether the camera is mightier than the catwalk is at best constructive. More filmmakers, photographers and even designers themselves have been seduced by this powerful alliance, and what is certain is that each narrative attempt adds something to a fast emerging genre.

For instance, Nick Night’s digital film, featuring Raquel Zimmerman coiled with snakes and melting in and out of a watery tomb, transformed Alexander McQueen’s show at the Omnisports center in Paris into a multi-media extravaganza.

It is therefore no surprise to anyone that Diane Pernet’s annual fashion film festival, ‘A Shaded View on Fashion Film’ had a successful second year. As fashion film continues to evolve, the possibilities will be endless, more so than conventional narrative film which admittedly is sometimes bound by various factors. The fashion film’s primary function is to present a concept relating to a collection. That can happen with, or without narrative, sound, color, even coherence. It is experimentation, with no certain outcome. Then again, so is fashion.

Text: Tina Sardelas

Gareth Pugh

Richard Nicol

Tim Hamilton

Vanessa Bruno

JOE DALLESANDRO Wet Dreams Hero

‘Andy Warhol made him famous. The underground made him a sexual icon. His body made him a legend.’

That’s the logline of ‘Little Joe’, a 2009 independent documentary about Joe Dallesandro, whose 40-year-old career unrolls on the big screen. Throughout the years, a lot of references have been made about him. Andy Warhol used to claim that: ‘In my movies everyone is in love with Joe Dallesandro.’ New York Times film critic, Vincent Canby, commented on his appearance as soon as the movie ‘Flesh’ was out by writing that: ‘His physique is so magnificent that men, as well as women, become disconnected at the sight of him.’ Director John Waters praised him as: ‘A wonderful actor who forever changed male sexuality on the screen’, whereas world famous photographer Francesco Scavullo stated that Joe Dallesandro was one of the 10 most beautiful men he had ever photographed.

But who is actually ‘this naked guy in those Andy Warhol films’ as most people tend to remember him?

Joe, born in Florida, was the son of two teenage Americans who got divorced soon after their marriage. He and his brother Bobby moved to New York with their father as his mother was imprisoned for car theft. His father also proved unable to raise them on his own, and so both children were placed to foster families. Young Joe was a trouble maker at school and a petty criminal himself.

At the age of fifteen he was sentenced to a juvenile rehabilitation centre for driving a stolen vehicle. There, he was adorned with his renowned trademark tattoo, ‘Little Joe’, and three months later he managed to escape. He travelled to Mexico and L.A. and soon realised that he could use his breathtaking looks to make money. Nude modelling earned him some but the age of 18 finds him in New York, unhappily married to his first wife, Leslie. One morning, in 1967, he accidentally walks into the shootings of Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey’s The Loves of the Ondines and the two artists discover their muse.

In the beginning, Joe took part in Warhol’s San Diego Surf (1968) and Lonesome Cowboys (1969) but it was Morrissey’s widely acclaimed Trilogy that brought the underground to the cultural surface and established Dallesandro as the first eroticised male sex symbol on screen and as a modern Valentino representing a liberating icon for his female and gay fans. Flesh (1968), Trash (1970) and Heat (1972) received smashing reviews and are still considered as cult masterpieces. Joe became undoubtedly a superstar at that time and continued to shoot Warhol and Morrissey’s films. Flesh for Frankenstein (1974) and Blood for Dracula (1974) came along but soon Joe was tired by the two directors’ pressure, his multi task services to the Factory - he often had to work as a security guard, a receptionist or a bellboy – and his fatherhood and husband obligations – he was married to his second wife, Terry, already and they had a baby son named Joe Junior.

In 1974 Dallesandro moved to Europe and took part in various feature films.

Despite other world famous co-protagonists – Anita Ekberg was his partner in the Italian splatter film Suor Omicidi (1978) – most of them were unsuccessful and did not earn him the fame and popularity he had received back in New York.

Nevertheless, during his European movie era Joe played in the movie that was to become his most beloved. Serge Gainsbourg’s Je t’aime moi non plus (1975) is an exceptional French cult film due to Gainsbourg’s poetic film language, Joe Dallesandro and Jane Birkin’s acting performances as well as their matching and incredible looks.

In the 1980’s Joe returns to the United States where he holds minor but really distinctive roles in a series of well-known movies. Francis Ford Coppola’s Cotton Club (1984), Blake Edwards’ Sunset (1988) John Waters’ Cry Baby (1990) and Steven Soderbergh’s The Limey (1999) are some of the highlighted films that brought him to the dusk of the 20th century.

Throughout the years Joe’s personal life had not been easy. He had to cope with drinking and drug issues, unsuccessful marriages and perplexed affairs.

Yet, he remained in the spotlight not only through his acting but also as a model for top photographers such as Francesco Scavullo, Jack Robinson and Richard Avedon. In 1972 Lou Reed portrays him as the hustler ‘Little Joe’ in his song ‘Take a walk on the Wild side’ and Ian Curtis mentions ‘Little Joe’ in one of his poems. Dallesandro’s large crotch bulge adorns Rolling Stone’s album cover ‘Sticky Fingers’ and in 1984 the Smiths use a photo of him as a cover for their debut album. In 1987 David Bowie holds a role for him in his music video ‘Never let me down’ and most recently Sacha Baron Cohen will present his film character ‘Bruno’ being photographed naked with his son in his arms as Joe had originally done for Rolling Stone magazine in 1971.

Joe Dallesandro is alive and kicking for anyone out there wondering what has happened of him and his impact in film, art and even fashion industry remains intact up to today. An on line store sells ‘Little Joe’ T–Shirts emblazoned with an exact large image of his popular tattoo and they sell like hot cakes (www. littlejoe.bigcartel.com). Last June the National Portrait Gallery in London held a Gay Icons exhibition, where Dallesandro’s captures where among its prominent exhibits. Furthermore, last February Joe Dallesandro received the Teddy award in the 59th Berlinale Film Festival. This special award is given for more than 20 years to filmakers and artists that promote and contribute to the recognition of the LGBT lifestyle and culture. Pedro Almodovar, Francois Ozon, Gus Van Sant, Derek Jarman and Tilda Swinton are in the list of the most recent Teddy Award winners.

Joe has become a literature star, as well. Michael Ferguson’s book ‘Little Joe, Superstar: The Films of Joe Dallesandro’ gives a detailed account of the actor’s life and career who originated as ‘a sweet, shy, deliriously sexy cipher whose unflappable calm provided its own kind of campy counterpoint to Warhol’s shrieking harridans and maniacal drag queens’. A few years ago his daughter, Vedra , decided to assemble a group of filmakers such as the German director, Nicole Haeusser, and the animator, Todd Fjeldsted, to help her tell her dad’s story. The documentary ‘Little Joe’ was released in 2009 and attempts to reflect ‘Joe’s humour and spirituality with a mixture of wonderful animation, a vast amount of film footage and numerous stills’ as Haeusser notes down.

Joe Dallesandro has definitely changed the way that men and women have perceived male beauty ever since his appearance on the big screen. His divine, statue-like body and awestruck facial features depicted in portrait photos and films of his Factory years still make people drool. Nevertheless, Joe’s lifetime story is not a fairy tale and his upheaval to New York’s underground scene was not paved with roses. Ferguson’s book and Haeusser’s documentary spot plenty of light in the enigma called ‘Little Joe’. They constitute an additional proof that Joe Dallesandro was not just a star of the Warholian system but actually an authentic pop-art icon and a charismatic ‘true life’ hero, indeed.

›› joedallesandro.com /26

Text: Kika Kyriakakou / Photo: c.Paul Morrissey from the films Flesh, Trash and Heat

charlotte gainsbourg Anti-Heroine On Screen

A daring actress who won an award in this year’s Cannes Film Festival for Lars Von Trier’s ‘Antichrist’.

A sensational singer collaborating with Air and Beck. The beloved daughter of Serge and Jane. It is hard to tell who Charlotte Gainsbourg really is. Except from a woman obsessed with the mystery of living.

How do you feel about the reactions towards ‘Antichrist’ from film critics and viewers from all over the world?

It is always better to have big reactions. You can’t be indifferent to a Lars Von Trier’s film. Even if people are shocked, I think it’s fun.

Were you aware that ‘Antichrist’was a provocative piece of art even before you agreed participating in the movie?

Yes I was, but I didn’t focus on that. I knew that I was doing extreme stuff, but I really didn’t imagine myself in front of an audience.

How did you feel when you watched the actual movie?

I don’t enjoy watching myself. Even though I loved the images, his point of view and the way he shot things, I was bored of myself.

What was the one thing that made you choose this role?

It was him.

Regardless of Lars Von Trier’s reputation? Bjork said she would never do a film again because of her traumatic experience with Lars Von Trier in ‘Dancer In The Dark’?

I had the impression that he is very tough with actresses. And I was very nervous not knowing what character he was. If he would be brutal, or vicious. Meeting him, I didn’t understand what he was; he was very fragile, shaking. He seemed in such a state that we didn’t talk a lot. He asked me if I had fears, if I had experienced panic attacks. The more he was questioning my sanity the more I felt perfectly normal. Very calm. I still don’t know what convinced him to choose me for the role. I never asked him.

Did you feel exposed?

Yes. But I wanted to be exposed. I knew that the movie would be very exhibitionist and I know I have this in me. I wanted to go a bit too far.

You said that you and Lars never really talked about the movie, the meaning of the story, your role. Where did you find your answers?

I didn’t really ask him about the plot. I had to imagine answers to the questions I had. But it didn’t matter at all. The final film is nowhere near to what I had in my mind. For me there was a progression and a logic that I had to go through in order to understand where I was going. It was important to have a base for my path.

Was this movie something like a cinematic bungee jumping?

I wasn’t conscious of it at the time. I hadn’t been shooting for a long time. There was Todd Haynes’ film that I had done, ‘I’m Not There’ and Heath Ledger died.

I didn’t know him very well, but we passed time together and I felt very strange when I learned that he was gone. I also had a brain accident that was very very serious. I wasn’t working for a long time. I was a bit lost. That’s when I met Lars.

I wanted to live something.

Having gone so far to the extreme, would you go there again?

I would like to do a great comedy. It’s great to explore different things. After the shooting I returned to studio for my new album ‘IRM’ with Beck. To go to music after the experience of ‘Antichrist’ was very so different, a great way of breathing.

Where did you find the courage to play the role of that woman?

It wasn’t courage. All actors have the ambition of being extreme. I don’t think I’m crazy. You want to have material that is original, to push yourself. It was so exciting. I was nervous of course. But I wanted to go as far as I could and he was an amazing guide. He also wanted me to trust him.

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Interview: Manolis Kranakis

Photo: c.V. Vandeperre/DR

duncan jones Man On The Moon

duncan jones directorial debut reaches for the stars For a sci-fi enthusiast such as yours truly (one who hasn’t yet reached the level of obscure references knowledge that is required for geekdom status) watching Moon was indeed a unique experience. In this 3D digital – ‘Avatar’ as the future of cinema – era, a film set on a lunar base is expected to be more Star Trek, and less ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, a film where the audience doesn’t spend an entire evening contemplating about themes of loneliness, madness and identity.

Such is the big screen debut of filmmaker Duncan Jones, a name previously unknown to audiences who had to go online to discover he is the son of the Starman himself, David Bowie. Here is the important bit: people went online because they were curious about the director of one of the most interesting films of the year. In many ways Jones has succeeded despite of celebrity. He admits that: ‘the subtext of Moon is ‘Do you like yourself enough to be able to look in the mirror and say I’m actually a decent guy?’ ‘When I was in my twenties I was a miserable sod. I like me now. I’d love to go back and put my arm around my shoulder, and say: ‘Calm down, enjoy life, it’s not that bad!’’

Although it took Jones several years to get where he is today, his interest in film and sci-fi was evident from an early age. ‘My first experience in film was little 8mm shorts I used to make with my dad when I was about six or seven. Back when I was a little kid that was the kind of hobby that we used to have, doing a lot of one-stop animation with little star wars figures.’

Maintaining his anonymity throughout college then film school, Jones graduated and went to work with advertising guru Trevor Beattie but spent his nights writing screenplays putting his years of studying philosophy in use. ‘I was really interested in the idea of trying to fit in my philosophy with my interest in science fiction. I’m one of those believers in experience in general just being useful for putting your mind in certain places and I think that the period of time when I was studying philosophy for seven years was really an opportunity for me to get to know myself a little bit more and maybe become more interested in a broader spectrum of things which all pay dividends with Moon and hopefully with any other projects I do in the future. I had always liked film, and it was something I knew I wanted to do. But I wasn’t really ready or sure how to go about it,’ he says. ‘And I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to get involved in anything where people know about me and know what I do. It took a long time to make that decision.’

Moon, which was written by Nathan Parker, son of the director Alan Parker, was inspired by Jones’s reading of Entering Space, a book by a former NASA scientist, Robert Zubrin. Jones filmed Moon entirely at Shepperton Studios, using old-fashioned models instead of expensive CGI, costing £2.5 million.

‘I’ve done some technical tests before - I’ve tried to create this hybrid look of live action and CG. Which is what we applied in Moon for the exteriors and the interiors. There were so many limitations that we imposed on ourselves on how we were going to do Moon and I’m thrilled that people like it and accept it for what it is. The truth is that the film we wanted to do was so much bigger and more ambitious than the one we finally did make.’

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But was he overall satisfied? ‘On the big scale I think there are great things in it, in terms of the look of it, and the wide shots, but whenever you get to any of the details, I can’t stand it. The kind of Doctor Who (old Doctor who) feel to it really annoys me. I would love to have worked more to some of the details. Not that it had to look like its been perfectly designed (like a big budget sci-fi movie), but I think that I could have finessed it a bit more. I still find some elements of it quite distracting.’

The film was written for Sam Rockwell specifically, and Jones kindly refuses to disclose the financials, which is something the press keeps on asking about.

‘I think that in his mind it was an investment. He knew that we wanted to work with us, and he knew the script was giving him everything that he wanted as an actor. I’m incredibly pleased with Sam’s performance and how I was able as a director to be able to put that on my resume cause I think Sam is absolutely phenomenal in it, and I think that it is the best that I could’ve done, (regardless of budget). Adding Kevin Spacey to the mix as the voice of Gerty, a very Kubrick-esque computer, was only another bonus.’

‘We approached him quite early on, but he said he would rather see the film firstly and then decide. I think he was wondering if we could pull off an ‘Independent UK made Sci-Fi’ for $5m as no one else has tried that for a while.

Once he saw Sam’s performance he came on board.’

The film has already got great reviews, and has been hailed as the most original sci-fi movie in years. It was praised by The New York Times, received seven British independent film nominations (including Best Director for Jones and Best Actor for its star, Sam Rockwell) and was also nominated for three critics awards in the UK. After seeing the film, Jake Gyllenhaal, has insisted that Jones directed his next movie, the sci-fi thriller Source Code. So what is Jones’, a philosophy graduate, take on these recent developments? ‘I believe that you make your own luck and I’ve worked really hard to take as many opportunities as I could. Some of them don’t pan out, some of them do.’ And so they did.

Text: Tina Sardelas

Mahret Kupka Queen Of The Bloggers

Mahret Kupka is Germany’s most read fashion editor and blogger.

After graduating in art, exhibition design and economics, she moved to Berlin. Her work has been published in many renowned magazines like J’N’C, INDIE, Blonde, Qvest and newspaper FAZ, the German equivalent of the New York Times.

Besides her own blog fnart.org she collaborates in various projects and also writes for ‘Two for Fashion’ (http://twoforfashion.otto.de) the corporate blog of otto, (the world’s biggest mail order company).

She has recently announced her plans to skip Paris Fashion Week and stay in her hometown Berlin to see the more conceptual labels as well as enjoy the buzz. The one bringing the likes of her together for a few days full of great fashion and plenty of Champagne.

What was your path from studying art and economics to fashion writing?

The question should be ‘what is your path from (fashion) writing to studying economics?’ Writing was my way of expressing thoughts since the day I learned how to write. Above that I was always interested in fashion as an expression of ones’ personality. Since I was more interested in theory than actually making clothes, I decided to study the theory of art which isn’t that surprising given the fact that for me fashion is a form of art. And well, economics was just some kind of idea, since I always liked numbers.

Which blogs do you read regularly?

There are several blogs (currently 128) in my google reader I go through at least twice a day. Among these are the big ones like Susie Bubble, A shaded view on fashion, The Business of Fashion, The Moment etc. I read my friends’ Blogs like Lynn and Horst, Quite Contrary, I Hearts Berlin, What’s Wrong with the Zoo, La Liste Desiderata. Then there are blogs like Coute que Coute, Garbage Dress, 11/13, Arvida, Blica Blica, Fashion Bits and Bobs, Panda Fuck, Style Rookie, etc.

How has fashion changed since you began writing about it?

The only thing I know is that my way of looking at fashion has changed. I am less interested in the actual fashion than in the overall experience; a concept a designer is drawn to for example. Fashion for me isn’t about trends and what kind of colours one has to wear next season. I want to learn about thoughts and (individual) creativity.

We see bloggers nowadays in the front row at fashion shows.

Are labels just trying to get cheap publicity or are bloggers finally accepted and respected in the fashion business?

I think that bloggers are accepted as a form of fashion. Now they are there and tomorrow they might be gone. Some will remain and might be accepted as part of the fashion business, some will disappear again. I believe that in a couple of years nobody will talk about blogging as a phenomenon anymore. Journalists will be sitting next to bloggers in the front-rows. Blogging will be a common form of fashion journalism.

Most of the bloggers are amateurs, and not journalists and writers like yourself with a profound education in the field of arts and fashion. Why are print magazines afraid of trying out the chances of online and digital media?

The print magazines are not afraid, their makers are. There used to be a certain hierarchy in the print industry. Normally you just don’t step out from school to a respectable position as a fashion writer, like Tavi just did for Harper’s Bazaar.

What happens with blogging is that you can become a good writer without all the hierarchy stepping. You just write and people read your stuff. This leads to major changes in the media and of course traditional writers are afraid of that, because they don’t want others to just slip through and maybe even take their jobs. In addition there is a certain fear of new things. I know so many journalists who just use their computers for checking emails. I think that it should be all about quality. If you are a good writer, you are a good writer no matter which form of media you are working in.

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Where do you see the greatest potential for fashion and art in digital media?

Communication. It has become so easy to spread the word and get in contact with the major players on the way fashion and art is made and distributed.

You live in Berlin but you travel a lot. Does Berlin inspire you in a different way than other capitals?

To be honest, Berlin doesn’t inspire me as much as cities like New York, Paris, London, Stockholm or even Hamburg or Stuttgart do. Although the latter ones only serve as short time inspiration. What I like about Berlin is that it offers a cheap way of living, my friends and loads of free time. There are several things I hate about Berlin, the ‘no-need-to-work’ atmosphere for example. Many people just can’t cope with the possibilities Berlin offers. Everyone is working on projects, but most of them are never realized. In many cases not earning money isn’t just a temporary situation, it has become a way of living. Still, there is no other place I could imagine living in right now, because on the other hand it’s great that you can call someone in the afternoon for a coffee and talk about the things they are working on.

What thrills you most about Berlin fashion week?

I always look forward to meeting many friends and the likes of me.The fashion isn’t something I am really excited about, although there are three events I look forward to: The Premium panel discussion, Project Galerie Showrooms and the HBC Fashionshow, an off schedule project of a friend of mine.

What should Berlin learn from other more established fashion weeks like Paris or New York?

To stick to its own qualities.

Where do art and fashion nurture each other?

On the conceptual level. I never liked collaborations in which an artist paints on clothes or bags. Much more interesting is when designers start following strict artistic concepts, like Maison Martin Margiela for example where the clothing aspect becomes less important.

Who should we keep an eye on as they are the most up and comers?

Everyone is raving about Michael Sontag these days. I really like what he is doing, but I’m not that excited about it. Damir Doma might be generally less known (especially in Germany although he is German and already runs his own store in Paris) but will definitely be someone in the near future. Then there are some labels that really profit from the web like complex geometries from Canada, who are all over the web/blogs for quite some time now. And then there’s my favourite label JULIAANDBEN which I am pushing, they really are great!

Our International Issue is inspired by David Bowie’s song ‘Heroes’. Who is your personal fashion/style hero?

For the brains: Suzy Menkes for her fairly diplomatic way of precise criticism.

For the looks: Emmanuelle Alt for her ‘I just threw something together’ rock n roll style.

›› fnart.org Interview: Janosch Boesche / Photo: Katja Hentschel

mick rock Exposed

Mick Rock is the photographer who captured the essence of a period when Pink Floyd were just Syd BarreTt’s cats.

David Bowie wore platform shoes and space make-up, Iggy Pop was cutting himself with a bottle messing around with blood and Lou Reed posed as a decadent effeminate dandy. Mick Rock was their friend, always inspired by their outrageous behaviour. More than an eye-witness or a compulsive observer, he spent his time living it. There is a recurrent pattern in Mick Rock’s images. Portraying his subjects as self-destructive anti-heroes for whom your sympathy increases with each bad thing they do. Today he is busy taking pictures of the new generation of rock n rollers along with preparing “Exposed”, his latest photography book that will be out next autumn. Mick Rock’s attitude about life and art sums up to one word: experimentation. Talking to him is the next best thing to falling in “punk, drunk, love.”

You were studying at Cambridge where you met Syd Barrett.

How did this happen? Was he the reason you started taking photographs?

It was in my first year in Cambridge and some people I knew told me about this friend of theirs Syd Barrett, who had a band called Pink Floyd. He also had two cats, one was called Pink and one was called Floyd and they were named after blues musicians. Syd was coming at Cambridge with his band, to play at the Cambridge Arts College Christmas Party in December of 1966. So I went along with them to see Pink Floyd. Well all you could see was Syd Barrett, this extraordinary figure bouncing up and down and this light show was going on- they would just put little bits of paint between little bits of glass, squashed them and then projected it. And you got all this wild effect. It was done quite simply but to someone of 17 it didn’t look or sound like anything that had gone before. It was nothing that I or anyone else had heard. I got to know Syd that night. He was a very happy fellow. I photographed him first time probably around September of 1969. I think I didn’t pick up a camera until late ‘68.

What made you start?

I didn’t have a camera, my family couldn’t afford to buy me one. I remember picking up a camera I found in a friend’s room. I took some pictures and then I went three or four days later when I remembered that I had taken them and it just clicked in my mind that -of course- there was no film in the camera. Then I would just take a few pictures of friends of mine whenever he let me borrow his camera. I liked doing it but I didn’t regard it as being culturally important. I mean today photography is important. There is so much photography being presented as art. In 1968-9, in those circles, people didn’t regard photography as art. For me it was just access to imagery.

You lived among the people that you photographed and you shared the same lifestyle with them. How important is it for a photographer to be more than an observer, to be involved?

I was part of it and then I became sort of bit by bit a photographer. I was just doing what I felt like doing. I didn’t look at it from an outside perspective.

These were the people I knew and lived among and those were my day to day experiences. I just went along because I knew who these people were and I loved their work. No-one was directing anything. I was just on the spot and David (Bowie) would encourage me, he was a great encouraging force and somehow this collection of photographs that valued nothing back then, was appreciated. It all just sort of happened organically. These were interesting times and I got completely caught up in them.

I read that during your studies you were fascinated by the ‘accursed poets’ (Verlaine, Baudelaire etc). What is interesting is that in your very early pictures you manage to portray your friends that were still unknown at that time as completely decadent rockstars. Did you see in them the big stars that they were going to evolve to or did you project your personal vision of them as ‘Poetes maudits’?

I was studying modern language and literature. That provided the way of seeing the world. I romanticized in a way the people I was looking at and I saw them through the prism of my education, which as you say were the French symbolists, like Baudelaire and Verlaine or the English romantics poets like

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Byron or Shelley. Of course all these characters got high. In Paris there was ‘Le Club Des Hashischiens’. There Baudelaire would sit down gulping opium or hashish and then he would write. I saw a co-relation between artists and musicians. I mean I am not trying to encourage young people to do anything but it was just the way it was for me. That was a time when the culture was shifting dramatically; there were so many profound changes going on and most of it happening amongst young people. I hardly knew anybody over 25, that was sort of a cutoff age.

That reminds ME of the lyrics of the song ‘All the young dudes’, one of the best known songs of the Glam period. In the first verse Mott the Hoople sing about Billy. One of the dudes, who brags that as soon as he turns 25 he is going to kill himself: ‘BILLY RAPPED ALL NIGHT ABOUT HIS SUICIDE. HOW HE’D KICK IT IN THE HEAD WHEN HE WAS 25’.

Exactly. It was a very young emerging culture. Back then nobody was very old, some of the entrepreneurs were in their early 30s and we thought of them as being a lot older. It’s not like today when Mick Jagger is 66, or Iggy Pop is 63, or even me still taking pictures of musicians my age. The whole idea would have been ridiculous back then. An artist’s best work is quite often produced when they are young before they become too famous or too established. Look at the Rolling Stones, they are definitely masters of their craft but they haven’t produced anything breakthrough in a very long time. If you get on the cutting edge you can’t stay there forever. Nobody has. Jean Cocteau didn’t, Man Ray didn’t, Picasso didn’t. No matter who you are you cannot stay on the cutting edge but you can still produce and you can still experiment. Iggy just did a French album with jazz ‘chansons’. Why not? Why shouldn’t he? There was a period of time when both David and Lou refused to do their old work but in the end the audience would drag it out of them. Another round of ‘I’m waiting for my man’ or David doing ‘Changes’ and in a way if you are taking people’s money in a concert ultimately you will have to give them what they want.

The majority of musicians you shot came from an underground scene that was alive and kicking and kept producing artists that had a tremendous impact in the youth culture. In a way music was the central point building up heroes for a whole generation.

That is true. It is not hard to be popular these days, you can get the word out very fast but there really isn’t an underground today. If there is, it is about a five minute thing. But try to imagine yourself back in a time when it wasn’t like that and also the youth culture didn’t have much control of the media. The Velvet Underground couldn’t get on the radio, they were regarded as being - well they weren’t regarded at all. Most people didn’t even know they existed. Obviously the media of back then was not the media of today. There was no internet, there was no cable television, there were far less magazines, there was far less of everything. It was really build around the music. The music was much more dominant. Music of course is very important today and live music is probably bigger than ever but psychologically in the youth culture music was the dominant thing. Today the internet is the dominant thing and of course it includes music but it is not the music in and of itself, it is a soundtrack whereas back then it was almost like a religion.

Interview: Danai Alaska

Photo copyright Mick Rock 2010

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Photo copyright Mick Rock 2010

Text: Place Text Here / Photo: Place Text Here

Can you give me the background story of the picture with Iggy Pop, David Bowie and Lou Reed in it? Do you remember that particular day?

This is a party picture. It was before David’s first tour in America in the autumn of 1972. The American record label to whom he had been signed, RCA, decided to send over a bunch of American journalists to interview him. It was at the Dorchester hotel. Iggy and Lou were in town. Iggy was also at that time being managed by David’s manager Tony DeFries and it was like a last ditch attempt to make something happen for Lou because he was on the verge of being completely dropped by RCA. I have two names for that photograph, sometimes ‘The Terrible Trio’ and later I started calling it ‘The Unholy Trinity’. The interesting thing is that although Iggy and Lou knew each other, there was a sort of a little bit of rivalry between them, as different as their music was, plus they both had relationship with Nico. David was closer to them both, individually, and he was the force that actually brought them together that afternoon.

Iggy Pop and Lou Reed are known as the type of rock n rollers that live it to the full – drugs, alcohol and all - David Bowie, on the other hand, even in his wild days seemed to be more in control, always aware of his image. How was the energy among these three?

In those early days, for sure, David was in control. He got out there later on, once he had become significant, whereas Iggy and Lou were pretty crazy even when they were unknown. David was much more on top of things, his craziness came along when he became known but Iggy and Lou were already there, even when no one knew who they were. The combination of those three not only influenced music but it influenced the culture so profoundly. I mean take someone like Elton John, who always sold more records but he was never significant culturally, he didn’t change the way young people thought about the world.

During your career you have been linked to artists that have been mostly known of messing around with identities, from David Bowie and JT LeRoy to Kabuki theatre artists. Why are you attracted to such collaborations?

You are talking about sexual identity especially. To me life is always about experimentation. Sexual identity was a great area of experimenting and the people I was attracted to treated sexual identity as something mutable. Creative people do tend to produce work out of experimental experiences. I was just fascinated by all of it. It wasn’t about discriminating. I just loved the energy, the music, the looks…

During the early seventies it was Glam Rock and London. Then it was Punk and New Wave in New York. You have always been at the right place at the right time. How did you manage to be wherever new things were emerging?

There was a thread in the culture and I followed it. By the late 70s, glam mutated into punk, and my relationship with New York became more significant than my relationship with London. I think I just went where the more interesting action was.

How hard is it to have rock n roll as your routine? How much fun is too much fun?

At one point ‘sex, drugs and rock n roll’ developed into a lifestyle. There are a lot of dead people to prove it. I have a lot of dead friends. Between 1971 and 1976 I wrote a number of little articles, including the very last interview with Syd Barrett, where Syd [sums it all up] with quotes like ‘I have a very irregular head.’ or ‘ My life is all dust and guitars.’ The miracle of course is that David, Lou and Iggy are still alive, that is the wildest thing, because they shouldn’t have been.

Photo copyright Mick Rock 2010

After your serious health problems you managed to convert from chemicals to yoga. How difficult was to leave a part of your old self behind?

Well I used to do yoga and then get high and stay out for days so I knew about yoga from quite an early age but of course I used it as part of my experimentation in a way that the yogis would not have approved. Nowadays of course the chemicals are gone. God warned me to stop thirteen years ago when I nearly died. So to get to the same creative stage I had to approach things from a different angle in order to get the same experience. And there are other ways of doing it. The big thing about chemicals is that there is a law of diminishing returns for most people. If you carry on for too long it will go for your creativity.

During the past years you have been busy photographing the young generation of rock n rollers. Who among them do you prefer working with? How has the procedure of taking pictures evolved throughout all these years?

I love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Scissor Sisters, The Killers, Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters, all these characters are in my new book. I keep doing it simply because I love to shoot. That is the reason why a performer will go out and perform or an artist will keep producing. There is something , as a release they get from it. To me it is more like therapy. Your internal mechanism, at least to me and to the people I am talking about, needs to be primed on a regular basis, otherwise you don’t feel right. I don’t have to hang around for

several days in a row anymore. Now I can open things up very quickly and communicate and that is probably born of experience and understanding my own communicative mechanics. I am a rock n roll fan. Always when I shoot I also act as a DJ and sometimes I DJ in clubs for special events.

Can you talk to me about this new book of yours?

I have done this series of books in the past years but now, in fact today, I am actually putting the finishing touches to the picture content of a new book that is coming out next Autumn. It is not just about glam and punk, although there are all these people in it but it goes right up to Gossip, Alicia Keys even Lady Gaga, all these modern characters. It gives you a much broader range. It also will include some Japanese Kabuki theatre. All very dramatic. The sensibility remains though, you can see this thread in there.

Do you already have a title for it?

There are a couple of titles. At the moment we are trying to finalise the cover. I have got all these wild pictures of Kate Moss all glam/ punked out, looking like Debbie Harry in a certain way but there are also pictures of David I took in 2002 that I want for the cover. It may be called ‘Exposed’.

What qualities should a rock n roll hero have?

I don’t know about heroes, I only know of rock n roll artists.

And I don’t know what qualities they should have, I am just interested in what they do.

›› mickrock.com /38

Photo copyright Mick Rock 2010

gianluca fallone Hero In The Making

making a serious splash in the design world With only 25 years of age, the Argentinian graphic designer Gianluca Fallone has managed to build up an impressive portfolio of work with super-brands such as MTV, Nike, Microsoft, Discovery and Cartoon Network as well as music groups such as Daft Punk.

What made you choose London as base?

I think I feel more related to European culture than American. I had a job offer in San Francisco but I turned it down because United States is not a country I would really like to live in. I love US for taking holidays, but I couldn’t live there for more than a month. On the other hand, London is amazing, it is just my kind of thing and you have everything near you; Paris, Berlin and some other crazy cities.

Do you think graphic design has entered a phase where it has become too hyped and needs to go back to the basics, become more simple?

I think people should do what they feel, if they feel inspired by new shit or trends, then that’s what they should do. Simple or complex? If it has a reason, then it is fine with me. I usually prefer simple, but that’s just me.

How would you explain your ‘illustration-design rollercoaster’? Is Japanese animation and manga you main influences?

I don’t think Japanese animation and manga are my main influences, but that’s what people say. Actually my main inspiration comes from music or people that I meet along the way. Going to a gig, visiting some friends, clubbing or just playing games, watching films is my thing, and everything I do comes from that.

Do you think that the main design ‘trend’ right now is a mixture of eastern and western style?

I really don’t know what is the main design trend. To be honest I don’t read design blogs or magazines, my newspaper is mainly posters on the street and what people wear. Anyway mixing styles always has something interesting into it, but again, it always depends on how you do it.

Do you think prints and illustrations have been heavily promoted as the new ‘it’ artworks, or is it just a natural progression?

I don’t know what you mean, but yes, I think there is a lot of print offer. Everyone is selling prints everywhere, and 90% is shit, nothing personal, but I feel that every illustration someone does, goes from saving the file to uploading and selling. No second thoughts no second opinions. It feels like a virus, like abuse of tagging, it’s free to put out there, so they do it. My conclusion? It’s fucking pollution. I don’t sell prints and I never will, the only persons that have prints of my work are my closest friends and Daft Punk.

Which artist has or still inspires you?

I think my two previous bosses have inspired me a lot, and they still do. Tomás Dieguez from Punga and Roy Garcia from Rock Instrument Bureau. I can also tell you that I admire any artist with a vision, like Non Format.

What is beautiful to you? In terms of design, fashion, aesthetic in general.

Beautiful? What Gisela Filc does in photography is beautiful. What Non Format does in design is beautiful. A female body, a pretty face, a good soundtrack and many other things I consider to be beautiful. Talking to Tanja Brockmeyer is beautiful.

What are you working on right now? Any plans for a future exhibition?

I just finished working on a music video for Gabriella Cilmi. The promo was co-directed by Michael Gracey, he directed the live action and I did all the FX direction (green screen, backgrounds, design) It’s a sci-fi 80s aesthetic video and it will be released on January 2010 if I’m not mistaken. It was great to work with Michael, I really admire him and his view on things it’s just mind blowing.

I did an exhibition last year in Buenos Aires and I really don’t have anything planned for the future. I feel that if I ever do an exhibition again I will need a real budget, cause what I have in mind is too ambitious for a 20 square meter gallery.

›› gianlucafallone.com /40

Interview: Tina Sardelas / Artwork: Gianluca Fallone

teenagersintokyo Heroes In Disguise

Teenagersintokyo actually is Sydney’s most promising new band.

Four girls and a boy, a female-led quintet. These twenty-something ‘teenagers’ have shared the stage with the likes of Gossip and CSS and were tagged by NME as ‘peculiar and lovely’. Their recently released EP was recorded in a studio far-far away in the Welsh countryside under the guidance of Bat for Lashes’ producer, David Kosten. The result was an instant hit that sold out in both Australia and the UK. Teenagersintokyo, have now moved to London. It is from the Big Smoke that Samantha Lim, the band’s singer, introduces us to the dark side of pop.

You are not teenagers nor do you come from Tokyo. How did you come up with this peculiar name?

Your EP sold out in both Australia and the UK. How do you deal with being tagged ‘the next big thing’?

It was long ago that it came to us somehow. We read it somewhere and thought the words sounded really nice together. I like the alliteration and the way it rolls off the tongue. Running all the words together with no spaces was an aesthetic choice.

It was particularly amazing to have it sold out in Australia, as we did everything ourselves to release it. We put in so much work - emotionally, financially and physically - which was a massive challenge but really rewarding. In terms of being tagged ‘the next big thing’, it’s really nice to have people be supportive of what we do. Of course we know it’s only a temporary label, so it makes you work extra hard!

When and how did you meet? Was it your life plan to be part of a band?

Sophie, Miska, Linda and I have known each other for years as we’ve grown up together. When we started the band it just felt right, there was an emerging underground scene happening in Sydney, which we were a part of, so it just happened quite organically. Rudy joined us for a jam a couple of years ago and we clicked instantly, so he became integrated into the band very quickly.

Having played gigs with the likes of Gossip and CSS, who else would you like to share the stage with?

It would be amazing to have the chance to play with someone like Prince. The energy in his live shows is just mind-blowing.

Why did you choose to create an artwork for your EP cover?

How was growing up in Sydney? What were your influences there?

I loved growing up in Sydney. It’s got such a relaxed vibe and the food is great.

The weather is also a great deal more pleasant that London. And although it’s relatively small compared to other creative cities, there is a really strong creative community for art and music. I would say that our biggest influence were the people around us, the artists and friends who encouraged and supported us.

When we were younger, we were listened to a lot of American or British music like The Cure, Tear For Fears, Talking Heads, Fleetwood Mac, Joy Division. As we got older, the local scene around us was growing, so we got to see that happening which was exciting and inspiring.

The press has already described your music as ‘post-punk’, ‘dark pop’ or according to NME ‘peculiar and lovely’. How do you respond to that? How would you describe your music?

We feel that Dark Pop is a perfect description for us as it really expresses the dynamics in our music. There is a definite undercurrent of darkness in all our work, balanced by our love of traditional Pop music. We don’t shy away from the term Pop as while it’s come to encompass a lot of rubbish, it’s still the original term for a lot of amazing music like The Beatles, Bowie etc.

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We’ve always been really creatively inclined as a group, so it seemed natural to pull from our talents. We all threw around a bunch of ideas and eventually landed on the idea of the couple. Miska did the illustration and Sophie did the layout.

Can you describe the recording process far out in the Welsh countryside?

It was incredibly beautiful, such a luscious surrounding. We holed up in this remote studio, which had a little cabin where we could sleep and eat. It was really nice to get away from everything and focus only on recording and watching a couple of films in between to break it up.

Have you already come up with a name for your upcoming album?

The name thing has been an interesting process, it’s quite hard to all agree on one title. We are currently in the final stage of deciding as well as getting all the artwork together.

Interview: Danai Alaska / Photo: Cybele Malinowski

Is it difficult to be part of a five piece group? Does it take a lot of compromising?

How would you describe your style? Is fashion a form of artistic expression for you?

At times it can be a burden having to take on board everyone’s opinions, but it’s also a blessing as it demonstrates how passionate everyone is in the band.

There are always going to be compromises with collaborative endeavors, but we are very diplomatic when it comes to decision-making. We’ve developed this very unique way to communicate with one another.

Personally I do think that style is a form of artistic expression, or at least an extension of your personality. I have no idea how I would describe my style, it’s influenced by my mood as well as by the weather. At the moment I’ve been creating mini-characters or themes each day for a bit of fun. Yesterday it was Chanel goth, today I’m working from home so the theme is comfort.

How was moving to London?

This issue is inspired by David Bowie’s song ‘Heroes’. Do you have any heroes?

It’s been hard and there have been lots of unexpected challenges, but also wonderful surprises. It’s nice to discover all new favourite things and places, like where to get good coffee or the best boutiques. And meeting a lot of other creative people here has been great too.

What was the thing that impressed you the most about life in the big smoke?

The best part about living here is the sheer scale of everything. There is always so much to do and see, so many possibilities and opportunities. There are also so many musicians, artists, designers etc here, I think if anything it really forces you to be really active. You can’t be lazy in London, there is always so much going on.

Yes, lots of heroes, I don’t think I could name them all, but I’ll try. David Lynch, Rei Kawakubo, Sonic Youth, Yayoi Kusama, Tim Burton, Isabella Blow, Grace Jones, Wes Anderson, Fleetwood Mac, Anna Karina, The Knife…it goes on…

If you were a ‘dark’ comic hero which one would you be?

I’d like to be Batman. He’s human, so he has lots of emotional issues, which creates a lot of drama. Yet at the same time he is of another world in the way that he acts above the law. He also has some really cool gadgets and the batmobile.

What are your plans for the future?

At the moment we’re gearing up to release the album in April 2010 through Back Yard Recordings, which is so exciting. Then we’ll be touring for the rest of the year, so come and say hello.

›› myspace.com/teenagersintokyo

dim mak Street Style Heroes

OZON had a chat with Andrew Huang (the brand manager) and Steve Aoki.

Hollywood’s DIM MAK COLLECTION is yet another creative platform from the record company of the same name and operates under the watchful eye of owner and DJ Steve Aoki. It is probably one of the most up and coming fashion lines out there with each collection better than the last, many collaborations undertaken (including those with Parra by EdBanger Records and Diesel) and finally several cut & sew pieces.

could you start by telling us a bit about your Spring/Summer 2010 collection, and maybe give us a sneak preview of your Fall 2010 range?

Spring/Summer 2010 marks the debut of Dim Mak’s first cut & sew range, featuring both Men’s & Women’s pieces. On the graphic t-shirt side we collaborated with a few artists including UK-based John Rockaway and ‘Oh My God It’s Techno Music’ out of Germany.

Are you going to release more cut & sew pieces in the future?

After SS10, Fall/Winter 2010 will take things up to another level with a more complete ready-to-wear range (plaid button ups, jackets, cardigans) plus a premium denim line.

What are your favorite fashion and streetwear brands out there at the moment?

Steve’s picks: Jeremy Scott, Undercover, Revolver, Federation, Ksubi, Insight, SixPack and Altamont.

Marketing-wise do you think it is a significant bonus that the DIM MAK music artists ‘take the collection on tour’ around the world with them?

Yes, and in addition, Steve is probably one of the most internationally travelled DJs within a year, each year. The response to Steve, Dim Mak and the clothing line worldwide has been tremendous.

What’s on your playlist nowadays?

How are the new DIM MAK offices? I visited the old ones many time – they were always in a beautiful mess.

Steve’s list: Nirvana, Queen, The Bloody Beetroots, Converge, MSTRKRFT, Zuper Blahq, SonicC, Felix Cartal, Fischerspooner and The Willowz.

We are currently located in the heart of Little Armenia which is in East Hollywood; the current office is definitely bigger than the old one but the beautiful mess is still alive. Our friend Danny Masterson has just opened a new boutique down the street from us called ‘Confederacy’.

What does the future hold for the DIM MAK Collection? Any special collaborations forthcoming?

Federation, Revolver and Oh My God It’s Techno Music.

What are your daily operations at the office?

The office houses Dim Mak Inc. as a whole so everything happens under the same roof: record label, parties/events and clothing operations. On the clothing side, we handle online store orders day-to-day in-house, fulfillment/shipment for store orders (U.S., Canada and abroad) seasonally, plan pop-up shops for various events, and manage all marketing and promotions in-house as well. Our line is developed & produced on the East Coast with our production manager out there.

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Interview: Manos Nomikos / Photo: Dim Mak (www.dimmak.com)

antonio fiengo Hero For One Week

Tim Burton-like figure. Italian manners. Self-confident and motivated.

Antonio is all that; black dressed, tall, skinny Latin guy you will most luckily bump into at least once in London Fashion Week. When he is neither in his office in Somerset House nor involved with various fashion projects, you can find him hanging around East London enriching his hat collection, playing football with his Italian friends or simply doing things the other way round - just so to put a new thought in ones’ head. He will look at you kindly through his square shaped light blue glasses and you should expect that, when you pick apple juice he will order pear.

‘Working backstage’, what is it all about? Who makes heroic efforts so that the London Fashion Week dream comes true?

Apart from models, designers, photographers who do you associate with? Who do you get on better and why?

London Fashion Week is a performance, a ‘play’. We all have different roles but our aim is the same: we want people to have fun. Working backstage means to be there for people, make the whole thing go smoothly and do what needs to be done. Designers, organisers, make up artists, stylists, PRs, everyone puts in great effort. Commitment, professionalism, concentration and good communication are essential - some laugh too though.

Our international team: Barbara Grispini [Project Manager, UK and International Buyers Relations Manager], Anna Orsini [Head of LFW International Office at British Council], Sandra Bergemann [UK Sales manager for adidas y3], Katy Dawe from ‘Art Against Knife’, my colleague Cristiana Romani at the Photographers’ Lounge, as well as our friends Fabrizia Baldelli and Elisa Pensa from the boutique 127 Brick Lane. We have created some strong friendships.

Especially with Barbara, she is like my sister!

In three words, London Fashion Week is…

Directional. Innovative. Pioneering.

A ‘typical’ London Fashion Week day. What is it like? Give us a glimpse of the behind the scenes panic.

Electrifying. Everyone has a smile upon their face and is running like crazy to go to the shows on time. Lots of coffee included. There is no panic really; I mean there is but everyone does their best not to show it and resolve issues as quickly as possible. The stereotype of hysterical fashion divas is now a bit outdated.

What do you think is the impact of credit crunch on what people desire from fashion?

Overall there is an impact that mainly affects the day-to-day thing. There is a decrease in sales in high designers but this does not affect the business because prices are still high. On the other hand, smaller and upcoming designers continue to spend a lot in order to be original and impress. People might spend less on everyday clothing but will still buy that special outstanding evening wear piece. The credit crunch won’t affect the piece that stands out from the crowd.

Being surrounded by demanding people, your position involves a definite amount of responsibility. Describe us an experience where everything went horribly wrong.

The attention that London Fashion Week draws is a blatant proof that things don’t go wrong. Unexpected things do happen but this is when we have to think quickly so that we react correctly and find solutions before things go wrong.

There is no particularly funny event I can remember. It might seem a bit boring, but at the end of the day it means that we are doing our job in a good way.

What do you expect from the forthcoming London Fashion Week?

Stellar collections from Meadham Kirchhoff, Christopher Kane, Marios Schwab, Peter Pilotto as well as new inspirations from the amazing Mark Fast and Mary Katrantzou.

Your fashion heroes?

Armani is a hero because he has created a fashion empire. Heroes do not really survive; they are considered such because they fall. However, Armani is still there. Heroes are also considered to be so because they did something worthy.

Like the historical brand Maurizio Marinella for example who do not compromise but follow their own way maintaining their history, identity, uniqueness. No matter how many billions they have been offered to become part of a branch, they refuse. Instead they insist in keeping their little shop in Naples where they still sell handmade silk ties sewed by old -mostly female- sewers in their own unique traditional way.

Inspiring personalities on your radar?

On a daily basis, my team. If you go to the office and no one wants to do anything, nothing will ever be done. They are happy, creative people lovely to hang around with. They take things seriously in a way that they don’t look heavy.

My family, because they keep my feet on the ground. They remind me that values, manners, gestures, the way in which I live my life is what matters. I was lucky to have been taught by them. Also film director Massimo Troisi who comes from my hometown,San Giorgio a Cremano, in Naples. He never detached himself from his origin and thanks to his effort, commitment and creativity, got away with anything he did. Kids are inspiring as well; they never stop being curious, constantly asking questions, trying to understand how things work around them. And, most importantly, inspirer of ‘Art Against Knife’, Oliver Hemsley (St. Martins student who was left paralysed after being repeatedly stabbed last April in Shoreditch). Every time I see him he is always in a good motivational mood.

How did you decide fashion was for you?

It happened the other way round: fashion decided I was for it. Sometimes life has plans for you.

What is your number one location in this city - and what is it best for?

East London as a whole. Its high concentration of creative artists make it such a vibrant place. There are so many little places one can just sneak into, check out the vibe and meet interesting people. You miss if you get stuck to just one.

What is your idea of a good time?

To be fair with you, I enjoy doing many things. Going to museums and art exhibitions, eating out with friends, spending the night out, getting lost in East London, lying under the sun beside the water… Yes, that is paradise.

How and to what extent does your job affect your own aesthetics about style?

A lot. The more you are exposed to certain high end and artistic aesthetics the more discerning you become.

Most extravagant item you own – perhaps a bit embarrassed of?

I own nothing extravagant. Or, all my items are extravagant.

Your life motto?

Think over what you have done today and try to make it better tomorrow. Don’t try to change things. Just try to understand them and fit in.

Your hero?

Diego Armando Maradona.

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Interview Viviana Miliaressi / Photo: Luca Salvemini

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antonio fiengo

caroline issa TANK Queen

Caroline Issa is the publisher of TANK magazine.

After years of travelling around the world on a ‘corporate band-wagon’ she moved to London and joined the TANK team. Now she collaborates with a ‘set of visionary people’, currently publishes three magazines and works for Christian Lacroix, Swarovski and De Beers for the successful creative agency TANK Form. With respect to negative speculations about the future of magazines, it is rather reassuring to meet the creative force behind a publication which is always seeking for original answers, pushing the boundaries of publishing. Caroline takes some time and talks to OZON about iconic 90’s supermodels, style heroes and magazines one can actually read.

Is running a magazine what you thought it would be?

I don’t think I realised what running an independent magazine would require, nor navigating through fashion politics! But it’s been amazing and the best decision I could have ever made. I think a certain naivety and young confidence was required and helpful too.

What is the best part of being a partner in a publication such as TANK?

I think the best part of being a partner in TANK is working with an incredibly dedicated and visionary set of people who all have the same goal of putting out a magazine we’d all be happy to pay for to read and keep and collect. I’ve met many people I admire through the magazine, and have learned a lot about working with creative people as well.

Tank is known for its originality and ingenuity. How do you keep finding innovative methods of reaching out to your audience?

There are competing forces in the publishing market - the desire for constantly new, faster paced and consistently updated information (the internet) and valuefor-money (the collectible, reference magazine) - so TANK remains a beautifully bound magazine with high production values and for the web, a month ago, we soft launched our newest online magazine, www.becausemagazine.com. I think it’s a unique way of doing fashion magazines on the web - instead of just taking press release images like so many blogs, we try to create moving and inspiring fashion videos for each object we choose - and then have the ability to buy directly from a partner retailer! It’s a new publishing model whereby editorial and the ability to shop sit side by side, unlike print.

Is the print era gradually coming to an end?

Could you explain to our readers the TANK motto, ‘Elitism for all’?

Not at all, if anything quality print will flourish I believe.

TANK is all about putting the serious next to the frivolous - so next to a piece by Noam Chomsky, Pankaj Mishra or Tom Morton, you may well find a sumptuous fashion story on the must have accessories - we believe that intellectual individuals can also love the superficial.

What has changed in the magazine industry since the credit crunch? How did TANK manage to survive the crisis?

How would you describe your personal style?

I tend to stick with a lot of menswear inspired clothing - suits and jackets! I wish I could be more feminine and wear more dresses to take advantage, but you tend to stick with what you are comfortable with.

Who are your style heroes?

It is so cliché but Audrey Hepburn.

Claudia Schiffer is on the latest TANK cover. In an industry so driven by youth, change and novelty are style icons of past decades the one thing to believe in?

We all have so many positive associations of the 90s supermodels, and are always captivated by Hollywood icons of the past - in the same way that luxury brands are focusing on their roots and heritage, we certainly do look nowadays to symbols and icons we trust, we remember and we loved. But that’s not to say that there aren’t so many amazing new phenomenons and icons of today that have recently sprung up that we need to keep a close eye on.

What inspires you at the moment?

Anything by Alber Elbaz!

Who are your favorite up and coming designers?

Felder Felder, Proenza Schouler, Ohne Titel and Mark Fast.

I believe that if you can produce a magazine that people want to buy and treasure, you will manage to pull through this tough economic climate. And after eleven years, we’re still around due to the loyalty and growing interest of an amazing readership.

What is the key factor of success for TANK magazine?

I think the quality of writing in TANK magazine stands up to Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and other international global magazine brands known for its words.

Many people buy TANK for its pictures, but if they knew how much care and time and effort we make into having something to READ - well, we can only hope!

Where do you see TANK in five years? How high have you raised your standards?

Readers keep TANK going and I hope that they will stick with us as we try new things (e.g. we just went spiral bound as our newest format) - the standards are constantly being raised, but they should be so that all of us in the magazine industry are kept on our toes and forced to innovate and continue producing interesting and collectible content.

How does the city influence your content and your aesthetics?

Does London ‘push’ you in a specific direction?

London is full of buzz and energy, unlike other cities (even NY and Shanghai.)

- so many incredible creative people congregate in this city that it’s hard not to feel inspired living in it.

Our International issue is inspired by David Bowie’s song ‘Heroes’. Which elements, in your opinion, qualify someone as a modern day hero?

Respect for others and our environment, a passion for learning and trying new things and a never ending quest for quality.

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Interview: Danai Alaska

marios schwab Fashion Forward

OZON attended the 2009 Swiss Textile Awards and caught up with designer Marios Schwab to discuss his relationship with fashion, his newly appointed position at fashion brand Halston and his hopes and dreams for the future.

Could you describe a memory from your childhood in Greece that doesn’t necessarily have to relate to fashion?

I always refer back to my childhood in Greece. I was a very hyperactive kid and probably the most vivid memory I have is being surrounded by a lot of self-made toys. I was obsessed with making little dresses because my parents didn’t allow me to have a Barbie so I had to make my own little toys. It’s not that they weren’t open-minded but my dad always hated Barbie dolls, so I think that was the start of my fashion obsession that I had from when I was little. Most of my memories come from being in Greece and being surrounded by a lovely atmosphere, I really loved Greece at the time as it was innocent.

Until what age did you live in Greece?

Greece changed rapidly after the 90s; I was there until I was fifteen and during summers when we would travel around Greece a lot. I remember my love for nature and the effortlessness of Greek society, living on the islands in undiscovered places; a fading Greece is still vivid in my memory. I was always obsessed with much older women, I would always like to sit next to a ‘yiayioula’ (grandmother) and listen to the stories that were always nostalgic of the past.

Your work has some references to the past yet the most recent collection could be described as futuristic.

What I really like about fashion and generally creative forces is that you have an interaction with the hand and for me it’s all about bringing a traditional element to the foreground. If the craftsmanship dies and there is no signature of the hand where you can feel there is a connection with an element of artisan, it feels very soulless and lacks in personality. When you put on a garment therefore, through it you represent yourself and your personality is ‘elevated’. For me there has to be a certain connection with either the body or something that can relate the body with the maker, the producer; talking to these Greek women and to people from a forgotten world about something they had to learn and specialize in is something that is always welcome in my world, but with the addition of transforming it in the direction of the future.

Do you remember the moment when you decided you wanted to dedicate yourself to fashion, both officially and professionally?

No, not really. I think most of the time I remember being surrounded by people that were really well-dressed; I had an aunt that lived in Austria who is Greek and whenever she would come back she would wear the most beautiful silks bought in Italy. She was an opera lover, so she would go to Italy and buy fabric and my mum and her would stitch their own garments, they would say to their seamstresses ‘that’s the latest look, this is the fabric, now just make it’. In a way I was surrounded by a self-motivated creativity, my dad was also a bra engineer.

So there is a family link within the fashion industry?

Yes in some ways; my mum was probably the most creative person in the family, she was a typographist. She was accepted to the School of Fine Arts in Athens and started to explore painting, which wasn’t further developed due to motherhood; nevertheless she was the person who pushed my creative hand.

Typography has to do with lines and architecture, which you could say, could be a link to your work?

Yes absolutely, it all kind of fits together, which is why I refer to my childhood throughout the stages of my life; it all makes sense. With everyone’s lives you can always see the tracks of their history.

In 2005 you decided to create your own brand, your own label, how confident were you at the time about making this move?

After 2003 it was very difficult to have your own brand, after 9/11 there was a freeze on hiring for most of the companies so it was hard to find a job. I didn’t

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necessarily want to start my own business and a London menswear designer, Kim Jones, had already approached me having obtained funding from the BFC and needing someone to handle womenswear. He proposed ‘I’ll give you this budget, this is my concept; create a collection for me’. The Marios Schwab name also came to people’s attention through my graduate collection; people had approached me and wanted to fund a show. I was always very reluctant because I wanted to do it right but I didn’t have the funds for it. My first collection was very small and I was confident because I didn’t really think about it. I thought, ‘OK, you’re going to do a collection; you don’t necessarily know how it is going to be presented’. I didn’t have the money to present it so Lulu Kennedy who is a big supporter of young talent and has Fashion East, budgeted my collection.

You have presented your collections at Fashion East twice and for those it was for your own schedule?

Yes, I was supported by the BFC, Topshop and New Generation.

What do you think is the most difficult part of working within the fashion industry?

I think the main characteristic is to be creative and at the same time be in control of the business side. The beginning is the most difficult time when starting a business, during which you have to run the business and simultaneously be creative and that in itself is very diverse. The people that support fashion are the major players, they support in a financial way, the buyers; the huge corporations could drive the ‘creative’ nuts because they want it to be special but they want it cheap and then at the same time commercial. Nowadays it’s very hard to start a business; I always feel for the young designers just starting out because it is like a rollercoaster. You might have a rocky season and even if your garments are beautiful you always have the contradiction of a type of stardom that has to be well publicized regardless of talent. You need to have a constant understanding of the market, be very analytical and at the same time be effortlessly creative. I think for me the hardest thing was combining all these three facets together because the cash flow is very important in a young business. Living through difficult times with negative cash flow can be very damaging to a business, it can really f*ck things up; it can f*ck up situations and prevent you from doing the things you want to do.

You were recently appointed by Halston which is a huge undertaking and could cause sizeable problems; do you think it’s going to be difficult for you?

No, not really; some things are easier because you get into a process within a more corporate business and you learn to be stricter and quicker with your ideas. You see the whole turnout, the fabric and the production before you produce. And you can collaborate with people you work with because they can take parts of your business through a licensing deal and support your business in terms of the logistics, which is the most boring part.

The first season that you will be showing for Halston will be in February of 2010; how is preparation going?

Good; lots of traveling. We started quite late in the day because we had to finalise the studio team in London. The first season is being worked on from London and Florence which is where the production teams are. I think it’s so exciting because it is so relevant to what we are living now. Halston was always about the true fantasy of fashion, which I think is what is missing today from the industry. We are going to remember this past decade as having had an obsession with over-decorating a garment in ridiculous ways. It isn’t readable and doesn’t compliment the wearer because it is overly informed, so it becomes unrelated to the reason for dressing.

Interview: Yorgos Kelefis

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marios schwab

The last designer appointed by Halston lasted two seasons. Do you ever think that maybe it won’t work out?

It is always a question not just of the confidence of the designer but the reality of entering a completely new corporate business.

Is this not exciting for you?

Of course it is, but at the same time it is about testing the grounds. The positive aspect is that I really love the brand and I have great ideas but we are living in a very uncertain time. It has to be treated carefully and I will try to bring a new wave to the brand. Halston deserves it because it was always fashion forward.

What are your expectations and your wildest dream for your own line?

My expectations for Marios Schwab are always very humble; in the beginning I wanted to keep it very desirable for a specific type of clientele; not exaggerate the exposure. I thought there was a gap in fashion at the time; there was conceptual design but it never looked very desirable or sexy, desirable in the sense that the concept was amazing but when you wore it, it didn’t feel right. I wanted to do something that felt feminine with a sense of sensuality. Sexiness is always important for me because it is what drives us. Nowadays I think Marios Schwab can touch many grounds and I always wanted to expand into swimwear as well. It is a luxury brand and I want it to have this collaborative element, bringing people in, such as an artist to do prints. To create collaborations with designers to create beautiful jewelry I work in fact with a jeweler in Greece, Lena Makri. I like this adventure of meeting people and creating a brand from different aspects that relate to the aesthetic of the brand.

Would you ever do menswear?

Yes, I think I would. Because I don’t really like menswear and that’s why I think it would be a challenging subject. I like to dress subtly, very understated and I think it would be great to have a forward thinking menswear label that is not stereotypically gay and flashy.

Last night we saw some elements from the designers’ collections where you could almost guess what their ethnicity was; do you think that your ethnicity affects your work and the way you see clothes and thus design them?

I think the Greek-Austrian element comes through only in the way that I react during the process of design. The (duel) elements of femininity and masculinity could be some form of connection as well. Consciously I don’t look at specific Greek origins; I just have the essence of a mystique from my childhood in Greece. I like the women dressed in black, which is something that inspires me throughout the process of designing. The Austrian side would have to be the craftsmanship; they have a real love for it.

What is the most fascinating element of fashion now for you?

The urge to turn fashion into something exciting and fresh when there is so much hesitation and contradiction around. Thinking back to the 90s and at the beginning of 2000 we saw something new through music and art.

It is fascinating that when people don’t have money they have to push the boundaries and the interesting thing is that it doesn’t happen. It just doesn’t and it’s very weird that this is the case. I have high hopes that it can’t go on like this forever. I think we are going to see some more specialized industries, people producing something specific and I think this is the future; going back to the roots such as great menswear tailoring and shoes from Britain, and amazing womenswear and shoes from Italy, in a very classic and modern way. This is what buyers want as well; they want to have an emotional attachment with what they buy. If they are to believe in it there has to be something special, something forward thinking. This should be fashion, it should move according to the times.

But there is always this back-step of being obsessed with decades that have been before. It is very interesting from a sociological point for me and creatively it inspires me. The three sections from my last collection were about this constant return to past fashion eras; at the beginning of my collection I wrote down words, I wanted to have a starting point when everything seems so diverse and contradictory and I wanted to put all these elements into one collection. I thought it would be nice to follow the Marios Schwab element of dissecting the body, which is an obsession for me. I always think the body should relate to the garment because this is what you are covering it with. I like to expose what you hide. Marios Schwab is very much about hide and reveal, it is very sexual, so wanting to please a lot of people is impossible therefore you need to go back

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to the roots of being specialized. I love going to a country where they have a shop that is only for belts, or a shop only for leather goods. It just makes it more desirable and more specific. It is so special to go to a place in a world that surrounds one item and people know how to talk about it and how to present it in the right way. You go to these huge department stores and everything is all over the place; that is when you know it is not about quality. In some ways luxury has diluted itself, which is good because it makes it approachable for people that don’t have the money to buy Hermès and Gucci. By bringing the price down it gained acceptability within a wider audience but at the same time it lost its originality in its mission.

There are writers of literature, poetry and theatre that reach a point of inspirational blockage, during which they cannot think of anything else to produce, or to think. Do you ever fear that there could be a season where you could come to a point that you couldn’t design anything new?

Yes, in fact this always happens because you are constantly under pressure, so at the same time you have to stay relaxed and take one step at a time to find inspiration and then you will always find something new in your world. It always starts from a very naïve approach, it’s like what was said previously; it starts from the body, the body inspires me and then I write down the words that go through my head. They are very personal and don’t tend to relate to fashion most of the time.

Would you ever exhibit them in a show?

Yes, I usually do in my press releases; in fact I think my inspiration generally doesn’t come from fashion, which doesn’t mean that it is not related to it. It is mostly related to the body and people don’t think much about the body when they design. For me it is my major inspiration and sexuality is also a major factor that comes into my work but in a more hidden way.

What kind of music do you listen to?

Diverse types of music; I like classical, old school rock and lots of electronic music. I have a love for diverse music throughout the day; I don’t want to listen to just one type of music. I love Arletta, who is one of my favourite Greek singers. I’m classic, I don’t particularly like the music scene at the moment.

I think I’m not that well informed, but I don’t think there is something great happening within music at the moment. I like electronic music from Berlin; I also listen to a lot of alternative music coming from Asia. I get bored easily though so I can be very flaky with things that are always the same. I constantly need refreshment but at the same time I’m nostalgic, so I do like to go back to an old song or and old sound.

How about London, where is your favourite place to be within the city?

I really like the Stoke Newington cemetery; it’s a special park that was a Victorian cemetery and is so beautiful and kind of forgotten. I like places that seem private, unexpected and surprising at the same time so I like to go to places where I can forget about London and the city because it can be very over-empowering. Everybody has a goal and you need the goal in order to survive there. Places such as Kew Gardens with lots of green I tend to appreciate. From a bar aspect I used to go to On The Rocks quite a lot at Trailer Trash but now its gone. I don’t have a new hiding place. I live east, out in Dalston.

And finally Athens, what do you miss most about the city?

What I miss about Athens is something that has almost vanished completely which is the humbleness of the people that you meet that are still original. The simplest example: let’s say you have a motorbike and you need air for your tyre, so you would go to the petrol station to get it pumped up. The guy would put the air in but not charge you for the service. That was the ‘filaraki’, the really nice aspect of the Greek and this has almost completely vanished. It’s sad because Greece was so much about an ancient characteristic in every Greek. I know this sounds a bit strange but it existed without him even knowing much about Ancient Greece. You had this original character that I really miss. As for places in Athens, I like places that I think are again a bit forgotten, like going to Plaka is always a must because it’s almost run-down, which is sad. You go through the park under the Acropolis and it is in such a hideous state. These are special places and I wish they could be taken more seriously.

›› mariosschwab.com

Marios Schwab Collection SS10 Photo: Nikolas Ventourakis

PHotography: Yiorgos Mavropoulos Styling: Marianthi Chatzikidi Assistant Stylist: Alexandra Petsetakis Model: Dominika G. (D Models)

RISE & fall

Dress: Filep Motwary (Siran) leggings: by Zoe (RERE PAPA) sunglasses: Stylist’s own

Top: Twenty8Twelve (Shop) Jacket: Twenty8Twelve (Shop) Knit Cardigan: Attrattivo Tights: Stylist’s own Boots: Attrattivo Dress: Designers Remix Collection by Charlotte Eskildsen (Shop) T-shirt: Diesel Knit: Attrattivo

Top worn as jumpsuit: Bench (Prime Timers) Dress worn as cape: Twenty8Twelve (Shop) Necklace: Vintage RERE PAPA Dress: Filep Motwary (Siran) Leggings: by Zoe (RERE PAPA) Hat: Preloved Vintage

Jacket: Diesel Body: H&M Leggings: by Zoe (RERE PAPA) Shorts: Avdeeva Belt: Stylist’s own

Bodysuit: Marios (RERE PAPA) T-shirt: FREESOUL (Prime Timers) Knit cardigan: Sophia Kokosalaki Hat: Preloved Vintage Necklace: Vintage RERE PAPA Jean Skirt: Lois (Premium Gifts) Skirt worn underneath: Diesel Cape: Filep Motwary (Siran) Tights: Stylist’s own Body: Carol Malony

Top: Twenty8Twelve (Shop) Jacket: Twenty8Twelve (Shop) Knit Cardigan: Attrattivo Tights: Stylist’s own Boots: Attrattivo

PHotography: christoph musiol Stylist: Bodo ernle@nina klein/berlin Hair & Make-up Artist: linda frohriep@nina klein / berlin ModelS: leonie, leander & falco@viva/belin

twisted heroes

LEANDER nylonjacket: Energie cardigan: Weekend white jeans: Energie LEONIE jeans-jacket: Mustang tip: H&M leggings: Miss Sixty

LEANDER t-shirt: Energie skinny jeans: April 77

LEANDER reversibly jacket: Energie jeans-jacket: Levi´s jeans: Cheap Monday

LEANDER jeans: Cheap Monday t-shirt: Pepe jeans | LEONIE black leather jacket: Levi´s white shirt: Levi´s jeans: Miss Sixty

FALCO vest: Energie jeans: Cheap Monday

LEANDER nylonjacket: Energie cardigan: Weekend white jeans: Energie

LEONIE satin jacket: Monki top: H&M | FALCO vest: Energie

PHotography: chris kozanowski Styling: Andrzej Sobolewski / Divisionart.com HAIR: Kacper Raczkowski

NATURAL Born heroES

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Shirt: Lee Jacket: Adidas Originals

Jacket: Adidas by Stella McCartney T-Shirt: American Apparel Shorts: Nike

Jacket: Adidas Originals Swimming Cap: Beyond Retro London

PHotography: Anouk Morgan Styling: Newheart Ohanian Makeup/Hair: Anetta Klemens Model: Yulia (NY Models)

MEAN queen

Bodysuit: Marios (RERE PAPA) T-shirt: FREESOUL (Prime Timers) Knit cardigan: Sophia Kokosalaki Hat: Preloved Vintage Necklace: Vintage RERE PAPA

Green Rhinestone Necklace: Harlow in Chains Short & Long Link Chains Necklace: Stephen Dweck Cross Pendant Necklace: Stephen Dweck

Military Jacket: GAP Long Sleeve Black T-Shirt & Grey T-Shirt: MIH jeans Black Sequins Leggings: Custo Barcelona Denim Shorts: MIH jeans Knit Gloves: Urban Outfitters

Knit Vest: Just Cavalli Jersey Turtle Neck: Custo Barcelona Vintage T-Shirt, Denim Jeans: MIH jeans Brooches Worn on Jeans: Stephen Dweck short necklace & chunky silver chain: Stephen Dweck Multi Layer Vintage Necklace: Harlow in Chains Silver Stud Bangle: House of Lavande Multiple Bracelets & Bangles: Stephen Dweck

Vintage Leather Motorcycle Jacket, Gloves: La Crasia T-Shirt: MIH jeans Earings: Harlow in Chains Multi Layered Necklaces: Stephen Dweck

White Ruffle Dress: Min Agostini Light Wash Denim Jeans: fresh Ink Vintage Levi’s Denim Jacket, T-Shirt: MIH jeans Gloves: La Crasia Necklace: Stephen Dweck

Black Ruffle Dress: Min Agostini Knit Cut Off Gloves: La Crasia Black Denim Jacket: EDJN Rings & Chunky Chain Necklace: Stephen Dweck Denim Jeans: Paper Denim

Multi Layered Necklaces: Stephen Dweck Earings: Harlow in Chains Blouse: Silvia Tcherassi Vest: Min Agostini Necklace: House of Lavande Gloves La Crasia

PHotography: LUCA ASCARI Art direction: JOVANKA SAVIC Hair & Make-up: ALEMKA KRUPIC Stylist: manuel menini Stylist assistant: AURELIO BRUZZONE

heroes & Lovers

FERNANDO | Vintage Military Hat

AUDREY | overall A-Lab Milan, gloves: La Perla FERNANDO | all by Les Hommes

JESSICA | shorts: Nicola & Mark leggings: Cheap Monday shirt: Lee belt: AB EDGARD | jeans: Lee boots: Santoni T-Shirt: Nicolas&Mark

FERNANDO | all by Les Hommes

ALEXANDER | Bracelet: Stylist’s own

VALERIA | Shorts: Cheap Monday Armature: La Perla Archivio

JESSICA | shirt: Lee

beauty this is a title

Eau Mega

Eau De Parfum 30ml, Viktor&Rolf (Sephora)

Much loved Duo Victor & Rolf can do no wrong, they have recently released their third fragrance (second for women’s), the Eau Mega. A play of words on the Greek letter Omega this new scent is an extravagantly refreshing difference to the previous V&R Flowerbomb. The charming atomizer is crowned with a signature Victor & Rolf gold seal that you squeeze to spritz yourself accordingly with. Sweet and girly with notes of pear, violet leaf, basil, peony and musk concocted by the Oliver Polge and Carlos Benaim who developed the first perfume. A little something to celebrate the femininity of a super-heroine who can ‘megafy’ herself by transforming reality into her own galaxy of beauty.

PHOTOGRAPHER Vicki Churchill MAKE UP ARTIST & STYLING Maria Papadopoulou HAIR STYLIST Chrysostomos Chamalides (with Sebastian products) MODEL Katya S (Profile) STYLING Ruched front tube bra, American Apparel (www. americanapparel.net) FACE Prep+Prime Skin, Studio Sculpt SPF15 Foundation, NW20, Studio Sculpt Concealer, NW15 and Blushcreme, Ladyblush (MAC) EYES Pigment, Gold and Rose Gold (MAC Pro) Liquid Last Liner, Aqualine, Pro Lash Coal Black and Eye Brows Lingering (MAC) LIPS Lipstick, Photo (MAC)

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Text: Place Text Here / Photo: Place Text Here MANICURE Mini Color, No. 90 Arosa, Mavala (www.mavala.com)

P.L.us. people like us

LONDON PARTIES ponYstep, Caligula & DALSTON SUPERstore

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Photos: Darrell Berry, Christopher James & Gleison Paulino

OZONWEB.COM

FASHION/ MUSIC/ ART/ INSANITY.

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