How did you get involved in costuming? It was by accident. I had moved to NYC and I was working at a stored called Antique Boutique which used to be where American Apparel is now on Broadway. The store carried a lot of small designers and I just figured that I could design too so I gave it a shot. I started off creating one of a king tees which I sold at a store called Timtoum on Orchard Street and then I basically moved up from there creating one of a kind prom dresses. Karen O saw one of the dresses and asked me to make one for a show the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s were playing at the Cooler here in NY and then it just sort of took off from there. That’s how I got my start.

Will we see a return to collection designing? Probably not.

Where do you create your costumes? My studio is in my apartment.

What inspires you most? David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust. The costumes made for him by Kansai Yamamoto. I love how otherworldly David Bowie is. He’s totally androgynous and very alien like.

What brought your focus to costumes? Working with Karen. I basically started making clothes and then Karen and I met and then the YYY’s started getting tons of press.

What does your favorite creation look like? It’s probably the costume Karen wore at Glastonbury. It’s a Native American headdress created with hands. The hands all have eyes in the palms. It’s super colorful and pretty psychedelic. She wore it with a loin cloth-esque jumpsuit that also had hands and fringe hanging from it. It looked similar to the headdress. She also wore a shrimp print cape with sequins.

What is the strangest material you have ever used? Packing tape.

Describe your relationship with the YYY’s? Karen and I knew each other before the YYY’s began or I began making clothes. We were acquaintances. Bascially I make Karen’s costumes and then deliver them to her the day of the show or before they leave on tour so she never knows what she’s going to get.

Who else wears your costumes? The Klaxons.

What did you want to be “when you grow up” as a child? A mailman or a race car driver.

How do you want your work to impact the world? I hope it inspires people to create and to break rules.

What is the most challenging element of your work? Pattern making.

What would you like the world to know, if you could tell every person - but in only seven words? Quit watching CNN news.

How would you describe yourself to the world in only five words? Atheletic, tall, creative, aggresive, Iowan.

What is your favorite…. Place on earth? Home/my apartment with my husband Color? red. Food? Grilled cheese. Design utensil? Hip curve. Movie? Lord of the Rings, All 3. Childhood memory? Listening to Madonna outside my older brother’s door. Scent? My husband. Part of your career? The beginning when everything started to happen. All of the insane energy.

What is your greatest… Fear? Ghosts. [Who] Idol? David Bowie, Yoko Ono, John Waters. Desire? To succeed.

www.christianjoy.us

Interview by Callie Rice, featured in Issue No. 5.

(Source: titlemagazine.net)

Posted 9 months ago with 14 notes
Tags: art interview  fashion  christian joy