Today, I’m back to the topic of Placebo & fashion which honestly, fascinates me a lot. I want to share an old but exceptionally beautiful and interesting ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ & ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ that I found in French and in Russian but never in English. So, I translated it for you because I believe it’s totally worth your time!
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| Photo credit: Kevin Westenberg |
Both of them first learned and worshiped rock through pictures, long before records. So there’s no surprise that today the singer of Placebo, Brian Molko, meets the Belgian stylist Xavier Delcour, a rising star of the fashion world. Two men in black talk to find out whether rock has a color and whether fashion has a gender.
“Garbo hat, white satin bathrobe, otter coat over a white T-shirt, large black glasses - round, rimmed in red, white foundation, black bolero jackets with gold lamรฉ and clasps, scarves, all kinds of scarves - scout-tied, tie, frill – NO MATTER what kind of, rings, jockey shirts, lace blouses, clown shirts, nail polish, concealer, junk necklaces, purple boas, mismatched socks, ultra-strict suit and tie, steel chain that looks like a garland, king size cigarettes, Indian hemp powder under the fingernails, swastikas on an armband or long necklace - this all, placed on them lightly, like a sheet on a ghost, never been specifically chosen, appeared by chance, as well as words and sounds, like so many other ornaments in which they are wrapped. There is nothing behind it. Emptiness. ANYONE CAN do the same.” Behind this almost incantatory avalanche of adjectives and details, the evil silhouette of ๐ป๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ shows up as it was described by Jean-Jacques Schuhl in his book «๐น๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐̀๐๐» in 1972. The biggest band of the rock world were indulged with their deliciously decadent dandyism in outfits, so they became an embodying of the whole era in art.
Rock doesn’t exist without fashion. It’s much more than just a question of image and look: this style nourished by illicit and fantasized marginality. Thirty years later, fashion doesn't exist without rock. There’s no fashion show without its erudite sound design created by the stars of this new genre, from Michel Gober to Frรฉdรฉric Sanchez. In this context, there’s no surprise that Brian Molko, a glamorous creature from Placebo, wanted to meet the stylist Xavier Delcour, a rising figure on the Belgian scene. Two men met briefly a few months earlier, at the end of the band’s concert in Brussels.
Thanks to men's collections sprinkled with strass jets, Delcour, 29, stood out in fashion officials five years ago. His chic punk tricks were quickly copied by his colleagues who drooled in front of the destroying elegance of the young prodigy. Pollock prints (clothes stained with drippings), visible seams with threads sticking out, leather gloves with cut fingers: his collections hit the top point and wowed Brian Molko.
In the courtyard of his favorite London pub, the fragile singer in a Vivienne Westwood T-shirt and a loose black beanie meets the designer whose walk is sharpened by his pointed shoes. For two (or almost) hours two men in black didn’t keep themselves within the chat on outfits but preferred wondering about the color of rock and the gender of fashion, the puritanism of clothes and the elegant cruelty of Fassbinder.
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| Photo credit: Kevin Westenberg |
๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ: There was a generation inspired by art like Yves Saint Laurent. Then, there were those inspired by the street life like Vivienne Westwood and Jean-Paul Gaultier. And I belong to the first generation of rock-inspired stylists. We are all more or less of the same age. I'm 29, I grew up listening to The Smiths. These are the vibes which influenced me when I’ve been very young. What is interesting in the rock world is the fact that everything is ok. There is no problem of being gay or not gay, being too mannered or not enough, black or not... There is a sublimation of that all. It is mystery and fantasy. It's mesmerizing to watch people on stage. Brian moves very well, by the way. In rock music, as in my clothes, there is no restraint, no convention. All the freedom is there. The freedom to give a strong image because at the fashion show, as well as at the concert, it works well. While in the street, it would not.
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐พ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐?
๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง: At school, I experimented a lot. It was quite the opposite to what I do today: I was wearing clothes that were way too big for me. Extremely ugly stuff, very neon, with a lot of colors. They were kidding me. In my very conservative, very American environment, it was a risk. Everyone wore sportswear and jeans. But when I was about 15, I was voted "best dressed person in school"! A paradox that made me understand the duality of emotions that I provoke in people. I became what my parents did not want me to become most. And that makes me smile. My father worked in finance, my mother was very religious. She wanted to be a ballet dancer in her youth. But she came from a very poor, very Catholic Scottish family. The youngest of nine children, she never had enough money to go to the dance school. I think I’ve got my artistic side from her, combined with the ambition that my father passed on to me. So, I was torn between money on one side and Jesus on the other. What influence did your parents have on you?
๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ซ: My father is a truck driver. My mother was a lace maker. In her youth, in the 60s, she liked fashion, tried to dress up to date. She always appreciated that I like to dress myself, to do my hair. It wasn’t that good with makeup though... My father never limited me. Sometimes he was a bit reluctant because of what others said. I grew up in Tournai, Belgium, not far from the French border, near Lille. It is a very bourgeois city. For years and years, like Brian, they laughed at me. When I was 10-11, I was called all the names. But it lasted until I was 14 when I became someone they wanted to look alike. It turned around. And now my revenge is even bigger: people wear my clothes.
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| Photo credit: Kevin Westenberg |
๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ซ: Billy Idol. For his grimace. And I know how to do it (indeed, he raises his eyebrow and twists his mouth) ... From the age of 13, I began to find him magnificent. Cindy Lauper too, for her extreme look. For all the colours she wore. I liked her character.
๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง: I had musical heroes but it was their music that interested me. It wasn't their look. My interest in fashion manifested itself from the moment I had to perform in front of an audience. When I was very young I was always taken for a girl. And at the very beginning of Placebo I was also taken for a girl. Even when I wasn't wearing makeup yet. So I thought to myself that it would be interesting to play with the preconceived ideas people have about what is masculine and feminine. And to play with this androgyny since I obviously couldn't escape it. It even happened to me to go out with people who, after half an hour of conversation, still took me for a girl! Playing in a rock band gives you a lot of freedom. After five years of Placebo we have discovered our identity. It's instinctive and spontaneous. It's not about creating a character like Bowie did for Ziggy Stardust. But rather about slightly exaggerating a real aspect of our personality on stage.
(๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ “๐ต๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ - ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐”, ๐ท๐๐’00)
▪️๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐ข๐๐๐๐๐
As soon as the interview is quite long I divided it into two parts. See you next Thursday for the second part.
Post by Olga
