𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐀 𝐏𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄: 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫 (𝟐)

Dear soulmates, as I promised, today I'm back with the second part of the great 𝑳𝒆𝒔 𝑰𝒏𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒖𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 "𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫 - 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞". Enjoy reading!
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𝑰𝒔 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐'𝒔 𝒂𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚?

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: To be honest, it comes after. We must be careful not to fall into the Milli Vanilli trap [𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐺𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛-𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑅&𝐵 𝑑𝑢𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠 – 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟’𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑒] and believe that everything is only a question of image. People are really focused on the image of Placebo, talk about it more than about music which makes us uncomfortable. But it's true that we need rock stars, people who are bigger than life. It is the show-biz element - creating a dream for people.

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: That's what attracted me to Xavier's clothes. I wear a lot of black, which gave us a reputation as a gothic band when we started out. I dispute this suggestion and find it quite lazy. It's too easy. For us, black is the color of rock, and it’s more about The Velvet Underground than The Sisters Of Mercy.

𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫: Black makes you beautiful. This is what gives the most beautiful look. I think of black as of a counter-facility. Looking perfect in black is harder than looking perfect in colour. You can be completely screwed up, but if you want to be all in black your attitude must be precise and determined. You have to control yourself much harder. In terms of the cut, you can't afford to make mistakes. As you are not distracted by the colour, you only pay attention to the basics, to what really makes the garment. It's very technical.

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒚: 𝑿𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒓𝒕-𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒎, 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒔, 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒖𝒑. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒖𝒑?

𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫: When I was around 10 maybe I started choosing my clothes. I stole a scarf from my father, a neckerchief from my mother. And that kind of bothered people. Because a little boy shouldn’t put on a scarf. A little boy cannot try to be handsome. It's always the same problem: people don't accept that a little boy can wish to be the prettiest. He must be the biggest and the strongest.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: A stone's throw from here lives a friend of mine, Eddie Izzard, an English comedian I met on the shooting of the movie Velvet Goldmine. Like me, he's a cross-dresser (person who likes to wear clothes generally attributed to the opposite sex). There is a difference between a transvestite and a cross-dresser. A tranny is a bit like a guy who does karaoke on Saturday nights. It is the image of the drag queen, very trashy, the beard that grows under the makeup. With Eddie, we discovered that we had the same ideas. We like to wear women's clothes, to have the same freedom as women have in wearing men's clothes. Eddie wears a beard sometimes, makeup and a skirt on stage. It's that kind of mix that interests me. We don't put on fake tits to look like women. We're trying to redefine what it's like to look like a man or a woman in the 2000s.

𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫: It's a game of conventions. In my work, it all happens by itself. There is no reason for a guy to have no right to wear the best cut piece, the best suited to his body. Or to wear clothes which, because of virtue of their shine, would make them look good. There's no reason for this to be for girls only. I started making clothes for myself very early, around 17. But I didn't really want to wear girls' clothes. I wanted to keep that boyish side.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: I think I have more of a provocative urge, I mean what we represent as a band. This aesthetic, sexual freedom is philosophically very important to us. And clothing is one of the aspects. What do you wear at home?

𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫: I’m often naked when I’m alone (laughs)... Otherwise I wear my clothes. Lots of T-shirts. Making my clothes it’s not easy for me, it takes a lot of technical effort. But after that, it’s a relief: everything is done, I just have to choose.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: At home I wear underpants, shorts. Very casually. I imagine people think that I wear full makeup and fishnet stockings at home... When a woman goes out, she has a choice to wear makeup or not. For me it’s the same. It has to be natural. When I started to go out wearing makeup, around 17-18, it was just for fun. It’s really ok for me to be very masculine one day and very feminine the next one. Sometimes it can change within one day. It's pretty schizophrenic. But I wonder why it's so disturbing for people. Why is a dick in a dress so shocking today?

𝑰𝒔 𝒂 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐𝒐?

𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫: My first collection was called ‘Minimal night, maximum strass’. It was in 1995. I was officially a student but I only had two months of classes during two years. I found myself caught up in the Brussels nightlife. And there was no way I would go out three times in the same outfit. I wanted a different look. Even today, I don't agree with what’s happening on the streets, with the way people dress. It's better now, the boys are paying a little bit more attention. There’s some freshness. They want to be neat. But a mass taste remains. People don’t stand out from each other enough, they are caught in a total banality.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: I find all these people on the street really vulgar, they look like walking advertisements for brands. All the Tommy Hilfigers, the Hugo Bosses... The big logo there (touches his chest) to say "I have enough money to buy Gucci or Versace." There was a very interesting thing in New York in the early 90s: "torque". People would steal designer clothes and walk around with the label that still had the price on it as proof that it was stolen. It was quite subversive. The antilogo. In Placebo, we wear Alexander McQueen a lot. I have always adored Agnès B. I wear her line for women. Who are the stylists that you admire?

𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫: I'm quite a fan of Martin Margiela. Because he was able to impose a new style at the beginning of the 80s. And he never made any concessions in his collections. He created clothes which were difficult to wear and to sell. And with each next season, it goes further and further in its aesthetic which, I must admit, is a bit too much for me now. For his latest collection, he made sweaters that look like they had been worn by a very fat woman for at least twenty-five years. It's incredible work, very technical. The meshes are loose, burnt, damaged. The sweater is filled with fleece. So a girl who is a size 36 makes an impression of 48. Margiela is more an artist than a stylist. It's kind of the opposite of what we were saying earlier about boys who are not supposed to be handsome and therefore become so. He is rather like "a woman must be beautiful, therefore she won’t be."

𝑯𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒂 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉?

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: When I was little, I liked Dustin Hoffman a lot, because he was very short too (laughs)... I was inspired by the films of Jim Jarmusch and David Lynch. ‘La Haine’ by Kassovitz is a film that I adore because it made me discover another vision of Paris and almost physically made me feel this hatred. ‘C'est arrivé près de chez vous’ [‘Man bites dog’] is, for me, one of the most sublime films in the world. Pretty hardcore movie, very kinky and very intelligent because it makes people laugh about things that shouldn't make people laugh. It calls into question all the mechanisms of political correctness by making you laugh at atrocious things.

𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫: I am a big fan of Fassbinder for its extreme elegance which hides only cruelty. It shows how cruel one can be still wearing a white suit. A bit like in Haneke's ‘Funny game’, with these very clean young boys, everyone in white. Terrible, but everyone in Lacoste polo shirts.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: What bands do you like?

𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫: I don't listen to a lot of music at home. Radio is mostly enough. But music is of paramount importance in my shows. I used The Smiths. Last winter, it was Visage with their ‘Fade to grey’, mostly not because I liked it that much but because of the lyrics above all, this description of a lonely man with his suitcase, with the eyes in the dark, who takes the train, looking lost. A piece of clothing doesn’t exist without musical style. It’s the same about a black suit: when you see it on stage, it loses its classic side and can catch a broken side. In the world of rock, by your look and by what you sing, you can turn everything upside down.
(𝐿𝑒𝑠 𝐼𝑛𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑢𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠 “𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑋𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝐷𝑒𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟 - 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑒”, 𝐷𝑒𝑐’00)
▪️𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝑂𝑙𝑔𝑎 𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑘𝑎

Photo credits: Benni Valsson for Les Inrockuptibles, 2000 (Brian wearing Xavier Delcour's clothes)

Post by Olga