Thrills, the debut fashion line from costume-designer-to-the-stars (like Peaches and Karen O) John Renaud and personal trainer/artist/musician/wife of Andrew W.K. Cherie Lily, will make its first splash at New York Fashion Week tonight, at the Red Bull Space in SoHo. Renaud was kind enough to send us some preview images of the sporty new collection, and tell us a little bit about the line.
Mickey Boardman: So you're know for being a costume designer. Did you approach designing this line the same way you approach that?
John Renaud: I've been designing costumes for performers, musicians, and movies for a few years now. At the same time I have always been designing clothing; everything from mass market to custom gowns for the red carpet. I had always thought of these as one-offs, experiments in form and shape for a crazy performer. When I met Cherie, we became really good friends and I started making things for her to wear for stage. She had this idea for a crazy line of leotards and I was still struggling with how to present a collection of clothing that referenced my crazier work without being unwearable. That's sort of how Thrills came about. It's this merge of us two. Cherie serves as the muse and works her ass off in the business, PR, and keeping-John-on-track side. She's amazing. I approached this project as if I was designing little art pieces to wear, but was very conscious of fashion design problems (fabric, cost, wearability, etc). Our fit model says our sports bra -- which kind of looks like something out of Mad Max -- both keeps her tits in place and makes them look bigger!
MB: Who is the girl you're hoping to dress? Describe her.
JR: The girl is definitely a city girl. This girl loves music, fashion, going out and she goes to the gym. She's always had to shop Europe or Japan to buy her more daring looks. She has fun with her clothes and they have a sense of humor, but she doesn't look like a clown: She looks like a bad ass.
MB: So what was the inspiration for the show?
JR: Originally, I wanted to keep the first collection free from too much influence and let the clothes talk. Unfortunately I'm pretty sensitive to current events in the world. I kind of feel that there's a lot of chaos and insecurity right now, so most of the clothes kind of resemble futuristic armor or have a bit of a super hero vibe; they are very protective. At the same time they are very body conscious, which I kind of feel like reflects a feeling of false security. You feel enveloped but you're exposed. I think a lot of people feel like that right now. We are being toyed around with by a bunch of assholes. I think that definitely was a big influence. I tend to let the emotion from the inspiration do the design, not the inspiration itself. I don't find it interesting to be so literal.
MB: You're obviously very connected to the music world. What's on the soundtrack to the show?
JR: We are using "Beat and the Pulse" by the band Austra. Peaches introduced me to their music and I have since become a huge fan and friend of the band. They are really brilliant, just a wonderful sound and their music takes you to this kind of magical place. In a world filled with so much boring trust fund hipster music, they are saviors on the indie scene. It also has a great beat for the runway... or spin class.
