Interview With Gary Graham

(Click image to zoom in)

Designer Gary Graham’s Spring 2010 collection was one of the shining examples during New York Fashion Week this past September. With the “Fashion’s Night Out” event starting off the week, the question of how the economy would effect fashion loomed over almost every show, Graham being one of the exceptions. The CFDA/Vogue ‘09 Fashion Fund finalist put out a collection that was aggressive but not over the top. There was the evidence of tradition with looks that clearly narrated a time and place from America’s history, but there was also that transformation into something modern and attractive that kept me interested. The collection worked because of a designer’s strong vision and concept. I’ve always been so interested as to how a designer at this level works. They live in a middle ground that other creative professionals don’t have to necessarily stay at. A designer has to be part historian and part psychic at the same time. To be honest to your inspiration, present a product that is culturally relevant, and to be an expert craftsman, all in an ever changing environment is nothing short of amazing and something that honestly fascinates me. This is why I was so glad that Gary Graham agreed to be part of our ongoing Artist Interview Series. I found Graham’s commentary on fashion to be so insightful that anyone can at some level find some inspiration. It’s always great to meet someone who you know could make something interesting whether they have a budget of 5 dollars or 5,000 dollars. With all the economic worry that surrounds the creative industry right now, it’s artists like Gary Graham who show that one’s vision and concept rises above it all.

Hello, Every fashion review always uses the term “(insert designer’s name)’s woman is…” So what is the Gary Graham woman like?

She has a casual approach to glamour and definitely likes to mix disparate styles together. She has a history of Goth and punk but sort of keeps it on the back burner and expresses it in a more rustic sort of way.

How has your idea of that woman changed over the years?

I once did a show where I divided the collection into three women: a scientist, a farmer living off the land, and an isolated society lady. I think I always sort of mix these three together but now its become more precise and refined and not so aggressive.

With your Spring 2010 RTW collection, there seemed to be a big influence from silent films with a sort of Lillian Gish type of muse. What were some of the inspirations behind this collection?

Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon was a huge influence on me as a kid. Our library had a copy of the sequel, which had the photos of the Black Dahlia that I would stare at. There are some stills, which I referenced for this collection, of Anger appearing with Lillian Gish in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I wanted to think about women from two generations coming together, one at the end of her life and one just starting out.

I also found this photo of Imogene Coco after a performance with her head down. Her posture was so different from how I remembered her on television shows, where she always seemed so up and crazy. It was the downtime of Imogene that I was trying to capture.

What would you say is your approach to fashion?

There is a transformation that happens with Tallulah Bankhead’s character in Life Boat, not just in her wardrobe but within her, when she uses her diamond bracelet as fishing lure. It’s a moment of letting go. I think that was a big influence on me—seeing glamour torn apart or worn, either by weather or life circumstances.

I sometimes look at the creation process as making problems and then finding the answers through the work you create. What are some problems in fashion you like to answer with your collection?

I often work from narratives or scenarios. For next fall I am working on constructing a Masonic order of women in Pennsylvania who controlled all the building of the roads. I am also thinking about the story of the Fox sisters, who were famous 19th-century mediums. So the problem is connecting them all with research. The research has me thinking about the history of librarians and how their roles have changed in the digital age. I’ve been talking to librarians and getting their views on the way information is being accessed and the Dewey Decimal System, so this will create ideas and new problems. For example, this might raise the question what do the librarians and the masons have to do with each other? Were they enemies or did they work together? Also, if the women masons of Pennsylvania controlled the roads, how did the politics between the men and the women play out? I can imagine women masons stitching the roadways into their quilts and then somehow they would materialize, like sorcery.

When was it that you felt like you understood fashion, that it was what you wanted to do?

I think in high school I figured out the transformative power clothing can have, especially in relation to the physical and emotional changes one goes through in those years. I feel like I’m only really getting it now, in terms of the big picture. Which really just goes back to that DEVO song, We’re Through Being Cool.

I was doing some performance type work in college and realized there was a discipline to fashion that I loved. The reality of selling things I made was also attractive. I was excited by the idea of creating a garment and it then being worn in the “real world” – the theater that happens out on the street at 2 a.m. in the pouring rain.

How did you get your start in the business?

I started in a basement on West Broadway and sold out of a store called Shack. It was owned by J. Morgan Puett, who is now just working on her artwork but she was a big influence on me in terms of fabric manipulation and garment dyeing.

You just opened your flagship store in Tribeca, how’s the response been so far?

It has been very interesting. We do not advertise so it’s all by word of mouth, neighborhood men and women, we just started a few men’s pieces, and customers that buy our clothes in other cities, and from our boutique inside ABC Carpet and Home. For me it’s really like having guerilla research. You get direct feedback and it’s all very exciting. We are planning many events in the new space, everything from dance performances to film. I am currently working with my friend Liz Collins on a sock monkey terror film that will coincide with her sock monkey sweaters. On the business side, the response has been great.

The economy has been a big topic in fashion lately and I felt some of the recent collections at New York Fashion Week seemed to reflect that with a more consumer, commercial friendly apparel. As a designer how much do economic factors go into your thought process when designing a collection?

There are different economic factors. One is the overall health of a company in terms of cash flow and then the details of margins, profit, and volume. They all affect budgets, which then allow or constrain the amount of money you get to spend on development. So this could come down to being able or not being able to buy a certain lace or beading or leather. It does not ever effect my initial inspiration or concept, which is ultimately free. No one is going to say I cannot be inspired by a Masonic woman who was a witch in Pennsylvania in 1840 but we can say as a company that maybe the apron I designed that was inspired by her with intricate lace work on it is not going to retail for under 1200 and therefore we are not going to sell very many and maybe you should think of something else in addition to this item. That’s sort of how it works. The trick is not letting the two extremes; the sellable pieces and the collection pieces cancel each other out into a void.

There have been many complaints that fashion weeks are becoming too much about entertainment instead of design. How do you feel about the current state of fashion?

Fashion along with everything else is moving so fast that its inevitable there will be a new medium that comes out of all of this. I think DIY fashion is going to take the place of so much. It would be great if home ec became relevant in a new way, reconnecting us to the physical act of making things. I think what Alice Waters is doing with slow food could be done with fashion, if only in terms of making a connection between human labor and the end product, or at the very least an appreciation of quality.

(Gary Graham is a fashion designer from NYC. You can learn more about Graham at his website www.garygrahamnyc.com)