|
|
This fall, model Devon Aoki makes the leap from denim consumer
to denim creator. But first she lets Nylon in on what's behind her
new career.
Designing Woman
Source: Nylon Magazine August 2002
Photographer: Jason Nocito
Last year, I began my journey into denim. It was then that
I realized that denim had become less of a single component in my
wardrobe in my wardrobe and more of a style in my everyday life.
By that time, I had been through hundreds of different denim styles,
from vintage to modern, classic to gangsta, overalls to pedal pushers,
bells to boot, button-fly to zip-up, five pockets to none, faded
and unpolished to flat-ironed and steamed. I was wearing denim
almost everyday, and in my free time I was mentally deconstructing
and improving styles that had become boring to me. It was
after countless trips to the tailors, custom leather engineers,
and embroidery salons that I realized customizing a pair of jeans
wasn't just a hobby to me. I was obsessed with the perfect
fit, perfect wash, the perfectly flared leg. It didn't help
that I had seen James Dean wearing Levi's in Rebel Without a Cause,
heard stories from my mother about the revolutionary '60s and how
she used to sew flowers on her bellbottoms, and read that Andy Warhol
had wanted to die in blue jeans. The blue bug had got me,
and I was hooked.
Was I alone in
my newfound passion? No. It seemed that all my friends
were at that same strange place, too. We were all denim-mad,
and buying up jeans as though our lives depended on it: Kevin and
Tony were clearing out Denim Doctors in L.A. Lizzie and I
were running to Henry Duarte for custom-made jeans adorned with
the signature Duarte labyrinth of shapes. Annie scoured
the men's section of Levi's until she found the perfect pair of
low-waisted 519s. And my sister upturned what seemed like
mountains of junk in a Buffalo vintage store in order to satisfy
her craving for a 22-4-A Wrangler youth jacket from the '70s.
Loving and living
in jeans has everything to do with the necessity of comfort.
For one thing, the naturalness of cotton gives jeans a wholesomeness,
like a naked canvas that you can make into whatever strikes your
fancy. You don't need to think when you reach for your jeans.
Who hasn't wiped her hands on her jeans when there is nothing available?
There's no such thing as a fashion faux pas with jeans. You
can be noticed or anonymous. And no matter what, jeans are
always personal.
|
