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Sonic Seducer interview (in English)
Look. Someone thinks I'm important. Cover model: Zoetica Ebb, photgraphy by Allan Amato
Mildred von Hildegard – is this your real name? If so – it sounds very German and somehow noble.. what is the story behind it?
Parents are cruel. You should have heard their second choice. "A tall girl with the passion to build things, which doesn't sleep much." Sounds somehow like a high intelligence case. Right? What other talents do you have?
More like ADD. In terms of other talent, I can put my legs behind my head, and I can play the Star Trek theme on the musical saw. Not at the same time, though. If I could then I'd be famous. If the Myspace thing doesn't lie, you are 51 years old. Is fashion what you have always done or were there some other interesting professional paths before? And does Myspace lie?
The internet does not lie.
I wanted to be an architect, but I'm not smart enough. In a nutshell. If I got it right, you don't own a shop, but you are selling your collection brand, which is Yungfuktoi and now the less expensive Mother Of London line in some shops, right? Where can an interested customer from Germany get items of your collections?
Not quite. Yungfuktoi was my club kid name, many years ago when being a club kid was a slightly less embarrassing thing to be. I chose to apply the name, quite hastily, when I developed my first range. Eventually I discovered the impracticality of using yungfuktoi as a brand name, and when I decided to get back into the business again I started Mother of London. Do you have any well-known customers I may name?
Tony Blair gets all his gimpsuits from me. How many CDs/ Vinyls do you own?
…Enough to have made many record companies just that much richer. Spiritual orientation?
Hail and kill. Do your parents like what you do?
I think they're relieved. When have you founded Yungfuktoi? And what does Yungfuktoi and Mother Of London stands for?
It's a grey area. I started using the name in association with my product around 1999. Like I said in another question, yungfuktoi was my stage name back when I thought dancing at parties covered in electrical tubing and Jell-o was a job.
Mother of London was a comic book I conceived based on an alternate course of the Cold War, hence my unsubtle borrowing of Soviet themes. Do you recognise yourself as an artist, a fashion designer or a craftsperson?
I recognize myself as an artist and craftsperson. I recognize the reality that I am a fashion designer. Can you summarise the main philosophy and idea behind Yungfuktoi/ Mother Of London in one phrase?
Goths will wear anything. Which is the „aim" you want to achieve when doing a new design model? When is a piece finished, at which point are you satisfied?
Since when was an artist ever satisfied with anything they do? That's why we all take forever to release a product. I can imagine that this kind of fashion is a totally other business than doing „normal" clothes. What are the biggest differences? (I'm thinking about two aspects here – the tailoring and also the way alternative fashion is seen in the fashion world, are you an outsider?)
I think when a mainstream designer makes a piece and pushes it down the runway, the audience says "isn't that nice" and buys a handbag from that same designer. The alternative designer pushes a piece down the runway, and some goth from every corner of the world says 'I'm having that'. We get a ballsier, more involved audience and that accessibility is something I don't take for granted, and I hope I never will. Isn't it frustrating that your designs will never been seen on the streets, because they mostly stay hidden in bedrooms and at Fetish Parties, maybe also music videos?
I feel sorry for people who feel the need to wear clothing in the bedroom.
It's that street wear is 'common' that it is considered boring. The same would apply to a corset were we to see it every day. So I'm not frustrated… although I wouldn't discourage someone from wearing one of my harnesses to the mall. By the way, are there any music videos or music artists in general, which are wearing/ showing your fashion? Can you drop some names here?
Name dropping fills me with pain. I don't respect designers who feel their worth is measured in the accomplishments of others. Best concert you ever attended to?
Ever? I couldn't say. My favourite this year would probably be G3. I was embedded in an audience of dads and Japanese students, but I loved the purity of everyone being at a gig for the actual music. It's novel to attend a gig where showmanship is demonstrated through ability alone, without the crutch of props, costumes and condescending attitude, or the benefit of relying on other band members to compensate. (Not that any of those are a bad thing, mind you). What would be the greatest compliment one could give you for your collection?
How does one measure a compliment? I guess I'm particularly impressed when people read into my pieces their own way, because it shows they gave it careful consideration. It's difficult to give people reason to think through what is largely (and appropriately) perceived as a vapid, shallow medium. Those compliments go down best with me. What do you wear at home? Underwear? Metal frock?
Metal frock. YES. I wear nothing but loincloths and swords and the occasional clingy maiden. Tell me which music fits for a) breakfast, b) lunch, c) dinner, d) a fashion show of you?
a) Cosmic Dancer – T Rex (Is it strange to dance so soon?)
b) Rat In My Kitchen – UB40 (I live in La)
c) Fighting The World – Manowar (about how I feel at that time of day)
d) The Last Dawn – Kruiz (just because I'd love to see fashion models stumble around to 300+ bpm) Are you a women's libber?
No. I believe strongly in gender roles for a functional society, but that which gender you wish to be is a choice rather than a birthright. Your view on men?
They keep your feet warm, I guess. What is your theory about sex and fashion?
Stains are a bugger to get out. What makes a woman/ man look sexy?
Gloves. I don't know if I maybe read to much between the lines, but when I saw the description of the Mother Of London collection: "Spanish conquistadors, Japanese sumo wrestlers, promotion-bound Reagan-era businessmen, the hairspray-drenched gods of Metal", I had the impression, that you somehow admire men more than women?
I admire masculine roles in society, and throwing women into that role makes things interesting. In the last century women have struggled their way into the masculine role in ridiculous half measures, and what I do is a bit of a piss-take on that. Most sexy drink?
Free The most beautiful woman / man of the world is...?
Mario and Princess Toadstool Do you have other artistic fields, which you like particularly? (Music, fine arts, photography, dance..) Is there something like an artist that you find especially inspiring?
Music will always be my first love, hands down, but I do take inspiration from visual artists, as well. I've recently become acquainted with the work of El Lissitzky through a friend (Nadya Lev) and have totally fallen for him. Similar to me, he had wanted to be an architect but found popularity through another artistic medium (graphic artist). It's astonishing how timeless his work is. What he was doing in the 1920's would be considered cutting edge today.
Skinny Puppy or Denver Clan?
I'm going to pretend not to be old enough to know what you're talking about. Which subculture are you most fascinated by and are you part of one (like gothic, 80 metal heads..), where can someone meet you in London (f.exp. in the Waldorf at high tea or rather in the Slime Light…) or L.A.?
I guess I don't ascribe to any specific subculture, but rather cherry-pick the elements I like from all of them.
I never go shopping or clubbing, and I don't go for fancy dining at all. I'm a proper old man now, down at the pub with my newspaper. What is your connection / relationship to Nero from Psyclon Nine? Any funny story with it?
We go way back. He used to be my barber, and we would often chat about opening our own soft drink company someday. Funny, where life takes you. Which is the sexiest politician in your opinion?
Does Genghis Kahn count? Your designs are supposed to be unisex, right?
That is my ambition. Isn't there nearly a wasteland when it comes to really erotic (not ridiculous) male wear?
Evidently. But I attribute much of that to the fact that the only men willing to wear the outrageous stuff are either on the telly or gay. Men are difficult customers. What does unforgivable underwear look like?
I haven't seen enough underwear in my life to determine this. Telling, that. Are shoes acceptable in bed?
Only if you're exceptionally paranoid. What is your most «English» side?
My teeth.
11:54 AM
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