I have always been fascinated with the darker side of life. As I walk the East Village, reminders of what it was in the 70’s when I visited tattoo parlors before they were legal, drank in seedy bars and had friends who lived in squats, brings back all the feelings of attraction/repulsion that go with transgression. I think this fascination comes from being young during a time when we had bomb drills in schools, there were fall-out shelters on every corner and we were always warned about being buried alive and tortured by the “Communists”. On TV we watched Twilight Zone about the barren life after nuclear disaster and Life Magazine offered up big color photos of the new phenomenon of mass murders like Richard Speck killing student nurses in Chicago, Charles Manson and his followers and assassinations of public figures.

At some point as a child I got really sick of being afraid and rather than withdraw I embraced the fear and started my lifelong habit of dealing with it by managing the terror, studying the object creating it, finding everything out about it and transforming it to an object of interest rather than dread. This capacity to neutrally view the darker side of life and to transform horrendous stories and events into objects of curiosity rather than horror has enabled me to be very good at my work. Perhaps this explains why I always wear  black and white, it contains both darkness and light. Perhaps my change of clothes was the real reason for my feeling displaced this summer. Can clothes be that powerful? Is that why I now choose to study fashion? Because of its incredible power for beauty and/or destruction?

Accidental Icon Wears:

Black Vest: Sarah Pacini, Skinny dark jeans, AG Jeans, White Shirt: San Francisco Clothing, Sunglasses: The Optical Boutique

What are your thoughts about the “power” of fashion?