American graffiti
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]He has worked with US icons such as Andy Warhol and Debbie Harry, and is one half of the partnership behind this season's must-have accessory. Charlie Porter meets designer and artist Stephen Sprouse
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Guardian[/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Friday March 30, 2001[/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Stephen Sprouse is a humble man. Ask him about the calibre of people he has worked with (Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Debbie Harry) and he claims never to have realised that they are some of the most important image-makers of the 20th century. "Yeah, I suppose so," says the 48-year-old designer and artist at his home in New York. "I've never really thought about that." And so it is with similar lack of ego that Sprouse has collaborated with America's current style leader, Marc Jacobs, to create the must-have accessory of the season, the Louis Vuitton graffiti bag. [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Even though the bag is not officially on sale till April, the waiting lists at Louis Vuitton stores worldwide are so long that most shops have stopped taking orders. But this has not stopped the dedicated elite from calling branches around the world, desperate to snap up one of these instant classics. When a few of them made it to the Paris store, they instantly sold out. So when Louis Vuitton sent the bags as presents during the shows in France a couple of weeks ago, the lucky recipients were the envy of the entire fashion pack. [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]The audacity of the bags, where Sprouse's trademark graffiti is slapped across the traditional LV monogram, shows the complete faith that Louis Vuitton must have in Jacobs. "It seems like they really trust Marc," agrees Sprouse. "It was totally his idea to do it." [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]The pair met a year ago, after Jacobs decided to use graffiti as the next stage in his successful overhaul of the Vuitton brand, and worked on the collection in both Paris and New York. The bags may have been the most visible part of the collaboration, but Sprouse worked with Jacobs on other pieces for spring/summer 2001, including prints of roses and TV static, meticulously photographed, scanned and then consolidated with outlines from his thick marker pen. [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Sprouse, who arrived in New York from Indiana at the age of 16, is unique in fashion - someone who has survived without adhering to the seasonal cycle usually required by the fashion industry. But there is a good reason why he sits out the twice-yearly routine. "I've never had a great business partner," he admits. "I've got some leads. But I guess that's why I do art as well - you can be less of a part of a huge operation. I really admire Marc and the designers that do the collections. It's a major job. Nobody in the movies, nor recording artists, has got to put up with the same time schedules as fashion designers." [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]So, although his ad hoc approach has meant that there is no Sprouse label, he seems to work best when jumping around between commitments. And over the years this militantly freelance approach has enabled him to work on projects that would have been impossible if he had to design a new line twice a year. In the 70s, while also working as a drawing assistant for the designer Halston, he unwittingly created the look for one of rock's greatest icons, Debbie Harry. "I moved into my friend's building in New York," he remembers. "My friend also rented to Debbie, and Blondie used to rehearse in his front room. The only bathroom and kitchen in the building were on Debbie's floor, so we got to know each other. They were still playing CBGBs, but they asked me to make clothes for her, and suddenly the band got huge." [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]The outfits, like the video static dress Harry wears in the video for Heart of Glass, helped to build Sprouse's reputation. But it was his friend, the then aspiring photographer Steven Meisel, who brought Sprouse's clothes to the attention of American Vogue. Then, in 1984, Sprouse became friends with Andy Warhol. Eventually, Sprouse plucked up the courage to ask if he could use Warhol's images in his clothing. "Andy was always great to me, a big inspiration and supporter," he says. [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]"Right before he died, I asked if I could use his camouflage print for my clothes. He'd never actually done it with designers, and he wanted to do it, but he had to get permission. The week before he died, he called and said, 'I spoke to Fred [Hughes, Warhol's business partner]. It's OK to use the camouflage.' And that was the last time I spoke to him." After the success of the camouflage collection, Sprouse obtained the rights from the Warhol Foundation to work with more of Warhol's images, culminating in an acclaimed show in 1998. [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Through Warhol, Sprouse became friends with Keith Haring, another New York legend. "When I got to know Andy more, I got know Keith more," he recalls. "I also collaborated with Keith. I got these images from the Bible, I painted them, then he put acetates over and did his thing, then we'd blow them up and silkscreen them on fabric." Some of the pieces were brought out of the archive for a shoot in last month's i-D magazine. Bright, optimistic and luxurious, they feature Haring's famous dancing men boogieing all over clothes made out of green velvet - an encapsulation of everything outrageous and OTT in the 80s. [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Now his work with Vuitton is over, Sprouse is concentrating for the moment on his art. He is working on a painting for Nasa, following on from a recent experiment with clothes using images from the Mars Pathfinder. "They're making the space station right now," he says, "and I'm actually waiting for them to send me some more photos, because I want to use current images. It'll probably end up a photo silkscreen with realistic oil painting. And graffiti." [/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]It's a typical on-the-spot Sprouse mix, and the designer plans to continue in this vein, working across all media and making them distinctly his own. "If you put all my stuff beside each other, there'd be something that ties it all together and makes it look like it's mine," he says. "I want to do some more clothes projects, and I'd love to do some cars." What, the whole thing, inside and out? "Well, I'd like to design the car itself, but I'd settle for the upholstery."[/FONT]
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