Журнал Andy Warhol's Interview Россия Interview № 5 | Page 174

174/ ENGLISH SUMMARY
because you can hide behind a character and the di-
rector. In music, even if you don’t write your own
songs (and in those years I was not yet writing), you
are on the frontlines. This arouses admiration or ha-
tred in people, but in any case this is a far more radi-
cal feeling, since it’s not filtered through a role. I nev-
er expected that “Joe le Taxi” would become a colos-
sal success. I was living in the suburbs then, where
there was no lyc é e. Every morning I sat on the sub-
way and went to school with 1500 strangers.
GASPARD: Poor thing!
VANESSA: I had only one friend. Just like you
said, this chasm between show business and every-
day life was really shocking: on the subway at rush
hour with all these people looking at me like a mon-
key in a cage, and right after this—on a film set with
a constantly shouting director. In her time my mom
received 19 out of 20 points on her baccalaureate ex-
ams, and for my relatives my academic success was
vital. My father was the opposite, grew up in a simple
family, worked since the age of 14 and learned every-
thing on his own. So in my family there was some
balance. The Brisseau film was being shot in spring
at the end of the school year just when my exams
would take place. There was no question about this.
So I informed my mom that I was quitting school.
To my surprise she answered: “Go for it!”
GASPARD: So your parents easily gave you your
freedom? Without hysterics?
VANESSA: Yes, without a scandal. We were al-
ways very close and were able to listen to each other.
I announced that I was going on a two-month shoot
and will return just in time for exams—and without
preparing there was no way to pass them. On top of
that they are fatalists, and they passed that on to me
as well. I really didn’t know how long it would last,
whether I would continue my career, but to us it was
important to not let the opportunity pass by.
GASPARD: You were lucky. The majority of par-
ents wouldn’t have agreed, because it was all so risky.
VANESSA: You said it! Soon my daughter will
be 13. Sometimes I wonder if she were to do the same
as me, that everyone would watch my child, discuss,
criticize. Terrible! Now I understand better how
a mother feels, how it is to have a daughter that age
that has begun working. My parents definitely cared,
but they felt how important it was for me. And
I wanted to sing and play in movies so much!
GASPARD: Do you have musical education?
VANESSA: None whatsoever. For exactly a year
and a half I had ear training. But then I have a good
ear, I always sang and learned along the way.
GASPARD: Well, you had great “teachers”: Len-
ny Kravitz, Matthieu Chedid, Gainsbourg. You’re
generally surrounded by exceptional people. You’ve
done movies with Belmondo, Delon, Depardieu.
What is it—you’re power of attraction or the long arm
of coincidence?
VANESSA: It’s just unfolded that way.
GASPARD: But have you still applied some ef-
fort to it?
VANESSA: How to put it. Take Gainsbourg—
for me he was a real dream, I would have never
dared to approach him. But when I heard what he
said about me on the radio—and in such a sweet
way! We were looking for a co-author at that mo-
ment for my next album. And so we went to Serge.
He was very busy: preparing an album with Jane,
shooting a film, doing a ton of things at the same
time. We had a slate of 12 songs, and we proposed
that he choose one. But he said that he liked them
all. I just lost the gift of speech: “Yes, yes, of course”.
So he recorded an album for us. Then there was
Lenny Kravitz. My music label wanted me to do an
album in English to advance me abroad. At that
time Lenny had just put out his first CD, and I was
crazy about that disc.
GASPARD: Did you learn English from him?
VANESSA (laughs): Yeah, during the process.
The funniest thing was that after the first song came
out I had to give interviews in English, and it was
a real disaster. I made horrible mistakes, uttered
things I didn’t mean, was made fun of all the time. In
New York I was surrounded by these guys who used
street slang, and as a result I began to talk like a guy.
GASPARD: In ghetto language?
VANESSA: Exactly! It was really not ladylike.
(Laughs.)
GASPARD: Tell me about the differences be-
tween Americans and the French: did you feel it,
living in Los Angeles and New York?
VANESSA: The first two-three years of my pop-
ularity in France were quite difficult. They love to
put people on Olympus and then make every effort to
pull them down. This is very French. When I re-
corded with Kravitz, I was 18 years old. I walked
around New York, no one recognized me, I was free
and happy. Americans generally are very friendly.
Even if you’re just walking down the street and hap-
pen to meet some stranger’s eyes, he will greet you.
GASPARD: When it concerns work, they are
also very friendly. But then you still have the thought
that this is a double-edged sword. Of course, they
have the appearance of being open, but this covers up
something more. I don’t have the heart to call it du-
plicitous, but still.
VANESSA: This benevolence as an idea comes
from the notion that in this country everyone has an
opportunity, a chance.
GASPARD: Where do you live now?
VANESSA: 50/50. It depends on the work sche-
dule. In recent years we have been spending a lot of
time in Los Angeles, but every three months I come
to Paris. I miss it very much.
GASPARD: And I sometimes miss Los Angeles.
It sounds corny, but I like that there is real contact
with nature there. You take a car and go to the desert
or to the sea. This is what I really miss in Paris
or New York. The longer I live, the more clearly
I understand that I need to live outside a closed ur-
ban space.
VANESSA: When you live for a long time in the
city, when you are tied to children, cares, you can’t go
to the mountains or the desert. It just that you don’t
have children, they change everything, a trip to na-
ture turns into a whole story. In Los Angeles I like
that there are no seasons, blue sky, palm trees. But
when the sky is blue every day, it gets boring. Now
everything is changing there, they are making fewer
movies in Los Angeles, primarily due to the taxes.
GASPARD: In April your new movie “Caf é de
Flore” comes out in Russia.
VANESSA: Yes, it’s a drama. It’s a strong film
about what love does to you—and what you will do
for it. I play the mother of small boy with Down’s
syndrome; it is set in Quebec. It’s the story of a couple
parting, and then reuniting. The film is a real love
anthem.
JEAN PAUL
GAULTIER
p. 130
by AMANDA LEAR
The legendary designer and enfant terrible
Gaultier, along with his long-time friend—singer
and model Amanda Lear, explain the shelf-life of
good sex and elaborate on their roles in the world
fashion spectacle.
Jean Paul Gaultier was and remains the main
hooligan of the prim Paris fashion society. But
his hooliganism was never senselessly outrageous or
a challenge to modern society. Each of the designer’s
shows have been filled with his love and understand-
ing of the history of world culture and mixed with
fine satire. The last couple of years in Jean Paul’s life
remind one of a perfect rollercoaster of rises and falls:
his departure from Herm è s (after seven years as cre-
ative director); a triumphant retrospective that began
in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and went on to
travel the world (there are rumors it will reach Mos-
cow); a show dedicated to Amy Winehouse that was
recognized by fashion critics and provoked fury from
Amy’s family; the capsule collection for La Perla; his
appointment as creative director for Diet Coke; and
finally his 60th birthday.
Gaultier has always taken life with a radiant smile
and an original sense of irony. He has no plans to
slow down and it appears that he will show the young
generation of designers that he still has some tricks in
his bag. On the eve of his birthday, the most cheerful
man in France allowed the Interview team into his
studio and opened his archive to them. After the pho-
to shoot, a friend from his youth, disco diva Amanda
Lear, dropped by to discuss their sexual adventures,
recall times past and talk over plans for the future.
LEAR: You are just hitting 60 years. I, of course,
don’t know what that is like (according to Wikipedia,
Amanda’s birthday is 18 November 1939. Or 1946.
Or 1950.—Interview), but they say it’s great. What ad-
vice would you give a 25-year-old you?
GAULTIER: I wouldn’t have any advice for my-
self. I like how everything has turned out.
LEAR: What, you don’t even miss some bits of
your youth?
GAULTIER: I began with Pierre Cardin when
I was 18 years old. It was great, because he, like me,
experimented and did not care for any rules. His
brain simply said: “I want shoes like this armchair”.
I didn’t study fashion, so I didn’t have any limits
drilled into me. My taste was formed by fashion mag-
azines and the rock stars of my generation: Bowie,
Jagger, The Beatles. Incidentally, this was a very im-
portant moment in men’s fashion. Guys stopped be-
ing afraid to look feminine, wore lace shirts and
make-up. This is very kindred to me. In short, Car-
din and I worked well together.
LEAR: Did everything work out so easily for
you?
GAULTIER: Well, I wouldn’t say so. Things with
my next employer, Jean Patou, were rather more dif-
ficult. I think he traumatized me. I dressed in riding
boots, and my colleagues would make fun of me:
“Where did you leave your horse?” Every day they
tried to prove to me that there was nothing more chic
than beige or that you shouldn’t take black models for
your show. This was far from my idea of fashion.
I love to mix everything. But then at my first show
I broke away entirely. The French papers wrote then
that I was doing God knows what, but they under-
stood me immediately in England. When I went to
London, I felt free. But why am I telling you—you live
there and know all about it.
LEAR: You can boldly wear the most eccentric
things in England. I remember I was working as
a model for Mary Quant and went to lunch with
Coco Chanel in a mini-skirt. The old lady grumbled
the entire lunch about how terrible short skirts are:
“You should hide your knees. Knees are ugly!” You
brought fashion back to France! You really changed
the world a lot. You had youth, the call. Earlier, dur-
ing the time of Dior, couture was something solemn,
aristocratic. But you made rock-n-roll for everyone.
Stirred up show business and couture. The first to
dress it was Madonna, and then Lady Gaga. How
does this work out for you?
GAULTIER: You know, probably because I nev-
er plan anything, what kind of adventures I might
have. For example, I’m crazy about Madonna, her
music, her image. And it so happened that I was for-
tunate enough to work with her. It’s the same with