From left, legendary rock photogs Robert Knight, Robert Matheu, rock star & wild man Billy Idol, designer John Varvatos and photog Mick Rock. Photo courtesy John Varvatos.
John Varvatos' Rock 'n' Roll Confidential
It may have been decreed by Lou Reed and the Ramones decades ago; rock ‘n’ roll music should not be much more than three chords and a sneer.
But what of rock ‘n’ roll fashion? Called everything from highly influential, sexy to a minor eyesore, the great, big hullaballoo of rock styles has been the obsessions of a tsunami of Pinterest and Tumblr sites. Designer John Varvatos took it upon himself to catalog the styles of Bowie, Hendrix, Blondie as well as Guns & Roses in his coffee table book John Varvatos: Rock in Fashion.
Varvatos produced a handful of parties for the book recently, the latest was a Nov. 7 soiree at the John Varvatos boutique in West Hollywood. It was hosted a number of rock ‘n’ rollers such as Billy Idol, pioneering radio host Rodney Bingenheimer (back in his A&R scout days, it was his job to take Bowie and Led Zeppelin around Los Angeles) and Beatle scions Julian Lennon and Dhani Harrison.
Before the event, I caught up with Varvatos and asked him how an entire fashion movement could arise up from the dirty jeans of Keith Richards and Iggy Pop. Sure there was a lot of grunge and dirt, he said. But it wasn’t the whole story. “There’s an elegance in the suits that Led Zeppelin and the bluesmen wore,” he said about the style of Jimmy Paige and influential blues artists such as Muddy Waters.
Yes, but what is rock ‘n’ roll fashion?
“It’s rebellion. It’s not following the norm,” he said.
During a panel at the event, Varvatos, Idol and photographers Mick Rock discussed and sometimes roasted rock looks (Mick Rock on Billy Idol: “You look like a rent boy! Are you advertising for a boyfriend or a girlfriend?”)
Varvatos’ allegiance to rock music goes beyond clothes. He also hosts a rock radio show on Sirius Spectrum. It’s called New York Nights.
