January 12, 2010

Johnny Weir is an outspoken athlete with a penchant for flamboyant costumes, both in and out of the ice rink. As Weir prepares for a hopeful journey toward the 2010 Olympics and as he readies himself for the Sundance Channel series Be Good Johnny Weir, he took a few moments to answer some of Bradford Shellhammer's questions about design, fashion, and dressing like a swan.

Bradford Shellhammer: You are a world-famous athlete. And you're a gifted fashion designer. Can you walk me through your design process?

Johnny Weir: The music and theme of my programs usually takes me on a mental journey of colors and icons and images. I start with the character I'm trying to portray, and then I decide what will work on the ice as far as color and shape are concerned. Once I complete my sketches, I go to my seamstress and go through many fittings, making sure everything is just right, and then we sparkle the hell out of it. It is figure skating, after all.

B.S.: Whom do you collaborate with when designing your costumes? What role does each person play?

J.W.: First of all, I have to impress myself with the sketches. Once I am happy with the design, I take the sketches into my practice and show my coach, Galina Zmievskaya. After Galina has added her two cents, I sometimes tweak the sketches and then take them to New York to my seamstress and co-designer, Stephanie Handler. Once Stephanie grasps my concepts, she begins a rough outline of the costume in velvet and mesh. After two fittings or so, we start to add details, and after a few skating practices in the "skeleton" of the costume, we make the final alterations and adjustments. After that, it's ready for the world to approve or disapprove of.

B.S.: What design has been your favorite? Your least favorite?

J.W.: My favorite skating costume to this point has probably been my short program in 2007-2008 set to a Russian theatrical piece from the rock opera Yunona i Avos called "Ya Tebya, Ne Kogda, Ne Zabudu." I tried to invoke the romanticism of the story while making the costume very literal. In Russian myth, the souls of sailors who die at sea turn into seagulls. There is a large white section, which to me represents the seagull, while one half of the costume is military-style to represent the hero of the story, Nikolai, and a lace handkerchief represents the story's heroine, Conchita. My least favorite costume was a gray mess of fabric I wore when I was portraying the story of Jesus Christ. It just didn't work on me.

B.S.: Does the showmanship of the skating world and your stylized costumes inspire/impact your everyday personal style?

J.W.: Figure skating is so over-the-top, and as in any line of work, you have to live it. My everyday style is absolutely over-the-top. I love my fur and giant sunglasses, and I never leave the house without a brightly colored Balenciaga. I'm also really into shiny, pointy shoes, which could have some throwback to the blades on my skates.

B.S.: When you're designing technical clothing, are there materials you wish you could use but cannot because of the stress of skating?

J.W.: There are a lot of things I wish I could wear that are impossible to wear while figure-skating. Usually stiff materials like leather, plastic, or glass are hard to wear. Imagine the kind of crazy corset you could create using some broken glass and electric-blue plastic.

B.S.: You've walked runways at Fashion Week. Any plans to do that again?

J.W.: I would love to walk the runway again! I had so much fun walking a few times for Heatherette that I'd love to walk and get made up and feel very special about myself. The energy at fashion shows is so different from a skating event. It is very exciting.

B.S.: Your swan costume rivals Björk's in humor and notoriety. Do you appreciate over-the-top and avant-garde fashion in others?

J.W.: Thank you! Anyone who has the balls to end up on the "worst-dressed list" deserves major credit, and they all inspire me. From Lady Gaga to Björk, over-the-top is never enough for me. Michael Jackson was wearing the most amazing Givenchy pieces toward the end of his life, and he was such an inspiration in them. Runway shows from artists like Viktor & Rolf, Gareth Pugh, Denis Simachev, John Galliano, and Alexander McQueen are all so inspiring, they make me want to run down the street in a pair of pink briefs, metallic-gold shoulder pads, and a giant sable coat with pointy sneakers made of matryoshka dolls.

B.S.: Who are your style and design inspirations?

J.W.: I'd say my style inspiration definitely comes from traveling the globe. I have seen so many different street styles through the years that I will never look like anyone else walking down the street. I try to invoke the moody sex appeal of Moscow fashion, the bubblegum-pop styles of Tokyo and Seoul, while still keeping it chic and label-whoring it up like New York. For figure-skating design, I'm definitely inspired by theater and ballet as well as architecture in some cases. This year I have been so inspired by Fabergé eggs. I think inspiration can come from some of the least expected places. I can say that at the moment, I am very inspired by Lady Gaga's style as well as the style of Sergey Lazarev. Gaga is always forward, while Lazarev dresses the way I think a man should dress, and I find myself somewhere in between.

B.S.: If you could design costumes or clothing for any other athlete, who would it be?

J.W.: I think Nastia Liukin is the most beautiful athlete around. I would love to design her some lynx and sable warm-up jackets to go over those gymnastics leotards.

B.S.: Name your three most loved belongings in your closet.

J.W.: This is hard -- my closets are pretty full of lovely things. I received a beautiful J12 diamond Chanel watch from a fan; I have my first fur coat from Cavalli that I named Svetlana; and finally, probably my Casadei patent-leather pointies, because they go with everything. Who am I kidding? My most beloved thing is probably my pair of bunny-fur bedroom slippers I got in Moscow eight years ago. They are so old and falling apart, but they still trump any Ugg I have ever seen as far as "slipper style" goes.