NYLON - June 2008 - (Page 56) LEATHER REPORT stylist: johanna methusalemsdottir. hair: laura de leon for joe management. makeup: anouck sullivan at workgroup using make up for ever. model: luize at women. top by cindy lee, leather pants and boots by alexandre herchcovitch, stylist’s own bangles. If certain articles of clothing have immediate connotations––a handkerchief tucked into a man’s blazer pocket is usually the sign of a dapper gent and a pinafore is almost always associated with childhood––what exactly do leather pants suggest? If they were able to speak, I imagine they would say both “fuck off” and “keep looking.” Because, as a material, leather (particularly in trouser form) is as aggressive as it is sexual. Which is precisely why its fan base has always been so diverse: Aside from wearing leather pants, what else do Judas Priest, Rihanna, and Françoise Hardy have in common? And the relationship between leather pants and rock ‘n’ roll is as tight as it is varied––from the weathered brown crowd-pleasers Jim Morrison often wore onstage; to the countless pairs sold by Sex Pistols manager Malcom McLaren to various aspiring punk rockers at Sex, the infamous London store he owned with Vivienne Westwood; to the simple ink-black skinnies that Joan Jett has rhapsodized about in songs and is rarely seen (in public at least) without. Leather is so intertwined with rock that everyone from Adam Ant to the Stray Cats to Guns n’ Roses have penned songs about it. And the fact that it’s been the object of intense fetishization isn’t surprising, for it’s essentially a second skin. Cotton, wool, or silk may be able to hug your curves, but leather puts them in a vice grip. The shiny, black leather pants I wore in college required an intense calisthenics routine that often left me out of breath and minus a few fingernails; a memorable episode of Friends showed Ross’s shameful struggle to shimmy back into his new pair using powder and lotion; and Billy Idol, who spent much of the ’80s in skintight leather pants once spoke frankly with Rolling Stone about their drawbacks: “In the [suit] cases overnight, the leather would dry up. You could only get them up to your calves, then up to your knees, up over your thighs, and eventually you could get them over your bum. You had to warm them up, because they were stuck together. That’s the reason I started wearing cologne, to hide the stench of the fucking rotting, fleshy, slimy shit.” Chances are though, the lasting impression you will leave should you choose to try out the new crop of sexy leather pants––currently being sported by everyone from Ashley Olsen to Kate Moss, and showing up on the runway at Christopher Kane and Givenchy––will have nothing to do with odor and everything to do with looking good. FIORELLA VALDESOLO PHOTOGRAPHED BY DELLA BASS the observer Christina Aguilera’s “Dirrty” video: OK, so technically these were leather chaps. Even better. Billy Idol’s “Dancing with Myself” video: Oh, Billy…we’ll dance with you and your pants. Iggy Pop: For the Stooges’ front man, every moment in leather pants was a great one. Velvet Goldmine: In this rock ’n’ roll fairy tale based on the life of David Bowie, the first time Brian (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) sees Brian (Ewan MacGregor), he’s wearing nothing but tight black leather pants and covering himself in oil. Jim Morrison, Miami, 1969: This greatest moment came out of those leather pants and got Morrison in big trouble. myspace.com : billyidol / Get your vital Idol here. You might want to hold your nose. http://myspace.com/billyidol
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