MICHÈLE LAMY - State of Grace

The Creative Wunderkind On Taking The Road Less Travelled

To say that you are not too sure what to expect up on meeting alternative fashion’s Grande Dame Michèle Lamy is something of an understatement. It’s difcult to pin down an artist whose metaphoric curriculum vitae ricochets from defense attorney to performer, designer, filmmaker and even restaurateur [ofthenow-closedsalon-style LA speak easy Les Deux Café], not to mention associate and muse to Rick Owens. But the first thing that strikes you about Michèle up on meeting her is her broad glinting smile and the clear authenticity that effortlessly shines though.In this extract from the extended interview in AUTHOR, the modern-day shaman tells us why the best approach to life is to organise your magic, and why the true meaning of luxury is to live in a state of grace.

“I am really like one of those Berbers who are always on the road. There have been so many times when I didn’t even know where I was going to end up because I would travel on a one way ticket. I really think that if you believe you are coming back, then there is really no reason to go anywhere, because to move is like cutting something from you so it can take you somewhere else, and that is the way I believe everything in life should go. When you live that way, there is always a chance to transform yourself. You have to just follow your magic and see where you end up. There are so many things that would not have happened in my life if I had not gone with the flow.“

“Luxury is having time and grace and being able to sing a song, this is real luxury. The word ‘luxury’ has been ruined and it has a lot to do with the images that are fucking with our heads, propagating the idea that luxury is just that a dress that is by so-and-so. There are some new magazines that are not about what is ‘inorout’, but most of these fashion magazines seem to show luxury as the grossest thing. I hope something will resist what is going on now and that we can change this system. We are just a little bubble in a big avalanche, but we can try to do something with all of this, and fight.I can not wait to see what happens.”

Interview by JOHN-PAULPRYOR

Pictures by CATHYOPIE