đź’ Charles Jeffrey for ODDA Magazine
This article first appeared in the ODDA Magazine 19th Issue “You, Me, and Everyone We Know”.
CHARLES JEFFREY
Creative consultant Steven Philip is the mastermind behind the vintage emporium Rellik in London. He also has his own private archive of designer clothing that spans almost half a century of collecting. That archive is a must see for any true blue fashion lover. And it is thanks to that amazing archive that Philip became good friends with Charles Jeffrey.
Back in the day, the young designer reached out to Philip to get a look at his vintage Vivienne Westwood pieces, and ever since then, the two men have never stopped talking.
So it made perfect sense to ask Philip to interview Jeffrey for this issue of ODDA.
In a whirlwind conversation, the pair touched on everything from how the Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY brand got its start and the pressure of being named the Alexander McQueen of his generation, to how having fun is the driving force behind everything that Jeffrey does.
STEVEN PHILIP. Tim [Blanks] called you the Alexander McQueen of your generation. That is quite a weight to bear on your shoulders. How does that make you feel
CHARLES JEFFREY. It all happened very quickly and I was not in a position where I could completely digest it. I just came out of an MA program and I did not have any money at all. I did not know where my next rent was coming from. When all these things were happening, I was not in a stable position to take on board these statements calmly.
S.P. What did you take back with you to your own label from your time working in the couture ateliers of Dior?
C.J. When I was there, it was this thing of imposter syndrome. I did not know why I was there, but I jumped at the chance to do it. I tried to take on everything like a dry sponge; I was also very excited to be in Paris. What I gained the most understanding from there was the amount of time it took, the attention to detail and how important working with your hands is on every single level. Even if you are not necessarily an expert with making some, it is about attention to detail. It was also about the infrastructure and how they work.
One thing that I really took from them is the idea of if you design a 3D sample, it becomes important to designers. So here we make a lot of them too. We do that now in our own studio; we get our interns to make 3D projects. That method I took from Dior. I did struggle at that internship because I was not very good at sewing. Basically, I got along really well with the woman who was head of the casting so she was like “I will offer you a job because I got along really well with you.”
S.P. Another side of your creativity manifests itself in the fashion styling you do for magazines. What creative itch does that work scratch?
C.J. That is how we met actually. You were like a mentor to me. I was working with Alister Mackie on a shoot which was supposed to be a celebration of Vivienne Westwood. Alister hired me and my friend, Jack, to style the shoot. I remember Alister saying “you have got to meet Steve. You need to listen to him because he is filled with really good information.” So we went to see you and your archives. When you were talking me through all of it, it was this whole world; our meeting had a huge impact on that shoot. In any case, making images for me has always been a part of my creative
process.
S.P. What do you think it is about Glasgow, where you are from, that all of
these fantastical and rebellious creatives come from there?
C.J. There is this thing about Glasgow that people liked to be cultured. My grandfather is a prime example of that. He worked as an engineer for trains but he was an incredibly cultured man. That creates a humble work ethic that comes from working-class places.
But there is this real thirst for culture as well so it makes for really dynamic creatives. I think that is why there is always a new wave of us every couple of years.
S.P. If you were to go back in time, where would you go?
C.J. I would love to live in the late 70s or early 80s. I would love to be in the Warhol type of moment. I think we tapped into that a little bit with my designs.
S.P. Do you think that the pandemic is causing the new generation to buy less, buy better, buy from smaller brands, etc.?
C.J. I would say in my bubble, yes definitely. I guess Depop is a good example of what people are latching onto; this platform that allows people to swap and share clothes. I do not know if the actual message of being sustainable is still as popular. There was definitely a moment where it was a hot word. The pandemic sort of cleared it off the way and now it is more about being comfortable.
I will say a real fine example of a store that a lot of young people are contributing to is the Fantastic Toiles by Nasir Mazhar. Half of the pieces are just things stitched and they are all inside-out with raw seams but there is an energy and intention in that which is so pure, which is validated by having that space.
I remember there was MACHINE-A before it was as big as it is now, I remember going there when it was just on the corner of Oxford street. There were weird and obscure goth designer pieces. There was a sex toy section in the corner of a room. There were these spaces where weird and wild fashion were accepted. When you first move to London and you want to change things up when you just started, you don’t care about commercial clothes. You just care about stuff that looks mental and completely new that you can associate yourself with.
S.P. How has Lulu Kennedy impacted you and your career?
C.J. She saw something in my work when I was in the MA’s at Central Saint Martins. I was actually convinced by a teacher of mine that said to me, “you are not a designer. No one will ever hire you. You are not going to get a job anywhere.” I remember being like “yeah, I guess so.”
Then Lulu came in when we had our MA exhibition. She saw my rail of bright colored jackets and I had my portfolio stuff with obscure ripped papers with photographs of myself and clothes. Then I had a whole other side of my desk which was covered with all the Loverboy stuff like the posters and paint. It is always a big deal when Lulu comes into the MA studio. She usually picks one or two people that are going to be the next big thing in fashion.
She came in and everyone thought it was going to other people, but she only spoke to me and everyone was absolutely raging at me. Soon after, she called me and said she loved it. She asked me if I wanted to do another collection, but I said no because I believed I was better as a stylist. She persisted but I continued to say no.
A week later, I got an email from her assistant saying “Hi Charles, we just wanted to check in on your decision. We thought maybe a good way to do it if you don’t want to do a collection is for you to just do your party. We will celebrate and make that your platform.”
So then I thought okay, I will do it. We basically took my MA collection and remixed it. I did this project where I made some bright acid blue cashmere, then a pair of shorts, then I painted on hundreds of pairs of denim and t-shirts. Then I got my old mates to get their old scraps of Loverboy and I made them into something. It was a day where I was literally like a headless chicken. It was like this mini-Loverboy army that we built, it was so much fun.
S.P. What have you been listening to on loop during this period of confinement?
C.J. I have been listening to hardcore techno like “The Horrors” or something like this Bulgarian choir called “The Bulgarian National TV Choir.” Their voices are a specific type of singing which is so mental but haunting. It sounds like weird witches in space.
Also, “Portishead.” I have been listening to quite a lot of it while designing my new collection.
S.P. What do you want to accomplish with your website, which you just launched?
C.J. We have seen the benefit of exploring an online consumer model because we can extract a lot of information from the client. We also make a lot more money directly which is great. We want it to be this really immersive space. I loved video games, anime, and cartoons. At one point I thought I was going to be a video-game designer, but then I saw people that were making clothes that could be seen in that realm; that made me so excited. I wanted to try to emulate and bring that into the digital space, so I gave a nod to a lot of things I used to play. I have this press start character selection page, and it has this carousel of different looks that you can see. They look like characters that you can play, then there was a whole audio element. The thing that I like about my work is that
any daft or silly idea I have, I can give that a lot of time because I do not work for anyone
else.
S.P. I have talked to some young designers that have said “I just want to be successful enough. I want to have my brand and grow it naturally. I am not looking for world domination.” What is your stance on that?
C.J. I actually really just want Loverboy to be the best thing it can actually be because I do not think I can do anything else. I think in terms of doing another label, it is such a scary landscape. People are harsh to big designs like that and if you have got a big brand, you have got to have really strong skin. Part of me just wants to stay in my own lane because there is no traffic in my own lane and I can just do really well.
S.P. Can you talk to me about the whole Loverboy club night concept and
how that fit into you going to fashion school and starting your business?
C.J. I was working three or four jobs when I was doing my Master’s. I was working in a call center, a bar, and in a fabric shop. I was working a shift in the bar and one of the owner’s younger brothers was chatting with me and told me about this club night he was putting on, on the first of August, which is my birthday, and he did not know what to do about it. I told him it was my birthday and he asked me if I wanted to do my birthday then. I always wanted to DJ so I took the opportunity.
I was living with my friend and I was telling her about the space I was given to do my birthday, and how I wanted to do a club night. I was saying how much I missed the club night scene in the early 2010s when I first moved to London, how everybody used to dress up and how there was a complete lack of that now. I wanted to make a night that encouraged everyone to dress up.
We did this poster and it fell out of my mouth to call it “Loverboy.” We added this whole romance side of things like “come meet your match, but make sure you are dressed right.” For some reason, I painted myself blue which was on impulse. It was based on my drawings; it was just really free.
The night was so popular. My friend, Jack, made these cardboard kissing booths and we bought all these weird balloons. When the first club night was really successful, the owner told me to do another one; I really got a sense of validation from that. So after that first night I wanted to do it properly.
I did a full-on shoot to advertise the next one. I styled all my friends and we took photos in my friend’s living room. The photos went viral online and everyone started to get more and more dressed up each time we did a Loverboy club night. We were taking photographs more seriously. We were doing videos and secret codes. We just got really, really into it and it was a gateway for me to be creative. And I suddenly started to make money from it from the door. Since it was so popular, I could not run away from it. I did not have to work from the call center which was so soul-destroying, so that was another great thing about it.
S.P. Why do you think you are so fun and have such a playful personality?
C.J. I think we all have this bad habit of “prepare and despair,” where we all think we should take ourselves more seriously. That sort of thinking makes me have no energy. It makes me small and slow. It makes me question myself and not move forward.
Whenever I tap into who I am, my authenticity, that really is my driving force. When I am myself and trust my gut, so much unravels and so much can happen at one time so quickly. The reason why I am fun is that it is my creative vehicle to get from point A to point B most efficiently.
Photographer PHILIP ANDELMAN
In conversation with JESSICA MICHAULT
