Interview with 69 by Autre Magazine

Photographer: Eddie Chacon

Stylist: Sissy Sainte-Marie

Stylist’s Asst: Becky Barnes

MODEL: Dasha Nguyen (Photogenics)

ALL CLOTHING: 69

Blue Leather Boots: Toga Pulla, Denim Cowboy Boots: Stylist’s Own Customized by Hannah Amundson

 In an era when every person is a brand and every brand is seeking a cult following to indoctrinate, 69 is setting itself apart by refusing to claim an identity and refusing to define their fan base. Instead, the brand unveils a fluid future that is free of confining binaries and hierarchical standards of beauty. A world where all are invited but no one is required to show their face. In kind, the designer has chosen to remain anonymous and has coined the term non-demographic-specific clothing for a very pointed reason. Their garments are made exclusively in denim to emphasize comfort, durability and a universality that is unique to the material. The pieces are also designed to afford the choice of concealing or revealing one’s face and form, celebrating identity as an expression that is voluntary. In this way, the designer is not only making the personal choice to remain anonymous, but they are providing fashionable options for those who embrace not only the right to anonymity, but the ability to control to whom we remain anonymous. The dawn of unisex clothing on the runway may have been all the way back in 1968 with Parisian designers like Paco Rabanne, Pierre Cardin and Andre Courreges, but gender norms in the age of the space race was an exploration with purely aesthetic roots. In contrast, 69 is providing a template for a slew of other designers who are finally repaving the roads that were never finished by the almost woke Baby Boomers. They’re investing in the long-neglected infrastructure of a society that could be and will be supportive of all citizens, regardless of identity in all of its expressions or lack thereof. In the midst of the brand’s first solo exhibition, curated by Lanka Tattersall at the MOCA Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, we got a chance to as the designer a few questions about Déjà Vu, a 7-year survey of the brand’s anonymous tenure in Los Angeles.

AUTRE: My first question is: what was your first experience with denim - when did you fall in love with denim, because 69 is almost a treatise or dissertation on the material itself?

69: We were prompted to work with denim through an article for DIS Magazine. The material is extremely democratic and durable, as almost every culture in the world uses a heavy twill fabric in one way or another.

AUTRE: Not a lot of people know that you are also a very talented illustrator, do you apply some of the same creative energies to fashion or have you evolved away from that medium?

69: We find ourselves constantly returning to the page, to illustrations. Most of our machinations begin as sketches and are then transposed to fabric. In recent collections, the models have been replaced by toons, and in our MOCA Show, Dejá Vú Skeeter from the Nickelodeon cartoon, Doug, greets people as they enter.

AUTRE: Margiela remained anonymous for so long, but he was anonymous in an era when anonymity seemed easier to get away with, why is anonymity so important in a time when identity is seemingly everything?

69: Identity gets in the way. Ego gets in the way. Design should be selfless, it should serve the greater good, not the designer. Who we are is irrelevant, what matters is how we can change the world through work, and design, and play.

AUTRE: Do you ever fear that someone is going to unmask you or do you feel like the respect the brand has earned has afforded you reassurance that nobody will?

69: That would be rude! Um, I think people are generally pretty chill, they respect our annonymity. It was funny, the other night, the MOCA hosted us for a donor dinner, and we were thanked for the show, but the person giving the speech was unsure where to look, and they were hosting us! Anonymity has never been easier!

AUTRE: Anonymity has also allows for the erasure of demographics and gender norms – was that also part of the intention?

69: Of course, because if you’re open about your race or gender or identity, then you’re beholden to it. Anonymity makes for distance and objectivity.

AUTRE: When you started the brand, it was sort of the last gasp of the drop crotch and it seems like your shapes and patterns have sort of dropped everything, can you talk a little bit about the shapes of your pieces?

69: Well, everything is driven by movement and comfort. Designing every garment, we ask the same questions, is it comfortable? Does it move? Can you dance in it? We want to turn up the volume on everything, that extends to the volume of the garments!

AUTRE: Déjà Vu is an interesting title for a show, because it suggests looking back, but it also suggests precognition or something that might happen in the future, what was the vision in organizing this show?

69: It’s a retrospective, for sure, but it also informs where we’re going, with a focus on big, soft sculpture and objects that you can really live on and in. The videos are a big part of it too, taking 69 out of the aether, off the screen, and into real life, so that you could sit and listen and be enveloped in all things 69.

AUTRE: On your website, you mention that your clothes are made in the present, but meant for the future, what do you mean by that?

69: The 69 lifestyle is ahead of its time.

AUTRE: The brand has only been around for a little while, was it surprising that Lanka Tattersall and MOCA wanted to put on a show so soon, or was the exhibition in the works already?

69: This is an absolute honor and a lifetime goal achieved. The project had been in the works a year and a half prior to the opening.

AUTRE: You mentioned that your MOCA show consists of some of 69’s greatest hits – what have been some of your favorite pieces?

69: Our Big Button Up One Piece, Pocket Bag Blazer, Sunblock Hat, Dickie Pants, the Habit.

AUTRE: When you are sketching or dreaming of a piece – what is the creative process that goes behind that – do you have a ritual, do you have to sit down, or does it come to you in lightning flashes as you go about your day?

69: Inspiration comes in hot flashes.

AUTRE: What kind of music do you listen to as you create a collection?

69: It depends on the day. Mostly I listen to traffic or a fantasy film.

AUTRE: You have a very obscure breed of dog, called a xoloitzcuintli, how does she influence your work?

69: Abigail is a masterpiece of a creature. She is so loving and graceful. Without her we would simply be incomplete. She is my muse.

AUTRE: It’s important to you that 69 is produced in Los Angeles, why is that when everyone else tries to save a buck by producing overseas?
69: We live here, and it’s important we contribute to the local economy.

AUTRE: What do you think about the fashion community in Los Angeles, because it seems like it has changed significantly since you first started 69 – what have been some of the biggest changes?

69: Instagram and gender equality. Both of these developments have been significant strides towards gender equality.

AUTRE: Do you think LA has gotten better or worse?

69: Some things are better. Some things are worse.

AUTRE: I can see someone wearing some of the sculptural pieces, like the fringe facemask, to a wedding or in a fashion editorial, but probably not to work. Where do you draw the line between wearability and clothing with a utilitarian function?

69: Thats for the wearer to decide. Whatever makes you feel comfortable

AUTRE: Denim has a very close association with work wear, but also Americana – where does 69 sit on that lineage?

69: 69 can def be be worn as a uniform. All of our pieces are very transitional.

AUTRE: The cancer sign is often associated with womanhood or motherhood, which is very gender specific, did the brand start off with a specific gender in mind or did you set out to maintain its unisex identity?

69: Non-demographic intentions since day one.

AUTRE: Diana Vreeland once said that denim is the most beautiful thing since the gondola, do you agree?

69: I’m not sure how they compare to each other, so I disagree.