Oslo Nights

Meeting Jeremy Scott and his colorful world.

It was a gray Parisian morning when I met Jeremy Scott. As my roommates made themselves ready for another day of Paris Fashion Week, I quickly grabbed something to wear and headed out the door in a taxi. By grabbed I obviously mean put on something that I carefully laid out the night before. After all, it is Fashion Week. The taxi drove me to Rue François and I ventured up a staircase on a quite modern building. As soon as I come in, my eyes, a bit asleep from standing up early, wake up by all the colors, textures and prints from the show room. As I head to a meeting room, I am greeted by a quite enthusiastic Jeremy Scott.

- I love your color combination. Thank you for bringing so many beautiful colors into my show room, he says.

I knew it then, it was going to be a good day.

I just lied a little, since I had actually met Jeremy the evening before at his cocktail party. There I had a chance to look at his Fall/Winter 2012.2013 designs for both Adidas and for his new line under his own name. The collection is filled with pop culture references with a strong connotation to the 90s, and with the characteristic Jeremy Scott love for color.

A hair coat jumps out of a corner, and in contrast to previous seen from Maison Martin Margiela, this one is in randomly placed rainbow colors. Being more than a copy, Jeremy explains:

- As the line came more an more complete, a rainbow effect started appearing, so my rainbow hair coat is a pan tone result around my whole collection.

The rainbow effect is well accompanied by a mythical animal that although tied to rainbows in story, pays no direct reference to Jeremys own designs, but rather to commercial artist Lisa Frank.

Who is Lisa Frank? I ask, trying to dig deep in my mind why the name sounded familiar. Lisa Frank is only the 90s sticker queen, he laughs as he describes how his unicorn pays homage to the wonderful world the sticker queen created.

Filled with color and in a general fun aura, it is a world of fantasy that lives on through his designs. Yet the unicorn is only another reference in the vast universe that is Jeremy Scott. Spotted through yellow sweaters through his pointy hair and mischevious face, a Bart Simpson flourishes on.

- What I love about Bart is that he is the star of the show and he relates to all, a fun, youthful person inside. You can be in Dubai, Timbuktu, Oslo or LA, and you have heard of Bart, he utters with a smile that reveals some of the Bart nature in him as well.

Jeremy Scott New York Fall / Winter 12.13

And it is indeed a mischevious undertone as materials mix and create an understated femininity that is obviously present in the low cut or sheer dresses. However, being a nerd and all, what really fascinates me is Jeremy’s key point of reference to the 90s.

- The internet has become a porthole to all we know and want to know. Playing around with the idea of how pop culture the internet has become I loved the idea of incorporating that sense into my own design.

Keyboards, mouse icons and emoticons take life in Jeremy’s designs along with other colorful designs. Perhaps it is this porthole that has allowed Jeremy to distinguish himself as a designer and earn respect of well-known ones. After all, Karl Lagerfeld did state Jeremy as his only possible successor in Chanel.

Yet the figures speak for themselves. With his two week shop in NY bringing unexpected revenues and his cooperation with Adidas throughout his collections, Jeremy Scott keeps on developing and accomplishing. Adidas has given him the opportunity to create a hand-in-hand own line and given him a fun jumpboard to what is to come. And although he is not sure of what is to come, just as he believes inspiration strikes when least expected, it is no doubt that there is a side to fashion that just wants to be fun and spontaneous, just like Jeremy is.

Funny enough, what we come up to at the end of the interview, is just that. Genius is Spontaneous. Who does not want to jump on that bandwagon? Jeremy Scott is on board.

Words: Alexander Norheim
Photos: Courtesy of Adidas by Jeremy Scott / Style.com