“I’ve always been interested in fashion,” says 21-year-old Shar
Superstar,
one of a handful of Austin clubkids responsible for a spate of recent
outre,
indie fashion shows that would put Anna Sui and J.P. Gaultier to shame.
“I love
the production end of things, and I’m such a control freak that I can’t
be told
what to do. I get to select other people, and then use them to portray
my own
ideals as far as fashion goes.”
His most recent event, subtitled “The Asian Connection,” held a
couple of
weeks ago at Club 404, was a triumph of clubkid ingenuity, with over 24
underground fashion plates striding across a hastily assembled and
none-too-sturdy-looking catwalk amidst layers of chemical fog and
propulsive
disco rhythms. Featuring the garish, wildly inventive, Asian-themed
work of
local indie designers as well as outrageous outfits culled from local
sponsors
Garb-A-Go-Go and Forbidden Fruit, the crowd and the papparazzi reacted
with all
the leering, noisy bravado of professional hangers-on at a Calvin Klein
run-through.
“As far as procuring the models for something like this,” Shar
continues,
“what I usually do is just scout around town. I like to use local
personalities
from the club scene such as Sliver Cyberslut, Kenji, Malaysia, and
others. I
enjoy working with them because not only are they people I know, but
they’re
also very much personalities. Everybody knows them, and everybody loves
them,
which makes it a bit more interesting. Actually, some of my best models
I’ve
worked with I’ve stumbled across in coffee shops or working at a Burger
King.”
Despite the seemingly professional appearance of Shar’s fashion
extravaganzas – Saturday’s models displayed the haughty, albeit
grinning,
panache of any of their more famous Parisian counterparts, and the
outfits
were, naturally, to die for – the money to be made here is not exactly
what
you’d call top end. It’s the designer’s hunger for notoriety and the
rampant
DIY ethos of the clubkid scene that drives these events, which tend to
crop up
once every two months or so.
“We do get paid a bit,” says Shar, “but oddly enough, it’s not
really a
priority for me. Of course everybody wants to earn a living or get some
extra
cash and whatnot, but fashion is such a passion for me that I really
don’t care
about the money, the financial aspect. I just love the whole
experience.”
This article appears in May 5 • 1995 and May 5 • 1995 (Cover).