Christian Joy

January 21st, 2010

Issue 20 of The Block features a photo shoot by ioulex of costumes designed by Christian Joy, or CJ (as she’d rather be called). The interview accompanying the shoot covers a lot of ground, from CJ’s past in fashion retail to her ascent to indie fashion It Girl while costuming the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O. We talked so much, in fact, that we couldn’t include everything in the magazine.

These are the outtakes.

We kind of agree with CJ’s thoughts on Lady Gaga’s costumes: “I think they’re pretty good. I mean, it’s not really my thing, to be quite honest, but I think it’s something. I always like looking at them. I’m not going deny that I go online to check out what they put her in.”

And we couldn’t help but ask why such a high-profile designer has an account on Etsy: “I actually went on Etsy because I like the whole DIY thing. I like having full control of what I’m doing. I had a [ready-to-wear line] for a little while, and I just felt like I was kind of creating these collections that I wasn’t entirely really into. I didn’t feel entirely like they were me, felt pressured to make new things that would sell. The thing I like about Etsy is just that you can put anything out and say ‘Hey, you want this?’ I see it as an interesting way to go about selling things. It kind of brings it down to a power-to-the-people approach, you know?”

CJ has an art band with her husband called the Cruciforks, citing influences as wild as Throbbing Gristle and Crass. So who’s going to make costumes for the Cruciforks? “Well, that’s up to Karen.”

Read more about Christian Joy in the print issue of The Block, available on newsstands now.