August 14, 2014 |
Once upon a time, there was boy named Jason Wu, who dreamed of becoming a designer. Fast-forward a number of years (we could say how many, but that would be rude, as it hints of age and Jason is young – barely out of the crib – but people can be so ageist), and his dream has come true. For on February 12th in the year 2014, he made his debut as creative director of Hugo Boss, with a collection inspired by, he said backstage, the Hugo Boss campus in Metzingen, Germany, which is nestled between the Mercedes-Benz factory and fields – “the modern glass structures set against lush greenery, and it makes for an amazing tension between nature and architecture. It was important for me to inject that sense of constraint into the collection”. He also looked to what Hugo Boss does best – men’s tailoring – and decided it was time to pass on that heritage to the ladies. But you can read all that in the reviews. What you can’t read is that he was born in the year of the dog, which means that he is honest, faithful and sincere, and respects tradition and values honour. The dog, apparently, is born old and gets younger as it ages, sort of like Benjamin Button. The dog also makes a splendid captain of industry or priest. And before this starts sounding more and more like a personal ad for dogs and Jason, here are some more things you didn’t know about Jason.
* His favourite films are Breathless, Last Year at Marienbad, The Women, Roman Holiday and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (because Wesley Snipes is hilarious as a drag queen).
* And on that drag-queen note his favourite television show is RuPaul’s Drag Race, and RuPaul’s Supermodel of the World is, like, the best album ever. In fact, RuPaul full stop is just simply major. So much so Jason created a doll in her honour in 2005, dressed in a blonde wig, red vinyl corset and thigh-high platform boots. He told WWD, “It’s about time for a transgendered doll, since gay marriage is in question, and there is the controversy about SpongeBob.“
* Which brings us to dolls. As a child, Jason had about 150 dolls. For which he made clothes. Which naturally led to a career, while at school, designing doll outfits and accessories for Integrity Toys, of which he became creative director and partner.
* His favourite Chinese takeaway is apparently roast pork buns, and he doesn’t believe in fortune cookies but does believe in karma. He has never been to a clairvoyant.
By Natalie Dembinska
