There aren’t too many designers out there who graduated Harvard with a degree in sociology before honing their fashion craft at FIT. In fact, we know of just one: the witty, self-effacing John Bartlett, who did just that – and apprenticed with menswear gurus Willi Smith, Bill Robinson and Ronaldus Shamask – before launching his own eponymous menswear label in 1992.
The collection won him countless fans, orders from Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman, two CFDAs (the Perry Ellis Award for Best Newcomer in 1993 and the Menswear Designer of the Year in 1997), and led to a gig moonlighting as creative director of Byblos in the late ‘90s.
Despite the accolades, Bartlett hit a rough patch when his backers dropped out in 2000, and he shuttered his business in 2002 to take a year long sabbatical in Thailand and Cambodia, where he studied Ashtangha yoga and Buddhism. He relaunched his line in 2003 with a preppy, tailored collection that was a far cry from his previous overtly erotic oeuvre.
Next month, Bartlett – who is also creative director for the handbag company, Ghurka – is set to launch a website (www.johnbartlettny.com) and will open his first flagship boutique in New York’s West Village, which will stock his complete ready-to-wear and made-to-measure collections (natch), along with a range of one-of-a-kind furnishings, ceramics, hand screened t-shirts, and a selection of fragrance and art books.
Here, Bartlett gives The Fashion Informer the low-down on his four-legged menagerie, his penchant for cereal-and-ciggie breakfasts, and how he flips people out with his no-longer-secret talent.
So, John…
What is your earliest fashion memory?
I remember picking up my fabulous grandmother (who looked like Endora from Bewitched) at the airport when I was five. She was living in Phoenix at the time but arrived in Ohio wearing a black leather coat with a big fur collar and a fur hat. I remember very clearly petting the fur hat as she held me on the escalator. I was obsessed with it and she kept catching me playing with it during that particular visit. I am anti-fur these days but I will never forget that hat and the fact that she worked in a fur vault at a department store in Phoenix.
What is your favorite book of all time?
The Tao Te ChIng by Lao Tzu. It tells you every thing you need to know about life in simple poetic prose. I discovered it in college and it is at my side always.
Do you believe in love at first sight?
I believe in lust at first sight, but love is a lifelong expression. However, I do believe in love at first sight when it comes to animals. When I first saw my three-legged dog, Tiny Tim, at the pound, I knew immediately that we were meant for each other.
What did you have for breakfast this morning?
I have coffee, a Marlboro Light, and Cheerios every day. Not exactly the breakfast of champions.
Do you have any hidden or unusual talents?
I can still do four back handsprings in a row and a standing back flip on the ground. When I was younger and in college I competed nationally on the diving team and tumbling was part of my training. I am afraid to dive anymore but can still wow peeps with my gymnastic prowess.
Tell me about your pet(s).
My hubby and I have three dogs: Huff, Tiny Tim and Mel. Huff is a Burmese mountain dog, Tiny Tim is a three-legged Shepherd mix and Mel is a white rescue from the Ozarks of mysterious parentage.
What freaks you out?
The Religious Right.
What's your favorite off-duty activity?
Making collages out of my old After Dark magazines.
What's your favorite non-fashion magazine?
I actually don’t read fashion mags. My favorite magazine right now is The Shambhala Sun, which is a Buddhist magazine.
If you had the chance to ask God one question (assuming s/he exists), what would it be?
I would ask her specifically why I am here on earth and what my life purpose is. And if I got to ask another question, I would ask why hair has starting growing on my ears ever since I turned 40.
What never fails to make you cry?
Every time I watch the movie Fame I cry my eyes out. Corny, huh?
When are you happiest?
I am happiest when I am lying in bed in the morning with my coffee, the New York Times and all three dogs in bed with me.
Stay tuned for Random Questions For…Tim Gunn on September 19th.
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