Take Me to Your Leader / An Interview with Grimes

When Louis Vuitton sent models down the catwalk to the cult commentary of the Minecraft trailer, with the click of a button, Ghesquière said it all. “Build your own little community,” it said, an affirmation for the Internet age. We exist in a realm of scattered subcultures, like-minds meeting – still hundreds of miles apart – thanks to a web of common ground. Somewhere in the middle of it all, you’ll find Grimes, the alter-ego of Canadian multimedia musician Claire Boucher. Something about her self-produced sound, her shifting visual repertoire, seems to elude the exactitude of genre, winning the hearts of the online underground with her pluralist persona. You could say Ghesquière’s collection paid an homage to people like Boucher; architects of their own identity, inhabitants of a subversive other sphere. With that, Louis Vuitton SS16 enlisted an army of unearthly warriors, a manga militia in an armour of tough-cut technical fabrics and pixel prints, knuckles bound by waxy leather hand wraps. Who better to model this pop-cultural combat than the designer’s very muse? Imbuing the collection’s key pieces with her enigmatic aesthetic, Grimes talks to ZOO about the art of doing things your own way.

REBEKKA AYRES: Something about your creative spirit seems to be mirrored in Nicolas Ghesquière’s vision for Louis Vuitton. How was it to be a special guest at his show?

GRIMES: I was really excited. Nicolas always goes in a totally new direction with every collection, and it's obviously amazing to see it first-hand. Plus, I had never been in a helicopter before…

RA: What do you like about Ghesquière’s work? How does he understand you?

G: I think Nicolas' work straddles the line between fantasy and elegance. There are always crazy references – he told me they were watching a lot of Evangelion when working on the last collection. But the work is always very stylized, sophisticated, and the clothes themselves are extremely high quality. I think I try to accomplish a similar thing in my work, so we vibe.

RA: How would you describe your style? Like a manga heroine?

G: Haha, sure. It fluctuates, but 'manga heroine' is always a good vibe.

RA: How does fashion inspire your creativity?

G: Visuals are important to me, whether it be videos or shoots, etc. Designers and stylists can be my biggest collaborators in many ways. I don't have time to make clothes, nor would I be very good at it, but it's integral to the project. I want to create a world. Grimes should be escapist, so the visual and performative aspect is important to how the music is received. It's important not to overtly sexualise myself or spend too much time on straightforward 'beauty'. Finding a balance that is unique and interesting without resting on tropes is difficult, but that’s part of the fun.

RA: And away from your career, on a more personal level, do you still have an attachment to fashion?

G: I've always been into fashion. My guilty pleasure is trench coats because if you have a sick coat, you can wear pyjamas under it and no one would know.

RA: What are your favorite Louis Vuitton pieces this season?

G: I think the fingerless gloves are extremely cool. I love the aesthetics of mixed martial arts and racing and such. It's a real tough look, so you can make an otherwise banal outfit pretty interesting.

RA: Your real name is Claire Boucher. Why did you decide on the stage name of Grimes?

G: It's sort of a long story. On Myspace, you had to pick three genres when creating an artists’ page. ‘Grime’ was a genre that I hadn’t heard of at that point. I thought it seemed like the best one, so I just chose it three times. That’s how it started.

RA: What are your musical influences?

G: Everything. Especially things that I hate. If you have to challenge yourself to work in a mode that you don't instinctively enjoy then you'll make something more interesting.

RA: What are your inspirations when you write songs?

G: Everything; movies, nature, other music, books, people.

RA: You performed on Lana del Rey’s tour. What do you like about her music?

G: I think she's a great classic songwriter. Also, she doesn't ever put out filler. Every song is good. But at the end of the day, when I listen to her music, I'm struck with the thought that 'I could never do that,' when normally I'm thinking 'hmm how do I learn how to do that.' So I'm deeply impressed. Her skill is inimitable.

RA: What kind of music are you drawn to?

G: Music that elicits emotion.