Vice Style

Being not very old, the first fashion show our UK fashion editor, Sam Voulters, remembers being really blown away by, was a 2008 outing by Horace. Sam loved the "gnarly styling of hessian and leather draping over boys and girls who looked like they hadn't slept in three days and the deep and atmospheric, chugging bass music played on the runway". In cities like Milan and New York, fashion and cool are often pretty mutually exclusive, as much as fashion people would disagree. So seeing a fashion show which was this messy really appealed to the then 18-year-old. Horace was actually founded in 2001 by Adam Entwisle. He made waves with the British fashion press a decade ago, under his own name, but now designs Horace as part of a collective with friends Philip Grisewood and Emma Hales. The ten-year-old label, Horace, should be more popular, as everyone who has ever heard of it, likes it.

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Vice: Adam why jack in your own label for Horace?
Adam: The last Adam Entwisle Show I did was in 2001, I think. We were working with Nicola Formichetti and he wanted us to do menswear. I didn't want clothes or like the idea of men's clothes with a designer's name. So I came up with the name Horace and made something separate, less fashion fashion, but not really a streetwear label either.

How do you guys work together?
The starting point for everything is Adam; Emma does production and Phil works on the prints.

 

You've previously said that you're always influenced by a post-apocalypse thing.
Yeah, obvious stuff like the Mad Max films are a big influence on us, Beyond the Thunderdome was amazing, especially the barter town scenes. Lately we're very into really over-styled fashion like you would see on 80s' TV shows and movies. There was this outdated idea that children were being brainwashed by TV. Like that fat gay priest in the movie Heathers, he's doing a sermon at the funeral of Heather 1 after she's committed suicide and he says, "Don't blame God, but rather a society that tells the youth that the answers can be found on MTV video games." He says a bunch more amazing stuff like that.

If Horace were music what would it sound like?
I think I have mellowed big time, I like Warpaint, and a lot of this melodic dreamy stuff. It's a long way from the speed metal I used to like, but I think it's more befitting to what Horace is, like how shit would Bruce Dickinson look on Horace? Even though he's the best vocalist ever. We're not really into dressing scenesters though. I guess we would wet ourselves to make stuff for a sci-fi movie.

How long did it take for you to start getting noticed?
In terms of the success I had with Adam Entwisle, for the first three years, we did this on top of our full-time jobs, while sales took off. I'd say we still haven't been noticed by fashion people. Which is sad, because we are actually really into fashion. I respect a lot of those people, so it would be cool to be on the radar.

What's Horace against?
Presently I'm sick of this: no socks, brown shoes, shoulder bag, Opening Ceremony, downtrodden pseudo intellectual non-fashion that's everywhere. It makes hate laser beams fire from my head.

What about when people hate your stuff?
Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I wanna punch their face in. You can't always expect everyone to get it. To some people, a lot of Horace looks like it should be in the bin. Especially when we do very annihilated finishes.

All clothing Horace

PHOTOS: SAGA SIG
STYLING: SAM VOULTERS
TEXT AND STYLING ASSISTANCE: LAURA CHATTERTON
HAIR: MICHAEL JONES using Bumble & Bumble
MAKE-UP: XABIER CELAYA using Illamasqua

MODELS: JERMAINE at d1, MAE MEI at FM
 

TAGGED: Horace