I met her about ninet years ago at a fashion party. She was with this cute model boy, and I was at the bar when she came up and asked me, “Are you on my team or his?” and I said, “His team.” We were at this really nice house up in the hills, and she turns around and screams across the party to her friend, “See, I told you he was gay!” Later she called me and and said, “I’m a musician, I’m doing this and that, can I borrow a dress?” So she just started coming over and borrowing stuff, but this was all before she got superfamous.
Once her career started taking off, was there ever a moment you thought she would drop you for another stylist?
Well, one day she called me to say that she got signed to a label and that Terry Richardson was going to shoot the photos in New York. She really had her label put up a big fight for me to style the shoot because I was just this random kid. We went to all the costume houses together in New York, did the whole shopping thing, did the shoot — which was amazing — but about a month later she called to say her label had dropped her so nothing really came of those photos. A year passed and she got signed with Capitol Records, and we did it all again with “I Kissed a Girl” and just kept going.
What is it about you two that makes such a good team?
We both like to be different and try new things rather than just wearing a bunch of designer clothes. Katy didn’t care so much about designers in the beginning — it was more about being unique, making cool costumes, and coming up with things that people aren’t doing. Nothing is ever too much.
Who came up with the idea for the whipped cream and fireworks bikini for the “California Gurls” video?
It was her idea. We were trying to figure out how to defeat the gummy bears, and she said, “Maybe I have a Cool Whip bra, can you make that?” and I’m like “yep,” and that was my project. After that, for Halloween I noticed all these people going around with cupcake bras. That was the video that made me think, Whoa, she’s like a big pop star now.
Do you ever think of what may or may not be appropriate for her younger fans?
No, not really. It’s all part of being a pop star. Just look at Madonna, Prince or Michael Jackson, who all have had such emblematic and often controversial styles. In the end Katy does her own thing, and she gets away with a lot. She just won’t wear fur or do anything she feels is sacrilegious.
