Interview

Steven Meisel photographs, Stephen Sprouse, Stephen Ashby, June 1990

Stephen Sprouse was a reliable friend of Interview, acting as both interviewer and interviewee. Man and magazine met in June 1984: Then, introducing himself and his upbringing to Berry Berenson, Sprouse articulated ambivalence being labeled merely a fashion designer. His interest in making both art and music recur in a September 1987 interview. His December 1990 interview followed on a June show of his paintings in collaboration with Stephen Lee Ashby-they also shared the interview, conducted by Debbie Harry. It's fitting that tonight begins a perfect storm of Sprouse activity that sees the launch of a Marc Jacobs Louis Vuitton line in honor of the designers' collaborations, and that it happens at Deitch Projects, in conjunction with a retrospective of visual art, titled "Rock on Mars. "

Below, we've included excerpts from the three aforementioned interviews:

Stephen Sprouse and Berry Berenson, photographed by Bradford Branson; photograph by Berry Berenson

JUNE 1984

Berry Berenson was the granddaughter of Elsa Schiaperelli and an accomp[lished fashion photographer and actress in her own right. She wasmarried to Anthony Perkins for nearly 20 years until his death from AID in 1992. She died, sadly, in the 9/11 attacks.

SS: I grew up in Columbus, Indiana, a kind of industrial and farmland place. It's south of Indianapolis; a town of about 30,000 people. I lived in town until I was eight and then I moved nearer the farmland, so I had a mixture.

Berry Berenson: What kind of hobbies did you have when you were a child?

SS: I watched television a little, but mostly just drew and read magazines.

BB: Fashion magazines?

SS: Yes, like Vogue.