Mandy Coon, a New Skin
By
October 4, 2009
Mandy Coon has appeared in Interview twice before, but never in her chosen medium, as a designer. (See: pictured left, photographed by Craig McDean). After her striking presentation (her first!) for New York Fashion Week, during which models posed and grasped at the perimeter of a Soho gallery, that had to change. “My beauty ideals are Mia Farrow, Jean Seberg and my dog,” says Coon, who’s been previously profiled as a DJ, and former member of the electroclash girl group W.I.T. With pale skin and black hair, Coon’s own coloring matches that of her French Bulldog Petunia, but her style is more French gamine. The Texas-born natural blond’s jet-black geometric hair-cut is said to have inspired similar styles on Yves Saint Laurent’s Fall/Winter 2008/2009 catwalk after Coon appeared in the video for “Someone Great,” by LCD Soundsystem.
During New York Fashion Week, Coon offered a more accessible way to emulate her striking appearance, with a line of sculptural, crafted jumpsuits, hoodies, origami-like dresses, minis in royal blue, yellow, black, white and tiger print geometric. Each of the shoes had matching pyramid detail on the heel, referencing Coon’s triangle logo and the sculptural effect of the clothing. “I design clothes that I want to wear,” Coon explains. “I admire people that can design for an imaginary customer, one type of woman, but that isn’t me. I know what I want, and I know how I want it to fit, and what details and functions I want it to have. It’s very important to me that I would wear every piece in the collection. If I wouldn’t wear it, I can’t fully believe in it.”
MANDYCOON SS10 projection from Dima Dubson.
