Radja, Nicole
Style Idol: Gogol Bordello
Issue #33
The band's front man, Eugene Hutz, goes commando
By Lori Finkel
Published: September 1st, 2007 | 12:00am
On tour, at home, and in this photo, Eugene Hutz wears whatever he finds on the floor in the morning, but he’d never be caught in sweatpants. “Sweatpants?” he says. “Isn’t ‘sweatpants’ a synonym for midlife crisis?”
A London newspaper once described his fashion sense as that of someone who forgot to take his medication, so if you’re seeking Hutz’s style advice, he advises to “try that.” “I mean, what fashion are you talking about?” he says in response to the newspaper story. “It’s just trying to go to a show dressed appropriately.”
As is notorious in gypsy culture, Gogol Bordello’s lead singer and star of Madonna’s directorial debut, Filth and Wisdom, a short film set to release in 2008, isn’t one to shop — he swiped his newest threads from the costume department. Hutz says half of what he wore in the movie was his own wardrobe; for the other half, the costume director copied his personal style. “It totally doubled my wardrobe of things that I would probably get anyway,” he says. Hutz was required to dress in drag in Filth, for the part of A.K., admitting that dresses are “really the most comfortable thing” he’s experienced. But Hutz says he’ll stick to wearing them solely for the film.
Hutz attributes his gypsy-punk style — millions of pockets and comfy, airy clothing — to his Ukrainian grandmother, who became the neighborhood tailor to avoid working for the communist state. “So I grew up with lots of naked chicks in the house from the hood, who would just come in trying shit on, alterations night and day. And that’s the roots of Gogol Bordello.”
He notes growing out his ‘stache as a teen as the only traditional thing he’s ever done. All the men in his family had one, and it came as natural to him as rolling up his sleeves in the morning. “At first it didn’t really rock, and plus my hair back then was green. It didn’t really make an ensemble.” As for high school in the Soviet-contolled Ukraine, Hutz was never the ‘indie’ kid or the ‘goth’ kid. “Back then, there was only one movement — it’s called ‘uniform.’”
In a Soviet industry, Hutz says there were only three types of fabrics: black, white, and a floral print for curtains. “My grandmother used to say you could pull down anybody’s pants and you knew what was there,” he says. “Everyone was wearing black boxers.” These days, he avoids drawers to stay as minimally dressed as possible since onstage, his clothes get wet with sweat. “Go on a vicious circle of party, party to the after party and back to the party.” And what should we wear to this party? “Well, you don’t wanna end up with too much wet clothes.”
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.
more