Blurring the lines: For Roy Christou’s designs, demin takes on all sorts of twists and turns.
COURTESY OF HONOR AMONG THIEVES
Reading Neil McKenna’s alluring biography The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde proved more than a literary snapshot for fashion designer Roy Christou, formerly of ’90s grunge jeans label Roy. Withing those pages he found a phrase that would lure him back to the fashion world and become the name of his store.
It’s a calling more than a comeback, because Christou, now in his 50s, never let fashion fall by the wayside in his mind. In fact it was a few trips overseas (to Morocco and Bali) that got the ball rolling and him thinking about relaunching his name.
Honor Among Thieves, which is a few shopfronts away from where he opened Roy on Little Collins Street in 1998, is housed alongside hip labels in Melbourne’s Russell Place, including Clemente & Talarico, Fat. He’s got the same landlord as all those years ago and has positioned his unisex brand in a metal warehouse space that is slick, industrial and minimal.
When he finally cut ties with Roy in 2008 and left it to his silent partners, in his heart he knew denim would play a role in his life again, just not to the extent that it ruled it many years ago.
Now with Honor Among Thieves, denim is back – looking purposefully shabby, laidback and comfortable in its own skin.
Denim is not his only love; he also finds a place for soft cotton chinos, polka-dot tops in sheer fabrics and luxurious Japanese fabrics he uses for shirts. He loves angular shapes when it comes to skirts, tops and tees and avant-garde influences his design.
“The reality is I got bored with my other business,” says Christou. “When you are out of the business for a moment, you are still thinking about it, well that is what it was like for me. I wanted to do something again. I went overseas a couple of times and started seeing things like suiting looking like jeans, girls wearing bright colours. It all spoke my language.”
Honor Among Thieves is functional fashion that can be worn up or down. Christou jumbles fashion timelines to suit himself – he likes edgy modern cuts, borrows from the daggy past and delivers a range that is fuss-free and easy to wear. There are high-waisted jeans that can be worn above or below the belly button [you choose] and he makes shirts that fuse his love of East meets West. He makes T-shirts with leather trims and uses the best-quality cotton viscose around.
COURTESY OF HONOR AMONG THIEVES
“It’s about knowing how many styles you want to create and not getting too excited with colours,” he says. “If something works, keep doing it but tweak it a bit from one season the next. I am doing that with my summer collection and for winter 2012.”
Christou, who is engaged to Lauren Nicholas (co-founder of Filly’s Stable and Le Hoof in Albert Park and Filly & Mare in Middle Park), says when the couple were in Bali he spotted a girl wearing cobalt blue from head to toe – he knew right away the woman nailed his decision to bring the colour to his label.
“I am not taking ownership of cobalt blue, but it’s one of those things where you either buy a piece during your life or you don’t,” he says. “When Lauren and I saw this woman wearing cobalt, it was the message. I decided I was going with that.”
For summer it’s about Japanese shirting with kimono prints – think penny round collar, western style, made in luxurious cotton. He brings his revivalist grunge twist to shirts, having sourced antique press studs with rusted rims and detailing that is grey, cracked and aged: “It’s unbelievably perfect,” he says of the find.
He is big on blurring the lines, for example, shirts can be dressed up as jackets – hence the shacket – and at other times the shirts can flow like Superhero capes if you choose.
» Honor Among Thieves, 20 Russell Place , city. 9650 7349