This interview first appeared in WWD on June 27, 1989.
Lawrence Chua
NEW YORK — Christian Francis Roth is no ordinary man who falls prey to the media.
He may be every fashion journalist’s dream man — young, handsome, white-toothed and, of course, talented — but the 20-year-old designer knows all too well that media darlings can be short-lived.
“The press always wants something new, and I understand that, but the work is very delicate, very difficult and requires a lot of attention,” he says. “When you try to make clothes to please other people, you end up losing focus. You start listening to other people.”
So far, Ross has only listened to himself, and it seems to be going well. His first collection, released last fall, was carried by Saks Fifth Avenue, Nan Duskin, Bullock’s Wilshire, and Bonwit Teller, and grossed $45,000. For his third season this fall, he’s added Bergdorf Goodman and Martha’s to his list, and he expects sales to be about $150,000.
Ross is showcasing a small, bright, well-tailored collection of merino wool and jersey separates and dresses, with wholesale prices ranging from $150 for a wool jersey sweater to $600 for a merino wool gabardine smoking jacket.
Born in Manhattan, Ross grew up here and dropped out of high school at age 17 to work for Koos van den Acker. When Ross told his boss he wanted to design his own collection, van den Acker told him Ross wasn’t ready. To prove he was, Ross designed and produced a sample line himself, sewing the clothes at home.
Van den Acker then allowed Ross to book sales appointments outside of the studio, and eventually loaned him the start-up capital for his first collection. Van den Acker found a space for his protégé on the outskirts of the apparel district and told Ross not to worry about overhead. He instructed the young designer: “Just keep making great clothes.”
On the roof of the building that combines sample room, design studio, showroom and corporate offices, Ross looks out over the nearby sweatshops from a 16-story cliff.
“This isn’t a clothing store floor selling ABC Sportswear. This is a real hardcore factory,” he says. Dressed in a no-nonsense Levi’s uniform and white T-shirts customized with a portrait of cartoon hero Tin Tin, Ross is surprisingly solemn when he talks about his funky, passionate collection. “When I’m working, I’m not necessarily happy,” he says.
“There’s so much pressure to get it perfect. I sleep in the studio and sometimes don’t shower for three days.”
“Obviously I’m not always happy, but when it’s over,” he arches his back a little and snaps his fingers to accentuate his excitement, “it’s like a drug for me.”
Though Ross claims he has no particular interest in contemporary art, his clothes have a decidedly pop flavor that will inspire even the most jaded fashion sense. A Roy Lichtenstein-esque bottle-cap appliqué jacket and a bright orange top adorned with M&M bags brought the crowd back from a fashion frenzy when his clothes made their runway debut at the last Fashion Group Luncheon. Hiding backstage, Ross peeked out from behind the curtain to watch the crowd erupt in excitement.
Of course, Ross’s appeal isn’t just in trendsetting. He’s obsessed with quality, and his clothes are of a quality you wouldn’t expect from a maverick designer. He cites cartoon characters like the X-Men and Wednesday from “The Addams Family” as his muses this season, but there’s a certain solemnity beneath Ross’s humorous surface. Everything fits just right, and the humor isn’t marred by a ripped seam or a poorly sewn button. “It’s something for everyone, but it’s not like fast food,” he says.
For the spring of 1990, Ross is looking to the beach for inspiration — he’s thinking “a walk on the beach, a swim, tasting the salt,” though he admits that might be a little too subtle — working in pale (but not pastel) hues, he’s thinking sundresses with kite-shaped collars and jackets layered with silk straw to look like growing seaweed.
“I’ve always been fascinated by women,” he says, “really fascinated. I like the ‘different’ girl. It could be a personality, a voice, a nose shape. I try not to categorize myself, and I like the women I design not to be categorized either, but she has to be different.”
“There are many kinds of people, but they are not eccentric, they are not unique, they are not beautiful or strange. The women I design can be either physically beautiful or they can be nightmarish.”