The Hamilton Spectator (Nov. 6th 2003)
No Doubt: Stefani's fashions a hit
Rocker's favourite words-- love, angel, music and baby-- inspire her new LAMB line
A half dozen years ago, Gwen Stefani temporarily abandoned a rock tour in the Midwest to explore a local mall. As she wandered through Nordstrom, a raffish display caught her eye. "Everything -- the balloon pants, the halter tops, the cutoff jeans, the zippers, even the Gothic-style writing -- looked like the things I wanted to wear," Stefani recalled. Then it hit her: "These are the things I wear!"
The display had captured her trademark style: a fusion of punk and movie star glamour with a hint of Bollywood. "There even was a bindi kit," she recalled, referring to the tiny paste-on dots meant to be glued, Hindu-style, between the eyes. Was it all a coincidence? Stefani doubted it. "Before I did that tour, you were not seeing bindi kits at Nordstrom."
Piqued but also flattered, Stefani decided then and there to pre- empt retailers' efforts to can her look. Only recently, though, did she act on that plan. In September, she added "designer" to her credits, introducing a line of guitar-strap hobo bags and punker wristbands for LeSportsac. Last week, she expanded on her oeuvre with LAMB (for "love angel music baby"), a collection of raucously colourful sportswear that will be in stores early next year.
Every one of its elements, conceived by Stefani with Annie Younger, a freelance designer, is steeped in influences that are bound to connect with her fans. Balloon pants, cinched at the ankle, denim cutoffs and T-shirts dripping chains riff on her ruling passions. There are slithery halter tops and dresses, gaucho pants that owe a debt to Los Angeles Latino punk, even tailored jackets. The collection, which will be priced from $60 to $350, has "a definite inner-city vibe mingled with a 1940s Hollywood glamour," Younger said.
Stefani insists that she is thoroughly acquainted with every stitch and seam. "I have to be," she said. "I'm never going to be, like, OK, use my name, and I'm just going to approve it."
Still, she has few illusions about what it takes to be a designer. "Before, I thought I actually had to do all the drawing," she said. "Now I know that what you really are is a producer. Not every single idea has to be mine."
Stefani is adamant that the line will be an extension of her rock persona -- rowdy but worldly. "I'm not just sticking my label on a pair of jeans. I don't want to be that accessible. I'm not designing fashion for the mall."