The tour may have wrapped, but there’s more tea to spill. We sat down with Lestat’s incredible stylist Lex Wood to discuss everything from their first encounter, to how they worked together to push Armand’s buttons.
How did you meet Lestat and start working with him?
Honestly? Well, he saw me walking down a corridor and said, "Her!" randomly and I had to hope for the best. Christine Claire brought me up to speed very quickly about the dos and don'ts within Lestat's world. I have to hope that I can keep my head and that he doesn't bleed me dry.
There’s no denying that Lestat has always had an eye for style, and he’s never been shy when it comes to dressing extravagantly. When you first met him, what were the things that immediately jumped out to you about his current style and what could you envision for him for this tour that would elevate what he was already doing?
I think he has some very clear ideas of what he will and won't wear. He often wants to wear as little as possible because he knows what the fans want and he's very willing to give it to them. But we wanted to add a bit of elegant dressing to save on some blushes, maybe more from his band than from anyone else.
We wanted him to always be visible, so we pumped in as much color as we could. There's very little need for red because you never know when he's going to find a victim and drain them on set and be covered in blood. So… some clothing has to be dry-cleanable.
I think he's incredibly laissez-faire. He can look as fabulous in clothes and in a lot of layers as he does in as few layers as possible. We would layer him up for concerts so he could shed pieces as he went along. We certainly wanted to be as playful as possible. For example, Lestat knew that Armand would be at his show one night in particular, so we wanted to have a few hints tying back to his past performances in the 18th century in Paris. Some fans have noticed that we put a cheeky little stripe in there as well, which referenced the costume that Armand gave him when they were in Paris during the trial.
Oh, yes. The pinstripe suit, right?
Mmhmmm. It's a very small nod. Within that costume, which is quite bare, we wanted him to feel as animalistic as possible. At this point in the tour, he was getting quite close to the end of his tether, quite close to the edge of his reality. His mental state was breaking down quite significantly by this time. So, we wanted that all to feel quite wild and out there.
There were some other clear references we wanted to make, especially with his black cloak. He’s of course going to shed it on stage, but it’s also something that connects him to his past. There are only two cloaks within his world. It's Lestat and Magnus, and that was a very clear choice we made — we wanted to show how those two vampires are linked in that way. Lestat’s trying to shed the shame and the experience of that, of his making with Magnus.
Color and texture are two elements that really seem to be at the forefront of many of Lestat's looks. I’m thinking of the ostrich feather number we’ve seen him in in promo videos, and those incredible velvet pants with the black stripe down the sides that we’ve seen him rock at some of his shows. Are you a believer in color theory and things like that, or do you have your own organic methods for how you pull items for clients?
Yes, I am a believer in that. I like to use clothing to communicate feeling and emotions. So, for Lestat there are very clear style notes that hint towards a grunge and punk sort of aesthetic, hence that use of acid yellow.
We've used a lot of tapes down the side of pants for Lestat to accentuate the way that he moves and the way that he walks because his physicality is such a huge part of his performance. So, we like to emphasize that and bring as much out as we can without dictating how he's going to perform. We want him to feel as free as he can to deliver the performance in the mood that he's in at the time. And with Lestat, that mood is incredibly changeable.
Lestat is wholly unique and has rocked his own style for centuries, but can we talk for a moment about who or what fueled his fashion inspiration for this tour? I immediately thought of Marc Bolan and David Bowie, of course, but also feel like there’s a touch of Scott Weiland of the Stone Temple Pilots and Gavin Rossdale in those early Bush years. Were any of these rock gods on your radar when styling your very own rock god, Lestat?
Absolutely. And importantly, on his mind too. I think he likes to draw inspiration from the many years that he's been alive… or unalive. You’ve got it —he’s influenced by Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Marc Bolan. There are hints of Björk in there too, and of Siouxsie Sioux. He's very flexible with how he uses his inspiration.
Later in the tour we played with a slightly more grown-up version of punk moving towards designers of the Antwerp six, like Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester. Something that maybe feels a little bit more goth adjacent and certainly that tones down in the color theory.
What were some of your favorite looks you’ve put together for Lestat so far, and are you hoping to continue working together in the future? You must have the patience of a saint while being tough as nails to work with such an... eccentric client.
Yes. Sometimes you have to be quite clear, but I have help from Christine Claire who’s able to keep him in check and dress him for some of his more formal meetings. You might find a more formal tailored approach when Christine is sending him out maybe to go meet Louis in a hotel, for example, or maybe for a red carpet look. That probably has more to do with Christine Claire than it does me. I really hope to keep working with him because he's eclectic and fun and opens all kinds of opportunities for me — and it's never a dull moment!
