The Unofficial Mayor of Paris

Walking into Wood Wood yesterday, it was pretty easy to spot Pigalle's Stéphane and the Pain O Chokolat crew amongst the sea of blonde ponytails and black clothes. Stéphane showed up wearing a green furry hunting cap with blue hair peaking out underneath, and a purple bathrobe sporting the words Hotel Pigalle on the back. Apparently that's a secret hotel room they have in Paris where the crew goes absolutely mental. His entourage was similarly fashioned - gauges, green hair, colorful coats, the works. Although everyone was tired from a wild night out, they were all smiles and humble politeness. Stéphane himself seemed like a nice guy and not too hard on the eyes to boot. You really get the feeling that he cares about so much more than just fashion and trends, which is a breath of fresh air during Copenhagen Fashion Week. He truly is the people’s person, crowning himself the Mayor of Paris, which he says is actually his next goal.

So what’s going on today?

Yeah, it’s the launch of our new season (Pigalle SS14 ‘Pause’) in the Wood Wood shop. We do this every time - we come to a new town, drop the new collection exclusively, and then two days later it’s all around the world.

Why Copenhagen, why Wood Wood? 

They’re good people. We know Karl and he’s always been good to us, so yeah, he asked us and we said yes of course.  It’s all about good people and good quality of clothes. We want people to know about us by word of mouth, that’s how we’ve always done it. We get a lot of things hand crafted in France, we work very closely with the factories, other designers, and we build good relations. I don’t care about getting my clothes into any particular store or men’s shop. We’re a movement. I do so many other things besides clothes.

Yeah, I noticed you’re doing a lot of film collaborations, can you tell us about the latest short film “Mikado” that features your AW14 collection?

It was amazing we just premiered it a few weeks ago and I really wish you guys were there. The movie was like 16 minutes and when we were showing it nobody knew what was going to happen, then all of a sudden all of the actors come out and filled the room and we had a proper show. We’re hoping to make a full length movie soon. An actual movie, not a fashion film centered around the clothes, but a real film with soul.

How does the party scene in Copenhagen compare to Paris? 

Actually, it’s quite the same, huh? Yeah, it’s very good, same energy, everyone is happy. We go wild, we throw water, we stand on the booth. We were wild last night. I was much better dressed yesterday but yeah, today is more relaxed.

Where did you guys go? 

We were at ehh, what was it called… Kayak bar. And then this place called Hong Kong. It was crazy. Everybody there was on something. You have to be on something to go there.

I heard your mom was a dancer at the Moulin Rouge, what was that like for you growing up? 

Well it was before I was born, but yeah, my mom was a dancer at the Moulin Rouge at some point and always surrounded by a lot of gays, a lot of crazy people. So all my life I was in the street, we were street guys, and me I was also sharing my time with a lot of gay, completely nuts she-males and all of that. The balance of the two was really nice and my life is still like that and I love it.

There’s been a lot of celebrities wearing Pigalle now, is there anybody that you’re just like, fuck, I hope they don’t start wearing it. 

Yeah, there’s a lot.

Any names?

Ehhh…. [very long pause]. Oh fuck, I don’t know I can’t even think of any names, name me some fucked up stars.

Miley Cyrus? 

Yeah, Miley Cyrus, fuck I don’t want you to wear my tshirt, please. It would be too much. We often get asked if we can send things to people and we just say no because we want people to understand us. We want them to come to dinner and get to know us. That’s what Rihanna did, she came to Paris, we met, she knows A$AP of course and we all have a good time. They understand us, it’s good when they come.