JB's Chapter 2

I know where I'll be going this weekend. I'm so glad he's had this turnaround. Back in the day he was the experimental menswear designer pushing fashion forward, but when he had money problems he was forced to close his business. He began chapter 2. I found this Q & A from an interview with NY Magazine:

Two years after closing his business, onetime Perry Ellis Award winner John Bartlett is back with a men’s show at the Harvard Club (his alma mater) and a vow to keep his “ego in check” and to listen more to stores about what sells. — Jacob Bernstein

What did you do after quitting?
I went to Cambodia, shaved my head, and immersed myself in Buddhism. The Buddhist monks were so beautiful.

Did you contemplate never returning to fashion?
Yes. I was supposed to start the New School’s master’s program in media studies—which is basically documentary filmmaking—next week. But I decided not to go.

Your clothes once called to mind Tom of Finland. Now you’re showing seersucker suits. Is this a real shift or just another kind of fetish?
Another kind of fetish. When I first moved to New York, I lived at the Harvard Club and I felt like Eloise at the Plaza. I was surrounded by these amazing men in Brooks Brothers suits. It was as erotic as a leather bar. But my September 2001 presentation was a prison scenario based on Jean Genet, so I do think this is a lighter take. No one’s blindfolded this time.

Was Harvard actually fashionable?
Not at all. I was walking around in Burberry trench coats or dressing up like Adam Ant. They were all in sweat suits.

You once complained that your shows cost upwards of $150,000. How much is this one?
About $8,000, the price of my first show ten years ago. After that, I spun out of control.