FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Scrapbook: Ferras Flips Through His Old Photo Albums

"All jokes aside, I was gay cowboy chic before it en vogue…" Katy Perry first signee takes us through his fashion evolution and is very funny with it too. Holla at that Ed Hardy moment!

We only know about Ferras because of Katy Perry. No shame in that. The brilliant thing about KP is when she shines a light on something or someone she loves, about a gazillion people give over a moment of their time—such is her sway, such is the magic of social media. She has good taste though. For instance, she loves Margot, he NYC-based singer and violinist, and we love her too, which means that this gorgeous video got a lot of love when KP tweeted it out. All of which is to say when we skipped off to see Perry's Prismatic tour a few months back we were so excited that we got there early and actually caught the support act. It was a man called Ferras, the first artist signed to Perry's label Metamorphosis Music. He writes impassioned, R&B-spangled pop, that make the most of his supple vocal range, and in some cases, showcases his skills when it comes to tinkling the ivories. Sometimes his lyrics are kinda naughty ("There's no good in goodnight / Let's be bad and stay high"), and a little bit euphemistic ("No many words / I wanna speak in tongues").

Advertisement

One of the other aspects about Ferras that's immediately worth noting is his style. You see his hair first—shaved at the sides, but on top it stands erect like the Olympic flame or a perky shark fin, or braided down, Grecian style. Then there's the tats, and the leather, and studs, and oodles of inky black fabric. Thus we decided his old photo albums must be littered with awesome pictures, fashion triumphs and fashion fails (shouts out to that Ed Hardy moment!). So we asked Ferras to have a look and he dug deep. He also talked about his various looks by calling them "lewks"—a perversion of the English language we'll be adopting on the regular from now on.

ferras

Ferras: This is one of my favorite pictures from my childhood: it basically sums me up even to this day. My mom's heels, sunglasses, and comb (which, of course, I turned into a makeshift microphone). I was always using household objects as musical instruments, mostly microphones. I think I must have worn everything in my mom's closet. I loved to play dress up and this picture is when it all started! She would go to work and to her closet I would go!

ferras

Waiting for that hideous bus to take me to school. It was the 80s and I was obsessed with Michael Jackson. This little red (faux) leather jacket was my way of channeling him. I wore that thing everyday. Wish I could find a good one now!

Way before Brokeback Mountain… all jokes aside, I was gay cowboy chic before it en vogue. Any holiday was an excuse for me to dress up. I'm not sure what a full western look had to do with Christmas, but I remember falling in love with that flannel. Some things never change, I guess. You can still find me at Wasteland on Melrose hunting for the best hole-y vintage flannels. There's something so cozy about them, and they go with everything! Tie one around your waist, or wear it over a vintage rock tee. This look will never go out of style.

Advertisement
ferras

This might be my lowest fashion moment in life. Dressed in Ed Hardy from head to toe. I remember getting made fun so hardcore for always rocking a Von Dutch or Ed Hardy hat. One time I was at my friend Fred Durst's house, right when I moved to Hollywood. He and his friends kind of took me in and helped me to see the error of my ways. Before agreeing to let me go with them to Spiderclub (which is Avalon) on Vine Street in Hollywood, I had to remove the Ed Hardy hat. I was devastated. That damn hat cost 50 dollars! It was worth it for the Mary-Kate sighting though.

Dare I say, Britney and Justin influenced this denim-on-denim. I don't know who ever said this kind of look is OK, or if it's generally accepted that it's hideous and therefore you are being ironically fashionable by wearing it, because clearly if you are wearing it you are aware of how hideous it is, etc. etc. Anyway, it may have been D&G. I used to wear D&G and Versace t-shirts with a Tiffany sterling silver identity choker. You can't see in this picture but I also wore blue-tinted Gucci sunglasses. I'm a label whore and used to throw any brands together that I could afford as long as I could recite them off (probably mispronouncing them all) to anyone who was curious enough to ask.

And my club kid days begin. Throw on a tight t-shirt and sport your chicken arms. Frost your tips and turn on Kylie Minogue. I remember going to London for the first time and hearing "Can't Get You Outta My Head." I came back to LA where I would sneak into a club on Santa Monica Blvd called Tigerheat (it was the original location of it) and my friends and I would wear the twinkiest little outfits and throw ourselves onto the dance floor and beg to hear Kylie Minogue.

Advertisement

This was on set of my music video for "Speak in Tongues." My stylist Douglas VanLaningham pulled all of these really amazing pieces from his store as well as H. Lorenzo in LA. The pants are Au Courant and were so hard to put on because they were painted, but look so sick on. The white button-up and brocade cropped tuxedo jacket are both Dior Homme. In the other lewk, I was going for more of a futuristic or past alchemist, higher-being, sorcerer-type of thing. I got the nose ring on Melrose in LA, and that really became a centerpiece for this lewk for me. It's a Thamanyah dress paired with a Gilette-Akai Ito leather turtle. I bleached my eyebrows for this look too which really took it to the next level. I started out in the video as a church boy praying, and then became this alchemical figure, affecting change. It was really interesting to start the video off one way and end up being this whole other character.

ferras

David Bowie is one of my favorite style icons. He is an alien. He's pure out-of-this-world glam rock sex sauce. He inspired me to say, "Fuck it, who cares what other people think—dare to be different, wave your alien freak flag high and wear gold lamé bodysuits and platforms and draw things on your face and be beautiful no matter who or what you are." Beauty is in the differences and uniqueness in each of us… it's in the eye of the beholder, male or female or blurring the lines of gender in artistic androgyny. Someone like David Bowie showed me that it was OK and even cool to be just whoever or whatever it is that I am.

Prince has this unique masculine/feminine thing going on. He's so manly and sexy in a way, but wears women's clothes and high heels! I love 80s Prince. Remember that brand that was around for a while in the early 2000s, Punk Royal? I'm not sure how big it got, but I feel like Prince gave me the feeling of Punk Royal: studded jackets and lacy shirts, lace gloves and bandanas, tights and heels. He oozed sexual energy and inspired me to play with those aspects of my own style. There are two places in life I could live in forever: in the Purple Rain movie, or in Labyrinth with Bowie. Oh, and in Rocky Horror Picture Show with Tim Curry who may just be my ultimate hero. Are we seeing a theme here?