Christian Joy is the amazingly talented costume designer behind Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O. Taking influence from cultural and tribal outfits, as well David Bowie’s alien-like androgyny, Joy shapes KO’s stage persona into something from another planet, allowing her to “protect [her] true personality”. Joy tries to make festival costumes particularly prolific and always does something extra special for New York shows.
Joy takes her work very seriously, but doesn’t seem to care that KO might pour beer all over herself on stage, which she says adds to the relevance of the costume preferring that it be “torn to bits with history” than in perfect condition. Joy goes above and beyond to create a lasting iconography for both KO and her band.
This month, Anthem does a Q&A with Joy in her New York studio, revealing what costumes we can expect to see in the upcoming UK tour. Check out some of the photos below and click here to read the full interview.
