They’ve come a long way, baby.
The Smashing Pumpkins have been indubitably tied to fashion - well, at least since Mellon Collie brought financial stability and catapulted them into the Public Eye. But what has impressed me most in the span of their career is the penchant for drama - not simply vain haute couture - that drives their style. They’ve toed the avant-garde line during the Adore and Machina eras with Jean-Paul Gaultier jumpsuits just as dramatically as their fun, costumed tour looks (Jeff Schroeder’s cape, anyone?). The infamous Zero shirt became an icon for moody American teens and the black and white stripes so prevalent last year have started turning up in droves at the Swedish mega-retailer H&M. Let’s hope the mental-ward scrubs Billy Corgan sported last year will never achieve popularity beyond Britney Spears.
But what is this history of this fashion fascination? What is their relationship to cultural couture?
As far back as 1995 and 1996, the Pumpkins worked with Arianne Phillips, a then-barely-known but now Oscar-nominated costume designer. Presumably, Phillips worked with them on their music videos and touring garb as that was her primary focus at the time. In this 1997 article from the New York Times, she explains her perspective on the relationship between fashion and music:
“Getting” a subject’s cultural context, whether it is a portrait she is styling or a character she is defining in a film, is her signature. For instance, she came up with the idea of dressing Ice-T in a policeman’s uniform on the cover of Rolling Stone when his controversial song ”Cop Killer” was released, in 1992.
‘I got disillusioned with fashion for fashion’s sake,” she said. ”The great thing about musicians is, you have an art base to work with. If I work with a new band, I’ll ask for a tape, and they’ll say, ‘Why?’ I’ll say, ‘I’m dressing a band.”
Regardless of the fact that Ice-T now plays a detective on Law & Order: SVU, I would surmise that the cultural contextualization Phillips sought to achieve resonated with the Pumpkins early on. They went on a year after this article was published to perform at the 1998 VH1 Fashion Awards after their music video for Ava Adore received a nod for “Most Stylish Video.” Download their performance of Crestfallen here.
More recently, the band has worked with Elise Overland, who just showed her collection at New York Fashion Week this month. VH1 gave an interview with her recently, in which she discusses her relationship as a designer to the music world — check out that interview here. However, Billy Corgan is not the only band member soliciting designs for the band from Gaultier and famous costume houses, though. The entire band has always been active in the fashion community.
Former guitarist James Iha and designer Anna Sui grew their friendship in the 90’s, with Iha modeling looks for her runway shows and designing t-shirts for her quirky line. Iha, a very public fan of fashion, frequents NYC’s Fashion Week, making numerous appearances at shows for Anna Sui’s collections as well as Benjamin Cho and others. [pictured at left during Fashion Week, Fall 2006]
Former bassist Melissa auf der Maur also follows designers closely. In a fantastic article for W Magazine, auf der Maur explores her love for fashion, reveals how she met the Smashing Pumpkins in 1990, and jokes about cruising local malls’ Sunglass Huts with James Iha on the Machina tour in 2000. Citing Michelle Mason, Arianne Phillips, Zaldy, Olivier Theyskens , and Versace as some of her favorite designers, she too modeled runway fashions for Theyskens and did print modeling for Calvin Klein. She elaborates on her taste in a New York Times Arts Feature - and on her first fashion mentor, Courtney Love:
Ms. Love introduced Ms. Auf der Maur to arena rock, but along the way Ms. Love also opened the door on the world of fashion. Ms. Auf der Maur, who was a thrift-shop devotee who had never worn makeup or tweezed an eyebrow, now wears the clothes of several designers she counts as friends. She even got a taste of the runway in 1999 after the Belgian designer Oliver Theyskens made her a dress she loved, a racy update of a Victorian gown, and asked her to model it in Paris.
“I couldn’t resist,” she said.
The current look on the Smashing Pumpkins tour features Corgan in a floor-length silver frock, emblazoned with varying icons depicting Saturn or the curious “999.” The futuristic look is not surprising to fans, however. We’re used to the theatrics - personally, I think they’re quite fun. In fact, now that I think about it, isn’t the look a kitschy, futuristic Rocket-Music-Video-meets-Machina-Mystery?!
Losing her way on a journey into the annals of alternative rock history, Maura Johnston (of Idolator.. infamy?!, at right) 
