The 365antigua.com Interview with Argent Roberts

Clothing designer, model, performer and artiste Argent Roberts is a little bit like Kanye West; you either love him or you don’t understand him, but you cannot ignore him. Whether he’s staging a spoken word piece or showcasing his other-worldly designs, everything starts with his creative mind. 365antigua.com recently sat down with the young man who is wiser than his chronological age.

The fashion industry is notoriously fickle. How do you keep ahead of the curve?

I am innocent in approach but vigilant with deliberation. I keep evolving, morphing into something new. Whether good or bad, as the change comes it is welcomed. I am definitely not scared of change, I do it every day, I change to better myself. It may not work with a lot of people who like stability, but this is an industry that changes every second.

Who inspires you to create?

Lady Ga-Ga. Her sense of fashion is futuristic and awesome, and her music is fantastic. I love her sense of fashion, she doesn’t wear it, she is it. She has the attitude to carry the outfit. You look at her and say why is this girl doing this? She’s not just wearing it, she’s selling something. Also, I am inspired by myself, vintage Madonna, and 18th century, King Henry, Queen Victoria, avant garde stuff.

At the recent CARA Theatre Festival, your performance was a mix of performance art, vocals and dance. What was the message behind the media?

The presentation “Personal Jesus” was a metaphor for my sense of fashion. The headpiece I wore was showcased in the lingerie section of my fashion show. I didn’t just want to design boring lingerie, so I came up with a concept that strikes a chord in people’s nerves and gets under their skin. It took me an entire day to make it. I used ferns and leaves from a coconut plant and wrapped them around elastic. With the design of the headpiece, everything else fell into place. The presentation was me being a metaphor for my sense of fashion because I want to be something original. It kind of told my story of personal afflictions that I have been through in my life and I am now standing on top of them. They are there and have moulded me to who I am, but I am there, standing on top of them. I am moulding them. The best thing about it was people coming up to me and saying that they loved it. It was art and it was different and I can say I am bringing it to me.

You’re the type of person who lays all their cards on the table, but what is one thing people get wrong about you?

That I am a dark aura and goth. Or dead. It’s far from the truth, once you get inside my mind, you find that I am actually a very fun person. My idea of fun is different than others, things that others don’t want to explore, so therefore what I want to do is ‘weird’. I want to educate people, don’t just show things that make you say ‘that’s nice’. Look at Lady Gaga. She does things that make you go ‘wow’, that make you talk.

What’s next for House of Argent?

The 2010 collection is called “We Walk”. It means that I am walking away, moving on to something different. It’s a march, I am tired now, I’m fed up and letting go and taking in. We walk. I never stop working, I don’t like to be futuristic or full of premonitions, but I would like to move into some other area in my life that will strike nerves but in a different way. If you’re going to see darkness, there is a story behind the darkness that is beautiful. See the beauty in the darkness, when I show you the light of heavenly aura, look for the darkness, look for the ugly in the light, don’t just look for one thing. You see, everything I do I tells a story.

Check out new fashions by Argent along with other featured and local designers at the 2009 National Independence Festivals Designers Fashion Show, Multi-purpose Exhibition and Cultural Centre, Perry Bay, Oct. 25th at 8 pm.