YOU DON’T HAVE TO SLAM JUNK TO WEAR LEATHER

Ryan Turner has been slinking around the Lower East Side for years now. With his hair often in two Willie Nelson braids, this sneering ginger is hard to miss. On the wiser side of wise-ass he’s the fast talking real-deal. Formerly one-half of the Ludlow menswear line THECAST, he’s recently struck out on his own. Similar in feel and grit as the THECAST, his new diffusion line The Outcast is a collaboration with Urban Outfitters, but it’s hardly guy-liner douchebag mall wear. Culling from the darker side of Americana, The Outcast is about denim, leather and motor oil. And for once, a line that sings to greasy greaser sleeveless vest wearing scumbags everywhere is actually priced within their range. Whereas THECAST may have the finest made-in New York leather jackets that money (and you’ll need a lot of it) can buy, The Outcast has an equally rad quilted faux-leather jacket that those of us without money can buy.

For those of you who haven’t noticed, Urban Outfitters has been doing a lot of diffusion lines with womenswear designers over the past few seasons with mixed results. Some of the items are just designers redoing looks from previous seasons in cheaper materials with shittier production, while some of the items are rad, cheap, covetable items in their own right. I have mixed emotions about a chain who has been so often vilified for ripping off so many underground and emerging designers courting them, but in these times, it’s better to be paid than not. Plus, it’s a wise business move, courting the designers they formerly would have just ripped off so UO can collect cred.

Turner recently parted ways with his partner Chuck Guarino to work on the line full-time, and it’s the first serious menswear diffusion line Urban Outfitters has brought aboard. There have been excursions into menswear such as the four-piece Yoko Devereaux collection, but aside from that the capsules have been for gals only. For Turner, The Outcast is as much as an experiment in pushing the corporate giant’s limits as as experiment in fashion. Sleeping with the corporate devil has yielded some serious results, however, and the line is strong — solid and gritty without feeling over-produced. Not content with the catalog photo shoots, some of Turner’s bros did a guerrilla shoot in the backwoods of Florida showing how the real scumbags plan on wearing the gear. It also demonstrates the difference between the designer’s point-of-view and the company’s demographic pretty succinctly.
First the Urban Outfitters promo shots:

Compare with an outtake from his friends’ photo shoot:

You get the picture.

We had a little conversation with this snarling bad-ass of design behind the Outcast about his plans for the future, working with the suits at Urban, and a bit of everything else.

VICE: You handed over a line you helped build to your longtime partner, Chuck Guarino, to work on The Outcast. Is this going to be your continual sole focus or do you have plans for expanding your energies elsewhere?
Ryan Turner: For the time being, yes, absolutely. The project is in the baby stages and Poppa needs to take care of his baby boy. When thing get going (hopefully) we will pitching another spin off story line. The time involved with projects such as these is seasonally based so there are calendar gaps. In these periods, yes I will be pursuing other freelance creative options available to me.

It’s a pretty ballsy move to basically say goodbye to the exclusive Made In NYC streetwear vibe and go over to a company like Urban Outfitters. How did you decide to go for it full time?
My time had come with THECAST, Chuck and I have had our different areas of focus work wise for a year before we made the public announcement. As for your suggestion that I have said goodbye to any New York street cred, I don’t really see it that way, I live on fucking Ludlow street and I see my brothers here daily. I needed a bigger stage that a self financed operation couldn’t handle. If that makes me less cool in someone else’s eyes, give me their names, they can pay my rent then fucking all blow me at once on the way out.

We’ve been seeing a lot of diffusion lines and collaborations with Urban Outfitters lately with emerging designers. How do you plan to keep an edge while mired in the corporate outlook? Urban’s better known for being a trend follower than a trend setter.
We were brought in to fill a rock n roll story line that they felt was missing. Apparently we found out later a shit ton of people were vying for the same thing. Urban came to the studio and figured we were a believable candidate for the job. So maintaining an edge isn’t hard, it’s more of an issue of how much we can get away with, which, honesty has been more than you’d expect. The team we work with they pretty much rule.

I’m sure it’s comforting having the security of such a large company behind you instead of doing everything yourself. Does this inform your design perspective at all?
There are production options available that never were before. This is pretty exciting. Does it “inform” my design? Not sure what’s going on there, does it have an influence? Yes of course it does. Certain treatments and fabrics are available because we’re talking larger numbers.

The Outcast is pretty serious in it’s dedication to the darker side of Americana. There are heavy references to bikers and greasers stylistically, the kind of guys who aren’t afraid to get your hands dirty. Do you find it at odds with living in the city?
No because I am that type of person you fucking asshole. I’ve busted my fucking balls since the day I showed up here which was January ‘02. I had $900 and I somehow got a sublet on a handshake on Norfolk street (usually you need a deposit smart guy). I’ve bussed tables, waited on tables, bar back all that shit, cleaned puke, worked doors. Shit sucks. So that’s NY, I’m from the Hills outside Santa Barbara where I grew up and we had our own chickens and garden and that’s how subsidized the groceries.

For all the grit and scumbaggery, you are a pretty clean-living guy these days. Do you ever feel like you are living vicariously through your designs? I know it’s a lot easier to make shit happen when you aren’t a total degenerate.
1. You don’t have to slam junk to wear leather.
2. Yes you get more done when you’re sober.

The Outcast debuts October 15 at Urban Outfitters stores and online.

Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 1:34 pm by BEVERLY HAMES VICE US
Tags: Being Sober, Fashion, Leather, Ryan Turner, Slamming Junk, Urban Outfitters

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