Not only is super-stylist Mel Ottenberg one of OC's favorites, he's also the man Rihanna trusts to get her dressed for a world tour and Find Love in a Hopeless Place. Considering the impact that video had this year (I know at least two people who bought this Komakino jacket after spotting it on Rhi), and the amazing relationship that we have always had with him from collaborating on OC lookbooks, I knew that a formal introduction between Mel and the OC blog was well overdue.
With bylines in Purple Magazine (where he maintains status as their Fashion Editor) i-D, V, VMan, and Harper's Bazaar, and his partnership with an unbelievable roster of photographers (his first shoot was with Steven Klein. Like are. you. serious?), Mel's hard work and almost impossibly cool vibe both in print and in person make him a mainstay in the styling world today. I stopped by his Canal Street studio to talk about his work and what he's into these days, and fan out on our favorite editorials. Check it all out here!
Daria Radlinski: Let’s start at the very beginning. What did you dress like in high school?
Mel Ottenberg: At 15 my big look was huge, red Cross Colours jeans with a Junior Gaultier black mock turtleneck and steel toe Docs. With a Caesar.
DR: Oh yeahhh—Humberto and I are both obsessed with Junior Gaultier!
MO: So good. I was so psyched when I saw it for the first time and bought my own piece of Gaultier! Then in the club I was teased for wearing JUNIOR Gaultier and not full on JEAN-PAUL Gaultier, but those kids were wrong, Junior is everything too.
DR: Do you ever reference the way you dressed as a teenager in your looks now?
MO: Yeah—all the kids that I saw in like 9th grade while I was sneaking out or candy flipping at a rave, I reference those memories. And the editorials from early 90’s Details, The Face, i-D, Interview and Vogue still really do it for me.
DR: You started going to clubs at a young age. Who was your favorite club kid and what was their look?
MO: When I started going to DC clubs in 91, Kevin Aviance was THE pinnacle of glamour. I would watch his performances for hours. He came to our prom with my best friend and we almost got kicked out of school because of it!
DR: What poster did you have on your wall when you were growing up? And did you have any favorite pop stars?
MO: Kraftwerk, Siouxsie, The Cure, The Smiths, Deee-Lite, Sinead. I had a gigantic Creatures poster, and lots of Cure, Smiths, etc.
DR: What was your first job ever, fashion-related or not?
MO: It was not fashion related. It was a telephone operator at the family business, which was a bakery in Washington.
DR: How did you get into styling?
MO: I was really into fashion but was way too crazy to have a job. I met Matthias Vriens, and he asked me to style a story for The Face, which was really exciting. I used mostly my own clothes because I didn’t know how to pull or anything. I really liked the pictures and the collaborative vibe, and so I pursued styling as a career.
DR: Cool! What was the story about? What did it look like?
MO: Scruffy, dirt-bag boy. Everything I was into at the time, and I guess still am.
DR: Do you have any memorable moments from a s
With bylines in Purple Magazine (where he maintains status as their Fashion Editor) i-D, V, VMan, and Harper's Bazaar, and his partnership with an unbelievable roster of photographers (his first shoot was with Steven Klein. Like are. you. serious?), Mel's hard work and almost impossibly cool vibe both in print and in person make him a mainstay in the styling world today. I stopped by his Canal Street studio to talk about his work and what he's into these days, and fan out on our favorite editorials. Check it all out here!
Daria Radlinski: Let’s start at the very beginning. What did you dress like in high school?
Mel Ottenberg: At 15 my big look was huge, red Cross Colours jeans with a Junior Gaultier black mock turtleneck and steel toe Docs. With a Caesar.
DR: Oh yeahhh—Humberto and I are both obsessed with Junior Gaultier!
MO: So good. I was so psyched when I saw it for the first time and bought my own piece of Gaultier! Then in the club I was teased for wearing JUNIOR Gaultier and not full on JEAN-PAUL Gaultier, but those kids were wrong, Junior is everything too.
DR: Do you ever reference the way you dressed as a teenager in your looks now?
MO: Yeah—all the kids that I saw in like 9th grade while I was sneaking out or candy flipping at a rave, I reference those memories. And the editorials from early 90’s Details, The Face, i-D, Interview and Vogue still really do it for me.
DR: You started going to clubs at a young age. Who was your favorite club kid and what was their look?
MO: When I started going to DC clubs in 91, Kevin Aviance was THE pinnacle of glamour. I would watch his performances for hours. He came to our prom with my best friend and we almost got kicked out of school because of it!
DR: What poster did you have on your wall when you were growing up? And did you have any favorite pop stars?
MO: Kraftwerk, Siouxsie, The Cure, The Smiths, Deee-Lite, Sinead. I had a gigantic Creatures poster, and lots of Cure, Smiths, etc.
DR: What was your first job ever, fashion-related or not?
MO: It was not fashion related. It was a telephone operator at the family business, which was a bakery in Washington.
DR: How did you get into styling?
MO: I was really into fashion but was way too crazy to have a job. I met Matthias Vriens, and he asked me to style a story for The Face, which was really exciting. I used mostly my own clothes because I didn’t know how to pull or anything. I really liked the pictures and the collaborative vibe, and so I pursued styling as a career.
DR: Cool! What was the story about? What did it look like?
MO: Scruffy, dirt-bag boy. Everything I was into at the time, and I guess still am.
DR: Do you have any memorable moments from a s