Punk, Rebellion, and Vivienne Westwood: Personal Style According to Fifi Hodgkinson
RIPPED AND RICH
If you're looking for a Lower East Side fashion icon, look no further than Fifi Hodgkinson. A Parsons School of Design fashion design graduate and a manager of Essx, a new concept retail store, Hodgkinson has one of the best punk, edgy-yet-sophisticated styles in all of New York City. She truly exemplifies stellar personal style.
The first time I met Hodgkinson was at a holiday party in the Lower East Side. I had walked into the kitchen to fill a glass with water when I noticed Hodgkinson. I loved what she wore: a wild and unruly white lace top over a printed dress. Her long, light reddish-blond curly hair was down. It reminded me of the kind of red-gold hair you see in Renaissance paintings, like a Botticelli. But messier, cooler. Fifi wore a lot of intricate silver jewelry and had an unhinged creative force about her. She was drinking straight vodka as she leaned against the refrigerator. I had to talk to her! I remember asking if her top was Bode, to which she said no, but that she saw the resemblance. I have since seen Hodgkinson around New York and, whether she is working or simply on the street going about her day, she is always in incredible outfits. She might be in a sheer black dress worn over a sheer black top and pair that with black patent boots and a Susan Alexandra face necklace in gold (reminiscent of an old cameo necklace in the best weird way), leaning towards a more ethereal vein of her punk style, or she might go casual in low, low rise jeans and a concert t-shirt from a band you’ve never heard. Whatever she has on, Fifi’s style is unmatched in its clarity. I called Hodgkinson one afternoon to ask her about her personal style.
“Shit! You know what, Vogue just asked me this [same question] like a few weeks ago in this interview that I had with them.” Hodgkinson said, staying cool while casually dropping the famed magazine’s name. “My style is rooted in rebellion,” she said. Just by quickly scrolling through her Instagram, you can see Hodgkinson dressed in a plethora of eclectic clothes from vibrant reds, to black and metallic. Punk continues to inspires Hodgkinson’s style, from maximalist silver jewelry to her go-to uniform as she describes it: “I'll do like this small band, like this very, very small band, like merch T-shirt, with like a pair of Dior jeans.” Her uniform is complete with one of her several beloved pairs of boots. Hodgkinson describes it as a high-low look. In lesser hands these elements could become a fashion faux pas or simply boring, but with her styling, the jeans-and-t-shirt-variation becomes iconic. To call Hodgkinson’s style cool feels too artificial; rather, she emanates a kind of style you rarely see, an understanding of how dressing is a form of art in itself.
Photo courtesy of Fifi Hodgkinson
When I asked Hodgkinson who/what inspires her style, she immediately answered, “I think off the bat I’ll start with Vivienne Westwood,” referring to the iconic late designer, a maverick in the fashion industry and the grande dame of punk style, known for her ability to provoke social change through her designs as well as her past as a climate activist. Hodgkinson asserts: “Making beautiful clothes is important, of course, but I think that having a voice behind your work is something that is an important part of being a designer.” Hodgkinson references Westwood’s recognizable style in her own outfits from laced printed corsets to leather pants. Like Vivian Westwood, Hodgkinson is inspired by the spirit of rebellion—rebelling against the norms of style rooted in our culture. Hodgkinson shared a memory from her childhood; Running around middle school wearing a wig or a skirt with a pair of jeans layered underneath. The point? Nothing more and nothing less than “Okay, what's gonna, like, piss off people today?”
Nostalgia plays an essential role in Hodgkinson's style and life. Whether looking back at the important artists and designers of the past, or her own childhood, Hodgkinson draws inspiration from her roots. “Another person that was super influential on my personal sense of style was Lady Gaga because I was like just a fucking huge fan of hers. Growing up, and I know that I keep on saying the word rebellion, but she was doing that, you know.” Hodgkinson’s love of the past doesn’t come off as trendy or something very coded in one time period or era. In essence, her references to the past in her fashion don’t feel like a costume or some sort of rote method of dressing. It comes off as truly authentic, nostalgic, even. That creates a resounding impact. Because her style is derived from her own experiences and not other outside directives, it's truly her own.
Photo courtesy of Fifi Hodgkinson
Given the references to punk I asked Hodgkinson about music and how it relates to her style. First off, what is Hodgkinson listening to right now? “Emo and hardcore music.” But she says her music taste has evolved over time. Like there was a notable phase when she was obsessed with Gwen Stefani and No Doubt through kindergarten and elementary school. Now she is listening to hardcore music from small, obscure bands coming from Providence, RI, to Texas. “There is a sense of community there [at these shows],” Hodgkinson added. “It's so cool, go to shows that are smaller. It's not like a huge artist. I prefer it. Yeah, I prefer it 100 percent, because you can meet the band. You can get right up close. And as you go to like more and more shows, you start to see the same people at the shows.” In addition to being obsessed with the live experience, Hodgkinson also gets her iconic band t-shirts at the shows.
How would other people interpret her style if she became the fashion zeitgeist? I asked Hodgkinson. Style is a way to convey a message. What message are you sending? “How would they interpret my style? Hopefully, [people see it as] authentic.” Hodgkinson suggests, that if readers are interested in developing their own style, the first step is following fewer trends, something that isn’t as easy as it sounds. I asked her what has remained relevant to her and her life story path? “For me?” she asks. “It's music, it’s the 2000s. It’s punk rock. So that's me. And oh! Also, being British as well.”
Photo courtesy of Fifi Hodgkinson
Before we concluded the interview, I asked Hodgkinson what excites her about fashion right now, if anything at all. “I do love the tacky 2010’s coming back in. I know that people are big haters of that, but I think that it’s awesome.” To Hodgkinson, it feels very nostalgic. “I love, like, the shitty, graphic T-shirts—I was, like, such a Hot Topic girly when I was a kid. So it all feels very nostalgic to me. Like, those trends are really hideous. It's all kind of corny, but that's kind of the point.”