Kim Althea Gordon; musician, vocalist, artist, record producer, video director, actress. I have a soft spot for female bassists. Strangely enough I don't think too many people really know about her! Or maybe it's just the people I hang out with. I mean, I did just start getting interested in her work recently..
Sonic Youth was just one of those bands for me growing up. I knew the name, 'cause of course they were a vital part of the music industry in the 90's, (and 80's) but I never really knew much about them. Couldn't name a song, or even tell you what type of genre they were. I assumed Alternative Rock but then again what did I know. But you've gotta assume they're half-decent, what with them being on the Simpsons and all... Anyways, I've been downloading a lot of their stuff lately and did some reading on the bandmates that I was less familiar with, mainly everyone but Thurston Moore. His name is always getting thrown around in Rolling Stone. And call me sexist, but I just love female musicians. Decent ones of course. Maybe it's just an affinity due to a feeling of understanding and awareness.. The raw power and indifferent confidence I see in these various "role models" of mine. Such as Kim Gordon. The whole persona to me is just so admirable.
She's a visual artist. It took up most of her time before she joined/formed Sonic Youth. I'm really interested in her stuff, too. I don't really know how to describe it. You can make your own mind up:
Aside from directing music videos with Spike Jonze, appearing on Gossip Girl, producing Hole records, and playing benefit concerts with Cat Power for her daughter's school in Massachussets, Kim Gordon has dabbled into the world of fashion. This is where I started to really crush on her.
Her clothing company X-Girl was founded in '89. Grunge, alternative and sorts of anti-fashion were featured. But as of right now the product is going to remain a mystery. Not only can I not find a website mentioning the brand other than Wikipedia, I can't find a single picture of merchandise, or even a hint as to where to buy it. I'll have to do some more digging, other than on the Internet.. BUT I did learn that X-Girl is a sister company to a little brand called X-Large, YEAH THAT SAME X-LARGE THAT MIKE D IS INVOLVED WITH. I'm beginining to think that both brands would be easily accessible in Japan, not so much over here. That's the word on the street, at least.
But back to KG; she more recently launched a limited edition line called Mirror/Dash (September '08). Originally inspired by fashion icon Françoise Hardy, it is Kim Gordon's solution to the apparent need for "clothes for cool moms" which I can dig. It does have a website but all it features is this f*cking Hardy Jacket that was actually all she had released up until February 16th, 2009, when her collaboration with Urban Outfitters was released. The jacket was originally sold in retail for $415, and was a limited edition item in which only 50 were made. As far as Ebay goes, it's probably as hard to find one of these gems as it is to find an X-Girl tee.
If only I knew about this WHILE IT WAS HAPPENING.
The infamous Hardy Jacket.
And finally, an adorable little circle skirt that I have found on Ebay and am very, very tempted to purchase.
Most info taken from the NY Times online.
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