"You can get incredible things done to leather," John Malkovich describing this tanned, brown leather, belted jacket, etched in paisley from his newest and latest fashion line, Technobohemian.
"I love to go to Paris and look at the leathers."
Yes, he knows launching his second fashion line coincides with the releases of "Red" and "Secretariat."
But, his heart lays in being a fashion and interior designer.
When he's not waxing poetically about remodeling and redesigning a house, he decamps to Europe and reinvents himself as a high-end fashion designer and fashionista.
Detailing his fashionista life, "I worked around it a lot. Designed costumes. I wrote and directed three fashion films for my friend, Bella Freud...So, I always had an interest."
Most folks think they are "fashionistas" by going to an one-off fashion-themed party in most cities or think they are professional industry players, the lucky fews who trek to New York or Milan or Paris Fashion Week each and every time.
However, Mr. Malkovich puts this scriber and fellow compatriots to shame. He goes to Premiere Vision, the cutting-edge textile show where fashion designers get inspired then pick their ideas for the next collections and the eventual collections two years ahead of the mass public-and the average fashionista.
Mr. Malkovich calls himself, "a fabric fanatic." A fabric fanatic who drives outside of Paris and goes to Premiere Vision twice a year, "where you go pick your fabric."
"I have some nice objects picked out for the next Fall/Winter."
Despite the set back of dismantling his first fashion foray, Uncle Kimono, his fashion industry friends still believe enough in him to badger Malkovich into starting another line from scratch.
Why Technobohemian for his new line?
"There was an Italian novelist who had used that phase. The novel wasn't published. But, I actually read it in the novel then asked him if he minded if I used it for the line. I actually liked the name."
After stopping Uncle Kimono five to three years ago, "Had Uncle Kimono for ten collections. Stopped it five years ago," Mr. Malkovich the designer remerge with Technobohemian's current Fall/Winter 2010 Collections and a sample of Spring/Summer Collection for both men and women.
Nehru-collared button-shirts, knits, pullovers, and cardigans in futuristic but Moroccan-inspired patterns and weaves for men.
Women Moroccan-influenced tunics in cutting-edge mosaic patterns.
For this intrepid fashion scribe, Technobohemian is reminiscent of his earlier film, "The Sheltering Sky" where a bored New England couple hope to rekindle their relationship by trekking it through the North African desert then got lost.
Technobohemian reflects on what that couple, Kit and Port Moresby, could be wearing at the end, New England preppy soaking in Moroccan/North African tailoring and textile with their fundamental base of the classic button-down shirt, Nehru-collared and lapel gone. Port's elbow-patched blazer, the heavy herringbone wool replaced by the lighter North African weave.
This preppy-gone-Merrakesh is also reflected in Tory Burch and Irving & Fine's Middle-Eastern tunics and blouses, in "True Prep."
Mr. Malkovich reaction to this, "People say they have a slightly retro look...It depends...because for me I don't think in a term of strategy. I just do things I like. A lot of those do have a basis in older things."
Again back to Premiere Vision, "Ten days of looking. Now, ordering the fabric for Fall/Winter (Fall/Winter 2011)." Speaking for the uniqueness of pattern design and quality of the weave and knit, "All made in Tuscany. The shirts in Lake Como."
Church Boutique in Hollywood, along with Phoebe Cates' Blue Tree in New York, and Miami's The Webster, are the only three American stores selling his line.
They are the first to distribute Technobohemian. Church in Hollywood carries some of the current Fall/Winter 2010 Collection and a generous sampling of the Spring/Summer 2011 Collection.
During the debut party at Church, Mr. Malkovich's "Secretariat" co-star, Diane Lane came with her husband, Josh Brolin (and who co-starred with Mr. Malkovich in "Johan Hex"). On both movie sets, while filming "Secretariat" and "Johan Hex," they had the privilege of taking a sneak peek of Malkovich sketching and designing his Technobohemian Line in-between takes. Now, they're both curious and glad to celebrate his second reincarnation as a fashion designer.
In fact, Josh Brolin was the first American male to purchase two items from John Malkovich's line.
John is just happy being known back in America as a fashion designer. The second act of John Malkovich.
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