INTERVIEW: Carrie Cassette Playa

Interviewer - Verbal (V) Interviewee - Carrie (C)

V:Tell us what your doing in Tokyo this time around?
C:This trip I'm here for Stussy Womens collaboration. We are launching it this weekend at a party in Le Baron. So I just came to launch that and do some press and see my friends!

V:Your here pretty often.
C:Yeah, I love it! Tokyo feels like my second home, and whenever I step off the plane I'm like "cool!"
V:You know everybody here so when you go shopping or places they can take you out.
C:Yeah! I usual come here on my own and I have my Tokyo family, you and Yoon, Fayline Phenomenon all those guys but this time I brought my London posse, Tom who works with me at Cassette Playa, my friend Chris and Ben, Ashley, got a little crew! I don't know if they're ready for Tokyo. Ben's been here before, his a photographer but Chris, Tom and Ashley have never been before, and you know that Chris parties pretty hard!

V:It's different this time now that you have brought these people, last time you came as Carrie representing your brand, how you party, what kind of songs you play back in London but know that you got all your people with with you, you can just give that whole vibe at the party.
C:Totally yeah. Tomorrow, because it's Stussy Womens I want it to have more of a girlie vibe, it's a girl party. So I want to play my favorite female artists. Right now I'm really obsessed with Niki Minaj!
V:Really? I'm doing couple songs with her right now.
C:Oh my god!!! Wow! Now I'm speechless. I want to play really empowered amazing female artists like TLC, like really fun stuff like that! but then Tom's going to do a little industrial set. And probably play some metal for Chris and them.
V:Industrial stuff like they where playing at Coarsen bar?
C:Yeah we went to 'Endurance' little industrial night there. Little EBM, and Belgium Techno kind of stuff. I'm really into that. It's a Russian Bar there's a lot of Russian and polish in that area. A lot of people think I'm polish because of my hair.
V:Whats your ethnic background?
C:English, British. My Dads from East London and my mum's from south of England. Actually I'm a Essex girl. Do you know about Essex girls?
V:No.
C:Thats probably a good thing. They say bad things about Essex girls... They're kind of slutty! But I'm proud to be a Essex girl, my family name comes form Essex.

V:I want the listeners to know what your brands about, how it started how your brand came about.
C:So I started, on graduation, Nicola Formichetti came to a show I did at a club called Kash Point which are like Club Kids. It's an amazing party they did in London. We did it with Gareth Pee and a bunch of other young designers did their shows. Nicola bought my collection from that for Side by Side so they started selling here in Tokyo and also in London. Then I started doing catwalk for spring summer '07 which was our first catwalk show in London fashion week.

V:So your brands only been around for four or five years?
C:Yeah!
V:The impression must have been really strong for us because I feel like I've been wearing your clothes for like ever!
C:I was selling hear (Japan) 2006, 2005 maybe.
V:Cause I remember there's a store Candy that moved to Shibuya. You know the guy who works there used to work at Side by Side. I feel like that was a while a go.
C:I don't know when they opened. It's definitely 2005. I remember because before I knew Yulia there was that Tokyo Style book she's on the cover and she's wearing Cassette Playa. And I met her and I was like your that girl!
V:So what does Cassette Playa stand for? Where does the name come from?
C:The name is just really playful. It's like a play on my name Carrie, Cassie but it's like alter ego like a superhero another identity kind of like an Avatar.
V:So when your a Cassette Playa are you crazy and psychedelic and colorful?
C:Yeah! When I'm just Carrie I'm kind of shy. I'm Otaku!
V:You are in a good way! I remember some of the conversations we had in the past about your clothing. The digital printing you do on your jackets and your like "ah this is some vietnamese gang from my neighborhood" you point these things out. It's cool because you bring fourth these local things in a global fashion, if you don't say that you would just think they're just models.
C:It's cool that you interested and I'm glad that people get my stuff on different levels. Some people might be just "Thats a cool T-Shirt, cool print" other people are like "oh yeah I can see that symbol means this and means that" and I like it when people get really deep with it.
V:Nigo saw this silk T-shirt that I had on with the printing and he was like "that's digital printing and the color..." He was really analyzing! He was like it must be really expensive. Where did she make it?
C:I love doing the digital printing. I think we was pretty much the first people to innovate that especially in mens wear and it's really exciting to me.

V:So where's Cassette Playa going now?
C:I'm really excited doing the womens wear with the Stussy Womens and spring summer 2010 like the dress I'm wearing now. It's always been a unisex brand I might wear a lot of mens wear a lot of the girls wear it too and obviously Yoon, but it's nice to be doing stuff specifically womens wear now. So I'm excited about that. You know and Cassette Playa's a lifestyle brand. so I'm looking to spread out more products. This season feels like a real achievement for me just coming back to London after showing in New York and coming back on schedule for London Fashion week and we did the Augmented Reality presentation. It's the first time, rather than just doing all the technologies and science fiction being just a reference and an inspiration we were actually doing it for real. So I wanna do more stuff like that all it be about innovation, new technologies, new fabrics and new processes.
V:Your quiet the collabo queen now. Your working with all these brands I don't even know if I'm supposed to mention but upcoming and this time your here with the Stussy Girls thing so. Is there a lot more collabo stuff lined up this year?
C:Well Nike has been really amazing and we continue to collaborate with them, and Swatch we have a launch next month which is real cult brand for me. I was really obsessed with Keith Haring when they did the pot butchers and all of that. Of course Phenomenon, Rockers. Obviously it's a luxury street wear brand and street wear is built on collaborative culture but I don't like doing collabs just for the sake of it. I have to really believe in the other brand and it has to be something I really want to do. And to know what the products going to be special.
V:Everybody enjoys your execution with the whole collabo thing. Like you said it's not like a monarch a attached to something just for the sake of it. It got a point when there was a triple or quadruple name and it's like what's that gonna do to the brand. I got to see some of your swatches that's coming out in the show room. I used to Love Swatch too. I love how you executed the designs, it just fitted right into the brand.
C:It's a really positive brand and fun so it kind of works with us really well.
V:And Nike too, the jackets you made that was a good alternative because some of your silk jackets are pricey, it could run some bills for you! So the nike jacket I saw everybody wear that.
C:Thats what I like about working with Nike. For me they're all about innovation doing things that we believe in and what drives me and it take us to a different market so it's like a new audience. But your not compromising on quality cause you know it's gonna be done really well.

V:About the Party tomorrow the Stussy Party, what is it gonna be like? What do you anticipate? What kind of people do you wanna see at the show?
C:I wanna see lots of girls! For me when I was designing for the collab I was really inspired by the heritage of the brand more of the 90's and street wear and slightly the tomboyish girls that are a little bit tough but still super hot. My inspiration was very like a London Girl but also them Cholas and that kind of girl was super tough!
V:I can't even say what kind of crowd is coming tomorrow it's gonna be interesting. And I know your sets are eclectic and you play a lot of crazy stuff. It's not the normal electro Hip Hop thing, you play all this crazy metal music.
C:You remember I played 'master of puppets' by Metallica and the guy smashed the box with the shoe in it. It was amazing!! Everyone got too excited! I love dancing! It's not about being the best dancer, it's about letting go. Last time it was fun because I played the 'migraine Skank' which is like a dance from London. I was trying to get everyone to learn the moves.
V:They heard you play once so this time they'll be ready.
C:Hopefully everyone's been practicing. I'm gonna play a lot of M.I.A as well obviously she's my girl. Tom's been working with her this week, I've been in Thailand for a week but Tom's been working with her and she's in London working on the Art work and finishing up the album. The album is amazing. It's really next level. It's still completely her sound but it's really evolved.

Me and Tom are really obsessed with custom car culture and spring/summer 2010 is really based on that. More like british custom car culture like Max power when they have the big sound systems in the boot and the UV lights and stuff so we want to see that in Tokyo.

V:You know what, in Shibuya right outside Tower Records everybody from Chiba and Yokohama come over on weekends. It's weird you don't know where all these cars came from. It's not really the British one. It's more like the west side. 80% of them will be those hydraulic cars. They're like the duplicate of what you will see in LA and there like skidding on the streets. It's weird because there's no one watching.
C:Wow! Thats what I wanna go and see. Thats amazing cause you now thats inspiration for me, the low rider culture, like Latino Mexican, LA style.

V:You have to go to Yokohama! I used to live in Yokohama. People there are so west side they crease their Khakis, they got there bandanas they go hard at it.
C:I love the girls with the make up. That's how I used to look when I was at school chalolo look is really similar to british rude girl, like the make ups the same how I had my hair. I really want to travel outside of Tokyo because I feel like outside in the suburbs and stuff there's a lot of interesting things happening.
V:You should try and hit the events outside of Tokyo in Yokohama and Yokosuka. I would go to clubs and see girls wearing Snoop Dogg jeans. I've never seen anybody wear Snoop Dogg clothing before. They look real hard but when you talk to them they're really friendly!
C:They sound like my kind of girls. I've been to Osaka and Kyoto but I want to travel more.
V:Osaka and Kyoto is cool but you'll be surprised it's so close from Tokyo but it feels like somewhere else.
C:I grew up outside of London. I think it's really interesting, the suburbs, cities and towns and stuff
V:You might like Yokohama. Go to China town, that's where the clubs are.
C:Next month cause I'm here next month!

V:To the listeners right now who maybe wants to be a designer but do not know the first thing to do. Could you give them a message?
C:My advice would be stay true to yourself. Taking time to know your self and build your own identity and then just working really really hard because it's no life. I love my life and I love my job but it's hard, it's hard work, it's competitive! I'm a total cyborg, I'm always on the internet always working, I'm a workaholic. My life is my work so you have to believe in it.