Prada-clad, Penn-girl clones take note: this season, the look is less about Burberry credit card holders and D & G cashmere peds, and more about "inner-city combat wear for the next revolution." That is, at least, according to Kim Montenegro, clothing designer and owner of Very Bad Horse.
While Montenegro has seen some girls successfully don a pair of her bondage pants with Prada shoes, the combination seems unlikely. Very Bad Horse and the clothing found there are like no store you have seen before. The d‚cor, a melting pot of deep south truck stop meets S&M sanctuary, with a twist of goth, will make you instantly regret ever decorating your dorm room with floor-to-ceiling IKEA. Montenegro sums it up best: "It's so not corporate over here."
Montenegro designs two lines of clothing, which she sells through her stores and by mail order throughout the U.S. and internationally. If you're looking for couture crotch-less, leather, zip-off chaps, complete with flame-accents climbing from ankle to knee, go with Mot”rMontenegro. For those in need of the perfect infant-sized tank inscribed with "Outlaw seamstress" or "Keep on fuckin'," try Submission. Forget Diesel -- this is bona fide, gritty urban chic.
The most unique fixture in the store, however, is Montenegro herself. Fully tattooed (the inscription, "Death or Glory" sprawls across her back) and abundantly pierced (one can't help but fixate on the huge ring in her nose), the self-described former "punk-rock poster child" says, "My clothes are as bad-ass as you can get for a girl." And Montenegro, who looks like she belongs on the back of a Harley or on the victorious side of a bar fight, seems as bad-ass as anyone -- until you actually meet her. I was not expecting her to pull out a plastic pumpkin and start tossing leftover Halloween candy my way, "Do you want Reese's? Or how 'bout a Snickers?" When she learned that I did not have a business card, she offered, "Ohhh! Make yourself a card. Want some Magic Markers?" with unadulterated enthusiasm. Her assistant, Candace Lambert says, "When I look at her, I think hard-core trucker, but she is so nice. She is never stressed out, she just laughs it off."
Montenegro says she creates clothes for, "any kind of sexy goddess -- no matter what size. From waitress to rock 'n' roll guitar players, I want to dress everyone." Natalie Portman recently graced the cover of Rolling Stone in a pair of Montenegro's pants, but Montenegro insists that her clothes can be worn anywhere. "My clothing is not a trend, it's a lifestyle," she says. "It's just really comfortable." Now the next time you want to look bad-ass rock-star fabulous -- and be comfortable -- you know where to shop.
