‘I fell out with Amanda de Cadenet for five years – over a dress’
To mark her second fashion collection for Nasty Gal, Courtney Love talks Grazia’s Emily Maddick through three decades of iconic looks
▲ 1. Hole portrait session, 1990 ‘That blue dress was crêpe stretchy material. You couldn’t put it in the washer, but I loved it. It had holes under the armpits you can’t see here, but I didn’t care!’
▲ 2. MTV Music Video Awards, 1993 ‘This image still makes me feel a sense of loss for Kurt. This was an Edwardian vintage dress – everything was vintage back then, I didn’t have anything new. I’d get sent free stuff, but it would freak me out. This was Frances’ first red carpet and even she’s in vintage. Those were Russian princess baby clothes.’
3. On stage with Hole, 1995 ‘I knew I had a look at this point, I was more self-aware. I loved that vintage dress, I customised it with a bow at the back. I had many, many boxes of wardrobe for the tour. But the reason I don’t have many of those dresses now is they would get ripped up when I stagedived.’
4. Vanity Fair Oscar party, 1995 ‘People think that Amanda and I were either lesbian lovers or had been friends for ages, but I’d only met her 10 days previously. She’d just come off presenting The Word and she just kinda followed me around until I paid her attention; she was endlessly amusing. I had tickets to the Vanity Fair Oscars party and we went to one of the oldest costume stores in Hollywood and rented matching dresses and tiaras. I had to go to Germany the next day, so I thought Amanda was going to be returning the clothes. But we then got stuck with the $20,000 bill as no one returned the dresses. We talk now, but I didn’t speak to her for like five years after that.’
▲ 5. MTV Video Music Awards, 1998 ‘The apex of the ’90s, Gwen with her blue hair and me with rhinestones in mine. This was a Vera Wang top that [costume designer and stylist] Arianne Phillips got for me before I lost her to Madonna. It wasn’t acrimonious, but Madonna fell in love with her when she, Tina Turner and I shot a Rolling Stone cover, then Arianne went on tour with Madonna and didn’t have time for me. I lost my partner in crime to Madonna. I went with the Wang as it was pretty and a great fit – I was glad my tits were showing, because they looked great!’
▲ 6. & 7. MTV Video Music Awards, 1995 ‘This was the year I threw a compact at Madonna [during her live interview on MTV]. It’s funny because there were a lot of opinion editorials after that, but I remember reading, “She was wearing last season’s Galliano” and I was like, “What’s a season?” That top cost me $2,200. I was naive, but not naive at the same time. I learned pretty quickly after that.’
8. amfar’s Cinema Against AIDS Gala, Antibes, 2011 ‘ That is Givenchy. When I was muse for Riccardo Tisci, I got to wear all the couture first. Then Madonna got in there, then he fell for Kim [K], so now Kim gets all the good stuff, which is fine because I really like Kim.’
9. Chanel show, Paris Fashion Week, 2016 ‘It was great doing the shows with Frances, we get along fine now. It feels like this is her debut, I was like her momager. She’s been offered a load of campaigns, but she’s not going to consider anything until her album is out. I do feel like I am passing the torch of high fashion to my daughter. She doesn’t borrow too much from my wardrobe, she’s finding her own style – she’s only 24. I thought what we were wearing at Chanel was the best look. I am very proud of her.’
▲ 10. The New Group Spring Gala event, Hugo Boss Store, 2001 ‘That dressd sb belongedl dt to the designer Richard Tyler, it was his special dress that he repurposed out of Edwardian clothes. I loved it. That was when Winona [Ryder] and I were hanging out t all the time,ti she he lived with me for a while. We were getting ourselves s in ALL sorts of trouble.’ ble.’
▲ 11. Blockbuster Awards, 1999 ‘This was a different look for me. I’m wearing flats because I hate wearing heels, I don’t know how all those gymnastic pop stars sing in heels, I just can’t. This was when Drew [Barrymore] and I were best friends – we don’t hang so much any more.’
▲ 12. Leaving an apartment in Soho, NYC, 2004 ‘Ah, that red thing… this was my first attempt at upcycling vintage clothes – having a seamstress amend vintage clothes. I wasn’t in a very good place, physically or emotionally. I’d made a record, America’s Sweetheart, that didn’t do very well. I think t that dress is expressing my inn inner demons [laughs].’