The date is 1999. Britney Spears is on a meteoric rise to pop stardom. Enter Kurt and Bart, the stylists behind some of Britney’s most iconic looks, from her 2001 MTV VMAs performance outfit (yes, the one were she danced on stage with a python around her neck) to her matching double-denim look at the AMAs that same year. With the 25th anniversary of Britney’s self-titled third studio album, Britney, we chatted with Kurt and Bart about working with Britney and their collaboration in creating some of music’s most memorable fashion moments.
Can you tell us a bit about the time you styled Britney Spears? How did you first come to work together?
Kurt: We met Britney [Spears] in 1999, shooting the MTV VMA ad campaign.
Bart: The VMAs were being held at the Metropolitan Opera, and we were dressing all the big names, nominees and artists, as famous characters from the world of opera. We dressed Britney as Violetta from La Traviatta. We had scoured Eaves Brookes, which at the time was a graveyard for all of the old Opera and Theater costumes, where you could find the most beautiful, decrepit things that were often almost falling apart. We put her in one of those dresses with a corset bodice and panniers. It was an elaborate game of dressing up in character, and Britney loved it.
Kurt: We got on immediately. Britney was so sweet and excited and into it. Her energy was contagious. Her label asked us to do her Rolling Stone cover, and then the Lucky video, and then it just all happened. It all happened really fast. Britney was on a meteoric rise from a pop sensation to being a global superstar.
Bart: The volume of work was staggering, and we worked with an arsenal of incredibly talented makers to create some of Britney’s most iconic looks. East Village and Lower East Side leather legends like Agathe NYC Custom Leather and Ligia Morris’ Primal stuff, Andy from Bodyworship and David Dalrymple from Patricia Field were all incredible and fearless collaborators. We had many late nights ripping things apart, shredding, Fortuny pleating in microwaves, and burning fabric to create new textures.
“It just all happened. It all happened really fast. Britney was on a meteoric rise from a pop sensation to being a global superstar.”
Kurt: We were working with her proportions, her body, and telling her story, so we insisted on making almost everything CUSTOM.
Bart: “Custom” became a theme and a thing. Our own aesthetic was from the NYC underground club scene that we grew up in. We had a deep love of deconstruction, obsession with everything distressed, broken, embellished, and repaired. It was punk and sort of disruptive, a “we make our own rules” approach to dressing and glamour.
Kurt: Our anti-establishment sensibility, in contrast to the hyper-pop sound and Britney’s amazing, warm persona, was a real contrast. I think it created something new, and the world noticed. Britney was so comfortable in her own skin, which created its own impact. I guess that’s why people still talk about it.
Bart: Because we were just doing our thing, and in it, you could sometimes forget how big of a star she was or that the entire world was watching. You would forget that she was a cultural phenomenon.
Kurt: Yeah, until you are running onto the stage with her at the Super Bowl in head-to-toe custom lace-up low-rise football pants, a deconstructed Aerosmith tee shirt, and a tube sock cut into a gauntlet, and the entire stadium explodes. There were versions of that tube sock gauntlet in stores within days.
Bart: It was a wild and very real combustion as Britney’s star rose. For me, that massive energy will forever have two sounds: the insane roar of her fans as she took the stage and the sound of laughter. We laughed so much!
What are some of your favourite looks you created with Britney?
B: There are so many, honestly. The album cover wearing custom Gary Graham and shot by Steven Klein. For sure, every VMA carpet entrance and performance. That was Britney’s space and her stage. I have a serious soft spot for Britney’s looks we did for her Slave 4U music video.
K: Her custom pink suede chaps over denim, with a pink thong worn over the denim and a turquoise sheer lace top in the “Overprotected” video was sick. I loved everything we made that she felt amazing in when she performed. As a performer, Britney was fearless.
B: She was electric. She went so hard.
The 2001 MTV VMAs performance of ‘I'm a Slave 4 U’ and the double-denim look at the American Music Awards have become iconic fashion moments. Can you talk us through the creative process behind these looks?
B: This was pre-moodboards, but I would draw and send sketches to Britney. Kurt and I would always have our own points of reference. We loved the colors of the jungle: iridescent beetle green, electric colors of exotic birds, insects, flowers. Fuchsia, turquoise, acid yellow. We loved the iconic curvy silhouettes of jungle warrior princesses in the art of Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo. We were obsessed with traditional belly dancing and the way fabric moved, and jewelry and ornamentation would jingle and accentuate the shape of the choreography.
K: The way she performed Slave specifically shaped the look. For this performance, there was a lot of skin, but there was also a huge amount of detail in what she was wearing. Every piece was hand-dyed or painted, and everything was covered in Swarovski crystals. We even had Swarovski body jewelry applied to her skin.
B: People are so obsessed with the double-denim moment, and it has its own legacy. Britney looked amazing that night. It was honestly very straightforward. We have always been denim freaks, and denim became a Britney trademark. It was completely inevitable that we would make her a full-length deconstructed gown from our old jeans. She loved the idea and told Justin, and I think he told his stylist, and then it happened. We honestly had no idea Justin was gonna do the same.
“People are so obsessed with the double-denim moment, and it has its own legacy.”
What was the collaboration process like between yourselves and Britney?
B: From the start, it was a collaboration. Britney loved short, so we gave her the shortest; she loved low-rise, and we went the lowest. There was a huge level of trust, and how specific looks came together was kind of kinetic. The lyrics inspired the choreography, which fueled the concepts, and then there was Britney’s performance and energy. It all shaped our design directions.
K: We were together constantly, so things would just come up in conversation, talking about ideas. Bart would do sketches, and Britney would point out what she loved or didn’t. It was all very organic.
How involved was she in developing the looks and shaping her image?
B: Britney was very involved, and we did what we wanted. Like Kurt said, it was super organic. Things would happen during fittings, during dance rehearsals. Her energy, her body informed everything. There was always a creative dialogue happening.
What made working with Britney so exciting?
Bart: 25 years later, I do look at those times differently now than I did then. At the time, it was exciting to be doing what we wanted, to create these looks and characters for videos, creating a narrative for a tour. Because of Britney’s insane star power, the feedback was always immediate and massive. That was exciting then.
Kurt: Looking back now, to have been part of Britney coming into her own, controlling her own image and voice as an artist, was a really singular experience, and it feels really special to have been a part of. We will always cherish our time with her.
Bart: Yeah, I agree. To have what we did with Britney have been such big part of so many people’s lives, to have influenced new artists and another generation, and to know that it still resonates, that’s exciting.