Brand spanking new fashion label, Cottweiler, are friends Matthew Dainty, 26, and Ben Cottrell, 24. Both young, charming and attractive, but quite different. Matt’s the talker, a skinhead born in New York and raised in Essex (the accent is definitely Essex). Ben is a little more reserved, wearing a button-up shirt and slick side-parting, raised in Bristol on a council estate and now living in east London. They've just launched their sexy and very masculine (I'd quite like some myself) menswear brand, with a collection for S/S 2009. I dropped by Matt’s studio in Dalston to meet the boys and chat about their first collection.

Elias Redstone: First off, what's the soundtrack in your studio? Give us a couple tracks for the interview.

Belle Epoque , 'Miss Broadway'

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Grace Jones, 'Man Around the House'

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ER: So how did you guys originally meet?

Ben: We were both studying fashion in Bristol at the University of the West of England. Matt was the year above but dropped out, so we ended up studying in the same year.

Matt: There were forty girls in our year and we were the only two boys, and only four of us did menswear. It was a bit of a shit university but it just meant that we stood out more. We really helped each other with our final collections. Ben was good at patterns, tailoring and shapes...

Ben: ...and Matt is amazing at the overall vision and styling. Although we had different skills we shared a similar style and used the same models for our shows.

ER: You mention Matt's overall vision - what is it?

Matt: I like to create a lifestyle, an ideal. What I and others might aspire to be or look like. I dont see the future of Cottweiler as just a clothing label - the overall image has to be relative to the people that wear it.

Ben: I agree it's not just about the clothing - it's about confidence, aspiration and belonging.

ER: How did growing up on a council estate influence you and your work?

Ben: For me, it gave me a sense of realization. Being surrounded by red brick government funded housing and unemployment on a daily basis gave me and a lot of my childhood friends a desire to do better, or at least to appear as if we were doing "alright". The want for designer clothing and the latest trainers were mine and my friends way of being a part of something amongst ourselves, and without knowing it we created our own little trends. Although we were a group it was also very important to stand out as individuals. This has definately influenced the way we design - a sense of belonging but also standing out.

ER: What did you do after you graduated?

Matt: I was assisting Kim Jones for a year, and then started freelancing for designers like Hackett and Buckler, and got a full-time job designing for high street brands. It’s very commercial but great for understanding manufacturing, production and how the industry works. Ben was interning at Ozwald Boateng during college. They offered him a job when he graduated. He’s amazing at tailoring and you can see that in our range.

I ask to see the new collection and Matt rifles through the racks and pulls out the designs for S/S 2009. The vests are all long and square cut, the tops low slung and structured. The colours are light and washed out, influenced by vintage sportswear. There are a couple of big printed tees that will no doubt be picked up in the editorial pages. There is also a line of accessories. I get to see some black and white leather boots, and on the way are leather bags, cuffs and more boots.

Matt: All the tops are long and square cut. It’s a really good cut that looks good on different guys. We get influenced by skinheads and lads we see on the street so our cuts are really masculine. We were inspired a lot by a book I found on teenage Russian prisoners. I also love Larry Clark’s early work.

Ben: For me it is about identity amongst a group of boys, about ‘being the boy’. We wanted to keep everything British-made, but that’s proving really difficult at the moment. If we could reach that point it would be really amazing.

ER: 'Being a boy' has been interpreted by a variety of people: Bruce Weber, Jack Spade, Peter Pan... What does it mean to you?

Ben: Getting away with it!

ER: How do gay boys fit in there?

Matt: It's been really interesting to work with Ben and have the straight man's point of view. He can really see what the gay attraction is to the image of the label from us being mates, and the same goes for me. We like to do stuff that's a little provocative - that appeals to both gay and straight boys.

Ben: I agree. I don't think it's about being gay or straight it's about a knowing admiration from other boys.

Matt shows me his mood board. Disengaged boys. Punks. Jocks. Dogs. It looks like a mix of fashion and fetish.

Matt: We both like skinheads, but for different reasons. If it was left up to me the brand would be more gay. Ben keeps me in check. And our work is really collaborative. We work with people we know and love. My boyfriend, Ben’s girlfriend and our mates help with accessories, jewelry and graphics. They know what we like.

ER: What does it for you about skinheads? Why do they turn you on?

Matt: I just get turned on by anyone who looks like they are going punch the shit out of someone.

Ben: For me, true skinheads (not the racist cocks) are one of the most style-conscious subcultures to ever come out of England. The attention to detail in appearance is impeccable.

ER: Who would you like to see wearing your clothes?

Matt: So many guys (with a cheeky grin), but I don’t know all their names.

Ben: Just normal guys really. Lads.

ER: Young offenders are an obvious influence. You must have seen Scum - what's your favorite scene?

Ben: Yes I've watched Scum a few times. To pick a favorite scene is hard, there's so many, but the sock and pool ball, the potting shed, and the "that ain't a tool" scenes are pretty dark, but honest.

ER: What’s the shoot for EVB going to be like?

Matt: We’re shooting it in a council block. It looks like a young offender’s dorm room. Lots of gym shorts and boots. We’re filming and photographing it so it will look quite grainy.

ER: Who’s the model on this shoot?

Matt: His name is Billy. He was scouted by a mate and it will be his first shoot. I scouted another boy the other day to model for us - he was working on a construction site for one of the new towers in the city and hasn’t modelled before either.

ER: What is your ideal model?

Ben: Clean, but rough.

ER: How would you describe your own look?

Matt: Ben’s more Mod. I’m more preppy.

Ben: Matt’s more street. I like wearing suits.

ER: Matt, who is your preppy style icon?

Matt: My older brother (who is far more handsome) has been a huge influence on the preppy side of things. When I was at my primary school in America, he was at a prep school in New England. I still wear his hand-me-downs from high school now. I think my prep style had been ingrained at an early age.

ER: Ben, who is your Mod fashion icon?

Ben: Otis reading. Have you seen how sharp the crease is in his trousers?
Photography and film stills shot for EVB by Nicola Steele
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INTRODUCING THE EAST VILLAGE BOYS ARTIST TEE SERIES
ARTIST TEE #1: SCOOTER LAFORGE

Scooter's work has been shown in gay bar bathrooms, laundromat galleries, and Patricia Field clothing racks; Iggy Pop’s back, and mental hospital walls; and somehow combines a range of visuals from children’s book style-riffs, to watersports, cigars and leather daddy boots. What’s not to love?

All of the shirts are hand-silkscreened in metallic silver ink with individually hand-painted additions of blue, pink, yellow, and gold glitter by Scooter, signed and numbered on the back. Limited to an edition of 75 shirts. Available exclusively through the EVB Store.
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This week's East Village Boy of the Week was removed at the request of a revisionist,
a year after it was published.

The first work we ever saw from Scooter LaForge, was a playful bright blue bunny wearing a bow tie and "FUCK OFF" written around it's head. Probably the most succinct introduction to his world. It gets more complicated from there. Scooter claims he's making fun of himself in his work, but I can't help but think he's got a keenly developed sense of schadenfreude. I mean, what's not funny about a screaming child getting peed on by a storybook bear.

His work has been shown in gay bar bathrooms, laundromat galleries, and Patricia Field clothing racks; Iggy Pop's back, and mental hospital walls; and somehow combines a range of visuals from children's book style-riffs, to watersports, cigars and leather daddy boots. What's not to love?

Weston Bingham: Let's start with your name. Scooter sounds like too perfect of a complement to your work to be the name your parents gave you. Is it?

Scooter LaForge: Ahhhhhh my name... I was working at a 7-Eleven in San Pedro, California, during my coming-of-age years, and hated all the the trash coming in there bossing me around to make the Slurpees and nachos, so I gave myself that name, after my sister's dog, and ever since then I've gone by Scooter. It fits and I'm know as Uncle Scooter to all my nieces and nephews - it's really cute.

WB: You just moved to New York (East Village, of course) from San Francisco. What's your take on your new home?

SL: I frickin' love it here, although I have had some hard times here, including being admitted into the psych ward at Bellevue Hospital, (no need to worry, I'm all good), I've been held up by gunpoint, held hostage and been married and divorced four times - but I wouldn't change it for the world. It was the best move I've made. I wanted to be here and in the East Village since I was five. The movie Breakfast at Tiffany's made me want to move here. I've found a place here for myself. You know what they say, if you can make it in New York City, you will fail everywhere else.

WB: Man, I want to ask about the marriage/divorce thing, but I'm going to go with: held hostage?

SL: My first job in New York City, I was managing the Earl Jean boutique in Soho, and one morning we came in for an early morning meeting and a man came right up behind me with a gun to my back and followed my in. My two co-workers were already in the store, and he brought us all downstairs and locked us in the office. I felt so bad for one girl, she was soooooo scared that she peed in her pants. The really stupid idiot only took $200 from our petty cash box, and bypassed the eight $4,000 leather jackets on the sales floor. Needless to say this was an inside job through our security company we were using at the time. I had to go and pick out the guy from a lineup at the police station, just like in Law and Order, and then I testified in front of a grand jury and the guy went to jail for 18 years.

WB: What does a night out with you usually involve?

SL: A night out is a rarity for me, I used to be a hardcore clubber, but those days are over. I do still go to private house parties, but bars and clubs are boring for me these days - I don't drink anymore so all I do is usually cruise and play pinball. Lame, right?

WB: You have a formal art education, but you certainly aren't concerned with proving any sort of pedigree. Have you abandoned the "canon" or are you picking a fight with it?

SL: At Cooper Union the more fucked-up the better - they push that in their painters. I'm not picking a fight, I've just always done my own thing. I did learn tons in school, but continuing to paint and not stopping is where the learning comes in. I have some artist friends who come over and look at my work and give me some critiques - sometime I take them and sometimes I leave them. My paintings are like black licorice - you love it or hate it. I have to say most people love them.
WB: What attracted us immediately to your work was your "naive" style used to deliver content that is far from naive.

SL: Sweet and sick are my messages. I'm not a formal person or painter - it makes things so much more interesting. I think one has to learn the essentials as far as drawing and perspective, and then go into abstract and naive styles. I love opposites, the unexpected, and things that are uncomfortable to look at.

WB: Your paintings are loaded with familiar happy childhood references and characters, but they're all imbued with a sense of doom, anxiety, and cruelty. Or maybe it's the other way around. Where does it come from?

SL: I had a bit of a fucked-up childhood, I was a total trouble maker. ALWAYS in trouble, cops always at my parent's house, lots of drugs and alcohol - everything you can imagine, I did it. I don't do any more drugs, nor do I condone it, but all of my past is why I'm here, and I don't shut the door on the past. I do have lots of memories that I pull from, and sometimes it makes a great picture. I have had high highs in life and really low lows in life. Most of the doom, anxiety and cruelty and things, I've experienced.


WB: I used to be scared to death when my parents would read The Gingerbread Man to me - the story of the gingerbread man cookie that came to life and all the other characters chased him and bit off parts. Do you think the childhood imagery you use in your work hits others in a similar way?

SL: For sure, some of the scariest stories are children stories. It's really fucked-up. Read Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - this man did not like kids.

WB: What would the plot of your children's book be, Uncle Scooter?

SL: Well I would title it Master Scooter's Secret Garden of Delight and Danger, and the premise would be that anyone who enters, enters at their risk but all of their fantasies would come true. One could get pissed on or sucker-punched, or even shit on (just kidding that's really gross). But it would be like Candyland or Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

WB: Talk about some of the recurring "characters" in your paintings: bears, bunnies, birds, cats, some of the Disney family...

SL: Each and every one one of these characters are friends of mine. I'll leave their names out to protect them, but the bear and Ajax the cat are both friends of mine I met at the Eagle bar in New York. The guy sucking his own dick is a boyfriend of mine who was kind enough to pose for me - this guy is really hot - he needs to be one of your Boys of the Week.

I love them all and most of them have been my lovers or fuck-buddies at one time or another. Every time I have a trick over at my house they get a t-shirt or get to pick a painting to take home. I've always been afraid of people forgetting about me so they get gifts.

WB: So if they are your lovers and fuck-buddies, are you the one getting peed on, the cry-baby, or the dead things?

SL: God, I hope my mother doesn't read this but, all of the above and vice versa for my partners.

WB: When you pass out the gifts, do you have quality categories? Like a good blowjob gets you a small painting, but a proper fucking gets you something more sofa-sized?

SL: [laughs] Totally hilarious! Yeah, the amount of fun I have determines how big the painting is. Usually everyone gets a t-shirt though.
WB: OK, honestly, what's wrong with you?

SL: I've been trying for the last 36 years to figure that out! Go and ask the doctors at Bellevue Hospital. They have a collection of some of my paintings hanging in the Mental Hygiene section, by the way. Cool, right!

WB: So, you're a case-study?

SL: Yeah, and I got accepted into this really cool program at Bellevue that very few people qualify for that is going on right now. So I am good with all the doctors there and believe it or not, I've sold some paintings to them!

WB: Of all the "legit" places you've exhibited your work, why do you think the San Angel Folk Art Gallery in San Antonio, Texas, exhibits your decidedly not folk art?

SL: Hank, the owner, has always been drawn to it, and thank god. This is the only gallery I have sold work from for the past 13 years. San Antonio has some sick motherfuckers. People keep buying the work, and I love them for it. At this point in time I'm not picky about where my work is shown. I've shown in a laundromat, and had a show in a really dingy bathroom in a gay bar.WB: Your work isn't overtly, or even intentionally gay - what do you think is "queer" about your work?

SL: I don't put myself in that box, and believe it or not, more women respond to my work than men. Crazy, right? I actually sold a painting of a boy sucking himself off, to a woman from Rhode Island, and she was like a Martha Stuart or Judge Judy type - total housewife.

WB: Your combination of whimsy and cruelty sounds like a sound foundation for a great kink.

SL: I do love the combination of fucked-up masks and sex - they turn me on. Check out the picture of me in the monkey mask and imagine getting fucked...

WB: Tell us about your t-shirt designs. Unlike a lot of t-shirt designers, you do a lot of hand work to each one, right?

SL: Yeah, they are all hand painted and hand silkscreened. I sell them at Trash and Vaudeville in the East Village and Live Fast in the Lower East Side, and now on your site. They're inspired by the Vivienne Westwood Seditionaries punk rock tees from the late 70s. They have X-rated images, profanity, and are pure sex.

WB: What's the next manifestation of your vision?

SL: I don't know yet, but I guarantee it'll be really fucked-up.

WB: Any shows coming up?

SL: Yeah, I do have a show coming up in San Francisco, I just had one in Texas and now I'm trying to find a space here.

WB: What's the guestlist for your next party - living, dead, imaginary or otherwise.

SL: Frida Kahlo, Willem de Kooning, Joanne Whirly, Charles Nelson Reilly, Hillary Clinton, Marc Jacobs, Andy Warhol, Jean Benet Ramsey, Don Rickles, Judge Judy, Spaghetti Cat, Michael Jackson, Cat Lady.

Portraits of Scooter shot for EVB by Nodeth Vang
All artwork courtesy of and ©Scooter LaForge
Scooter LaForge EVB Artist Series Tee available in the EVB Store
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