Q&A: Nikki Lund

The Highlow.com

Nikki Lund designs White Trash Beautiful with Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora. Their first collection debuted at LA Fashion Week in March, with Richie’s 12-year-old daughter Ava Sambora on the catwalk and her mother Heather Locklear in the audience. The range features lots of black, leather and zippers and will hit stores in the fall. On the phone from her office in downtown LA, Lund cautions her fashion line, “is not rock’n’roll. It’s clothes with balls.”

What are you wearing right now?

A vintage jersey that says, Love Heals, a tattered pair of jeans and high heels.

How did you come to meet Richie Sambora?

I met Richie through my last clothing line, Eccentric Symphony. He was a fan of that line and called and we started collaborating on different ideas. I made some custom pieces for him and that’s how it happened.

What’s Richie’s involvement?

Richie has input on all the designs, on all the inspirations. He writes the music with me, he produces, he’s very involved.

You’re making music with Richie?

We’re going to be putting out an album. We’re making guerilla dance music. It’s dance rock and roll. Richie plays his guitar and I sing and write.

Do you have a record label?

It’ll be [available] online.

What do you want to achieve with White Trash Beautiful?

We want to inspire people. It’s a new generation, Generation Y. And everybody is trying to figure out what the heck is going on. Record companies are crumbling. The entertainment business isn’t what it used to be. There’s a new way to put things out and be heard: through the internet, blogging and social media. Anybody can do anything now. We’re going to be a media company more than a fashion company. We’re going to do a tv show.

Will it be a reality-tv series?

Right now, we’re on Showtime: The Real L Word. We were on episode five and there’s more to come. Because Mikey in The Real L Word, produced our LA fashion show. And then we’re also working on a reality tv show, for us. It’s going to be the real side of fashion – what people don’t show you about fashion. The ugly side of beauty, basically.

Who is the White Trash Beautiful girl?

I think of her as a girl who is from the wrong side of the tracks, she’s made her way back and is really a classy princess at heart. It’s almost like Cinderella. You know what I mean? She’s a success in her own right.

We have three tiers to the line. We have the black collection that is custom pieces, and then we have the platinum collection that’s more ready-to-wear. And then we have 24k that is more loungewear – hoodies and sweats. We’re really going to cater to every single woman.

I think there’s a really big void in the market now for people to take a chance with fashion. Let fashion be fashion, again. Nobody is really doing anything that makes a statement and to me that’s the most important thing.

How did Carrie Underwood end up wearing White Trash Beautiful?

Her stylist, Trish Townsend came into our showroom and picked out some stuff for her.

Is there anyone you want to see wear White Trash Beautiful?

I would love to dress Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek and Megan Fox. I think they’re so sexy those girls.

What about Helen Mirren – could she wear White Trash Beautiful?

Well, she just ate out of a homeless guy’s yoghurt cup. She’s pretty daring. She just walked up to him and took a bite of his yoghurt. Sometimes people can surprise you. That’s the thing: everyone has a bit of white trash in them.