When John Waters sat down with WWD in April 1990 to promote his new flick “Cry-Baby” (starring Johnny Depp, then referred to as a “current teen idol” by WWD), the outré director had fashion on the brain. “I always wanted to cover a crime completely by fashion,” Waters told WWD. “What they wore when they committed the crime, what they wore to the trial, how they dealt with fashion on death row….I wanted the press card so I could butt in front of police cars and yell, ‘What were they wearing?’”
The reason for Waters’ criminal fascination?
“People look better under arrest,” he explained. “Even when they hide their face it’s glamorous. It’s criminal beauty. The lighting’s good, plus you have that certain cachet of six counts of murder or something. It gives you an aggressive fashion look.”
In day-to-day life, however, Waters was more interested in footwear. “I look at people’s shoes when I meet them — that’s how you read a person’s soul,” he said, adding, “If anyone wears clogs, they couldn’t be my friend.” (Here’s guessing you won’t find Waters in a pair of Crocs this summer.)
Here, outtakes from Waters’ WWD portrait session, as well as some of our favorite photographs of his muse, the inimitable drag queen Divine.