The Next Creative Directors: Max Sperber

Max Sperber
23 years old
Los Angeles, CA
First-year BA at Central Saint Martins

Jane Lewis: What's one of the first things that you ever designed?

Max Sperber: It was costume design. I was shooting this short story on Super 8 [Film] my sophomore year of high school. It was an abstract retelling of Persephone, the Greek goddess, but it had a queer subtext. I designed this queen of the underworld gown which was very influenced by the volumes of the Valentino show that year. It was made out of trash bag material and there was a large head piece and a flower in her mouth. It was Björk meets Valentino.

J: The headpieces are a theme for you?

M: Yeah, I’m just working on the language and iterations of it. 

J: So what's your design ethos? 

M: It ends up being an amalgamation of everything that I've been consuming and feeling in that moment. For the White Show piece, I was really sad when Donald Trump won again. I was in my bed wearing this big, baggy sweater, and I just wanted to cry. The sweater was really comforting at that moment. I started to think about how it was just another day, and you’ve got to keep going. This idea emerged of comfort embodied in the sweater, but still having to perform and be okay. The White Show look ended up being a mix of those emotions, of the comfort of that sweater with [the headpiece of] a showgirl, that idea of performance. So the top [of the look] was a sweater, but slashed and spread, and it had this weird volume. I was being really playful with it, having those drop crotch panties. It was a humorous take of what had happened, that Trump had won again, and the feelings that I felt. My ethos is still developing, but it's based on my instincts and feelings.

J: I think when people attach their ideas to other things, it can become inauthentic.

M: It's always going to come from you. And I really believe that. My work has always been autobiographical. My peacock boy [feather] headpiece was about down low boys who were peacocking around, and my heartbreak with that, but also the otherworldly beauty that those boys were.

J: If you could design a uniform for any profession, what would it be and what would it look like?

M: Instinctively, I have to say a showgirl. A stripper, a performer, a pole dancer, something to do with performance. Some Anora energy, and some Paris Is Burning energy. Everything would be made out of butterfly wings, feathers, fur, snake leather, jewels, and crystals. It would be amazing. 

J: What's a piece of media that you feel has had a really profound impact on you?

M: I’m going to be cliche and say Paris Is Burning. It's such a great film. Or any directors’ magnum opus, where the director went balls to the wall. I think of Brazil (Terry Gilliam), of 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick), and Legend (Ridley Scott) when I say that. These grand fantasies that had massive set design and costume design. Pure will and determination got them through those films. I see that same determination in the girls in Paris Is Burning. They just keep on going and showing off all the way. I think of something that just has that, “no matter how hard you push me, I'm always just going to move forward,” headstrong attitude. Media made with that mentality I really gravitate to.

J: What have you been up to when you're not sewing? 

MS: Girl, sleeping. Wholeheartedly, I am in my bed. I think the bed is such an important space. I'll probably make more work on bed rotting. I find that interesting.

J: What's your favorite medium for transposing your ideas?

M: When I get it right, I feel the most content with photography. When I get a good image, it’s game over. Specifically medium format film photography. The whole process of honoring that photo, developing it, putting it in an enlarger, going through the printing process, trying to get the colors right, and it's so sharp and detailed. A great image is my favorite thing to capture. 

J: Last question: super deep, super intellectual. What's your favorite color?

M: I used to not have one, then I decided on chartreuse. It's acidic. It has an energy. It's both calming and bright. A smile but also a scream.