Designer Victor Barragán on Catholicism, Cock-Blocking, and Cancel Culture

 

MONDAY JAN. 9, 2023 12:32 PM L.A.

Victor Barragán caught Mel Ottenberg’s attention after casting the best ass in town for his controversial runway show last season. Over a choppy Zoom call, the surprisingly soft-spoken Mexican American designer told our editor-in-chief about his OnlyFans experiment, and why he thinks the Catholic Church is both a source of shame and scintillating perversion.

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VICTOR BARRAGÁN: Hello?

MEL OTTENBERG: How are you? 

BARRAGÁN: Good. I’m in L.A., escaping the cold a little.

OTTENBERG: I’m in L.A., too. I’m bummed I couldn’t meet you because I got COVID, but here we are on Zoom. 

BARRAGÁN: It’s fine.

OTTENBERG: Let me get my questions here really quick. The shoot looks great by the way.

BARRAGÁN: I’m so excited to see the photos. They told me about the inflatable gun. [Laughs]

OTTENBERG: You guys can put those pictures out later if you want. Just don’t say they’re for Interview. 

BARRAGÁN: Yeah.

OTTENBERG: I like them, and I like your freedom of expression, which is partially why I’m such a fan. It’s just that the idea of guns has become so damaged in America because America’s so unwilling to do anything about gun violence. The Republicans, they just take the fun out of everything.

BARRAGÁN: Exactly.

OTTENBERG: But seriously, what I really like about your work is that you’re using guns, using sex, using drugs—talking about all of these things and making fashion out of them is fab.

BARRAGÁN: Thank you. 

OTTENBERG: So while I can’t use a lot of that stuff without getting canceled—wait, what does that belt say? Does it say “HOMOPHOBE”?

BARRAGÁN: Yeah. [Laughs]

OTTENBERG: It’s my favorite accessory from the Spring/Summer 2023 season, babe. It’s perfect fashion be- cause it’s not for everyone—but if you get it, you get it.

BARRAGÁN: I always try to use a sense of humor in what I do because sometimes the things are really intense. I don’t want to be preachy, so it’s better just to have a little joke about it. It’s a way to change the meaning, change the context, and then have a conversation—and obviously have some fun, too. Not all of it has to be so serious.

OTTENBERG: Totally. Meth is a big problem in the gay community, so a meth belt and meth glam is the best thing for the time.

BARRAGÁN: People give me a hard time about the meth theme because it could be associated with lower-income communities. But meth is like the most welcoming diversity drug. So many people in different social brackets use it. It’s a big bitch, so let’s talk about it, and then have a little drama with Twin Towers, and American capitalism. It’s a good balance of everything.

OTTENBERG: I absolutely love that, and I feel that it’s not very intelligent to think that someone is being offensive by talking about 9/11. It happened. Wait. How did you cast the last show?

BARRAGÁN: We didn’t tell anybody

anything, so it was a surprise. When they came to the fitting, they were like, “What’s going on?” [Laughs] Some people didn’t want to wear the meth t-shirts. But we always talk with our models like, “This is the idea. No pressure. We have more options.” We casted through friends and worked with an agency from upstate. Some guys were like Bruce Weber Americana style, super beautiful. They had guys from upstate New York and Buffalo. Everything came out really cute.

OTTENBERG: I loved it. I thought it was so hysterical when I saw Angus O’Brien in the “J’ADORE UR HOLE” sweatshirt. I was like, “Wait, I’ve got to get that in the magazine.” Angus has one of the best asses of this era, and I’m very impressed with that—respectfully. Okay. So we talked about the boys, but who is your ideal woman, Victor?

BARRAGÁN: Ideal woman?

OTTENBERG: Yeah. The ideal Barragán woman.

BARRAGÁN: In the past, I was always just showcasing my friends. They were Latina women, a little bitchy and catty. They remind me of home, like the saucy aunties. [Laughs]

OTTENBERG: You live in New York?

BARRAGÁN: Yeah.

OTTENBERG: What’s your American dream?

BARRAGÁN: I guess the American dream for me was to be able to stay in the country. I got married. I did everything by the book.

OTTENBERG: Amazing. 

BARRAGÁN: So it’s kind of cheesy

and funny, what I’m doing now. 

OTTENBERG: One hundred percent. Does OnlyFans influence your work?

BARRAGÁN: Yeah. I started doing OnlyFans when COVID happened. It was research. I went, “Let’s really go deep on this.” Eventually, I started getting naked on Twitter and Instagram. It helped me grasp the idea of how we portray sexual freedom. Now, I’ve stopped. I got bored of it. 

OTTENBERG: When was the last time you posted?

BARRAGÁN: I have a Twitter account, so people keep subscribing, but I haven’t posted in a long time. Maybe I’ll come back later.

OTTENBERG: That’s interesting.

BARRAGÁN: I was just trying to experience that freedom. It helps you feel comfortable with your body. There’s so many good aspects of it, but then people start to message you a lot, and they want more. It turns into a job, and I didn’t ask for that. Some people were really rude and crazy. They were telling me, “I know where you live,” all this creepy stuff. That’s when I was like, “Okay, I need to be careful with this.”

OTTENBERG: Right.

BARRAGÁN: It got to the point where things turned a little negative in my head. So I was like, “I think I should stay away from this.”

OTTENBERG: It’s addictive like meth, babe.

BARRAGÁN: You get addicted to the attention.

OTTENBERG: Besides OnlyFans, what are your biggest influences for Barragán?

BARRAGÁN: Everything starts with my personal experience. I always talk about Mexico, but I’m making fun of, like, “I’m from Mexico,” at the same time. At the end of the day, you have a little of everything. I think that’s the way so many people can relate to what I’m talking about. It’s not like, “Oh, this is just for Mexicans because he’s Mexican.”

OTTENBERG: What kind of music are you listening to these days?

BARRAGÁN: I listen to everything. But usually, it’s ’90s rock or something like that. That’s the way to go.

OTTENBERG: Hot. Have you ever been canceled?

BARRAGÁN: No, and that’s definitely not what I was trying to do. [Laughs] But when I was doing the CFDA [the Council of Fashion Designers of America], they had a talk with me, like, “You have to stop just pushing people’s minds.” But always the idea is to do something really outrageous.

OTTENBERG: So you don’t want to be canceled. You just want to fuck with the culture of cancellation.

BARRAGÁN: Yeah. I know exactly what to do to get canceled. [Laughs] The point is to push ideas of how cancel culture has evolved. In a way, it’s cock-blocking artistic expression. That’s not to say you can’t talk about something really, really sensitive. You have to find meaning behind it, and not just try to provoke people.

OTTENBERG: I like it. Who are you trying to please and who are you trying to piss off with your work?

BARRAGÁN: I try to please myself, that’s definitely the priority. [Laughs] I’m trying to piss off the whole society that made me feel attacked in the past. Now, it’s different but there’s rage from childhood. The Catholic Church, for sure.

OTTENBERG: Of course. 

BARRAGÁN: That shit really stuck in my head. I’m still letting go of some things.

OTTENBERG: Do you think that being flooded with anger for the Catholic Church makes a really horny, kinky person? I have some Catholic friends, Reformed Catholics, that think the church is so over-the-top that it can make a pervert out of you in a good way.

BARRAGÁN: Definitely. I have a tattoo of Jesus Christ on my ass. I love to play with that imagery and I think it can turn into a really kinky way to do something subversive because you have so much guilt growing up as a Catholic person. Now I’m much better about accepting being gay. Growing up, it’s like, “You go to hell. You go to hell. You go to hell.” I had to move out of Mexico to separate myself from that.

OTTENBERG: Right. So you’ve got Jesus Christ on your ass. What do you consider your worst tattoo?

BARRAGÁN: I have this octopus on my arm. It’s huge. It’s ugly as fuck, and I hate it. [Laughs] It was free. I have so many tattoos, so I need to cover that one. It’s so ugly.

OTTENBERG: Victor, are you a capitalist?

BARRAGÁN: I’m definitely becoming one.

OTTENBERG: Cute. What’s your favorite movie?

BARRAGÁN: I watched Birth yesterday with Nicole Kidman.

OTTENBERG: Ooh, it’s so good.

BARRAGÁN: I was like, “Wow. I think that’s my favorite movie now.” I never saw it in my life, and I was like, “This is insane.” 

OTTENBERG: Birth is incredible. For all the people, watch Birth. Nicole Kidman 2004. Wow. Wow. Wow. Okay. What would your last meal be, your death row meal? 

BARRAGÁN: This is corny, but my mom’s food. Enchiladas. 

OTTENBERG: I bet your mom’s enchiladas are really good. What is your daily uniform, Victor?

BARRAGÁN: I’ve been wearing this Harvard hoodie because I love the pictures of Princess Diana running in it. I wear it every day. 

OTTENBERG: Alright. What’s your dream day in Mexico City? 

BARRAGÁN: The museums. I love all of them.

OTTENBERG: Which museums are we plugging?

BARRAGÁN: The Museo Nacional de Antropología and the whole Chapultepec.

OTTENBERG: Fab. Are you going to do a show in February? 

BARRAGÁN: Oh, no, no, no. We’ll do it in September. Only once a year.

OTTENBERG: So for now, you’re just hanging out?

BARRAGÁN: Yeah. We’re going to drop something in April, but it’s not part of the season. It’ll be something chill.

OTTENBERG: Any goals for Barragán in the future?

BARRAGÁN: I want to be more accessible. This season was the most wearable season I’ve done. I want it to be less crazy in the construction.

OTTENBERG: Yes. Cool. Then my last question for you, Victor, is what’s your drug of choice?

BARRAGÁN: Ketamine.

OTTENBERG: Alright. Thanks for talking to me.

BARRAGÁN: Thank you.

OTTENBERG: Bye, Victor.

BARRAGÁN: Bye.

 

 

 

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Hair: Evanie Frausto using Bumble and Bumble at Streeters

Makeup: Adrián González

Production: Monserrat Castera

Casting: Maria Osado At Guerxs

Models: Ana Karen Buendia at Guerxs, Ivert Mina at New Icon, Julie Fuentes at Guerxs, Yayoarenas at Talento Espina, Ámbar Venegas at Guerxs, Bleiner Arroyave at New Icon, and Eddie Lopez Bautista

Photography Assistant: Jordan Rodriguez

Fashion Assistants: Samantha Menchac and Zyaana Galván