John Waters (and His Mustache) Is Now A Face of Saint Laurent

All hail the "Pope of Trash."

Mikelle Street

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.

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Mikelle Street

July 24 2020 6:32 AM EST

November 04 2024 9:47 AM EST

MikelleStreet

From turning filth into cult classic films to front major fashion brands, John Waters has truly done it all.

Known for his transgressive practice, John Waters is the latest face of the French fashion brand Saint Laurent. He appears in a sharp suit from the brand with black shades, shot by David Sims.

"My name is John Waters, " he says in an accompanying video. "Transgression is when you break the rules and you make people laugh." The line encapsulates much of what Waters does. His films Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Multiple Manias, and other collaborations with creatives like Divine, are all connected by their transgressive nature. In the past, he's been dubbed the "Pope of Trash," the "King of Puke," and even the "People's Pervert" in his time.

And it seems that transgressive is where fashion is going. Divine received a capsule collaboration in her honor from the brand LOEWE. And prior to that, Waters had another project in the form of a 2019 Nike campaign.

This comes as Waters has always been quite specific about the way he dressed. His mustache is a signature.

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"I dressed like a hippie pimp," he once told the New York Times. " I had long hair and wore ridiculous thrift-shop shirts. The moustache just went along with my sleazy look." That mustache isn't actually grown, instead Waters shaves off the little facial hair he grows and then draws in new growth with an eyeliner pencil.