Johnny Marr, who recently sold nearly 100 of his guitars at an auction that raised $5 million – says it’s easier to part with instruments than with his collection of clothes. In fact, throughout his life, fashion has been as much a passion for him as playing. “I’d find it harder to get rid of some of my jackets than I would some of my guitars,” he tells Mr Porter. “Oh man, I’m getting a visceral reaction even thinking about it.”
He adds: “Growing up in the inner city in the 1970s, me and my sister were clothes freaks. It’s like the way some families like football. It’s part of the culture.”
Marr’s only job before becoming a musician was a sales assistant in a Manchester fashion shop, X-Clothes – and he says there’s only one reason he got the position.
“Me and my girlfriend would make what bits of money we could by [going] on the train to London, coming down to King’s Road and buying shirts and jackets, and bringing them back up to Manchester. That’s how I made enough to buy my guitar and amp.”
Bypassing any notion of the ancient rivalry between Manchester and Liverpool, Marr names a slightly surprising fashion influence. “I was super into Stuart Sutcliffe, who was the guy who didn’t make it with the Beatles,” he says. “At the very, very start of the Smiths I had a quiff, a V-neck sweater and a white polo neck, and that was deliberately inspired by Stu Sutcliffe.”
He goes on to say that he often wore clothes designed for women because he liked what his sister’s friends wore, referring to an early promo shot. “I’ve got a haircut that belongs on a woman in 1965. Deliberately. It just evolved. It just grew and grew – that was purely out of audacity in seeing how far I could push it.
“I’ve got loads of eye makeup on as well. I wanted an exaggerated feminine look. For a straight boy that was par for the course where I’m from, but it did surprise Americans.”
Marr – who just released his new album The Age of Everything – reflects: “I know what works for me and I have some strong, strong feelings about what you really can’t wear while you’re playing the guitar. Anything that makes the guitar look like a banjo. That’s the problem with baggy stuff. It makes your guitar look too small.”
