Johnson Hartig
Libertine burst onto the fashion scene back in 2001, with a collection of quirky-cool reworked vintage duds designed by quirky-cool duo Johnson Hartig and Cindy Greene. Supported by the likes of Anna Wintour, Karl Lagerfeld and John Galliano, Libertine won the Ecco Domani Fashion Award in 2003, was nominated for a CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2004 and did limited-edition collaborations with Converse, Target, Goyard, Muji Be@rbrick and Damian Hirst.
Johnson and Cindy parted ways in 2009 and Johnson continued Libertine on his own, with a newfound focus on modernized prints and patterns that made for a more sophisticated, cohesive collection. Today, the line is carried at Bergdorf Goodman, Maxfield, Linda Dresner, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s, along with dozens of stores in Asia and Europe, including Joyce, Isetan, Colette and Harvey Nichols. Additionally, Johnson won the CFDA Lexus Eco Fashion Challenge in 2011 for his sustainable silkscreened collection, the results of which will debut on the New York catwalk during Fashion Week.
Lauren David Peden: Is this year Libertine’s tenth anniversary?
Johnson Hartig: It was ten years in September, yeah. Amazing.
Lauren: Well congratulations—that’s quite a feat.
Johnson: That is quite a feat. I didn’t appreciate it fully until someone said the other day, ‘You know, you just don’t give yourself enough credit. To run a successful, profitable business for ten years is really something.’ Cindy and I both suffered from fear of commitment, so we always took it very slowly and only took on as much as we really knew we could handle, so it never seemed very overwhelming. I guess there were moments but it’s been, for the most part, such an enjoyable process and just kind of level. Cindy and I, of course, had our little bit [of drama] when we separated, but now it seems like we’re better friends than we ever were.
Lauren: And how is the line different now than when you started?
Johnson: When we started, very few people had seen silkscreening on vintage clothing. I’ve always loved American folk art and the darker side of American history, so we incorporated a lot of that into the ideas for graphics. I remember when we first printed an American eagle on a shirt… Wow, this is kind of punk rock—that we’re taking something so iconic and turning it on its head. But quickly the whole aesthetic was adopted by so many other people that I learned by the third or fourth year that if we’re gonna stay ahead of this, we gotta really keep on our toes. The last two and a half years since, I’ve been doing it on my own, I decided I want to take it in a whole new direction, so I was doing graphics that weren’t representational. The first [solo] season I did these dots, I didn’t do any kind of a presentation or show but I did do a video that’s on the website. I’ve continued with that. It just seems newer, it seems fresher, it seems more modern. The line is less historical and more contemporary feeling—just modern and cleaner. I was fearful a little bit, but the Libertine audience been so responsive and we’ve garnered a ton of new devotees.
Lauren: And as a whole, the line is still based on vintage clothes?
Johnson: Yes.
Lauren: Do you deconstruct them always?
Johnson: No, sometimes we don’t. I have decided recently that next season I’m gonna start deconstructing the blazers, which we’ve always deconstructed less. So we’ll see how that plays out.
Lauren: Why?
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