How Rick Castro Became the King of Fetish
Currents
My first introduction to Rick Castro, the American photographer, director, writer, and stylist, was seeing his name appear in bold white letters at the beginning of Hustler White (1996), a movie about male hustlers on Southern California’s Santa Monica Blvd., which he directed with Bruce LaBruce. After watching the film, I went on a deep dive into his work and found his photographs of men bound in duct tape, rope, and leather. No one has mastered the art of tying up men like Rick Castro. His evocative black-and-white photography garnered him success and respect, even earning him the title of the King of Fetish. I had the privilege of sitting down with the King of Fetish to discuss all things fashion and fetish.
Chance Goode: So you just attended the Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival in Berlin; how was it?
Rick Castro: It was great. I’d never been to Berghain, let alone exhibited at Halle am Berghain. This was a dream come true.
Rick Castro’s exhibit at Halle am Berghain, the art space within the famous Berghain nightclub in Berlin (2024).
CG: You worked as a stylist for fashion photographer Herb Ritts and portraitist Annie Leibovitz. You also designed clothing for Michèle Lamy’s first menswear collection. How did you get your start in fashion?
RC: In 1976, I was working as a men’s clothing salesman during the day, taking fashion illustration night classes at Art Center, Pasadena, and learning pattern-making at Los Angeles Trade Technical College. A girl I befriended in class told me about a job opening at the California Apparel News. I applied and got it. I then worked the graveyard shift (8 p.m. to 4 a.m.) as a paste-up artist.
A new designer, Marlene Stewart (who went on to costume-design the films of Oliver Stone and the wedding dress for Madonna’s marriage to Sean Penn), brought in her collection of paper jumpsuits to be photographed for the newspaper. As she walked by the office, she commented that she liked what I was wearing and asked if I would style the photo session. I didn’t even know what a stylist was, so she said to me, “Just dress the models the way you dress yourself.”
“Oh! I can do that,” I said. And I did. My friend Roy Johns turned out to be one of the models. A couple of years later, Roy asked me to design costumes for a dance troupe he was part of at the Playboy Club in Century City. Opening night was a disaster, but the following weekend, it all came together. Choreographer Toni Basil saw the show, came backstage, and hired me on the spot to design costumes for her stage show, Follies Bizarre (1976). About a week later, I got a call from Bette Midler. She’d seen Toni’s show (Toni was her choreographer as well) and wanted to hire me to design for her world tour! I was 19 years old.
By 1978, I was working every day as a costume designer. My business partner, Michi — like Cher, goes by only her first name — and I designed and personally hand-made a collection of hats. She thought of the label I Love Ricky, punning on the adored 1950s TV series I Love Lucy. The iconic French fashion designer Michèle Lamy was our first customer.
In 1979, we designed a line of clothing created from vintage 1960s fabrics and black vinyl. Poison Ivy of The Cramps wore our outfits on stage. Around this time, I was hanging out at a supper club on Beverly Boulevard called the China Club. I had a buxom punk girlfriend whom all the hets swooned over. This corporate-type guy took me aside and said, “Please, would you hook me up with your friend?” I did, and they ended up having a fling. He was so appreciative that, on their way out of the club, he said, “Here’s my card. Call me, and I’ll hook you up!” I called a few days later and was surprised that he remembered my name. The next day, I’m in his penthouse office back in Century City, showing him my portfolio. He says, “I’m going to connect you with an agent.”
A week later, I’m in the office of an agency, and the secretary, Chantal Cloutier, looks at my portfolio with amazement. She says, “I’m thinking of buying this agency. Do you think I should?”
“Sure,” I say. I brought her Italian fashion magazines, Per Lui and Lei, as visual samples of the type of magazine I wanted to work for.
The following week, Chantal calls me and says, “I got a call from a photographer who’s shooting for Per Lui and Lei. Since you’re familiar with these magazines, you’re the perfect person to style the shoots. The photographer is a new guy named Herb Ritts.”
I worked for Herb Ritts, George Hurrell, and Joel-Peter Witkin; numerous photographers, celebrities like Bowie and Annie Lennox; magazines GQ, Interview, and Vanity Fair; MTV videos, and TV commercial productions for the rest of the 80s. During this time, I injected fetish into everything I did, from something as simple as black jeans and engineer boots (surprisingly daring in 1980) to a custom-made fetish leather corset for Tina Turner, to full-on leather and rubber on model Veronica Webb. This put me at odds with editors who, surprisingly, were not as adventurous as one might think. I remember an altercation where I was told that styling an unknown actor for Interview Magazine in clothing by an unknown designer working with knitwear and rubber was just “too much.” The “unknown designer” was Gianni Versace, and the “unknown actor” was Rob Lowe!
Tony Ward in Hustler White (1996), directed by Bruce LaBruce and Rick Castro
In 1986, Michèle Lamy, by then a longtime friend, asked me if I would design the menswear collection for her company. I hired my ex-boyfriend, Rick Owens, as a pattern maker. The collection was called Lamy Men. I created three seasons. Once I was offered the position of co-director & writer by Bruce LaBruce, I left styling for good and was happy to end this chapter of my life. My last job as a stylist was creating the wardrobe for our film, Hustler White.
CG: How did you get into photography?
RC: After helping to realize the vision of numerous photographers and directors, I decided to take a dab at my own photography in 1986. My first photo was of an unknown model I discovered named Anthony Borden Ward (Tony Ward). I dressed him in leather gear and created a makeshift horsey tail from a wig and shot him with hard light in black and white. I was so pleased with the results that I continued to do shoots but ultimately decided not to become a commercial photographer.
“Horsey” (1986) by Rick Castro
CG: One of your early models was the cult superstar Goddess Bunny, who passed away in 2021. How did you meet her and what was she like?
RC: I first met the Goddess at Limbo Lounge, which was held on Thursday nights at the Four Star bar in West Hollywood, circa 1985 — one of the few bars in WeHo that wasn’t for the clone-like, white gay men of the era. She performed a lip sync rendition of Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life” (1977), which cleared the room. I became fascinated by her physical appearance, which was contrasted by the way she carried herself — like a bona fide movie star.
I wanted to create a photographic portrait of Bunny. For her attire, I purchased a satin teddy at the bargain basement of Playmates of Hollywood for one dollar. A friend did her make-up and wig. I’m proud of this portrait. It presents her the way she saw herself: as a full-on star. For me, it’s the perfect combination of old-school Hollywood glamor (a tinge of Joey Heatherton), showbiz glitz, and postmodern surrealism. I’ve exhibited this portrait many times.
“The Goddess Bunny” (1985) by Rick Castro
Personally, she was hard to take. Very needy and a real diva. Sometimes it’s better to know people only when they’re on stage.
CG: Some of my favorite photographs are from your book, 13 Years of Bondage: The Photography of Rick Castro (2004). The images are so striking and capture such raw sexual energy. What was your creative process when shooting these photos?
RC: Thank you! That era, the 1990s and early 2000s, was the most prolific of my photography career. I was all about the lust-filled moment and capturing the spirit and body of BDSM. Driving up and down Santa Monica Boulevard in my 1967 Mercury Cougar, I picked up young guys on a daily basis, photographing them in various kinky positions. I used basic Hollywood tungsten lighting, which I learned by watching George Hurrell when I used to work for him. The lighting is glamorous, but the subject matter is hard and raw. The perfect combination. This process took all of two hours.
“Patrick” (1991) by Rick Castro
CG: How would you describe fashion’s relationship with fetishism?
RC: They go together in an unfortunate way. Fashion's approach to fetish is superficial. Fashion doesn’t understand fetish, but it needs it. Fetish does not need or care about fashion. My interest in fetish is lifelong. I'm a real player.
CG: You have been called the King of Fetish. What a fabulous title to be given! What does the fetish and kink community mean to you?
RC: My longtime curator friend Ruben Esparza gave me that moniker for a solo exhibition at Tom of Finland House circa 2019. It’s appropriate because it’s who I am. My approach to life is fetish. This is how I see everything.
CG: Do you have any advice you would give someone who is looking to experiment with BDSM for the first time?
RC: Not really. If it is truly desired, they will discover and find their way. That’s the beauty and excitement about it!
CG: Lastly, do you have any new projects coming out soon? If so, what can we be on the lookout for?
RC: Boy do I ever.
I just returned from Berlin as part of the Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival. It was a joy to have an exhibition there. This is part of the 40th anniversary of the Tom of Finland Foundation. The exhibit will go to London in October, followed by the grand presentation in Los Angeles on December 14, 2024.
“Rubber Executioner” (1991) by Rick Castro
My photography and writings were recently featured in the historic exhibition Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists That Create Zines at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. I’m proud to have representation in a medium that finally receives recognition for impacting art and culture pre-internet. In the past, if you wanted to reach like-minded people, you did it yourself. The exhibition, consisting of 1,400 items, is now at Vancouver Art Gallery, British Columbia, CAN-11, May through September 10, 2024.
I was part of a queer biennial entitled Vitam Picturarum: Life in Pictures, curated by Ruben Esparza during Pride Month, June 14, in West Hollywood, CA.
I’m on a book signing tour with my latest book, Rick Castro: SM BLVD: Photographs of Street Hustlers & Remembrances, 1986–1999 (2023). This will bring me to Chicago, Boston, Provincetown, and NYC at Unnameable Books, Brooklyn.
I presented RICK CASTRO FOREVER at the historic Columbarium of Hollywood Forever Cemetery last October through November. This was the first photographic exposition in this famous location of Hollywood, and the first with blatant queer sensibility. I’m happy to report that Hollywood Forever has since become a permanent museum that will include a shrine to Oscar Wilde, and my own personal niche with my death mask, (even though I’m still among the living). The new title is Columbarium Continuum by Rick Castro.
So I’ve exhibited at the most famous sex club in the world, Halle am Berghain, and have a museum at a cemetery. All I need now is to find a church to show my work so I can complete the trinity.
For more about Rick Castro, follow him on Instagram, Twitter, and check out his Antebellum Gallery.
Published Aug 7, 2024
