Richard Meets… Kenneth D King

When I first met Kenneth D King, he was a guest at the retreat center that I was working at in Upstate New York. Straight away I could tell he had an eye for the finer things and the butler training in me wanted to make sure he had our best service… well as good as I can give 5000 miles from London, no butler outfit, and no decent wine cellar! We struck up a connection and once I moved to New York City we stayed in touch. I am delighted that we are now helping to promote his book and the new Podcast version. If you haven’t read the book, well perhaps listen to his voice telling you about it in his own words, all about his adventures taking him from Oklahoma and to San Francisco. But before you do, I sat down with him this week to find out a little more about Kenneth D King. 

RJ: Hello Kenneth, its great to chat to you. I fell in love with your biographical novel “All Grown Up Now” and you have now decided to record it, what made you decide to make it available this way?

Kenneth D King: It was actually a suggestion from a friend. I was casting about for ways to give the novel more visibility, and thought back to Armistead Maupin.  He serialized all of his novels in the San Francisco newspapers.  The only time I bought the paper, was on Thursdays when he was releasing another installment.  Since people don’t seem to be reading as much, the podcast form sounded like a good idea.  So, every Thursday (in homage to Mr. Maupin) I release another episode. Since many people listen to podcasts in the car, on the subway, exercising, or while doing other activities, it’s a way of allowing them to hear the story.  My plan is to string the episodes together and release it as an audiobook when I’ve recorded all the episodes.

You span quite a journey in the book, from your childhood almost to present day, are there any parts of your life you have left out?

There’s quite a lot left out of the novel! The story is on the surface, of a friendship (hence the subtitle: “A Friendship in Three Acts”), but on a deeper level, it’s a story of how my idea of being a “grown up” evolved, from when I was a boy, to the realization at the end of the novel, when I said I was “All Grown up Now”.  That’s when the title showed itself.

Largely absent is what happened after the end of the novel, in 1998-2000.  People have asked me what happened afterwards, and how I got to New York from San Francisco.  I’ve written a short story about that, but it isn’t ready for publication yet.  Also, there’s a collection of short stories that I refer to as “my checkered past”, that may end up on the podcast once the novel is completed.

You have worked in fashion and design for many years, what would you say are some of the highlights of your career?

I started out in window display, which got me from the Rectangular States to San Francisco.  I worked for a crazy boss (who we had a chance to kill and make it look like an accident, and we almost did), which made me realize I wanted to work for myself as a designer.  I had my first paying client (mother of the bride dress), and that got me on the path. I quit my job in March of 1987, and survived the stock market crash that year.  I regard that as quite a feat. I’ve since gone on to Sell to the Rich and Famous, most notably Elton John—the hats he wore in the videos “Sacrifice”, and “You gotta Love Someone” are mine, as is the hat in the Diet Coke ad called “Nightclub”.  You can see these on Youtube. My work is in the permanent collections of the Oakland Museum, the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco, the L.A. County Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. I also did a TV show in the 1990’s called “Sewing Today” (26 episodes, PBS).  I learned voice-over, and how to be on video, from that show. I have 4 books published on sewing, and one on the way in the spring, as well as a series of DVD’s from Threads Magazine.  I keep busy.

Who or what inspires you?

In my couture work, I’m inspired by architecture and technique.  In architecture, I’m especially fond of the Belle Epoque—that period of time before World War I.  There’s a richness and splendor that you see in that architecture.  In New York, the “Ladies’ Mile” area has many examples of that splendid architecture. In regards to technique, I was trained by a woman who trained in Paris in the 1960’s—she would refer to seams as “scars”, in that you wouldn’t want a scar on your face, you shouldn’t want a scar on the garment.  So to pursue this end, I’ve developed techniques to make garments that are indeed seamless, or apparently so.  It’s the techniques that give the different bodies of my work their stylistic unity. 

You teach couture all over the country, what do you think are the biggest changes in fashion, and also what perhaps stays the same?

The thing about fashion that remains the same is that it always changes. That said, as they say, everything old is new again—For example, we’re seeing the “strong shoulder” again, which cycled around just ten years ago. A change that I’m seeing, which I think is quite healthy, is the idea that there are different forms of attractiveness.  Since fashion is a bit fragmented now, this leaves spaces and room for those who fashion might have previously excluded, to shine.

For men, and especially bigger men, what are the important elements of looking good?

The first and, I believe most important thing, is that their clothes fit properly.  This may be a rather strange analogy, but recently I made a slipcover for one of my husband’s chairs.  The slipcover that was on it was one of the loosely-fitted covers bought about ten years ago.  When I made a slipcover that actually fitted the chair properly, he was amazed at how trim and attractive it made the chair look. It’s the same with people.  When the clothes fit properly, people look at the person and see the inherent attractiveness of that person. You don’t have to have a lot of clothes or break the bank, but if you put yourself into the hands of a good tailor or good retailer (Paul Stuart comes to mind), and make one or two big purchases a season, you’ll have a wardrobe you can look well in. Aside from proper fit, grooming.  One doesn’t have to spend hours and hours, or tons of money, but a proper shave (if you shave) or haircut will do wonders! And accessories, especially shoes.  Polished, in good repair—that says so much about a person.  A good pair of sunglasses, a good watch.  These you can wear forever.

What is next with the book and the story of your life?

The next step is the screenplay based on the novel—it is really most of Act Three in the novel.  It involves me and my friend Mark, and the time frame is during the O.J. Simpson drama.  The action in the screenplay spools out with the O.J. Thing in the background, mirroring what’s going on. I structured it like the film “Beaches”—where the backstory of the two friends is told in flashback, and when they get together again, it moves forward. Along with our friendship, it also deals with some issues that sadly are still with us, such as domestic violence.  I think we’ve made some progress on that, but there’s still shame surrounding it.

Tell us how people can come to your classes?