You might not know the name, but you’ve most probably seen the face in all its mutilated glory. In being the icon of Thierry Mugler’s comeback and Lady Gaga’s highly anticipated sophomore album (which drops in 12 days, Little Monsters), Rick Genest is just about the hottest thing in the industry right now. While his image is undoubtedly hard to forget, let’s review his rise to fame then question his career longevivity, shall we? Here’s Rick Genest!
Genest was born August 7th 1985, and raised in Chateauguay, Montreal. His mother Catheryne described her son as a quiet, gentle, loving boy who out of respect for his parents, waited until he was 16 to get his first tattoo. That’s him on the left.
At the age of 21, Genest encountered Montreal tattoo artist, Frank Lewis, who was since responsible for inking most of his body. Until January this year, he did everything from window-cleaning to performing as a circus freak to pay for his next tattoo. It took over three years and thousands of dollars, but Genest prevailed with an artform that evolved “the human body into a decomposing corpse – a tribute to horror movies and rotting cadavers.
While he became massively popular as Zombie Boy in Montreal’s underground scene, he also struggled for money and eventually found himself homeless. In the mean time, a Facebook fan page was created on March 5 2010 about Genest’s unconventional choice of tattoos. Within a year, the page reached over 1.5 million fans, leading to his discovery by Nicola Formichetti, who then plucked him from obscurity.
Formichetti, who achieved global recognition as Lady Gaga’s stylist, had freshly been appointed creative director to Thierry Mugler. He had seen images of Genest on Facebook, but brushed it off a Halloween make-up by Peter Philips – skull makeup was at this point wearing out in trend. In October 2010, his tattoo artist pointed the validity of Genest’s ink.
At that point, his debut collection kept true to the brand’s image. After seeing Genest, he changed the entire line; made it a little darker and gothic. He then sought Genest out on Facebook, asking him to model for Mugler in Paris in two weeks. When he found out Genest didn’t have a passport, he flew out to Montreal taking the collection with him, did a photo and video shoot, then launched it as a visual campaign.
When Lady Gaga caught whiff of the campaign, she convinced Formichetti to do a show with him. Formichetti paid off close to 20 thousand dollars in fines for living on the streets, got him a passport, then flew him out to Paris for two days. And he walked the show.
It was a gorgeous rags to riches fairytale told in this modern day, social networking age. It in turn, inspired Lady Gaga to feature him in the video for “Born This Way”, her unapologetic anthem preaching everyone’s right to personal choice.
And so Genest became the poster child for individuality in high fashion and pop music. It’s a face we’re likely to remember, but how would you far his career longevity? What do you think of Rick Genest and his skeletonesque tatts?
[Photo Credits: theladyslounge, thefrisky, slamxhype, number-a, meetsobsession, sodahead, improperbohemians, facebook]
