(23.10.2010)
To see photo sets, click an image
Bill and Tom Kaulitz
were already rebelling with fashion against gender stereotypes as teenagers
“Suddenly the questions came whether I am now a boy or a girl, with whom I sleep, and whether I am gay or not, I was, of course, overwhelmed because I was only 15 or 16.”
It is now twelve years since Tokio Hotel have released their hit Through the Monsoon. 2005, that was a year where R’n’B stars such as Mario, girl groups like the Pussycat Dolls, boy-bands like US5 or singers like Yvonne Catterfeld dominated the charts and the mainstream. A musical parade of heteronormativity. But then came Tokio Hotel. To the confusion of their parents, all the teenagers were suddenly hanging on posters, with painted boy on one side, and a visibly unconscious, masculine boy on the other. They were twins and only 15 years old.
Bill and Tom Kaulitz were already at the young age in the spotlight, where they had to justify themselves for everything: the Klamottenstil, Bill‘s love for women’s make-up and the sexuality. That they did not fit into the pop clichés and drawers of the mass did not harm their success. Nevertheless, they had to endure discussions and demonstrations by people who had been attacked by the ease and appearance of the Tokio Hotel Brothers. You may think of your music as you want, but the twins have always stood for what and who they wanted to be. Especially through fashion, they could claim this freedom as a teenager. We’ve talked to them about this time, and why Bill is in the new video dressed as a woman.
What is the significance of fashion in your life?
Bill: A great one. Fashion is a feeling of life and a freedom for me. It affects my whole life. My day starts differently when I wear something specific. With fashion you can stimulate and influence your mind. I have the most money in my wardrobe – actually a bad investment, but I just enjoy it.
Tom: It’s a bad investment.
Bill: Fashion is actually worth nothing.
If you feel good, it is a good investment.
Bill: Emotional is good, but purely financially, it is the dumbest thing you can do.
Tom: It’s a bit different for me. I think it’s important, but it’s all about a sense of life. You are always influenced by cities, places and its surroundings, and so the style changes. Nevertheless, it is not as important to me as for Bill. With me it is much faster and I am much simpler.
Bill, you’ve already made yourself up relatively early. When did you realize that as a boy it is OK to wear makeup?
Bill: I was confronted early on how shit people find that. Of course this started at school, but at that time I was never really aware of the importance. When we were successful, of course, this became much more important. Suddenly, questions came as to whether I am now a boy or a girl, with whom I sleep, and whether I am gay or not, and so on. I was, of course, overburdened because I was only 15 or 16. For me it was much less important, always. I did it with such ease and did not really know what I was doing with it.
What did you trigger?
Bill: In the early days of Tokio Hotel, we have a very nice chaos. With us there was this extreme hate and even demos at every concert. Adult men who have felt themselves insane and provoked, how I look and what I wear. Of course I also liked to be provoked, already in the school was so. There were teachers who did not want to teach me. When I came to school on the very first day of school, all the boys fell in love with me. I still had very long hair and all thought I was a girl. I received a lot of love letters, but when they found out that I was a boy, I wanted to take all of them out of the way, because nobody could deal with being a boy. But I’ve always asked for this freedom, even through fashion. I want to put on what I want. For me, men’s fashion has always been boringly boring, there is simply not so much choice. It was so early that I wanted to wear women’s fashion.
Tom: It does not interest him today. Bill always sits next to me in the car and gets mails from new labels that want to send him clothes. He then scrolls down and says, ‘I only order women’s clothes.‘
Bill: They’re also hornier. Men’s fashion is quite unimaginative. Sure, I do not necessarily wear skirts, but in principle it is only about the size and how to wear it. This is, of course, different for everyone. For example, I would never put Georg and Gustav out of my wardrobe because it would be simply disguised. For me it is because I like it. It is a feeling of life and freedom and I have always asked for it.
How did you avoid this at a young age?
Bill: I do not know. I had always the backup through Tom. That was important. Because we have appeared together and always together, we had a completely different self-awareness.
Tom: You have somehow also identified with this “I do not care” attitude and were simply authentic with it. With Bill, I never found it funny, he’s always done that way. If other guys in my class were running around, it would have been different. You notice, when things are attracted or put on. I was always very extreme, but in another direction, with me it was for example very masculine.
When did you realize that you were doing something? Did you actually deal with such categories for the first time because it was brought to you by the public?
Bill: Because I had the feeling that I am suddenly accountable to all people. I did not have that before. All of a sudden I had to answer all these questions. When you’re so young, people usually do not come and confront you with it. When I suddenly stood in the public, this became a madness theme. Even then it was so that people always said ‘You can not wear that, it’s too extreme with the hair’ and the next day I had the hair even more crass and even bigger. There were often such discussions, which I can not make or attract. Fashion was for me a rebellion against all the typical drawers. People always need this security. If they can grab something into a drawer and know if Bill is sleeping with a man or a woman tonight, they feel safer. I have always enjoyed it, until I realize that it also entails a certain responsibility.
It happens a lot in the mainstream and thus also in media, which think and function very binary. Do you have a sense of responsibility because you have this access to the masses?
Bill: I’ve always tried to see this relatively easily. Today, it is also more important for me to chat with the people who come to me and tell stories. Today, I let this much more to me ran. At that time I did not take that seriously. So I was stop and that was my instinct.
Tom: Actually, that’s still the case today. I do not like this point. We are trying to get a little laid back and talk less with mainstream media. I believe we have never realized this.
You never realized this?
Tom: No, we have not, but always tried to do our thing, without worrying about whether this is going to work well or how it could work for other people in our age. We never made a head of it, even today.
Bill: So you can not live. If you think the whole day that you are a role model for others – that would be too much for me. Since I have no buck on it.
The styles of Tokio Hotel 2005 – 2017,
rated by Tom and Bill Kaulitz
The twins look back with us for their style and clarify once and for all, in which year Bill looked “completely bananas”.
Bill and Tom Kaulitz were not only famous with their band Tokio Hotel but also with their extravagant looks. Even as a 15-year-old, the two knew how to scream mommies and teens – albeit for different reasons. In the meantime, the two Magdeburgers are relocated to L.A., but also like to go on the Fashion weeks and the nightlife in Berlin. With us, they have looked back on a few styles from their early years and commented this clearly painful.
Were there memorable phases in your life that influenced your style?
Bill: Funny, I feel that the fashion and music you’ve heard have always come together. I think that is not really true anymore. If you’ve heard a band, you’ve definitely got dressed. That was always a commitment.
Tom: At that time there was still something. And we immediately saw what we are standing for.
Did your relationship to the appearance change when you suddenly became public?
Tom: Actually not. In the early days we looked the same as in school. We only had a bit more budget, so we bought ourselves incomprehensibly much in the same style.
Bill: At school, I never had any coal for clothes, so I always sewed things myself or my mama did things for me, because I never wanted to put anything off the rack. If you then suddenly earn money and buy brands, you lose yourself for a brief moment. I can see that with a lot of artists. They come with an idea and a personality, and then they lose themselves briefly, because they can buy everything and somehow lose their fashionable identity. In the best case, you will find yourself after a short time, but with a lot of artists I always think “Ah, she has made money with her first album and now she looks totally banana” – with me that was so.
What phase was that when you looked bananas?
Bill: I’d say second album, so with 17. Maybe a photo of the confused phase is there.
Runde 1: Tokio Hotel 2005
Bill: That was the beginning, so we went to school. What was that again for pants? Diesel, right?
Tom: I had no diesel at all. Oh horny, was still so a bit blow in the pants?
Bill: Yes, horror. So my pants are already the best. It was still clear to me.
Tom: No, no.
Bill: So yours is probably quite terrible.
Tom: Yes, of course.
Runde 2: Tom und Bill 2006
Bill: Exactly, that was my confused phase. This was the second album at 17.
Tom: Very nice necklace, I must say [Laughing].
Bill: The Karl Kani sweater would probably be cool again, right?
Tom: I think so, too.
Bill: I mean, for example, with the confusion: the jacket is actually not wrong, but in the combination is not at all. It was from Dior and cost 3000 euro or so.
Tom: I was incredibly lucky at the time, because I was looking at all these clothes, which were very cheap. I had 5,000 of such sweaters and caps. At the time, I actually put everything on only once.
Bill: So decadent.
Tom: But together, the 5000 sweaters were probably as expensive as one of your parts.
Bill: That’s exactly the thing. Suddenly you have coal, it is cool and wants to buy something. But you do not really know how to deal with it. Then you look a bit like a confused person on the street, where people say, ‘Take the kids quickly to the side’.
Round 3: Tokio Hotel 2007
Bill: These were the EMAs, because I found the hair quite well.
Tom: It has hardly changed with me until I have a year later my hair cut off. This was very hard for me because I had dreadlocks since I was 12. There was so much work in it.
Bill: You also hate change.
Tom: I had to take care of them so much, because we actually have smooth hair. And if you get rid of it, it’s hard, but it’s also liberating – a bit like you’ve had a girlfriend for a long time, a lot of work and time, and suddenly it turns out that it was nothing. This was a bit disappointing, but you had the girlfriend long enough.
Round 4: Tokio Hotel 2009
Bill: We changed something for the first time.
Tom: Hair similar but somewhat more adult.
Bill: Tom has slowly begun to develop taste. There was also the understanding of fashion going on with him.
What was this life stage?
Bill: Psychically, it was very difficult – at the time, it was hard with the fans for the first time. The older you became, the more you realized that with the private life does not work. We also had the first time to have one.
That came relatively late, that you wanted a private life.
Bill: Yes, we were about 20.
Tom: Before that, you have no real adult life and it’s cool to be on the road. But with 20 you realize that you do not have a social environment and also want to have your peace. You start building a life, but it does not work.
Bill: Shortly afterwards we went to America.
Tom: Either the Britney Spears moment or you save yourself after L.A ..
Round 5: Tom and Bill 2010
Bill: Look, there we are really brown.
Tom: We just came back from the Maldives holiday, I remember that.
Bill: I’ve been running for D-Squared. This was the first and only time I was on the runway. I opened the show for the two of them.
Did you want that longer?
Bill: Yeah, totally. I have never imagined to make it really serious, but I felt like it was in any case. They also did our stage costumes. Do you have D-Squared?
Tom: Definitely.
Round 6: Bill and Tom 2011
Bill: That was very cool, that was in Japan.
Tom: You look a bit like you’re going to go through Hostel-moderately.
Bill: Yes, I look a bit like a mass murderer, but the coat is madness. He is from a very heavy material and totally uncomfortable, but looks totally cool.
Do you still have that?
Bill: Yes, I have all the stuff. I have a fundus in which old stage costumes hang. I can tell exactly when and where I was wearing it and what happened. Actually, it is like a small museum. I just can not throw away anything, even though I know I’ll probably never wear it again. Sometimes I even find things that still have a price tag and were never worn.
Tom: If you let things lie for nine years, that can also come back.
Have you picked up your 5000 Karl Kani sweaters?
Tom: No, I can not. I donated everything.
Bill: You have nothing left. I feel you have two suitcases and that was it.
Tom: I have eight suitcases and that was it.
Round 7: Bill 2011
Bill: That actually made a fan for me.
Tom: Somehow you see weird. What is wrong?
Bill: This happens sometimes. Many fans are beginning to design fashion, because I’ve put them on it. It is only now again on tour happened: There was one that has studied Modedesign and made as a final work a jacket for me, which she brought with me – partly is the really cool stuff. If I had not started with the music, I would certainly have done something with fashion, that was always my passion. I used to draw and design clothes.
Round 8: Bill 2017
Bill: That was Paris Fashion Week. Since I made a solo project and had the hair short and pink. I always remember everything exactly because of the outfits.
Tom: I found that quite well, but you were not in Germany [Laugh].