Johnny Weir to Vanity Fair: “Everything at this Olympics went according to plan – It went well”

Olympian Johnny Weir might have finished sixth in Vancouver (he was robbed!) but he is such a winner in my book.

He posed for Vanity Fair in body paint and glitter as part of the “Faces of the Games” portfolio featuring portraits of 44 Vancouver Olympians in their raw, natural states.

He also did a Q&A. Here are some excerpts:

VF Daily: You were a controversial figure coming into the Winter Games.Johnny Weir: The drama that led up to the Olympics was basically because I wore a small tuft of fur on my costume at our Olympic qualification competition. I started to hear lots of grumblings from anti-fur activists, and then the things people were saying slowly started to get more and more terrible. I started to get threatened, and ultimately a price was put on my head by an activist for anyone who wanted to hurt me. [He says this while, perhaps unbeknownst to him, gesturing at his blood-spattered body paint.]

So it was very rough leading up to the Olympic Games over this whole fur situation, which really was basically just like a tip of a tail of a fox. But it totally didn’t change my opinion about fur, and I will continue to wear fur.How do you feel you performed at this Olympics?

Everything at this Olympics went according to plan. It went well. Canadian audiences are always known to be very rowdy and loud and very supportive of every skater, and they definitely lived up to that. And I don’t get the opportunity to compete in North America very much, so to be sort of on home turf made everything more special.

What are your post-Vancouver plans?

After the Olympics I have the world championships in Italy and then I’m going to take a vacation to Mongolia because I want to ride a yak. And after that, I’ll go to Moscow and see some friends, and after that I’m going to go lay on a beach for a little while, and then maybe continue skating, but if not, I want a career in fashion.

Fashion editorial? Fashion design?

I want to be a designer, but I have to go to F.I.T. first and foremost because I have to learn every step of the process—the business side, the production, all of that kind of stuff. I can draw and sketch and design things and put my name on whatever I want, but it doesn’t mean that you know your craft and your job. I want to know everything. I want to be great.

What sort of design experience do you have?

I design all of my costumes. I like to go out there and feel like I have contributed to every part of what I do. I choose the music, the choreographer, I’ve obviously chosen my coach, my costumes—all if that falls under my realm of power, my realm of influence. That’s something that’s very important to me, that it’s very organic and clear. I’ll start with the music and create a character in my mind and then slowly start to design around that.