All That Glitters...
I guess it goes without saying, but that is an exquisite cloak. I understand that this isn’t a far stretch from your usual style — there’s always a fair bit of excitement to see what you’ve got to showcase during Ministry events — but are you now trying to make a statement in your selections?
Well, first of all, thank you for the compliment. I feel like I’ve gotta mention that this is occamy-inspired, native to and currently endangered in the Far East. Hunter, he’s always got these bursts of inspiration from the world around him, you know? He, like, cares and wants to spread awareness not to their, um, their plight but more on the beauty that they offer. So he spends, like, weeks — literally weeks — trying to get, like, this little bit right here of my sleeve to match a single feather. It’s pretty insane.
Anyways, right, a statement. I mean... I suppose so. I mean, I agree with everything he’s trying to say with this, and I guess in turn I’m saying it too.
Right, of course. And when did you start working with Hunter Claremont? He graduated a few years ahead of you in Hogwarts and was last heard to be apprenticing in Twilfitt and Tattings. That is, of course, before his line Praemium quite literally burst on the scene. Now it seems like you can’t go four blocks down Diagon Alley without seeing one of his cloaks.
Two blocks, actually. I checked.
Hunter’s always been a good friend. I was actually still in school when he released Praemium but it wasn’t long after its success that he reached out to me. Rogues Robes has always been his brainchild — in fact, I’m sure you can still find his early sketches scribbled in the margins of books scattered around Ravenclaw tower. If any current students find those, by the way, I’ll totally get it signed for you.
Anyways, he showed me his ideas, his, I guess, blueprints for what’s next and all that was missing was a muse. That sounded a whole lot more fun than sitting at some desk, and I’ve been given the opportunity to see that I look just as good in a corset as I do a tie. Hunter’s looking to dismantle boundaries and those have never really applied to me.
It certainly seems that he’s picked the right guy! I absolutely adored the cloak you wore to the wedding. It’s often the bride wearing lace, but I must say you pulled it off marvelously.
Thank you. And, actually, both Rodolphus and I were wearing his designs during that happy day!
Is that so? Simply stunning. Is it not a little ironic that the tagline for Rogues Robes is ‘for paramours, not husbands’? I guess exceptions must sometimes be made, especially for such a dashing groom.
Oh, exceptions are always made for Lestranges.
Well, congratulations to the newly wed Mr. and Mrs. Lestrange. I’m sure your parents are quite proud.
They really are. I do also just want to take the time to thank, on behalf of my brother and sister-in-law, everyone who donated to the Society for the Preservation of Historical Magic. Now more than ever, we must take care to remember the work our forefathers put into molding the society and practices we have the safety and comfort of challenging today. To forget our past is to walk blindly into our future.
That’s a good point. Do you have anything else to add — some advice to anyone looking for beauty during these trying times, maybe?
I’ve been traveling a whole lot, you know, just seeing the world through a new lens and gathering inspiration. And I’ve got to say, we’ve got it good here. I mean, everybody’s looking too far inside themselves right now, looking at what’s ‘different’, and it’s... really just not that deep. You control what you put out — nobody else. That’s why I’m content, that’s what these beyond extraordinary designs mean to me.
Look like magic, feel like magic.
Mr. Rabastan Lestrange is currently a strong contender for Witch Weekly’s Most Charming Smile Award. This page is an excerpt taken from his interview ‘Enchanting Hotels for the Traveling Wizard’, which can be fully accessed in Beguiling Guys’ September issue. Be sure to catch Rabastan’s next breathtaking look in the upcoming Protego Omnis Foundation fundraiser. All proceeds are set to go to St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, particularly towards research on the rise of the muggle ailment ‘asthma’ and whether or not it is contagious to wizards.
