The house lights dimmed. The crowd, steeped heavy in anticipation, awaited the start of the event. He stepped out into the footlights, looking like a silent film star portraying Jesse James. Balanced on expensive-looking exaggerated heels, immaculately coiffed, and attired in the finest bastardization of the uniform normally relegated to those unfortunate day-dwelling 9-5ers, Anthony S.Malat single-handedly raised the bar to which all elegant degenerates would aspire. Too mutilated for dandy, too slick for punk, the ensemble he bore necessitated itself into existence, simultaneously filling a void and declaring the old. So forth sprang an array of bone-hugging ensembles, replete with eye-cloying pin tucks, near-perfect asymmetry, and all sorts of sordid details, buckles, bangles, etc. The name came next: Sinner/Saint, the duality that plagues all rational thinkers who all too often pursue folly.

That these visionary assemblages should come from Malat seems obvious, given his extraordinary curriculum vitae; a progeny of late 70's depression-era Baltimore, where incidentally he was ordained a minister, Malat spearheaded the art-punk movement with his involvement in seminal bands Universal Order of Armageddon, The Great Unraveling, and the lusty, dissonant Love Life. Such a tall order musically-speaking required a requisite image to match. On a Baltimore budget, Malat tore apart thrift store finds, managing to assemble them into veritable masterpieces. As his designs grew more ambitious, he perfected his craft, culminating in his first high profile assignment, outfitting MTV's Gideon Yago for the 2002 Video Music Awards. Having since relocated to New York, Malat is currently up nights churning out his creations for a growing mass of devotees, as well as crafting custom pieces for fashion print editorial. Still an unmistakable pillar in the art-punk scene, Malat's R&R time is devoured by his current musical passion, Bellmer Dolls.

- Peter Mavrogeorgis