Dead Man Walking

Jón Sæmundur Auðarsson is the owner of Nonnabúð on Klapparstígur and the artist and designer behind the fashion label Dead. Reykjavik.com stopped by at Jón Sæmundur's studio and gave him some tea with milk and sugar one afternoon.

Outside the studio we can hear Johnny Cash's music and Joaquin Phoenix's voice. Inside the studio Jón Sæmundur sits in front of his computer. "It's the music from the film Walk the line" he tells me, "I like it because it's Joaquin singing." Johnny Cash was the man in black. Jón Sæmundur always wears black. He had established himself as an artist on the Reykjavik art scene before he started the Dead business. He studied at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts and is a graduate from Glasgow School of Art. He quit drinking in 2002 and suddenly had a lot of time on his hands.

The Dead Concept

Dead started as hand printed t-shirts with the Dead skull, dash of rock 'n' roll and the Spanish proverb: "He Who Fears Death Cannot Enjoy Life." Did you ever think Dead would become this big?

No, I just started to sell these t-shirts to be able to pay rent.

How did it start?

I opened Nonnabúð so that I wouldn't have to work for anybody but myself. I wasn't selling enough art to feed myself. At first I sometimes didn't sell a single t-shirt for days. This t-shirt business actually started a year before in New York. I was there to exhibit with the Glasgow School of Art and was staying at a friend's house where this Japanese guy saw some drawings I had made and became very excited. I sold about 1000 t-shirts to Japan through him.

Where did the concept come from?

I was in Minneapolis in 2003 doing another exhibit. I had decided to open the store but the concept didn't exist as such. I went to a party and saw a small altar with the sentence "He Who Fears Death Cannot Enjoy Life" in Spanish and realized this was my motto. I came back home, did a search on the internet and found this was a Spanish proverb, written by Mateo Aleman (1547 ¿ 1616). I had already decided to name the label Dead and it all came together with the skull. The concept really sells itself. There is so much truth in it.

Before all this Dead business it was a well known fact that Jón Sæmundur was HIV positive and the concept has been linked to his condition. But was it always the idea?

No, the idea with the virus and the skull came later. The Dead skull can be seen as a virus and it spreads around the world on peoples t-shirts, the same way viruses spread. Maybe underneath I was always dealing with the HIV. Philosophically these two are connected. It has always been my motto not to fear death should it come too soon. This has also been my therapy in some way. My success has contributed to the fact that I feel much better and healthier. It also has to do with believing and thinking positive thoughts.

On the Dead website (dead.is) people send him messages and words of inspiration. Jón Sæmundur likes the Napoleon saying posted on there: "Our greatest victories and those which are most enduring are our victories over ourselves."

We are always fighting a war everyday with ourselves. Also, if you say a certain prayer or sentences everyday it will sink in to your unconsciousness. Mind and body are one. The mind is so strong that if you believe enough then something will happen. I'm not a religious person but I have strong faith. I believe in what I do. If I didn't believe in it, it wouldn't be this much fun and I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't enjoying it.

Rock 'n' Roll and Hollywood

Some very cool and high profile individuals have been spotted wearing Dead clothing. Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth wore Dead when they were here. Scarlet Johansson was the latest we heard about. What is it with you and famous people?

When these people visit Iceland I throw them a package with some Dead clothes. Usually they love it. It's a certain marketing strategy to help spread the Dead skull all over the world. It's good for the message. Often somebody buys for them. They see someone in Hollywood wearing it and want it also. I have some very loyal customers and I listen to them.

In Iceland notorious rockers such as Singapore Sling and Minus wear Dead clothing. When Metallica played Iceland last year Kirk Hammet wore a Dead jacket and Pink also.

I like to use bands. Nonnabúð has always been about rock 'n' roll. Now I've been getting emails from Danish bands. Scandinavians really like this stuff.

Who would you most like to see wearing Dead?

I would like to see Mick Jagger in Dead before he dies.

Skulls Spread the Message

Dead grows bigger everyday and Jón Sæmundur is setting up Dead in America and Scandinavia is already on the map.

I started exporting to the Scandinavian countries through Salka agency in Denmark, stuff from the store here in Reykjavik. Nonnabúð will always be Nonnabúð, I see it as my home base. I like to use Icelanders as test groups, to see what they like. But it's all different. The Danes like the arab patterns while Swedes like the skull. In Nonnabúð it will always be all handmade. When I'm printing myself, there is a little piece of me in every piece of clothing. A little bit of tear, sweat and blood.

Were you always interested in clothes and fashion before you started Dead?

Yes. My compulsion was to always wear the same clothes. My mother had to wash them after I fell asleep, I wouldn't take them off. When I was a teenager I started hanging out at Spúútnik (the oldest second hand store in Reykjavik). I used to wear a lot of second hand but now I've started buying more new things. We didn't used to have many good stores with new clothes in Reykjavík but now that has changed. I also like seeing young people making their own clothes and being original.

Don't you think the way Icelanders dress has changed?

Definitely, Icelanders are more conscious about what they wear, foreigners like that. They think everyone in Iceland is cool. But there could be more of it, for example there has never been a fine clothing label for men in Iceland.

New Labels and a New Store!

Jón Sæmundur just started selling clothes from April 77 in Nonnabúð.

It's a rockabilly label from France. Nicely cut jeans and very solid design. We're expecting zebra and leopard print pants, jackets, suits and shirts. It's a unisex label. Franz Ferdinand used the jackets in their latest video and the Rolling Stones have also used these pants. It fits very well with the rock 'n' roll in Nonnabúð. I take in very few labels, but it's good to have something else too, it gives me the opportunity to focus on the Dead products. I can spend more time on each item and it won't be as mass produced.

This summer Jón Sæmundur will open LIBORIUS a new store in Reykjavík with very fine design and collections. Stay tuned...

- Hanna Björk Valsdóttir