We are celebrating Oz Femme Fatales of Horror month with Designer and all-round horror Goddess Stephy Rox.
I've had the pleasure of knowing Stephy Rox for many years now and even own a few treasured items of her clothing designs. Stephy is an extremely talented clothes designer, and is the owner of ALT-CVLT an alternative shop in Victoria.
Welcome Stephy.
You have a business in Melbourne called ALT-CVLT could you please tell our readers about what you do?
SR - Hey Destiny, yes ALT CVLT well we are a Melbourne based Bricks and Mortar retail store specialising in Music, Merch, Collectables, Clothing, Accessories, Homewares Gifts and just generally weird stuff, if you are a Horror Fiend, Metalhead, Gothic Punker or just like life with a darker twist. We have a range of internationally sourced merch and products as well on top of indie Australian products who we revel in and celebrate the talents of local dark hearted artists, musicians, creators and designers alike. ALT CVLT You can check us out on our new website.
You are a talented designer, could you tell us a bit about how you started down that path?
SR - PHEW! well a long long long time ago in a dark room, I was in love with the dark realm as budding bassists/drummer/ journalist and radio presenter ready to conquer the world I had a community Metal Radio program and was a budding sound engineer, I dabbled at being a musician and discovered I LOVE MAKING FREAKY FKN CLOTHES and SPIKED LEATHER ACCESSORIES and my mum taught me how to master the needle and sew flesh products and fabric together so with that and other educations my world was never the same! hahahahaha their inlay is my path of destruction and chaos.
m passionate about darker arts and local indie artists as we have some real talent in this country and rarely are they given an opportunity. Visuals are my gooey black jam and I truly do encourage all to try to self discover their inner arts. Yes even if they are not dark!
So from being an indie designer I always wanted a place where the weird brethren could be at home to be a place where people could go, for a slightly different offering. We are far from perfect, and us bunch of degenerates are a little overwhelmed by all the attention tbh!
What was the last horror movie or television series you watched?
SR - I generally watch a horror something a-day hahahhaha keeps everyone away! whether it be a series, doco or movies, I am a true fan of exceptionally poor b-grade Troma etc, black and horror comedies, and anything about giant critters, malformations (Tusk), science (Frankenhooker) terrifying children Insidious, Children of the Damned and psychological THRILLERS and masks any movie with a mask sign me up (except for if its a superhero movies NO! - Brightburn Damien/Omen mesh can deal)!!!! FK ok I just love, the creative outlet the gore the screams the laughs and the chance to just escape, must admit I tend to steer clear of my zombies unless the epic kill scenes are worth it SPLAT! SPLAT!
Latest watches according to my tv list are : been getting back to some more popular stuff lately so of course have brushed up on my Scream, Halloween (been a while SHHHHHH!), Brightburn was surprisingly enjoyable, Psycho Gorman, Mandy, Scissors (Sharon Stone), Fear Street is fun.
last week: ANSWER YOUR PHONE short film Bennie Wragg, Brightburn (was hesitant due to my distaste of superheroes but my love of creepy kids won out), Creep (wasn’t the movie I wanted- hmph!), Host,Color out of space, Haunt, Mayhem, BeLzebuth, Impetigore, Werewolves Within, Gaia
What is your favourite horror film and why?
SR - this is the worlds hardest loaded question ever and no matter how I answer this I'm screwed… so, look some of my highlights are - definitely anything Event Horizon, Alien/ Predator/ Species/ Splice (I'm human, I have many weaknesses and chopping us up and breeding us to be a better unit is definitely intriguing), exploitation films like Razorback, Houseboat Horror OMG So awful, also Babadook and Lake Mungo - love it! Spider Baby (60’s), Masters of Horror series (Dance of the Dead, Cigarette Burns and Deer Woman), American Mary, May, and anything Katherine Isabelle, Samara Weaving or Angela Bettis put their fine touches on. Suspira, Hammer (silent scream or just all of it) As in scary shit give me Clown, Terrifier, Insidious, Jacobs Ladder, I do love my historic horror there is something about watching the world evolve that is intoxicating so many of the classic horrors in my DVD collection strangely still have there days such as “God told me too (Larry Cohen), Eraserhead, Anything Drac especially Bela, Mr. Price.
Oh and my man Pete Cushing I sing songs about your grandeur. Skeleton Key with Kate Hudson was also a strange happy film. I could go on about the people that made us but the future is a SCARY FKN PLACE!
Do you think you could survive a horror film?
SR - ummmmmm I really don't know, I feel that my cardio is ok these days and well, I'm pretty resourceful, but loud and annoying soooo chances are low! So boob(ie) traps)) might help. Though I can imagine me just ending up accidentally joining the gang and making a ton of bad decisions - so I suppose that surviving depends on how you look at it… would I die idk or would I join the team and work with them to become an efficient unit… is that a different death?
What horror villain do you think you can relate the most to and why?
SR - villain… ooooooooh ummmmmm, I rarely feel the main characters in horror films are villains.
I suck at being a villain but I suppose, if I was to identify with a horror icon it would be Michael, a human child who didn’t know they had another option, in their heads without love and affection they did what they had to do for attention love and what they believed was right - in the end no one cared or helped or taught them to develop they just left him in a room to rot and went, OH WHY!
How has COVID impacted your life and business?
SR - OUCH! lets go back to horror or music! COVID has been very difficult after all we are in Melbourne the worlds most locked down city, the last 2 years we thought we where going to close constantly and roll on over and join the compost of the mighty mother and our fellow enterprises.
Other than the trouble with sourcing products and exceptional wait times and stock issues, which everyone has faced over the last 2 years. So I suppose to put in a now and then we have HAND SATANiser every bloody where, masks are required, and check in also this is enforced by our government the catch of keeping a business operating when I personally have seen many of my friends close their doors during this time, is compliance and we do ask our customers to understand. Many stores like ours have closed we are one of the few left in Sick(Vic)Toria and personally me and our tiny team have worked very hard to the point of struggling emotionally with some pretty epic abuse from many who just can't see a bigger picture! We have done this to keep our store a safe environment for people to shop and for my staff and their immediate families health and safety (some of our staff care for the elderly or live with them), occasionally our patrons can be less than awesome and do not respect that, it’s hard.
But our little perfect pentagram of 5 humans pulled together and we are here bruised and battered to fight another day… most of the amazing crazy peeps who visit us are great but there are many who think you are selling out if you ask them to wear a mask or wash their hands! We have a small team once 3 now since November 2021 x 5 awesome humans. As a unique indie store WITHOUT massive staff resources we can just pull from (out of thin air from mythical other stores) it has made it a real struggle, I must admit I am really feeling the pressure health-wise. I have learnt that people forget that we are all not superheroes and many people forget the humans that work in your supermarkets and retail shops, that literally they see every day, they have days off and we get sick too and when we do many of us are casual’s so no consistent income. is the best answer for this one lol!
Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years?
SR - myself idk, lying on a crocodile moon baking with a mojito! hehehehhe but ALT CVLT I believe we would of survived bat aids (COVID) - have a kick-arse shop with allot more music and horror DVD’s, collectables and even more awesome clothes, a bigger range of collectables, specimens, quicker turnaround times, more in-stores, more movie nights and VIP nights (we use to have these when the world was different), more statues and boots. We have big plans so c’mon enjoy the ride why we get our shiz together!
Any advice to women wanting to be a designer or opening a business?
SR - My biggest advice is know what your limits are, don’t get swept up in the glam a faux pa and you be good to you! Alas no one else will be, network and always respect the talents and thoughts/knowledge of others around you. Also accept help only when you know it has no hidden agenda!
Learn and EDUCATE yourself. There is a lot of free advice out there and a lot of people willing to help a damsel in distress but also take advantage. Stick to your guns and own your shit and you should make it through. Work hard and be passionate and real and motivate yourself as no one will motivate you! You are on your own and here to strut your stuff and rock it! if you don’t another human will or tear you down in the process, so do what you do with passion and honour and care about your fellow human’s especially those close, and honestly that can be hard when times are hard and people are appearing not to have your back. Have trust in your chosen and enjoy your passion if you are not enjoying it move on.
Where can our readers find more about you and ALT-CVLT?
SR - Me I am not a public person so hopefully not to many places to find out more about me hahahha ALT-CVLT, check out our kick-arse website, look at our range and check back frequently all the details are below, our range changes and we are always looking for new things. So if you are a creative feel free to undergo the submission process.
