OK! Interview: Pete Wentz

Even though his people made it clear that he wouldn't talk about the upcoming Fall Out Baby, OK! showed up to the Clandestine clothing preview hoping to get some insight into Pete Wentz's current state of mind.

The recently engaged rock star was in the best of spirits, smiling and laughing with everyone. And though the whispers around the room were about the still unannounced baby due in October, Pete was more interested in talking to OK! about his clothing line, his music and being a media target.

What inspired your line for Nordstrom’s?

I wanted to go for a more muted approach, less graphic-based and more garment-based. One of the great things that you can do when you partner with a company like Nordstrom's is that you can do things that are outside of your realm.

What made you want to go into fashion design?

I really didn’t have an aspiration to do it. It kind of just snowballed. I think it's the same with Fall Out Boy. People are like "What's it like to be an overnight success?", but it's not that way. It all built slowly, that's what I’m more interested in.

I think you can separate people who are really interested in things by how long they stick with it. With everything I do, I don't look to jump in with both feet.

How do you balance everything that you do?

Well, it's hard to believe but I am a little bit neurotic. I know that might not come off! I don't really sleep a lot. I stay up all night. On that note, surrounding yourself with a really good team of people. I have to trust my friends that they have good ideas. It would be boring if it was just me, me, me, me, me.

Fall Out Boy tried to play a concert on all seven continents, but you were foiled by bad weather in Antarctica. Were you disappointed?

This is the thing — It's really boring to watch somebody win all the time. The great stories in history are interesting when someone has a "down." You wouldn't watch Walk The Line if Johnny Cash didn't go through a down. The great thing about an attempt is that you can continue to make an attempt.

Are you working on any new music?

Not really...kind of. Casually. We're trying to figure out what the natural next process is.

Why do you think you’re such a media target?

I think that online it's really because I probably bring a lot of hits to people's sites because my little fans go on there and go "He's not a jerk." Listen, I was called a douchebag or whatever when I was 14 years old. Since then we've invented iPhones and mp3 players — Can we come up with new derogatory names? Let's get the technology up to speed here!

By Jocelyn Vena