Since his split a year-and-a-half ago from design collective AsFour – a booze-fueled scandal brilliantly summarized in a New York magazine story, in which he uttered the now-cult catchphrase, “I controlled the bitches” – Kai Kühne has successfully recreated his image. Gone is the face glitter and layers of costume jewelry that once marked his AsFourian street-gang attire. At Tuesday night’s Another Magazine party, Kühne, clad in jeans, a beige sportcoat, and crisp white shirt unbuttoned low, sauntered in like Richard Gere in American Gigolo. And, after three seasons of showing his solo line, aptly named Myself, the former model has established his breezy chic, living-the-good-life design aesthetic -- a far cry from the highly-conceptual, slightly space-age structures of his previous venture. But, if you ask Kühne -- who once thought he’d take over the family oil business -- he’ll explain it’s a return to his German bourgeois roots. Here, he lends insight into his world:

“I’m from Bremerhaven, a harbor town – it means ‘the harbor of Bremen,’ which is where Becks beer is made. They mention it in The Sound of Music, when the Nazis come to take him into the army. They say ‘you’re going to Bremerhaven!’ 

“It’s cooler than most German towns because it was taken over by the Allies during the war. But, it’s really an ugly city. Except for one church, it was completely destroyed during the war  -- flattened -- and rebuilt in the ‘50s. All the buildings are grey and not very pretty. In the ‘80s they built this big shopping center. It’s three buildings and together they look like a boat. It’s the only skyline the city has – a boat.

“German New Wave music – that cynical, happy music of the ‘80s, like Nina Hagen -- originated in Bremerhaven, out of desperation. The town lost its power and was considered poor by German standards, so a strong underground music scene evolved. That song “Da Da Da” by Trio – it was in the Volkswagen commercial – my parents produced it. Besides that, there’s nothing in Bremerhaven you would find fabulous culturally. As soon as I got my wings, I went to Hamburg, which is an hour-and-a-half east, to do everything fabulous. Bremerhaven is where most of the Europeans living in New York emigrated from. There’s a building there that looks like Ellis Island.

“However, geographically, Bremerhaven is beautiful. It’s charming and quiet. When I’m there, I sit on the dyke and watch the boats go by. The land is so flat, you can see the sunset til 11 o’clock at night. And the tides are very unique. In most places they go up and down. Here, they go away. You can walk out on the mud for two hours – there’s no water. But then you have to come back quick because the tide returns. It’s beautiful. It’s like magic.

“My favorite restaurant is there. It’s called Da Pippo. I’ve been going there since I was a child. It’s German-Italian, but very exquisite. A lot of seafood. ‘Fish Town’ is actually Bremerhaven’s nickname.

“Two hours away, there is a little island called Helgoland. You take a 1950s-style cruise ship with a big chimney to get there. It’s like the Capri of the North Sea -- a little rock in the middle of the ocean. I went there recently with my nephews; we were swimming with wild seals. They were like two feet away -- I almost touched them.  On Helgoland, booze is tax-free, so is perfume. It’s like a duty-free island.

“Bremerhaven is cool, because it’s so not cool. Basically, I go there to sleep. To hang out with my family, see the Scottish highland cattle they raise – they’re very cute with their long hair and big horns – and run around in the woods.”

Go There:

Da Pippo, Hafenstr. 53, 27576 Bremerhaven

Buy It:

Da Da Da, $2 for a used copy, amazon.com

Wear It:

For more info on Myself, kaikuhne.com

First Photo by Sherly Rabbani and Josephine Solimene for Style.com