It appears Demi Lovato may have a new man in her life.
It appears Demi Lovato has a new man in her life.
The 26-year-old singer was snapped out at dinner on Saturday night at Matsuhisa restaurant in Beverly Hills, California, looking healthy, just three months after she suffered an apparent overdose. Lovato was pictured with a man now identified as Henry Levy, the designer of the fashion line Enfants Riches Déprimés.
TMZ later published a picture of the duo holding hands in the restaurant -- Lovato sporting a huge smile on her face -- as well as the pair together again on Sunday, in West Hollywood. In the photos from Sunday, Levy puts his arm around Lovato's shoulder as they take a nighttime stroll.
However, a source tells ET that Lovato and Levy are just friends.
"Demi is taking the proper measures to ensure her sobriety," the source adds.
A second source also tells ET, “Demi deserves a partner who will help her continue to live a clean life and her family and friends feel she is choosing more appropriate friends.”
Clearly, Levy and Lovato have gotten close since her apparent overdose in July. Here are five things to know about the designer.
1. His Enfants Riches Déprimés has a celebrity following
Levy founded his clothing line Enfants Riches Déprimé -- which in French means “Depressed Rich Kids” -- in 2012. The avant-garde fashion line sells in extremely limited quantities and is also incredibly pricey, even for designer standards.
The line is most known for their punk-influenced studded leather jackets, one currently retailing for $7,784 on Farfetch. The somewhat more accessible T-shirts will also cost you a pretty penny, the cheapest one retailing for $334.
But the brand definitely has its share of celebrity fans, with his designs being worn by Justin Bieber, Travis Scott, Kanye West, Jared Leto and more. He's also made several pieces for Beyoncé, including a top for her Formation tour.
According to a fan account, Lovato started followed Levy and his brand on Instagram on Oct. 18.
Of course, Levy's designs are definitely not for everyone, often containing controversial slogans such as "My Nazi parents." He also made headlines for once selling a $7,000 cashmere noose.
“If you were going to kill yourself, wouldn’t you want to do it with a $7,000 cashmere noose?” he told The Guardian in 2016 about the controversial piece.
Levy described the brand as "elitist, nihilist couture,” to Complex magazine in a 2016 interview. “The price point eliminates the masses, and the ideas eliminate the people who I don’t want, generally, in it, due to the dark nature," he noted.
“The name is essentially a description of myself and my upbringing," he also told The Guardian, making no apology for his clothing's high prices. “The price point is not only a marker of value but intrinsically part of the piece itself. No pieces are alike and everything is limited. I have no interest in making affordable pieces for the masses.”
2. He grew up extremely rich
Levy grew up incredibly wealthy, thanks to his parents' success in the water filtration business. He attended a number of exclusive boarding schools, most notably Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland, known as the world’s most expensive boarding school. According to a 2016 Town & Country article, the school has an annual tuition of $110,000 and is the "alma mater of princes, shahs, and baby billionaires."
According to Complex, in a now-deleted Facebook post, Levy wrote, "If I wasn't Jewish I would kill myself. Because I wouldn't be rich.” Another Facebook quote reportedly quoted Kanye West, reading, “Saint Laurent is my Zara.”
3. He's been in rehab multiple times
Like Lovato, Levy has struggled with substance abuse. His first stint in rehab was at Visions Adolescent Treatment in Malibu, when he was 15-years-old.
“I was, like, a f**k up in high school,” Levy told Complex. “I was caught up in drugs and sh** like that.”
Levy also spent time at celeb-friendly rehab centers Cirque Lodge in Utah and Promises in Malibu. Still, he told Complex that it was his stay at a Betty Ford treatment center in Hazelden, Oregon, that turned out to be the most fruitful.
“That’s when it was on some not-flossy sh**,” he recalled. “Like, came out and was sleeping in a bunk bed with a bunch of 50-year-old meth addicts trying to recover. And that’s when I started coming up with the idea for the brand.”
“Being around those kids [in rehab], just their absurd entitlement and everything, definitely had an influence,” he continued. “They don’t have to work a day in their lives, you know what I mean? Their complete existence is based around what other people think.”
He also noted that his new goals were keeping him on a healthier path.
“I look at a successful day, like, did you make something?” he said. “Even if business is great, I don’t value a day as a good day if I didn’t make something -- whether it be a shi**y punk song or a tight drawing, or painting. If I didn’t make something, the day doesn’t sit well with me. I think that’s kind of keeping me straight now.”
TMZ reports that Levy and Lovato went to an AA meeting on Sunday night and that the two actually met a few years back when both were in rehab.
4. He is super into punk music and culture
Levy's clothing line is obviously punk-influenced, and he told Complex that he discovered punk music when he was 11 years old. He also explained how he's able to reconcile his privileged background with a subculture that was born out of working-class angst.
“You hear about punk, it’s very blue collar,” he said. “’We’re angry at, you know, like, corporations!’ But for me, I’m angry at my parents for sending me to this place for a f**king year. I’m angry at the f**king people in the rehab for telling me what to f**king do all the time. I’m angry at my teachers and principals for kicking me out of every school I go to and not understanding me. That was, for me, my relationship with punk and that attitude.”
5. He doesn't shy away from controversy
Levy is definitely okay with speaking his mind.
The designer got into a notable Instagram fight in 2016 with the punk band Black Anvil, after they called the brand "wack" on Instagram due to Kim Kardashian West sporting a Enfants Riches Déprimé leather jacket with spikes and patches of the band Kill Your Idols on it. Kill Your Idols and Black Anvil share band members together.
Levy then escalated the feud with an offensive comment.
"Ur such a pu**y. Look how much I control your emotions that u made a whole post about my work," he commented back on Instagram, according to Noisey, who took a screenshot. "Little B**ch a** Punk police. I will rape and exploit and pillage whatever I want and I will sell it for thousands while u sit here and just feed me more attention. Know your place u stupid f**k."
Of course, it's important that the post was from 2016, and since then, Levy has remained private. Meanwhile, a source recently told ET that Lovato's sobriety remains her No. 1 priority.
"Demi is taking her sobriety extremely serious, and knows she has a long road ahead of her," the source said. "At the end of the day, Demi is doing this for herself. She has to stay sober for her, but every time she has family or friends visit her it reminds her of all the other important people in her life that she needs to fight for as well."
For the latest on Lovato, watch the video below:
-- Reporting by Adriane Schwartz
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