John Waters followed his “Zen-like” cross-country hitchhiking adventure (research for his next book) with a busy summer. In June, the filmmaker, writer, artist, and curator took to the stage at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall to honor Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo on the occasion of her 2012 CFDA Award. “I wear Comme des Garçons the same way Andy Warhol wore $100,000 women’s necklaces underneath his Brooks Brothers turtlenecks—to be fashionable in secret,” said Waters in his remarks, which are excerpted in this month’s issue of Harper’s Bazaar. “Only you know you spent money when you wear Rei’s creations. In fact, some of the more fashion-impaired public actually feel sorry for us!”

In July, Waters knocked ‘em dead on the left coast, where he performed a one-man show at Hollywood Forever Cemetery (treat yourself to Linda Yablonsky’s take on it here) and later collected the annual Outfest achievement award. Meanwhile, Frieze caught up with him at his Baltimore home to discuss sex, death, God, and the art world. “[T]he Pope of Trash has found an escape hatch from his own instantly recognizable cultural legibility in the hermetic domain of contemporary art,” notes Frieze’s Drew Daniel. Here’s the highlight reel:

Thirsty for more Waters? Pick up a copy of Role Models (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), a self-portrait told through chapter-size portraits of everyone from Kawakubo to Johnny Mathis, or watch Paul Holdengräber‘s 2010 chat with Waters at the New York Public Library.