NewDandyism in Clark Magazine

As promised, here is my interview with Clark Magazine. Hope you enjoy it.

To quickly talk about your bio, what did you do after you studied design in Detroit up to your job at Reebok, from the time when younger you were addicted to street wear to your column at highsnobiety.com?

I was always good at art and went on to study fine arts for 4 years at university before heading off to design school at the College for creative Studies. I grew up a shoe head, I can still remember the pride I had in getting my first pair of Puma Clydes in black and red suede and the time I spent putting in “decked’ red laces. I’m now in the industry and I’m not too jaded to get some of the same feelings as I did as a kid.

In design school I turned every studio into a shoe project. By the time I graduated my entire portfolio was made up of shoe designs. I chose to begin my career at Reebok and have been here ever since.

I’ve always been into fashion and NewDandyism has allowed me that creative outlet. I’m able to put my own perspective on apparel and retail.My NewDandyism column on Highsnobiety.com was a natural extension of this. It allows me to bring attention to designers, product, and issues I believe are relevant. And I know it’s crazy to hear someone who runs a store say this, but I believe that we don’t need to consume more; we need to consume better.

Talking about Rbk, were you the one who dealt with the Alife x Reebok CourtVictory Pump “Ball-out” series?

I work on a two-man design team that handles all Reebok’s top-tier directional product and Special Projects. I didn’t personally work on the Court Victory Ball Out, my manager Ben Kuchler did, we work closely, and a lot of our work is very collaborative.

Anyway, isn’t the tennis ball-like material a sort of very dandy-like sign,this sophisticated atmosphere that, back in the days, fit so well with brands like Lacoste or Fred Perry, people like Arthur Ash or Stan Smith?

I personally don’t feel the Ball Out is “dandy-like”, it’s just a great story applied to one of the best kicks of all time. Lacoste and Fred Perry are very strong brands and are having renewed longevity because they are getting back to the roots of what their brands are based. That being said, I don’t know that I would put their brands in the NewDandyism category.

NewDandyism is more about a personal statement no matter how loud or subdued. The mentioned labels seem more like uniforms. Classic and good looking, but uniforms nonetheless.

To talk about your personal activities, when will the New Dandyism webstore be on line?

NewDandyism.com store will be open in early February. It’s been a bit of a scary labor of love for me. Luckily I’ve been able to pull together a collection of some the best men’s designers from around the world. At the launch we will be carrying WoodWood, Call of the Wild, Obedient Sons, Loomstate, Rittenhouse, and Nicholas K. These labels will be joined by Maharishi, Umbro by Kim Jones, YMC, Crate denim, and Surface 2 Air Paris, soon after.

We are not interested in being a store that carries a hundred of the trendiest labels. We are making a conscious effort to keep the collection tight, and don’t plan on carrying more then ten designers or so every season. And we don’t buy everything, so you will only see the “cream” from these designers in our store.

Could you tell our readers the type of brands that will be sold on your site, their universes, as Obedient Sons and Nicholas K are not really doing the same things for instance…?

We have a nice mix of designers. The idea is that if you were to put our entire selection for the season in your closet, you could be a very well rounded and well-dressed man. If you wear all of one label or style head to toe you begin to look like a cartoon character or a catalog model. That’s why we have labels like WoodWood and Call of the Wild mixed in with Nicholas K and Obedient Sons.

WoodWood and Call of the Wild consistently stay ahead of the rest with quality and details. But they definitely have more of a streetwear feel than Nicholas K on the surface. Nicholas K is definitely one of the most impressive labels I have seen emerge in a very long time. They are virtually unknown at the moment, but once you see their collection there is no way to deny it.

What’s the idea behind your concept of new dandyism?A sort of journalistic concept that aims at gathering under a sole term several realities that are really close from each others, in this case the brands and their universes, or more simply a marketing approach that aims atimposing a new market in the “street wear” universe?

Dandy and dandyism are antiquated terms that are just beginning to remerge in everyday vernacular. A lot of people like to view dandy in its context from the past and apply it to modern day. So they think being a NewDandy is all about mimicking the style of Beau Bremmel and Oscar Wilde. But by doing this they are not getting what dandyism was all about.

True dandies, like Bremmel and Wilde, were revolutionaries, not just in dress, but also in lifestyle. They dressed differently first and they acted differently first. They were self-created men who consciously designed their own personalities and broke radically from the traditions of the past. And they were imitated to no end.Those mimicking dandies from the past aren’t themselves dandies at all. If so they would do things their own way.

To keep talking about designations, is there a difference from your point ofview between new dandyism, street couture and luxury streetwear?

I have an issue with labels calling themselves streetwear, if you have to call yourself that, you probably aren’t. True streetwear has always been brands that never intended to be worn by street kids. Street kids re-appropriated labels that were not created for them and gave them new meanings and identities. This has been going on since punks adopted Dr.Martin’s in the 70’s to urban hip-hoppers adopting Timberland in the 90’s.

NewDandyism is not a particular look; it’s a lifestyle and a point of view. Street-couture and luxury streetwear are false labels put on clothing geared towards kids to get more money out of their pockets. True luxury is about quality, not exclusivity. I personally am willing to pay more for product that is made of great materials and has superior detailing.

Do you think the mistake not to make would be to characterize as neo dandies all those people who put money in brands that are very difficult to find just to distinguish from the streetwear mainstream crowd? Wood Wood better than LRG just because it’s rarer?

Any leading edge trendsetter is looking for things to differentiate themselves from the person next to them, and get bored with it by the time everyone else catches up. That’s just the nature of who they are. There is a discernable difference between the quality and originality of WoodWood and LRG. WoodWood is harder to find because mainstream retail channels are scared off by their quirky take on fashion.

I felt up until recently that LRG was a very strong brand from a brand management standpoint. This has slipped recently though. If LRG wanted, they could be in every mainstream retail chain around the worlds targeting young men. Those young men certainly aren’t NewDandies.

In your homepage manifesto, you say that new dandyism isn’t to oppose to thevery extroverted all over hoodies movement but is a complement to it: do you mean that neo dandies are more into getting recognition from their peersthan from society (a camo Bape will be acknowledged from Sidney to Paris,not a Call of the Wild design)?

Of course most trendsetting people would never admit that they want some sort of reaction from people based on their appearance, but they do. This doesn’t mean that the attention they get is because of some bright colored hoodie, but it could be.All-over print hoodies are being written off, but they are not dead yet. There are designers out there still making hoodies that won’t embarrass you.

Bape WAS an originator and I have a lot of respect for what Nigo has been able to build. I don’t really have much more than that to say on the subject.

Call of the Wild deserves way more recognition and attention than it gets. Their time will come.

Don’t you think all the brands that will be gathered on your site put a lot of care into materials and designs, like Loomstate that only works with organic cotton or Rag & Bone that works with the small denim craftsmen tomake their jeans?

Those kinds of elements are very important to me. The bulk of the labels we carry have some sort of connection to nature of hand-craftsmanship. Sustainability, the environment, and fair labor are just a few of issues I feel my generation has dropped the ball on. Young people need to start caring about the world they live in, both politically and environmentally. The world is changing and all those assumptions about the world around us that we’ve grown up with will no longer be true in the coming decades. Our civil liberties are being stripped from us with out a fight and our environment is trounced upon by big business and the casual reluctance of the global population. These are definitely things you will see touched upon in both my work with NewDandyism and Reebok in the future.

Actually, and especially in reference to the photo that right nowIllustrates your homepage, don’t you think the public you aim at is this category of ex kids from the 90’s that followed the streetwear movement,that grew older and now looks for nice pieces of clothes, more adult like,more “conscious” about what they buy?…. I think about Kai & Sunny for instance, very “nature” like…

It’s funny because I was having this same conversation with Sunny of COTW a couple of weeks ago. He suggested the same thing. I definitely can be put in that category.The average 16 yr old kid probably won’t get a lot of the labels we are carrying. Although the clothing on the surface may be comparable between the brands that a 16 yr old and 25 yr old are interested in, it’s definitely the themes, quality, and details that separate them the most.

We both just hope they still have that same level of expendable income.

Talking about this duo, they’re also doing the Stick N’ Stones tee shirts,right?

It appears that Sticks N’ Stones may be on hiatus for a little while. Maybe we will see more of it in the summer.

I earlier talked about Alife, isn’t it one of these stores that threw, right after the Millenium, this movement that lead to this international network of “premium” shops there is today from San Diego to Tokyo, Copenhague,actual network doubled with a websites and blogs network feeding an entire worldwide community?

I definitely have much respect for what Alife has been able to build over the last 5 or 6 years also. They have a point of view that they don’t waver from, which is always the sign of a good brand with longevity.

To be honest, I’m more interested to see who will change the game of retail and branding next. Because it will happen.

This network of stores, isn’t it a concrete mix of genders, between streetwear and couture, where Wannatabe pieces may be sold beside pieces from Umbro by Kim Jones ?

Yes, I think it’s a good format. Much like our labels at NewDandyism. It’s important to have an unexpected mix.

To end this interview, have you ever been a neo romantic kid reading the dandyism classics like Ocar Wilde, and, as we’re French ;) Barbeyd’Aurevilly or Baudelaire, to name just a few of them ?

I’m definitely a student of history of all kind. I think it’s important knowledge to have in order to have perspective on your place in the world. I don’t have any particular affinity for any one dandy from the past but know of their lives well. I have affection for any one willing to rebel against the system and do things their own way. It may be the narcissist in me, but I’ve always lived my life that way. I think rebelliousness doesn’t have to be self-centered behavior.