Griffin is one of the most creative and talented up-and-coming designers in New York City. In 2022, he released his first ever collection for his namesake brand -GRYPHYN. An amalgamation of vibes, including sensual lingerie, paired with sportswear and outerwear, his clothing collection is mainly made using Latex. So, it should come as no surprise that he has dressed the likes of fashion icon Julia Fox, Camila Cabello and singer-songwriter Cailin Russo. Inspired by Manhattan’s queer and punk nightlife scene, he recently expanded his not-so-classic collection by implementing more traditional fabrics like jersey and leather; hence the more accessible RTW everyday essentials like hoodies and tops. Not losing his signature style which incorporated strong silhouettes found in streetwear and motocross looks, he can’t help but infuse his cool and unique twist. Griffin, who can be considered a multi-talented artist and performer, sat down with Milan Vukmirovic to tell us more about his work throughout, and taking the readers back to his early years in the fashion game.

MV: Hi Griffin, we have noticed that you have done so many things and still you appear to be very young. May I ask how old you are?
G: Yes I am 25

MV: You are a multi-talented creative person – walk us through when that creative energy sparked for you?
G: Ever since I was a little kid, I remember making origami lamps, and I would even sell them after at an art fair. I would further my artistic expression by putting those pieces of paper on my body, and playing with them, too. Soon enough, I found myself sewing dresses with my mom’s sewing machine – and not knowing what a dart was, I was always trying to figure out how to maximize my overall final result.

MV: Did you know this would be your future?
G: Yeah, definitely. I just loved the strength that it gave me as a young queer boy , creating these little things in my room at night. I never was into video games but you could find me drawing, cutting and even making things out of clay.

MV: It’s interesting you are saying ‘young queer,’ because as we know that society at the moment has a tendency to want to define everybody. Following your social media for quite some time, and since we did this amazing shoot together, I was in fact surprised how sometimes you play with both sides of your personality. I found that you can be super boyish at times, and then others – very feminine. Would you say you are totally gender fluid even in the work you do as fashion designer, or it’s basically your personality ?
G: I never really wanted to be labeled. And when I first moved to New York City, I definitely expressed myself as a gay boy a lot more than I did when I was growing up. I think a lot of attention was casted on me and assumed that I was ‘this way’ or ‘that way’ – a non-binary gay, trans…. all this stuff. So, that sent me into this mindset of just trying to figure out what category I belonged in. And I went so far into this hole that I didn’t know who I was at the end of it all. Currently, I would say that I don’t really have a label besides ‘queer.’However, these days I’m going to be more androgynous. That is the plan.

MV: Were you bullied at school?
G: Yes. And I think my love for fashion was directly linked to my insecurities as a result of the way I was treated. I really never felt like a full human in my life…until fashion hit me in the face. Truth be told, it was a dream that could help me feel comfortable with who I am. At school I never was able to make friends fully and express myself because people didn’t really understand where my priorities remained. And what was considered normal among the other kids – well, being creative was my energy. My family also tried to change me and push me to do sports…my style was most certainly more circus focused for example being an acrobat or a contortionist was fun, but what really turned me on were the costumes and makeup, etc …

MV: Do you have siblings?
G: I have a brother who’s 18 months older than me, and we are completely different. He’s into sports and video games – basically everything that I was not.

MV: But I remember you told me you left home quite early, right?
G: I did. I left home at 17.

MV: you came to New York at 17 ?
G: yes I moved from Detroit to Manhattan.

MV: That must have been quite an exciting and liberating change…
G: It was amazing. It felt like everything that I was. I was hosting gigs and I was in drag every night. It was like my identity kind of changed faster than my own understanding of myself. I became really feminine because of how people perceived me. Then I went really masculine. Then I had this feeling  that I was like, ‘oh wait, maybe no, I’m just overcompensating because I’m insecure?’
And then I asked myself, ‘maybe I’m like non-binary or maybe I’m they, she, or maybe I’m he, they, or maybe I’m just they, or maybe I’m just it!’

MV: But you were all by yourself so wasn’t it scary and confusing? Nightlife can be dangerous with all the temptations like drugs and alcohol, plus manipulative people. And you were very young, and no one to really advise you or protect you so I guess you were completely by yourself?
G: I was. I was the kid in New York who had to survive and could go out to clubs. So I had to get jobs, and I had to do this, and that…but I had such a passion for fashion which sounds so tacky so I decided to do internships with stylists or assist makeup artists. And you know, as expected, many people took advantage of me along the way.

MV: Funnily enough, I first discovered your work on social media not through your fashion designs but your amazing special effect body make up skills. That’s an extraordinary talent that requires a lot of knowledge. The technical aspect of it is very far from making clothing. And it’s also something that is very creative. So how did you end up doing this?
G: Well, I’m a Scorpio and my birthday is near Halloween. I love scary movies and their characters. So I would work on special effects makeup all throughout haunted houses, like costumes and fur suits. So when I moved to New York, I wanted to became a special effects makeup artist.

MV: How did you learn ?
G: I learned through high-school, both on my own and through other people, but mostly just YouTube. And then I moved here and kind of had an even better knowledge of it and was able to do a lot of projects and meet more people here who specialized in special effects.

MV: In a way your love for latex that we can see through your fashion collection, is in a way connect to your make up skills. latex is like a second skin .
G:Yes. I did my first latex clothing piece few years ago, I wanted to extend the idea of a prosthetic toity mm-hmm and I had a flash realizing latex has this feeling And Yes like a second skin, it had so much emotional meaning to me because I used fashion as a defense and as an armor instead of something that I was confidently putting on, I was actually very insecure and putting on to be more confident mm-hmm and now growing up, I’m getting out of that and I’m being less visually expressive personally, and just channeling that in my art.
And that feels really healthy for me now.

MV: But do you know where this passion or obsession for skin is coming from?
G: Definitely as I’ve always been really attracted to the body and even as a young child just being a contortionist and in the circus and stretching my body and working my body and using it for dance….and then the idea of fashion, and then my own insecurities, I just felt like being naked was kind of the Griffin way of dealing with, you know, by itself and myself.
.
MV: Second skin reminds me to also think about some animal species l who are shedding their skin. So in a way, what you were saying about your personality or your sexuality, you are like an animal in constant metamorphosis…
G: We can change skin very often metaphorically for ourselves. And who we are and what we represent at a moment in time, but everything’s like really temporary and latex itself is temporary. Plus it is 100% biodegradable and there’s this element of like ephemerality to all of it.

MV: Latex also has a very sexual connotation, too. Is sexuality important in your work?
G: Yes but I’m just trying to pair that down and recontextualize sexuality. So it shows a little bit more than just blatant, you know, fetish wear…. and different things. Because at the end of the day, I don’t even think about the sexual elements of my clothing because it’s in my DNA and it’s so clearly obvious about where it’s past lies in the fetish community and all this stuff. With all of the available technologies today, you can also create any shade of Latex. The evolution is fierce and although I want to get involved now, I just can’t. But when I have a budget and when I have everything aligned, I want to create creature-esque zoo suits – like full suits, but in gowns and in fashionable clothing, kind of like I would be taking another anatomy form.

MV: Do you consider your collections being totally Unisex ?
G :Yeah, 100%. I do. I really think fashion is still barely unisex and I am kind of like a very anti-fashion type of person. I like to push boundaries.

MV: Why would you say anti fashion when I know you have a real passion for fashion ? What’s the part that you don’t like?
G: I didn’t go to school and I had horrible grades in high-school. Sometimes I just feel like the industry has never really fully accepted me because I am not accredited. And I am not sure I will ever be. The industry in general doesn’t have a structure that always works for people who are very very different like me and truth be told, it’s not an easy industry to access and it’s just a hard industry to live in.

MV: I hear you, but sometimes you have to see it as a chance because being different is a chance that you should embrace. Being recognized for it and celebrated is the difficult part, but it’s worth it. Your difference is what makes you special.

G:Yes I guess I need to figure out how to make it work for myself. Fashion is what I imagine still doing in twenty years from now anyway.

MV: Is it not more easy for your generation than it was 20 – 30 years ago. The digital world and all its platforms can help you be more visible, more free and even sell directly to your followers and clients? In my own career, when I was your age, you had to go through press and journalists approval, and you had to be in magazines to find showrooms to sell your collections …Fashion was much more for the elite. Today everything is more democratic approval of the press and journalists are not prevalent. I mean, you know, it was very, it was much more filtered and it was really for a certain level of society. Now it’s much more accessible, don’t you think ?
G: I would say, I would say to be seen as a fashion brand and to be seen in the light that the traditional fashion industry sees as a brand…. there’s no respect given these days, any influencer can easily drum up a collection. That’s not fashion, so for me to be using all of the resources that a lot of my peers use, like TikTok and like Instagram and all these things, it works. But only to a certain degree. And then you push that line and I’ve been thinking about my perception and what I choose to post and how restricted I am and how I compare myself to people who are already really successful. And there’s like, I see benefits in both. Like, I think that there is a benefit to like really under utilizing fashion.

MV: When we first met and talked over the phone, you and I discovered we both had a common passion for Alexander McQueen. You didn’t really know me or my work until you realized that in the past I did a photo shoot with Elise Crombez wearing couture McQueen and that some of those pictures were a big source of inspiration for you…
G: OMG yesI had for years a notebook with things that were inspiring the most yes, and Elise and you and McQueen were in it!

MV: Not only have I photographed his clothes but I had the chance to sit down with him once and interview him for l’Officiel Hommes Paris. And McQueen was really an artist and even more than just a fashion designer. He was suffering a lot also with the fashion game and the business part of it as he was a real free spirit. And even if now everybody talks about him like a genius, he wasn’t always well treated by some editors. To me you are also a multi-talent artist and you design clothes, but you also have created jewelry and furniture. Lastly, you are a genius make-up artist, too. And this is more and more rare especially in this time of fashion where there is a lot of emptiness based on celebrities. Does it sometimes pull you down ?
G: Many days I have felt like quitting. But fashion and my work are my love and passion so I won’t give up because I sacrificed way too much of my life for this.

MV: Another part of you that I like is that you are a real performer on top of all the rest. Did that come from your circus experiences or your nightlife in NY ?
G: Both, but also fashion and more particularly fashion shows have something very theatrical to them. We talked about Alexander McQueen and his shows were also spectacular. But yes I love, love, performance art, as expected.

MV: There are so many creative aspects in your personality so what excites you the most?
G: All of it , but to be completely honest, I’ve found joy in creative directing in these past three years since I met you.

MV: Really ? thats a nice thing to hear! 
G: I’ve realized the true joy that I find is seeing my vision come to life with so many other creatives. And elaborating on things that, you know, it feels as if I’m doing this with my neighbor and my friends and the people I go out with so its extremely organic.

MV: But this can also be very consuming. Do you protect yourself ? Fashion is marvelous but at times dangerous for a creative mind. It requires so much energy, and mentally it can be very challenging. McQueen was a genius but there was also a darkness in his work and mind…
G: You know, 2022 for me was a testament to that. I realized that you can have it all and you can be desired and you can finally be liked by Griffin, but you will not fully be respected. And that’s what I learned that year. I had a lot of designs that I created stolen from me by big, big companies. And it really affected me so much that I wanted to quit again. And this was after amazing good things had happened, too. I also realized that wealthy corporations can manipulate you, even when you have a lawyer.

MV: Well I do love your work so much and I like you that you didn’t choose the easy way. I saw how passionate and hard working you have been and noticed that  you put all your heart and soul into your art. You can be as powerful as you are vulnerable. Your work is very emotional and I think it’s brave. And more than success, what motivates you is creation?
G: You know, when you just get so hungry because you have this idea in your brain, it’s been festering and you just like, feel so much pain because it’s not out and it’s like late night and like all these different things and you just are very passionate about. I do remember you telling me  ‘’ just take it easy’’. And it’s funny because I did not take that advice.
I’ve gotten more allergic to latex also recently.,The more I take on work the worse it’s getting for my body, um, realizing that right now, especially after this year, which has been the most successful year of my life so far. Not easy to find a balance between passion and stress.

MV: I will add something though. America is not the easiest country for very creative fashion designers. The industry is even more ruled by the numbers, the merchandising, the marketing…Dont you think Europe will suit you best ? The fashion culture is different there. It is a business too but we value differences of creativity more…
G: Yeah. Definitely. It’s most certainly difficult here in the USA. The NYC scene, to make it, you need to be connected to celebrities and the red carpet crew. And as much as you need to be seen and get fame, then you need to make numbers for the masses. That’s a real struggle here. It’s how much you are ready to compromise and play the game without losing your soul.

MV: There are many creative people here in the US and in Europe. But honestly not so many are really talented in the American fashion industry. You are an exception and have a unique voice and you should never sell it. We will help you as much as we can. But thus far I am pleased with what we did together and I feel lucky to have met you.
G: No, thank you. This was one of the coolest experiences of my life to be there and to do this. And I haven’t even seen the images yet. I’m just… I’m over the moon. I can’t wait.

The post Griffin ”Under My Skin” appeared first on Fashion For Men.

Mitchell Feinberg began doing still-life photography as a teenage hobby. At 21, he left his native New York for Paris to learn more and pursue a career as a professional photographer — a move that came with thrilling highs and unexpected lows. Forty years on, Feinberg is one of the world’s top contemporary still-life photographers; his clients include Estee Lauder, Tom Ford beauty, Cartier, Bulgari and Fenty, among many others. I consider myself lucky that we met many years ago and have been able to collaborate first on L’Officiel Hommes and now on Fashion For Men. I’m also proud to call Mitch my friend. But beyond that I believe he’s a genius, a living legend with that rarest of all attributes: discretion. So it felt only natural to showcase his story in this new digital-only iteration of FFM. And he was kind enough to share a few treasures, which we proudly feature with
this interview.

MV: Hi Mitch! It’s been a long time — I was launching L’Officiel hommes and we were both still living in Paris. But actually, you grew up in the US.
MF: Yes, I was born in the Bronx, in New York, and spend my first years in Yonkers, just north of there. Then my parents moved to Westchester, as so many families did in the Sixties. So I spent most of my school years in the suburbs, which I really hated. I thought it was really boring, I didn’t like my school, a public school. I felt like a total outsider. Early on, as a teenager, the only thing I loved doing was taking photographs. I installed a darkroom in a bathroom of our house so I could develop my own film rolls.

MV: What were you photographing back then ?
MF: Mostly plants and, already, some still-lifes. Many years later, when my parents decided to move again, my parents asked me to come and take all those pictures from that time or else they’d have to throw them out.

MV: Were you doing indoor or outdoor photography?
MF: Both. But when it was inside I was using our little house lamps (laughs).

MV: So already you liked working alone. Still-life photography is a pretty solitary passion.
MF: Yes, true. I never really needed  a lot of social interaction to feel fulfilled. Photography was my true passion.

MV: What was your first love about? Creating beautiful images? Making art?
MF: I have no idea. But 45 years later, looking back at these prints of my early work that my parents made me take back, I realize that even though my technique has improved and evolved, I am still kind of doing the same thing (laughs). Of course, what I shoot now is much more interesting and creative, but I can see that there is still a direct link between what I was doing then and what I am shooting now, at 60 years old.

MV: In fashion, it’s very rare to see a photographer who shoots models also doing still-life. I understand now that the technique, the timing is different. Mostly, it’s that still-life demands patience and meticulousness.
MF: But mainly — and mostly — a lot of self motivation.

MV: When were you able to really make a living from your chosen profession?
MF: Well, my career started in a very particular way. I went to university but after a year I really wanted to change my life, and already at 21 I wanted to get away from my family.

MV: For Europe. So, New York in the early Eighties wasn’t exciting to you?
MF: It was. And by leaving, it wasn’t because I didn’t love my parents. I just felt a need to be independent but also to try to learn another way of life. At that time, Europe was an exciting place for a photographer to have another point of view, another way of life. So I choose Paris, which at that time was exciting for fashion, style and creativity.

MV: You arrived in Paris in 1984, the golden age of Le Palace and creatives in Paris.
MF: Definitely. I actually went to Le Palace club a lot at the time (laughs ). Les Bains Douches, too. It was an amazing time and the best way to meet so many cool and creative people. And for me, as an American in Paris, having dollard was a great way to live the good life without of lot of money. I had lots of fun and wasn’t very ambitious at first. My intent was to first get a job as an assistant. So I got like three photographers’ phone numbers and contacts at the time and the first job interview I got was with Jean Louis Bloch Lainé, who looked at my work and told me right away that he thought I was wrong to look for a job as an assistant. He thought I should just go for it and become a photographer right away. Also, that assisting would probably kill me.
So I followed his advice and it took me a year to put a proper book together and try to get a meeting with the person he thought was the only one to meet at the time: Peter Knapp.
It definitely wasn’t easy, but after many calls, I met Peter. After looking at my work, he gave me my first pages in Femme magazine, which was then owned by Hachette and wanted to compete with French Vogue. They had a big budget and they wanted to compete in the same luxury market. Funnily enough, when Femme launched and the Vogue people saw my pictures, they called me right away. It was great for me but I didn’t want to be seen as an opportunist or a traitor to Peter. So I told him about the Vogue opportunity and that I wouldn’t let him down. But he said, no — if they want you, you should go. So at 23 years old I officially started to work for Vogue Paris alongside others like Helmut Newton etc… it was like a flash of lightning in my early career, when I didn’t even really know which were the right labs to work with, who could develop my film, I didn’t have anyone to negotiate contracts for me. I made a lot of stupid mistakes. But quickly I had advertising jobs like for Gucci fragrances and I had never made so much money. I was living like a young king but a very stupid one (laughs) and it became a real problem. After two or three years I’d lost touch with reality and I made bad choices, burned through the money I had, and slowly lost jobs… It took me years to recover. I had the tax people chasing me, I was arrogant and my ego just made it all worse.

MV: But how did you lose all that money? Were you partying all the time? Not saving a dime?
MF: It was a crazy time but my biggest mistake is that I didn’t have someone to take care of the business side of my work, the deals, contracts etc. Someone who could guide me and keep me grounded. So after almost lost everything, I started over from the bottom and did pack shots

MV: How long did that difficult period last?
MF: Three or four years. It was really hard. It was the late Eighties, early Nineties.

MV: What were people saying about you at the time?
MF: ”He’s very difficult, he doesn’t listen, etc. La grosse tête, as the French say.

MV: So how did you get back on your feet ?
MF: I had no other choice than to do very commercial money jobs that could pay the bills. Like pack shots. But somehow I guess it all happened for a reason and, during that time, while I was doing very commercial  jobs for Cartier, for example, which was one of my main clients, I learned a lot about the technical side of my work, and how important and precise lighting is, for example. 

MV: Do you agree that sometimes you just have to hit rock bottom in order to succeed again?
MF: I think there are ups and downs in every photographer’s career. Even Mr. Penn had waves. I just had to survive and get out of debt.

MV: Irving Penn was the master of 20th century still-life photography. Was he a big inspiration for you? Did you ever meet him?
MF: He was my biggest inspiration. I always wanted to meet him but never got the chance. I have worked with people who worked with him. I tried asking a few people in his orbit to help me meet him, and they always told me that although he was a nice man, he didn’t really like to meet people. Funnily enough, later I was asked to shoot for American Vogue a few times when he didn’t want to shoot or wasn’t available… I did try to get that introduction, but it never happened and I understand and respect that he couldn’t.

MV: We met almost 20 years ago when I asked you if you would shoot for me and L’Officiel Hommes Paris. Over the years, we did some amazing stories. Some pictures you did for me are still so iconic and beautiful. You regularly work for Elle US and the WSJ. You count Cartier, Tom Ford beauty, Bulgari, and Estee Lauder among your clients. After all these years, you’ve became one of the best if not the best still life photographer working today. But what always strikes me is how discreet you are. Why is that?
MF: I’ve always been very discreet and I’d rather people know my work than recognize me (laughs)

MV: I can’t even imagine how many images you have created. Haven’t you ever considered publishing a monograph of your best work, or doing an exhibition?
MF: I have been approached by some people but to be honest what I do really like and enjoy is taking pictures. I don’t feel the need to do an exhibition yet. I am still motivated by photography. Maybe I’ll do a book someday, but that day hasn’t come yet. If someone asks, I say no. I don’t know why. But no, I’m not ready.

MV: When we met you were still shooting entirely on film. At some point you made the transition to digital. Was that difficult for you?
MF: Yes, very. I do miss shooting on film, a lot!

MV: Because of film’s quality?
MF: Yes, the quality but also the process. It took more time to shoot on film, but I used to like having that time to take pictures. The rigor of it. And it suits my process. Also, somehow clients were not reading Polaroids well, so they had to trust me and the process more until the result came out on film and was delivered to them. Today, the client is behind you during the shoot, looking at the screen while you are taking the pictures and asking me almost in real time to change this or that.

MV: But digital offers amazing quality now as well as post-production possibilities, retouching etc.
MF: Yes, that’s true, now I shoot all my work in digital. And I can shoot faster and do more pictures in one day. Still, for me the real luxury is to try to do as much as possible to get the best picture in a shot. I try to avoid retouching as much as possible. It’s not about trying hard without the help of technology. But for me, I want make a point of trying hard to make the best picture as good or perfect as possible while I shoot. I think that effort is the quality that people will see and feel. Technology should just help as a final touch, or an assist that never should be noticed. That’s how you keep things real. It’s not the technology that motivates me.

MV: You like keeping things as real as possible?
MF: Yes, again that’s my luxury. When people see my pictures, they know they’re real. Every decor or set is real, the bag or whatever I shoot is real, it’s there. I don’t like spending time behind a computer screen creating or recreating a composition.

MV: That reminds me of some of your requests when we were shooting. They weren’t always easy. Sometimes you kept it simple and just used lights to make magic; at others you did these very complex sets with tons of props, beads,  cut-outs, to name just a few. Are you more excited about the shoot when it’s more complicated or challenging?
MF: Yes, that’s what’s exciting and magical to me, making it all as perfect as possible to get the perfect shot. I don’t cheat through post-production. I like the true reality of an object, a bag, a shoe, a perfume bottle, or whatever, in an amazing yet calculated and prepared artificial set. That’s were I get to express creativity. You just need to know the techniques and the technology that will help you to get the beauty you want to achieve.

MV: You must be so patient: some of your pictures require a crazy amount of work and preparation.
MF: More passion than patience. I can spend hours and hours, sometimes days, to get the perfect picture. It drives me crazy sometimes, but I know it’s worth it.

MV:  It’s a bit sado-masochistic, no? To embrace what’s tough in the pursuit of ultimate pleasure or satisfaction?( laughs)
MF: ( Laughs) I don’t know about that… But I am always motivated to try do something that hasn’t been seen before.

MV: You love the challenge.
MF: Yes, definitely — even if it takes time, that doesn’t matter. The challenge of doing something I’ve never done before keeps me going.

MV: After decades and thousands of shoots, what do you see as the future of still-life? For you personally and in general?
MF: Artificial Intelligence, for sure. Now you can type “create an image with this Perrier can in the style of Irving Penn” and you will get an image that is pretty amazing even if the can didn’t yet exist in Penn’s lifetime. It’s fascinating.. And it’s only the beginning of this incredible technology.

MV: But AI is inspired by what already exists.
MF: Yes, and yet it’s mixing so much data that what it produces is something you’ve never seen before. And I think soon it will kill still-life photography.

MV: Maybe not just because of AI. There’s also this new generation of creative people who are more keen to work toward video, or animation. Moving images seem like more of a threat to still-life. Music comes with that, and so on. It’s more entertaining, and social media is the perfect platform for it.
MF:  Motion is the thing right now in the  still life industry. I do a lot of videos now. It’s predominant across the industry. In every important launch today, for a new fragrance, for example, I’m being asked to do still-life pictures as well as moving images, videos with the actual fragrances in the same mood and light set. It takes more time and a bigger crew. There’s a lot of pre-production before the actual shoot. A lot of post-production, editing and special effects, too.

MV: As genius as AI is, I still think that to create images — animated or not — we will still, always, need true creatives like you to fuel AI.
MF: If AI could help me create, that could be exciting and challenging. The genius of Richard Avedon or Irving Penn wasn’t about how, who or what they were shooting, it was about their vision or their soul that we could feel through their photography. In the end, a true creative vision is about an individual and unique creative spirit. I won’t ever change my work or who I am, but if AI can be part of its evolution then why not?

MV: So we’ll leave you with just a wish: we hope to see a book of your best work. When people see these shots, they’ll understand my frustration because I just want to see more. Thank you Mitch for taking the time.
MF: Thank you !

The post Mitchell Feinberg The Genius appeared first on Fashion For Men.

The buff, Bogotá-born designer Sergio Delgado (@sergiodelgador) credits New York with giving him the drive to change his body and his life — and in his hands, hats are becoming sexy again, too. Here, the sought-after milliner speaks with FFM editor-in-chief Milan Vukmirovic about a lifelong passion, born of a family heritage, that’s inspiring fashion lovers to reconsider a long-neglected accessory.

MV: How did you get into hat making? Is it a craft that runs in the family?
SD: In my family, we’ve all collected hats forever, but it wasn’t a business or anything. My great-grandfather was one of the first people in Colombia to wear proper hats made in Europe. Then he found a guy in Colombia who could reproduce the models he brought back from Europe. That same man taught me all the basic millinery skills I needed to make hats myself.

MV: But collecting hats is one thing, and creating them and making a business of it is quite another. What made you take that step?
SD:  It started six years ago. I was in my last year at Parsons in New York and I was looking for a hat — something cool, of great quality, that spoke to my aesthetic. And that I could afford. I couldn’t find any, so I started making them.

MV: Did you always want to be a creative, a designer?
SD: My whole life. I always wanted to make hats. It was always at the back of my mind. I like my hats a certain way, so I always had them made for me in Colombia. So that’s how it started. Then, honestly, I started to think “the world should have my hats!”

MV: At certain points in history, all men wore hats. Today, not so much. A few seasons ago, bucket hats were big. Baseball caps have been popular for decades. But no one is wearing real hats. Maybe cowboy hats now and then, it’s a style thing. Putting a hat on is like saying “’I want to be seen.”
SD: Totally, and I love that. I want to be seen wearing my hats. It’s just such a part of who I am, and that’s what my brand is, too. My goal is to pass that passion along to others. Often, people will stop me in the street in New York, and even in Colombia. They recognize me from Instagram. But more than catching attention, I believe that hats create confidence. I know they give me confidence in myself.

MV: But South America has more of a hat culture because of the climate.
SD: Right. In South America and thanks to the Spanish influence, hats are super important. Like the Cordovan; there’s a model that’s called the Cordobes that comes from Córdoba, in Andalusia.

MV: So you decided to launch your own hat brand?
SD: Once I started doing them for myself, people quickly noticed them and asked to buy them. Some friends suggested that I go and present my hats to some stores and showrooms. That’s kind of how it picked up. I didn’t start taking orders right away, but it gave me enough confidence to start doing my own collection.

MV: Now thanks to social media you can sell directly, too.
SD: Totally. We’ve been physically present in some small stores, but [business has] been mainly online, through our website.

MV: It seems like social media has been a great opportunity for discovering designers from Latin and South America.
SD: Yes and it’s great because there’s so much happening in South America right now. Since I’m Colombian I can speak to that better, but there’s such a movement among a new generation of creatives, especially in fashion. In Mexico and Brazil, too

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MV: Despite the political and economic context?
SD: Yes, because a damaged economy and rare employment opportunities mean it’s cheaper to make things in Colombia. So many designers, like me, who live between America and their homeland would rather give production to their people as an opportunity to create income for families back home.

MV: You’ve always lived in Colombia?
SD: Yes, for most of my life. I lived in Berlin for a year and loved it. It was fun, but it wasn’t what I wanted for my life. I knew I needed to live in a city that pushed me. New York changed everything for me.

MV: You said you were splitting your time between the US and Colombia. Is America your future?
SD: Yes. I love Colombia, I really do — I love my country and my people, it’s an amazing place, but I don’t want to stay there. I’ve just never fully fit in there, and I don’t think I ever will. I’m different, and I think it’s just a matter of how I see the world and society. It doesn’t necessarily align with what Colombians believe and preach, and that clashes with my everyday life. If you believe a certain way, if you think certain things, you want to live your life a certain way.

MV: Are you talking about macho culture, for example?
SD: Yes, it’s not just a cliché. Latin America is very macho. Homophobia is huge. As a gay designer, it’s not super bad, but the culture of toxic masculinity is very present even in big cities. Sometimes there’s hope and then sometimes it’s like going backwards. That kind of kills energy and the hope that things are changing. Then suddenly everything gets stopped by a new government or politicians, and you never know when things are going to change again. So that lack of stability isn’t great. For anyone, and especially not a young business. I believe in my country in the sense that I will definitely always keep my production in Colombia. But as I said it’s way past just the economic [context]. For me, it’s also about the impact we create within communities there and generating employment opportunities and bettering the standard of living for the people of Colombia.

MV: As a Frenchman living in Miami, I meet lots of people from different Latino countries. I’ve learned a lot about the cultural differences. What’s funny is that each Latino country has a very strong opinion — and often clichés — about the others. How do you see it with Colombians?
SD: We’re a warm, genuinely nice people. So I think that every Colombian you meet is always going to be very nice, very polite, very warm. Of course, the main cliché in the US is that if you’re Colombian you must be using a lot illegal substances, and of course that’s not necessarily true. Maybe in some cases. No judgment! But it’s also a stereotypical assumption. It doesn’t mean that I party all the time.

.MV: (Laughs) I was actually more referring to taste,  fashion wise. Many Europeans think that designers from Latino countries only love strong colors, for example. Sometimes things can feel a little bit over the top, or too sexy. How do you feel about that? Because that’s a cliché, too. There are great designers in Sao Paulo or Mexico City, for example, who are doing super modern clothes without going crazy on color.
SD: There’s a kernel of truth to every cliché. Honestly it may be  a little bit more complicated for those designers who go in the opposite direction, that are more avant garde. Taste in South America is very peculiar.  Yes, it’s colorful. It’s boleros. It’s very floral, very sexy to show shapes. It’s rarely minimalist. It’s a bit more opulent, you know? So I think that that cliché of Latin American fashion is very true in the sense that it’s what sells at the end of the day. For countries that have been through rough times, money is at the center of everything. With so many people suffering, those who have money either hide it or flaunt it. That changes a lot depending on the city or the region. In Bogota, where I’m from, flaunting money is looked down upon. So people dress very quiet luxury, very toned down. It’s very conservative. But then if you go to the coast, for example, it’s the complete opposite. You have to show off, you have to wear brands and wear it big. You have to be opulent. It’s these two crazy opposites that somehow exist and coexist.

MV: Colombia, like Brazil, is becoming famous for cosmetic surgery. The women there are very body-conscious and always in search of perfection, nose jobs, boobs and ass, according to Latino standards of beauty. Its in the culture to retouch your body. Are the men in on that trend too?
SD: They weren’t but things are changing quickly. I think that men are more into the way they look now. It’s definitely not on the level of what women are doing. Women are still the ones that need to be pretty and sexy; men, not so much. But the new generation of men are definitely more body-conscious and attracted to fashion. With my hats I’ve been surprised to see some male clients willing to take risks I didn’t think they would. Some designs I feel are going to be for women, and then it turns out that most of the customers are men. I’ve been surprised, to be honest. I’ve also been shocked to see that, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel!

MV: To be honest, I started to follow you on Instagram a few years ago because I thought your body looked great. That gave me motivation to keep working out hard, and then I discovered that you were a hat maker. I guess because you get the power of social media, so you play with your image and show off a lot. But earlier you told me that you were very skinny younger. What made you decide to transform your body?
SD: I think I had just moved to New York, and I realized all those sporty guys everywhere were training and taking care of their body and I wanted to be like them. Wanting to be better for myself— it was just a competition with myself. It’s something New York gave me, in every sense. New York is a city that pushes you to be good. You have to be good to survive in New York. You have to be on top of your game, and you have to be always willing to learn, to grow and to change. So I think this is one of the ways that New York taught me to push myself a little bit harder. And it really has been a roller coaster: I haven’t looked like this since day one. It’s been up and down. Thin, fat, thin, fat. New York gave me the drive and the discipline and the vision to be like, do it. Be better.

MV: Well it worked out great for you! Discipline and dedication is everything. Your hats are amazingly beautiful, too. Thanks for your time.
SD: Thank you for including me.

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The post Scott Mabe Artwork appeared first on Fashion For Men.

Scott Mabe’s work exists between the analog and the digital, the landscape and the figure. It is within the confines of this space, what we refer to as the in-between, where he finds a point of view that is ultimately queer. Born in Texas on a dairy farm to a Baptist preacher father and a schoolteacher mother, he was the youngest of six children. In his younger years, Scott began taking photographs of the rural landscape and the people who inhabited it. Using disposable Kodak cameras, he decided the trajectory of his career would be aligned with this passion – hence studying Photography and Art History at the University of North Texas. Shortly thereafter, Scott moved to New York City where he honed in on his digital photo manipulation skills. Fast forward to today, this has led to his current body of work, which is a reflection of and bastardized the rural landscape of his childhood. Documented in analog, you will discover his vast works including digital erotic images.

MV:  How do you present yourself or define yourself to someone who doesn’t know you ?
SM: I would say that I am a ‘Photoshop nerd’ that makes digital collage work that involves analog photography.

MV: I fell in love with your work and I see you as an artist, but I have a feeling that you have a difficult time defining yourself as one.  Is it because of your main and first job as a professional photo retoucher?
SM: That’s a good question. I’m just now starting to become comfortable defining myself as an artist, but probably similar to what you said: it’s something that’s been slowly building for so many years, and now it’s built enough to where I finally feel comfortable saying “oh yeah, I can do art.”.

MV: I did many things in my life and photography came late in my career and it took me time to call myself a photographer. I didn’t attend a formal school for it, and because of my lack of formal education, for a while I was questioning myself – after all I would never want to be seen as a ‘fraud.’ In your case,  because you were an expert in your retouching world, how does it feel to have spread your wings and catapulted yourself to becoming a master in your own right?
SM: Yeah. I do like saying I’m a ‘Photoshop nerd’ just because – firstly, it’s really approachable and second of all, Photoshop became such a complete gateway for me to creatively express myself.

MV: But most Photoshop users or retouchers are not becoming artists.
SM: True. It’s a strange trajectory.

MV: Do you think there will be a moment where you could be ready to say I’m an artist and that’s it? Nothing else.
SM: That’s a goal. Wouldn’t that be nice? Yeah. I think with each passing year, I’m getting closer to that point. I mean the one thing that I’m very thankful for is that, with this body of work, I appreciate that other people love it. I didn’t think that  it was possible that anyone would love it more than I do.

MV:  When did you decide to create your own images and your own art – stepping outside of the box?
SM: Well, like years ago I started. I mean, I can’t remember what was the conscious choice to flip the script, but I started doing all kinds of pretty abstract digital collages where I would take images I found, whether that be erotic and hot shots from Tumblr or screenshots from porn. And then I would cut them out, making like solid color backgrounds and that’s how my collaging began. And I thought that was really cool, hence doing that for a while. And then one night I had 35 mm scans from photos I’d just taken from my parents’ place back home. As expected, lots of cattle and I decided to randomly put some of my naughty images on top of the cattle. And I was like, wait, this makes sense. Not only do I like what this is doing visually, it also creates a real conversation between analog photography and digital, online ephemera, putting it together. And I was like, I should keep doing this.

MV: Collage is usually cutting, mixing and putting together existing images. In your case you are using your own landscape photography and you are furthermore integrating existing pictures from porn or erotic magazines or books. So  it’s more than just a nice ‘new cut’ composition; there’s an intention behind every movement. Not only do you make something beautiful, but you provoke a strong emotion for the viewer and that’s why your work is definitely artistic to me…
SM: That’s a rather interesting perspective. I mean, I do like the term Collage. Plus, the idea of creating collage as a medium provides the power to manipulate and also completely ignore boundary lines. To rebuild and create a narrative through a structure is amazing.

MV: You talk a lot about the technical aspect of your work. But what I love in your work is that the viewer sees just a strong emotional, often sexy, full complete , fascinating image in front of them.
SM: I mean maybe a more appropriate term could be just photography. After all that is kind of the end goal, right? What makes me most proud is when someone looks long, hard and deep and understands that the work is much larger than pieces on a paper – there is something major happening.

MV: How or where do you get inspired when you actually shoot the landscape that is the foundation/inlay of each of your works?
SM: To put words to that is quite an uphill battle. The ones that speak to me are those that are shot in my native Texas in the small town where I grew up. And that is a challenge as you can imagine. My upbringing as a homosexual who was unable to express that in any way, shape or form…well, for me to be able to return to that place is a struggle at times. However, when I press pause and reflect, my current homo-erotic energy provides me with a real sense of power in a way I was never able to when I actually lived there.

MV: When did this need of expressing eroticism begin?
SM: Being raised in a very religious and extremely repressed home, as an adult, I just would gravitate instantly to sexual imagery. It has a mystique. Actually, I recall when I was probably in junior high and I first saw the Fiona Apple ‘Criminal’ video – and I was like, oh, whatever this music video is doing is very sexual, very cool, and at the same time – very sad. It opened my eyes to whatever that was, it was what I wanted. That kind of got me into photography in the sense that, uh, I would get disposable cameras and try to take photos of my female friends in high school in a way that poorly mimicked that video. Looking back, sexuality and sensual imagery have always just been within me.

MV: The last decade with social media, platforms like Onlyfans, we have been subjected to sexyness and erotism everywhere. It seems rare to see a true artistic work. But yours is. And still, it has still a very strong and powerful sexual
immediate impact. Is your work similar to a sexual urge or an obsession?
SM: When I go to create these pieces there is a very deep urge which is very different from a sexual urge. I’m not sure at what point my sexual being stops and starts with my work. Also being sexual in some ways, to me it feels categorically different, but at the same time it has to interact with each other.

MV: You said that a lot of your landscape photographs were captured where you grew up in Texas. Most of those places are empty, or seem lifeless. I guess it’s done on purpose because it just reinforces the inclusion of sexual content afterwards ?
SM: Yes, it’s powerful and it feels like everything came full circle. It’s almost as if it gave me an added layer of power paired with reclaiming my youth…comparable to me getting in touch with my inner child and making peace. Before we started this, I was thinking about how I just gather all these seemingly random, mostly erotic photos that I connect and throw in an imaginary bag and save them for later use.

MV: Talk to us about Texas’ very American masculinity spirit and culture of horses, cowboys and cars..Think Richard Prince. How does that play into your style?
SM: I’ve had an obsession with cars, gas stations….I suppose it comes with the turf. I mean, that was just growing up in that culture. The people cared a lot about trucks, engines, gas, and activities like hanging out at gas stations.

MV: We talked yesterday about this testosterone culture in America. Everything bigger and shiny and cars and big trucks seem to be a penis extension for some American men ( laughs )
SM: Now. Yeah. However, I think most people that work on trucks would not agree with this. I think it’s quite gay like that, but you’re right. It’s very testosterone driven to me. It’s basically doing drag when you’re souping up trucks and cars to really show yourself in this larger in life way. I find it very theatrical like drag. And I think it’s very sexual, too.

MV: I was  surprised when I actually ordered some prints of your artwork for my house. I discovered your art on instagram and I guess you create and work on a computer screen. Shockingly, I was expecting to see big, large prints so I want to understand why keep it small when it would be even stronger on a wall?
SM: I guess. I mean that’s always subject to change and maybe I will go bigger. For now, I like the idea of them existing in a small way because they start off more than anything as 35 millimeter photos that I take on a point and shoot. So to me, I still see them as just like these kind of almost casual photographs that I’m not making anymore. So in my mind they’ve always been kind of a smaller scale project. In this constantly evolving journey where I just like to keep growing and that’s the most affirming wonderful part of it is that this just keeps getting better and I keep getting more sure of myself, too.

MV: Do you imagine yourself living just from your art and stop being a professional retoucher ?
SM: Yes. That’s definitely the goal because if you had asked me that question even two years ago, I’d be like, I don’t know if I could ever see a way. But now it’s like, I finally have gotten to a point where I care about this more than anything else I’m doing. I’m very thankful that I’ve been able to keep myself afloat also through Photoshop, which I enjoy in its own way. But it is obviously what I’m passionate about and everything has kind of come together. So the once shy boy is now getting noticed and that’s how I define my worth nowadays.

MV: What is the end game? Are you waiting for galleries and clients to come to you? And it’s not something negative, but sometimes being shy, being scared or unsure is more challenging than when things just fall into your lap….and they come to you and say I want you…
SM: Sure. I mean, I’ve definitely put myself out there more and more definitely, which also comes with rejection. And that is fine. But I just find that my focus has always  been to create and make the work. I think I’m getting to a point, which I kind of talked to you about yesterday and that is I would love to start getting a book together. That would be like a big goal for me. And to get more shows.

MV: We talk about a lot of movies, music and everything along those lines. So who are the people that have been very important to you that still influence you and your process?
SM: I cannot reiterate enough how much the Fiona Apple video for Criminal by Mark Romanek opened my world up to like a language that I guess I didn’t know existed. An amalgamation of melancholy and sexuality. It was the style of that video, which is all moving flash photography, and they have red eyes. I just thought about all of that and it blew me away. And then there is PJ Harvey the English singer and songwriter. Her 1995 ‘You Bring Me Love’ album I respected her Southern Gothic vives which is very much where I grew up.

MV: We have talked about David lynch which we are both fans of…
SM: What really gets me with David Lynch is what he does is what I am attempting to do with this body work. He has a power of world building, for example what he did with twin peaks, how he just created this entire world like a huge tapestry. It still blows me away what he was able to do there. And I even listen to a lot of his music when I’m working.

MV: Would you ever consider shooting your own models performing on your Texan land rather than collages?
SM: No, I just don’t think it would be the same body of work.Why it works is because these models and these images are found online. And of course, I want to celebrate the artists and the models. So anytime I can, I make sure I credit them. I like this idea where it’s like this is my analog photography and this is the world I’m in and then juxtapose that with these strange images that I found in this graveyard that is the internet.

.MV: Do you have a camera with you all the time ?
SM: All the time! Funnily enough, except on this trip. I oddly forgot it. The irony! Uh, yeah. It’s my little Yashika T4 and I love it. It’s been with me since 2016 and still works like a champ.

Thank you Scott. You are a champ to us, and at FFM, we believe in you and your work.. 

The post Definitely Mabe appeared first on Fashion For Men.