Teil III der "Insta-Tour" bietet ein Interview, auf das ich besonders stolz bin.
Der in Menswear-Kreisen geradezu als legendär zu bezeichnende Jason Jules (@garmsville) war bereit, mir ein Interview für die Insta-Tour zu geben.
Jason ist im Wesentlichen Marketing- und PR-Experte, gibt aber auch immer wieder ein großartiges Male Model ab, koordiniert Events, berät Bands und Musiker, und, und, und... Für mich ist Jason einer der authentischsten Menswear-Experten überhaupt - vor allem, wenn es um Freizeit- und Streetwear geht:
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| ©Michael Newington Gray / GQ Magazine |
You originally come from Public Relations and for a long time you promoted club nights and music events... how did you get in the end into the menswear world?
To me it’s always been about story telling. When I was doing clubs, I wanted to create a platform for people to share their stories - their vision – from DJ’s to bands to graphic designers to promoters and set designers. My goal was to listen to them and then try and provide a space – with an audience – where they could simply tell their creative story in the most authentic, enjoyable way they could. It was the same when I did PR for bands and fashion labels or wrote about music or art or film – what story are they trying to tell and why is it important? As a freelancer I always tend to follow my interests. So, when I decided to write about clothes for my blog, I approached it with the same attitude…clothes have stories too. I don’t think at the time I started Garmsville people were looking at clothing in that way, they saw them as objects within a fashion context and I was never concerned about them in that way. It wasn’t about trends but about authenticity and relevance, just like a band or an art exhibition or a film. Right now, one of my projects - called ‘The Happening Agency’ - is helping brands and independents create their own websites – the principle, that story telling is at the heart of what I’m interested in, is at the very foundation of that project too.
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| ©Courtesy of Drake's Haberdashers |
Today seems to be all about communication and self expression, maybe it always has been. Which of those three fields - PR, music, Fashion - do you consider to be the most powerful in expressing ones personality? Does one have more influence on you than the others? If so, what is it?
After a while all these things blend and become second nature – like a photographer always sees the world through a lens, I see the world through the idea of styles and story telling – or as you would term it communication and self expression.
For me personally music was always very important and my style was a very long time influenced by the look of bands I admired… you seem to have a similar attitude... true or just a feeling I have?
I think the musicians that inspired me most as a kid prioritised image in a way that made me realise that while music and style impacted each other, they could still travel a long very different trajectories. Bowie and Roxy Music rang the changes in their visual style and in their music too, but what resonated with me most was the idea that they simply didn’t seem to care about what others thought when it came to what they wore or sounded like. They were super individual on both levels. I never wanted to dress like Bowie or Roxy, but I clocked that blurring musical and stylistic boundaries allowed them to create new possibilities for themselves and for a working class kid from East London – that was the most exiting thing ever. Once I realised at a very early age that music and clothes could be used to affect peoples attitudes socially, culturally and also internally – pretty much everything changed for me.
You are known for having a faible for Ivy League Style… where does that come from?
I loved Ivy style way before I knew what it was called or where it came from, watching Fred Astaire films when I was about four years old and wanted to dress like him ever since. At four you don’t have a context for anything, but what attracted my to Astaire wasn’t just the clothes but also that he looked better than every one else in those clothes – I guess the dancing helped – not only the dance sequences - but also his swagger, his poise. He was acutely attuned to his own physicality and its appearance - something that all people into clothes hope become, I think. All through my childhood I wanted to dress like him - taking certain aspects of what he wore and then trying to make them mean something within my ‘wardrobe’. As I grew older, I was inspired by other musicians and actors – from Sidney Poitier to Steve McQueen and Miles Davis - but the initial spark was Astaire. It was only years later that I realised he was regarded as this style icon by others and that much of what he wore was Ivy League in origin.
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| ©Alex Natt / Kirk Originals |
Your overall style is very „fashion forward“, but always contains a big „classic“ influence. I really appreciate that. Do you think about your style a lot or is it just a natural feeling for clothes that leads to your distinctive looks?
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about clothes a lot. I do. I think about clothes. I look at clothes. I talk about clothes – a lot. But when it comes to wearing clothes it’s more a fun thing, I try to indulge myself in that respect, never repeating combinations of what I wore before, always mixing things up. Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s not that important, not in the real world, but it’s important to me, in my world and it’s my take on clothes that allows me to access the real world, to a certain degree at least, on my terms.
Can you tell me about your „ Favourite Designers and Brands“ at the moment?
There are a fair number of brands I’m really excited about at the moment – Drake's, Adret, Timophy Everest, Ring Jacket, Universal Works, Monsieur Merkli, The Relaxed Man, Art Comes First, Dawson Denim, Soboye, Scott Fraser Collection, Studio Nicholson, No Vacancy Inn, Mark Powell, Abedora, Brian MC Ginn, Grenfell, Nicolas Daley, Wembley Menswear, Horatio and TSPTR. In terms of women’s wear I love Vija Rhodes, Cecilia Robinson, Bella Freud, Petit Kouraj, Sasha Knight and W'Menswear.
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| ©Courtesy of Drake's Haberdashers |
Your admiration for the legendary John Simons is obvious. When did you have the idea of making a film about him and how long did it take you in the end to realise it? (that reminds of... still not having a copy!)
Haha – it’s definitely worth seeing, even if I say so myself! I came up with the idea of making a film about John in a time when I was making short films about a number of people I liked – I just wanted to capture the moment and maybe get some recognition for people I admired – that PR instinct again. Along with Art Comes First, I filmed Alley Capellino and Dave White from Rag Top Vintage and a few others and then I felt this super strong need to film John. I realised that lots of the people I know and lots that I never knew would be no where, stylistically, without the influence of John Simons and I figured, I wanted to say ‘thank you’ to him for being such a huge inspiration to me personally but to everyone else too. I’d already spoken with the likes of Paul Smith, Kevin Rowland, Paul Weller and David Rosen Robert Elms, John Hegarty and Dylan Jones and then, as the film went from being a ten minute short to a full length documentary, I realised I needed help to make it happen. In the end Mark Baxter came on board to produce and Lee Cogswell joined to film and direct.
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| ©Courtesy of Drake's Haberdashers |
Concerning street styles I often get the feeling that the bigger the aim for individualization in fashion, the bigger the risk of unwanted conformism. Do you share this perception? What is your advice for "fashionistas" not to get caught in that trap?
I can’t advise anyone about personal style really except to when it comes to wearing clothes I think the key is fun and pleasure. The business of designing, marketing styling, selling, etc is different to wearing. Wearing clothes - that’s about enjoyment and not really caring what others think or say. I think for men especially the idea of dressing for fun was for the longest time a pretty alien concept within the mainstream, it was about looking cool, keeping up with trends, looking successful and so on. But the people I look to, the people who I believe have amazing style – the famous ones and not so the famous ones - all see wearing clothes as a form of play and I think never they fail to look amazing as a result.
