'What Does Style Mean to You?'

I pestered some mates and some of menswear's great and good for a simple question.

I’ve been chattering away about mens clothing for a long time - and in my time waxing lyrical about big coats and even bigger jeans I’ve thought a lot about what ‘style’ means and why its actually important.

You can see some of my opinions in previous posts, but I wanted to pool the opinions of some of the most stylish people I know and follow to get an understanding of where their enthusiasm started, and why they think style is more than a frivolity, and more important than a lot of people might think.

Here are the responses -

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Jockum Hallin, Co-Founder of Our Legacy

• Style is the most direct communication with the world, to show what you are about, to show that you really care or don’t care at all and anything in between.

  A good outfit can consist of new things, but an interesting one tells something of your history.

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Lawrence Schlossman of Throwing Fits (aka The Only Podcast That Matters)

• I love getting dressed for myself and myself alone because it gives me the foundational confidence to attempt to be the best version of myself when I walk out of the door every day.

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Nethaneal Zechariah, Designer

• I think style is important on a few separate levels, first being the obvious which is self expression and individuality…especially in this day and age where everyone is a carbon copy of TikTok’s latest micro trend, style is what sets you apart…but it’s so much more then the clothes, it’s the way you walk, the way you conduct yourself, the energy you evoke, it’s all in the subtle nuances. Then you have the cultural aspect, which is very important to me being that I grew up on the border of Mexico in a small farming town…there’s so much influence from the Chicano silhouettes, which includes Pendleton board shirts, dickies, Levi’s 501s that are 2-3 sizes big, white tees and Stetson hats. To the western apparel, the cowboy boots, distressed workwear, and Pearl snap button downs. Style is a beautiful way to tell your story and do it in a way that lets the world know YOU’RE in the room.

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Chris Henderson, Stylist & Vintage Seller

• I grew up in a place called Preston during what I would define as my formative years and it’s not a place that is known for its diverse style. My brother is a bit older than me and so to have that slightly older influence meant that I was introduced to music and cultures that maybe I wouldn’t have otherwise been aware of on my own. We were both slightly alt and would go to rock shows and stuff and wear greebo clothes but definitely not in a very ‘cool’ way, but I guess that was the beginning of having a personal style that wasn’t exactly the status quo. When I was in my mid teens I started going on holiday to Cornwall every summer for a skate/music festival thing and I remember going for the first time and thinking how insane it was that I could get away with wearing whatever insane stuff I wanted without anyone judging me because it was more of an open and likeminded community? Way different to wearing skinny jeans in Preston and getting given a load of grief for it.

• I don’t think anyone necessarily ‘should’ care about their style per se, I often think about how much more I might get done if I wasn’t wondering about what jeans to wear haha. For me it’s a fun way to look a bit freaky, I think my mindset on a lot of things is that of hoarding/collecting depending on who you ask, and to have this weird passion for something so specific and be able to integrate it into my life in such a tangible way is a nice feeling. I guess it’s the same way people who collect old cars or whatever would go on a drive on a weekend maybe?

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Freddie Kemp, Stylist

• It sets a standard for living. If everything you do, everything you consume, everything you create, what you wear, you do with style and thought it’s going to enrich your life and your experiences. There is of course individuality and flair within style, but there’s definitely ground work that needs to be done.

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Sigurd Bank, Designer, Founder of mfpen

• I started skateboarding in my early teens. To me, a subculture is a great way to enter into fashion. So it's more connected to a culture, rather than just "fashion".

  [Your style is] a great way to present yourself in my opinion - and therefore it can be easier to connect and interact. 

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Alexander McCalla, Stylist, Creative Consultant

• My interest in clothing most likely started with something as simple as non-uniform day. I was excited to just experiment with outfit ideas and cuz we didn’t have much growing up I had to find creative ways to dress in interesting ways - sometimes it was a hit and I enjoyed that buzz, other times they were shockers - dressed in all yellow tones once and got called banana the whole day. Even when it didn’t work though I always enjoyed it.

• Your style can say a lot about you - a lovely blend of your culture, experiences, tastes and values. For me it’s constantly changing - I’ve had moments where I prescribe to uniform dressing with a capsule wardrobe with a Dieter Rams sort of mindset and other times I’ve let a bit of nostalgia and sentimentality guide my style as a sort of reminder of my journey, whilst keeping me grounded in who I am as I explore new aesthetics

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Tanner Dean, Photographer, Content Creator

• I started getting into fashion via thrifting and working at a secondhand consignment store. i also was thrifting things to wear to comic con because i would dress up for that. I think it’s really nice to be able to put on identity everyday and fashion who you want to present to the world and to yourself.

• Fashion is a form of communication with self and others.

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Ryan Fidell of North Workshop

• As with a lot of people, I got into vintage through a desire to wear pieces I didn’t see anyone else wearing. I’ve never been into heavy branding, I don’t like stepping out the house and seeing someone wearing the same piece of clothing as me, identity is super important, style over substance. Couple that with having no money at university and second hand clothing being a lot cheaper to buy, my passion for vintage and experimenting with fashion grew from there. Since then it’s evolved, and through NW I can now draw reference from vintage we come across to contemporary pieces I’ve seen, which is cool.

• First impressions count. Your individual style is your identity, it breeds self confidence, it’s really important to have your own. It’s subjective and that’s how it should be - a well put together outfit with the right proportions will always look good, regardless if your style isn’t everyone else’s cup of tea.

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Charles Xiong, Stylist & Photographer

• My interest in clothing started when I discovered K-pop around 12 years old. I was captivated by the self-expression and individuality in the way idols dressed, both on and off stage. The styles were so distinct from anything I’d seen in Western fashion, which made it even more fascinating. Later, Tumblr and the rise of the YouTube fashion influencers became huge influences, fuelling my curiosity about different brands and styles and expanding my sense of what fashion could represent.

• I don’t think everyone should feel pressured to care about their style if it’s not something they’re interested in. But for those who do enjoy fashion, style is a powerful form of self-expression. It’s like building a character in a game—what you wear tells others about your interests, lifestyle, and personality. Style helps tell your unique story and creates an identity that others can see and connect with.

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Luke McDonald, Art Director

• I’m from a really small town in western Canada and I discovered my style through the local DIY Punk and skateboarding scenes, so style to me represents culture and freedom of expression in a really accessible everyday way. I was able to absorb all these ideas about music, film and art from people who looked great but whose style was a byproduct of what they were doing whether it was Karen O or Ali Boulala.

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Gauthier Borsarello, Creative Director of Fursac, Co-founder and Fashion Director of L’Etiquette Magazine

• Coming from a family of 6 kids with no much cash, [fashion] was originally an obsession to be able to look cool at school when I couldn’t afford any new clothes, even less branded. So I had to make look cool things I found in thrift stores. That is where my passion for clothes and vintage started (at a time when going to vintage stores was not cool at all…)

• [Style is important] because it’s the very first message they send, even before « hello » and a handshake. It’s ok not to care about clothes, but you have to know it’s already a message sent.

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A consistent theme popped up when talking to these fellow menswear heads - the idea that your style tells your story, and can telegraph who you are to others. The music we listen to, hobbies we have and the part of the world we’re from are all things we can show through how we dress - something that has become lost with the seeming death of subcultures and an general approach to dressing that is much more motivated by being the first to adopt the newest thing, as opposed to something authentic. It seems as though many of us who think about our clothing often are using it to tell our personal stories, not just trying to make ourselves look or feel nice.

Thanks again to all those who got involved. Hope this little passing of the mic to some of the people that inspire me to stick to the path has been of interest.

TS.