This month I had the privilege of speaking with New York Native, Sebastian Jean. Sebastian is a freelance Stylist and Men’s Fashion Editor at Office Magazine. I was introduced to Sebastian by some mutual friends in New York, and I have to be honest from his Instagram bio I knew I was sold on his style. The bio reads ”‘mister mix the prada with the uniqlo’ 🏄🏾”, which stood out to me. To me true style is how you are able to create a look with what you have,and not let the clothing or label dictate your style or wear you; true style is how you combine a mixture of things which he does impeccably . I spoke to Sebastian about his approach to styling, to what some of his personal favorite pieces, and he gave a great insight on how to think about designers and the brands they design for. I can’t wait to see what is next for Sebastian, from new feature editorials to the launching of his own brand. To follow this feature, this week on my Instagram I will be styling three outfits off of pieces of art that Sebastian selected himself so make sure to check that out!
I hope you all enjoy this month’s Spotlight Series and make sure to follow Sebastian on Instagram at @sebjective.
Audrey-Anna Oliveros: Could you tell us how you started your career in the fashion world?
Sebastian Jean: I got my first industry fashion gig working as an intern in the Calvin Klein fashion office. This was during my senior year in college and just a month or so after Raf Simons joined Calvin Klein as creative director. It was a super interesting time to be there, everyone was excited to see what he had in store for the brand and it was wild to be 21 years old and in the same creative space as Raf. My claim to fashion fame was handing him his coffee once, I still have the post-it note with his order on it. Following that internship and graduating from college, I spent that summer assisting stylists Melanie Ward and Simon Rasmussen, while also interning at OFFICE MAGAZINE. By the end of that summer, Simon had made me his first assistant and gave me a title at the magazine. I've been cooking with my fashion family there ever since, as well as venturing into my own freelance adventures.
AAO: Who are some of your favorite designers at the moment, and why?
SJ: I’ve been thinking about this question differently. It’s easy for me to rattle off names that I like, but I’m not sure that I do have any favorite designers. I have favorite brands and I have favorite collections, but I’m reassessing the role that the designer plays in this consideration of preference and comparison. We know designers are credited with creating collections, but what happens when your “favorite” designer says something stupid? Does that one fall collection that you’ve known and loved become irrelevant overnight? Do you toss out that favorite pair of shorts you paid $395 dollars for? The people we revere are not without fault. As a Kanye West stan, this is something that I know all too well, (speaking to separating the individual from the art). And while it’s commonplace to regard a designer as an artist, just as you would a painter or a dancer, I find that the way a designer’s art reaches the people has a divergent route to its distribution. That analysis aside, I like Prada, Comme des Garçons, Rick Owens, and Dries Van Noten to name some. Those brands are very functional and versatile to me. They elevate the regular and haven’t said or done that many stupid things.
AAO: Recently you styled a feature and the cover shot for April's issue of Cultured Magazine. In the spread, you were styling with the designs of Kim Jones for Dior Homme. Some of the things that I loved from that shoot were that you styled a woman in clothing that is marketed to men, which I think will be the future for most fashion houses. Considering a house like Gucci, who will be moving forward with creating collections that are not gender biased, it is something that I think we will see more of in styling. I also liked with your styling you made each outfit feel easy and approachable, from the way you styled the garments to the way the photos were shot. Everything felt like it was on the move and almost imperfect, which is the reality for all of us nothing is ever as staged as the pictures we take! This being said, as a stylist what are some of the decisions and thoughts you have when pulling for shoots, and what is one thing you want the viewers to takeaway from your styled creations?
SJ: As a stylist, I think one of the most important considerations before the clothes is the photographer. Gogy Esparza, the photographer who brought me onto the Cultured Magazine production, is so good at what you recognized from the images, “everything felt like it was on the move and almost imperfect.” Gogy has an eye for the elements around us that often go unnoticed. He’s the type of individual to walk past a Chinese food restaurant at 3AM in the LES and find something captivating in the illuminated awning or the fraying away phone number decal on the storefront window. This Pre-Fall 19 Dior Men’s collection wasn’t one that I was particularly excited about, or at least from how it was presented at the show, but when we got in the room with the pieces and the talent, we began to unravel moments that brought the collection to life for us and the story that we wanted to tell. This is where a challenging collection becomes fun, by pushing you to find something that you didn't see in it before. 9/10 I’m working with pieces I’ve only seen via my computer screen, and even in cases where I’ve attended the runway show, nothing compares to being in the room with the clothes on a rack and having the opportunity to fit them on the body. Often, a production and working with a collection feels like a mystery you're trying to solve, but the catch is that there’s more than one way to solve it, and most people will solve it differently. When people see my work, I want them to see and experience my conclusion to the mystery, but also imagine and develop their own.
AAO: What are your top three favorite pieces in your wardrobe, and why do they get that coveted spot? (Items pictured in order below)
SJ: 1- Paradise Found Vintage Hawaiian Shirt, white with palm trees and pink flamingos. One of the strongest criteria for vintage garments for me is when a piece looks designer, but isn’t. This Hawaiian shirt could easily be from Prada’s A/W16 collection, but it’s a $30 shirt that I got on Grailed. I love a come-up.
2 - Martine Rose S/S17 striped button-up. I like playing with different archetypes, especially those where the typical character doesn’t look like me. It’s fun to explore what a CEO, hiker, or Hamptons vacationer looks like traditionally, and then seeing how I can fuck it up. Martine is great at tastefully satirizing traditional elements. Many of her pieces, like this shirt, are great because I can walk into certain spaces and play the part, but also maintain my flavor.
3- 424 Fairfax black leather pants. These leather pants are so solid because they’re cut like relaxed-fit denim, so it’s not a battle to get them on or off. I do need to get them tailored, but a shoelace belt has been doing the trick.
AAO: After researching some of the features and interviews you have been involved in at Office Magazine, many are with artists such as Lucia Hierro, Anthony Akinbola and fashion editing for Reginald Sylvester II; that along with your position as a curatorial assistant at the Neuberger Museum, I think it is safe to say you have a deep appreciation for both art and fashion. How would you describe the relationship between art and fashion?
SJ: I could never really draw or paint, not even in an abstract sense. However, through clothing, I’ve always been able to assemble the structure of a work of art via what I’m wearing or putting on someone else. A lot of the time, I don’t even have to be wearing the item of clothing, it could just be laying on a particular chair that I like and that serves a purpose for me. Since I first started dressing, I’ve learned to understand and use clothing in the context of a “piece,” like you would a piece of art or a piece of furniture. This mindset guides me in seeing the fashion items I own not just as things to wear, but things that affect and interact with the space around me. In many cases, I’ll be looking to purchase a piece of clothing and I’ll think about how it will look on me and how it will look draped over the back of my favorite chair, both considerations are of equal importance to me. I’ll also often leave a pair of sneakers out in plain sight because I appreciate what the color and silhouette contributes to my environment. I think where clothing and art come together for me is that that they both allow me to shape my environment, transcend time, and participate in a conversation that’s nonverbal.
AAO: Can you share some of your favorite artists, and if there is a dream work of art you would want to live with in your home?
SJ: I’ve found inspiration and intrigue in the works of Kerry James Marshall, Noah Davis, Cy Twombly, Diana Lawson, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francis Picabia, Stanley Whitney, Helmut Newton, Fred Wilson, David Hammons, Aya Brown, Henri Matisse, and many more. There was a dream work of art that I wanted to live with in my home, but Diddy beat me to it.
AAO: What can we see next from you?
SJ: AVOIR is coming out of the gate slowly, but surely. Will let you know what we’re up to as things progress!
