FEATURED 2

JOSEPH, CLAIREMONT

MEANWHILE, IN CLAIREMONT

Never underestimate what is right in front of you. Since moving to San Diego I have been finding my neighbourhood increasingly more interesting. I drive past this guy everyday I go to training and I stopped to interview him and take some portraits. This is Mike.

NINH NGUYEN, NYC

While I was last in New York City recently, I visited the designer of Ninh Nguyen and bow-tie line Mad Handsome to have a chat and take some snaps of his new line.

I took my Aussie mate and model Daniel Garofali with me to the studio to get a visualization of some of the pieces. I think there is a nice mix of toughness and sophistication in this collection. Ninh’s design philosophy has an eclectic approach: it combines the simplicity, traditional fit of London, the contemporary and fresh style of Japan, and the chic mode of Korea.

So Ninh, where are you from originally?

Well I was born in Paris. I grew up there for nine years and then I moved to Texas so I’m a Southerner.

That’s cool my boyfriend is from Texas actually.

Yeah from where?

He’s from Dallas Fort Worth.

Dude I’m from there. I’ll be in Dallas at the end of April.

Nice, I think I’ll be here then so we will miss each other.

What inspires you to do your pieces?

Honestly, It’s everything. I mean you can just walk down the street and then you see someone that has amazing style and then that just influences your designs. But you know I like to use a lot of military concepts.

I’ve noticed that. That is I think the thing that drew me to it. It is very structural with the military style.

Yeah, I like symmetry in men’s clothing and all the jackets that we use have shoulder pads which makes it very structured and you know very squared.

Where do you sell your brands?

For Ninh collection, we are only selling online right now and the bow-ties we are just starting so they will be available very soon.

You can buy Ninh Nguyen online at http://www.ninh.co/shop

ERIC

Country boy and Emergency Room practitioner Eric, got together with me in the studio to take some shots. I was surprised that he has never had photos taken before.

BRADEN @ EMG SYDNEY

I met Litchy on my recent trip up to Brisbane.

So Litchy, Where did you grow up?

I grew up south coast N.S.W in a small town called Culburra beach, it was a nice place to grow up with loads of stuff to do so I was sad when I had to move to Brisbane but I’m glad I did.

How long have you been in the military?

I’ve been working for the army for about 3 and a half years now and I’m still enjoying it, I’ve made some of the best mates you could ask for through this job but not forgetting my brothers back home.

What attracted you to armed service?

I mainly wanted to join because my grandfather was in the defence force but I always was interested in serving for my country in Afghanistan.

You said you went to Afghanistan, are there any interesting observations that stuck out to you while over there?

Well it was a massive culture shock to see how the locals lived and treated each other but I was glad to be there and do my job next to my mates, it had its ups and definitely had its downs but I would definitely go back.

If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be and why?

I have travelled a fair bit through Southeast Asia but I’m yet to explore Europe and America so the next time I travel I would have to check them out.

It took me a while when we were shooting to realise what your tattoo said but I have to ask about it. What inspired you to get it?

Haha, yeah basically I have always lived life with a don’t care what others think attitude so during a big weekend I decided to get a tattoo to express this although making sure it was small enough to get covered up in the future, mum wasn’t impressed haha.

Chris Ogle – Wellness Coach, dropped by my studio today, more to come shortly.