Tongue in Chic spoke to The Sartorialist himself over the phone as he pounded the pavements of New York, (literally – he was stopped for directions in the middle of our conversation!). It would seem a stroke of kismet that our interview with him would happen on the streets – it is after all, the very same place he first wielded his digital Canon camera and began his long-standing reign of style’s most formidable hunter since 2005.
The secret to Schuman’s longevity has always been the honest natural flair to his portraits. He captures what he sees, and with a good eye that eschews trendiness for timelessness, his pictures tell of classic style that spans the ages. Having held up the inspiration board for stylephiles and fashion fans all over, he was recently tapped by Levi’s to snap their Levi’s Curve ID campaign for Style.com, featuring 8 women with various real-life curves; a testament both to Schuman and Levi’s manifesto that style has never been about size, just shape. Thanks to the good folks at Levi’s, we had the opportunity to speak to the man.
Hi Scott. You have a lot of fans in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
Oh, good! I have to come down there sometime.
What have you seen or observed in Asia that is interesting to you?
I think the thing with Asia is that there is less tradition in how they dress. Because so many have adopted a Western style of dressing which mixes their traditional folklore or national dress for a special occasion or something. But they don’t have quite the same long-standing tradition, they don’t feel the same way about Western clothes. So I think is… what it means is that they have a lot more fun with it. They’re not tied down… there is a lot more freedom to have fun and mix things and put different combinations together, which is great. Great not to be tied down by tradition and how you think things should be worn. I love when people mix pieces of their own clothes from their particular culture with Western pieces, or any other kind of pieces. You see a lot of that in Asia.
Considering the growing affluence of Asians, do you think that taste and style can be bought, in the way that they can be copied based on what they see on your blog and what other people are wearing. Can there be that separation of persona and style?
I think you’re always going to have a certain segment that doesn’t matter if it’s Asian or American, you just have certain personality types and they go across all kinds of nationalities of people who want to express themselves through clothing and style and people who gain a certain status through using clothing. I think most of my photographs are just about people who are having fun with clothes and enjoy the playfulness of it, as opposed to trying to gain status. You can always tell the difference between the two. I think what I hear a lot from people who look at my blog a lot is that it’s not so much that they learned specific ways of mixing and matching but it just made them feel more comfortable to trust their own instinct. They felt like, here’s people doing their own thing and people really liked what they’re doing, so that’s what people really get from it – confidence and trusting their own instinct.
But then again there are also some people who appear more regularly on your blog so clearly some people do it better than others. Is it something you’re born with?
I think that certain people yeah, who I don’t think that they’re born with great style, they’re just an artist, they’re very good with colour combinations. Some people have a naturalness with that but there are also some people who show up on my site more than once, sometimes it’s just because they’re very easy to take photographs of. They appear very graceful and they photograph well. I very rarely put people’s names, I hardly ever say – I don’t think I ever say – “this person is so stylish” cause I don’t want to make it about a certain person, I want to make sure it’s about the idea of that person. I don’t think that you have to be born with it. I grew up in a place where style was really not an issue and I really had to learn it. And I think I learned it well. And I think that other people can do it. I don’t like to give people the fallback of “I just wasn’t born with great style, or a great body”, because all that can be handled.
What’s your favourite look for a girl in jeans?
I don’t know. I always like mixing, jeans are kinda casual so mix it with something sexy like heels or a sportcoat. Something tailored or sexy. I really love when people mix things up. So maybe a pair of baggier jeans or something with a pair of heels, or a white shirt or a mens sportcoat.
The Sartorialist for Style.com and Levi's Curve ID. Featured here: Modern Slight Curve Levi's Curve ID
We thought we’d get you to answer some of your own Style Profile questions..
All of them?
No, just a few.
Ah, ok.
Most overrated menswear item?
A Suit.
Most underrated menswear item?
Shoes.
Most cherished item?
A watch that was a gift from Garance.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Margaritas with Garance – they’re so fattening!
Thank you for speaking with us, and we hope to see you in South East Asia soon…and Garance too!
Yes, definitely; I never go anywhere without her!
Featured Levi's Curve ID: Modern Bold Curve Straight Jeans
For full pictures of The Sartorialist’s exclusive shoot for Style.com and Levi’s Curve ID, view more images here.
