A Study with Emmanuel: The Stylish Sequel

We caught up with our favourite style icon to talk about dressing for your mood, style in St Andrews, and whether men’s fashion ever has the same potential as women’s.

How do you decide what to wear every day? Is there a method, or is it based on your mood?

Mood is a part of intuition. “I wear what I feel”—Really? How can you wear what you feel, when you really can’t pinpoint why you feel this way? Or, what it is you’re actually feeling. “I feel this way, therefore, I’m going to wear this colour.”When you’re feeling really really down, you wear black. But when you wear black on a good day, what is that? Let’s say:“I’m down, I’m under the weather”, so I’m going to put on scarves, a hat and a big, thick jacket. People who resort to this as a means of fashion are a disrespect. You cannot allow your mood—something so inconsistent, so incoherent—dictate something like fashion or the presentation of yourself. If anything: if you feel bad, or if your mood is bad, your outfit should make you feel good! When it comes to those who understand fashion and the intuitive process of fashion… It’s not about mood; it’s not about philosophy. It’s just what is. There’s a realization process even before you get to the clothing, or before you engage with the canvas.

For example, the reason I like white is because when you begin to study the colour white and what it means; and how it’s so intertwined with who you are and what you are. Why do people, for example, like the Guernica so much? Because this monochrome canvas, it for once gives you like this relief from this colourful world, and you’re able to enter it. So when someone wears black or white, like a person dressed in all black, it becomes this magnet! Being surrounded by all of these rainbow colours, and people who wear all of these rainbow colours, but then you look at this one girl wearing all one colour. It’s so simple, but it’s so fucking dope. You know what I mean? And, that is why I value people who study art history and study art. Art is the most treasured element in society. You begin to gravitate towards things like art and fashion. These things are cherished; there is an understanding that these are things with the reason to why.

Emmanuel modelling for DONT WALK

Do you feel St Andrews has added anything to your look, or changed it in anyway?

St Andrews gives me hope, because there are many people looking for something. There are many people willing to follow a particular trend, because there is a distinction to be made here: the person who creates and the person who consumes the creation.

So, what St Andrews has added? It hasn’t added to my fashion sense at all—physically—it has made me understand more about fashion. Particularly being a part of DW, it has also allowed me to question elements of my own fashion. That’s a very important conversation for me to have, as someone obsessed with fashion, to keep me continuously asking these questions. Speaking to some of these people on the committee, and close to the creative process, allows me to see that conversation that’s happening. Art and the creative process means ten times more to me than a PhD. You can quote me on that. A PhD is a piece of paper.

Do you think men have as many possibilities as women do when it comes to clothing/fashion?

Not at all: of course not. But, whoever comes by, and redefines men’s wear, will end up doing something quite unique—that hasn’t been done for a long time. Why do people like Karl Lagerfeld and Alexander McQueen? Why are they of a particular sexuality? Why do they have this sexual understanding? And why are they so amazingly gifted, and what do they make most of the time? Women’s wear. So there is, a kind of prerequisite in a way, that sexuality may allow for a deeper understanding… sexuality may allow a particular philosophy to what you/we wear, the ability to create and recreate women’s wear.

For me, I like to see as much danger as possible in women’s fashion. There needs to be perfection. And, that perfection should make you upset, it should ignite something within you. It should be provocative, it should be sharp, and it should be something that is so beautiful.It needs to be a feeling of: you hate it but you love it.

Men’s fashion—well, I’ll just keep it simple—is to support women’s fashion. Men’s fashion is to be as simple, and as supportive as possible. Almost like… the base of a chair, the legs of a chair, they are important; they may not be the most visually important things, but they are important. You’ll notice that men, who are very stylish, are very simple. It’s the way that they wear it. The walk of a man, the physique of a man, his hair compliments what he’s wearing, etcetera—all of those things make the outfit. We don’t need to add anything. Keep it simple.