That’s Not My Age

A couple of week’s ago, I was a guest speaker on a panel for the charity organisation The Age of No Retirement (a new-ish charity who I hope to be working with again in the future). It was a great event with a dream team of FABulous people: hosted by Caryn Franklin, with Dr Carolyn Mair a chartered psychologist who works at London College of Fashion, brand consultant Jason Jules and myself. I’ve often thought it would be good to have a regular Mr That’s Not My Age section on the site, but, er, time. Anyhow. Jason is a man whose style I have admired for many years. As well as being a brand ambassador, Jason is the founder of Garmsville and a part-time model – these photos are from the autumn/winter 2016 collection for Drake’s – and fortunately, he found the time to answer a few of my questions:

TNMA: Tell me about your creative process – how do you work? What’s a typical day like?

JJ: It’s great because no two days are the same. I get approached through word of mouth. I don’t have a formal website. It’s easier that way since it means I’ve never had a defined role or limit my interests. As a result, one day I’ll be asked to write copy for a sportswear brand and the next I’ll be asked to do the creative direction for a new rock band or contribute a marketing strategy for an established high street food chain.

TNMA: What does a brand consultant do?

JJ: I can’t speak for others, but what I guess I provide is a kind of latter day cartography – brands and agencies look to me for creative navigation. Sometimes it’s just to help them understand the cultural landscape and their position within it. Other times they want to be somewhere else – and want me to help them get there. Or maybe they know exactly where they are, but no one else does. And I can help out in that respect too. It’s really about identity, context and profile. It can get a bit philosophical at times – helping brands see themselves as they can be, not as they are – but it’s not just talk, there’s always a set of deliverables at the end.

TNMA: How does modelling fit into all this? And how long have you been modelling?

JJ: I guess what I do isn’t strictly modelling – it’s what we call character modelling. People tend to know that what I do outside modelling when they ask me to be involved in a shoot or campaign. Like branding, it’s a lot to do with fit and context – if there’s an affinity between what I do and what the brand stands for then there’s an obvious fit. I’ve been doing this for years. When I was much younger, in my twenties, I decided I’d have my picture taken – appear in a magazine, once a year, just so I had a kind of personal memento of what I was doing at the time – so when friends who run brands like Norse Projects, Stussy and BAPE or Bass Loafers asked my to be in their shoots, saying yes wasn’t a huge decision for me.

TNMA: How was it working with Drake’s and what do you like about the brand?

JJ: Drake’s is a dream brand to work with because the clothes are amazing and because the guys behind the brand are great, too. It’s a brilliant mix of British tailoring, a continental cut and an attention to detail that you’d expect from people who started out as tie makers. What’s great about them is that there’s still an amazing discovery factor to what they do and those who know, know that they’re one of the coolest brands around, right now.

TNMA: What other brands should a gentleman wear?

JJ: The go-to brands are the classic ones, ones that never really go out of style because they operate on a different premise to most brands. The thing for me, is to go to the brand that makes that ‘one thing’ best. So, Schott for leather flight jackets, Converse for canvas sneakers, Levi’s for jeans, Dickies for canvas work pants, Red Wing for boots, Burberry or Mackintosh for macs, Brooks Brothers for button-down shirts. Then maybe look at brands who reinterpreted those classics – like Engineered Garments, Norse Projects, Thom Browne at one end of the spectrum and Uniqlo at the other.

TNMA: How would you describe your personal style?

JJ: When it comes to the way I dress, there are two variants which I’ve long been conscious of: my current age and the current trends. It’s a constant act of adjustment in order to embrace my age and resist the trends. In fact, I try to avoid the current trends like the plague, though it’s not easy. For example, the fashion for low rise, slim legged trousers is virtually ubiquitous and I know it’s really hard for a lot of men to avoid, simply because they can’t buy anything else. Luckily Drake’s have great trousers that have a true waist, length and fuller leg, and brands like Dickies and Carhartt are always there for less formal khakis. I crop everything. Even if I’m wearing the most conservative of clothes, like a blazer or a pair of jeans, I’ll have had the length adjusted so they fit and relate to whatever else I’m wearing. It’s down to personal taste, but for me – the cuff of a jacket should allow for some shirtsleeve and wristwatch to show through and the leg length should kiss the top of the shoe and no more. Sometimes it’s the difference between you wearing your clothes and your clothes wearing you.

And yes, I know it sounds really over the top  – and maybe it is – but it’s fun and it’s a code, one which a lot of men I know have in common. When guys get older they seem to think these things don’t matter, as if it’s an indulgence. No question at all – it’s definitely an indulgence! But it’s worth while. In caring about your clothes you really have to care about yourself – like getting regular haircuts, and manicures and watching your diet are all part of getting a handle on your own personal style.

About time we had some Gentleman Style: