Photographer Tenkou – Talent Bryant Giles – Interview by Marco Martello – All Fashion is by GONE HOMME
First of all, what’s your earliest fashion-related memory?
If I’m going to go way back, maybe watching my grandmother shop catalogs for church attire. She’d spend hours panning between the most loud dress and hat combos. It made her happy though.
You were born in Michigan City and grew up in Chicago, but you now live between Los Angeles and Tokyo. Where’s one place that you really feel at home?
I actually live in between Tokyo and Paris at the moment. I’d say that cocktail of places serves me a pretty good balance. But if I have to choose, Tokyo of course. It’s been my home before it was my home.
Taking a step back, how did your family and friends react when you first told them you wanted art and fashion to be more than just a hobby for you?
I think everyone knew that I was going to be diving directly into the art or fashion field. It was a no-brainer since I was a toddler, so my grandparents and mother supported it, as long as I gave it 100%. I think I gave it 200% (Laughs, E.D.).
Bryant, if you had to describe your creative approach, what words would you use?
For a long time, it’s been to live and reflect. Savour the moments, and live with them, then reconstruct the fragmented memories into something that’s ‘now’. The current climate we tread challenges the human attention span like no other, making it harder these days truly to remember things. It’s just all so fast. I’m not a fan of rushing honest art. But to say that I’m not working on a million ideas at once would be an understatement.
In March, you walked down the Isabel Marant catwalk. Do you remember how you felt when you lined up backstage for that fashion show?
I was kind of nervous (Laughs, E.D.). But it was pretty quick. Knocked a few beers back after, and the night was sweet.
Talking all things fashion, a couple of years ago you launched ‘Gone Home’, your very own brand. How does your job as a fashion designer influence your artistic practice and vice versa?
It’s been like raising two, very different children. I try to separate the worlds completely, and let them exist on their own, because they’re their own entities overall, with different messages being conveyed in presentation. With artwork I’m more articulate, and delicate. With my design and direction work, I’m fast and very hands on. The fashion world is an ever so revolving universe, that bears a new face every sunrise. The art world is a void, you travel filling in tile by tile. Ultimately, it’s up to you. I dont necessarily care what everyone else likes as it’s all so momentous.
In April, you announced a collaboration with Japanese sportswear brand Asics. Can you take us through the making of this Japan-exclusive collection?
I was working on my Tokyo solo exhibition following the ‘I’m alive?’ show, and wanted to create a uniform shoe that deteriorated over time, kind of like we do as people. The soles were painted over with several coats of paint, each layer darker or lighter than the other. So the more you lived in them, the more it showed on exterior. I think all of my footwear collaborations have been meant for wear and have some sort of layered detail. I love integrating Gone Homme in these different universes. I still find the art of collaboration beautiful.
As you said earlier, you reside between Tokyo and Paris. How would you describe the Tokyo art scene, and do you feel like you’ve managed to find your people there, a community of artists you resonate with?
The Los Angeles art scene is definitely ahead. As the Tokyo scene is very much developing. Being a part of a developing scene is exciting though. I think I’ve often just worked alone, and that hasn’t changed much since being in Tokyo. I think most artists here prefer to be to themselves. I draw with strangers from time to time to fill the language barrier. Though, it’d be nice one day to reside within an artistic community.
Bryant, what do you hope for the future of young U.S. creatives?
That they discover the world is so much bigger than their phone screens.
Last but not least, if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be and why?
At this very moment, maybe deep in the forest in Bali (Laughs, E.D.).