Five Fits With: Photographer and Menswear Influencer Jeremy Mitchell
Some people have an infectious positivity, and Brooklyn-born photographer and content creator Jeremy Mitchell is absolutely one of them. I first met him a couple of summers ago photographing an event for Mr. Porter and when I took his portrait, his warmth shone right through the image. There’s an ease to Jeremy and his way of speaking. And I’ve said this before in this column, but when you’re from Brooklyn, you’ve dealt with people of all walks and challenges of all kinds much sooner than the average person.
“My family's from Trinidad, so I come from immigrant parents,” Mitchell tells me when I ask about his background. “I would say a lot of my summer style comes from the West Indies—lackadaisical, throw on whatever, but still try to look as appealing and comfortable as possible in the heat.”
It’s an interesting moment. Because, yes, this piece is about style. But I hadn’t yet asked Jeremy to tell me about his. It’s something so ingrained in who he is that he can’t help but mention it three sentences in to telling me his story. It goes without saying that he has excellent style, doing it well on both sides of the lens. Below, Mitchell and I discuss his career, falling in love with menswear, dressing for church as a child, and plenty more.
Fit One
Suit, shirt, and shoes by Suitsupply; glasses by Kaneko Japan.
Tell me about yourself presently. What do you do for a living?
I am a full-time photographer, part-time menswear influencer, and co-owner of a studio called Blanc Studios. We have four spaces on the Williamsburg-Bushwick border. Just come through—whatever idea you have, we can create or you can use it for yourself and create whatever you feel like creating. We do consulting at Pitti Uomo for menswear brands. When brands here want some help, too, we give it to them with art direction, photography, edits, whatever they want. Anything revolving around imagery and making people feel good is what I do. If you want to feel good and look good, trust me, I'm here to help you.
Was there a first moment you fell in love with clothing and menswear?
I grew up in a religious household, so from early on, it was church twice a week every week till adulthood. I was born and raised in a suit. Casual style and self-discovery came in junior high school 'cause in elementary school it was all uniforms. All of my peers were rocking Mishka, Phat Farm, Akademiks, all those brands. Sean John…
Fit Two
Overshirt by Beams, T-shirt by Madewell, jeans by Todd Snyder, shoes by Blackstock & Weber x Billionaire Boys Club, glasses by Morgenthal Frederics, and hat by Todd Snyder x L.L.Bean.
Rocawear, Ecko…
I remember Ecko! Southpole. They were all brand new to me and fuck, I was like what, 11, 12? I was fascinated by style. TV played a huge part, but like I said, I grew up in a religious household, so MTV and BET weren’t really a thing. It was more like Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Fox Kids, all that. When your parents are away and we're sneaking watching MTV, it's like getting little hints here and there—New Era hats, oversized jerseys, Uptowns, baggy coats along with what I'm seeing in school. My mother definitely took us to JCPenney every weekend to just pick out clothes for school or church. That was my first trial run at shopping for myself. When I started to get my own money—we get our allowance here and there—I started going to VIMs. If you're from New York, you know what VIMs is. I was at VIMs heavy, junior high school on Flatbush Avenue. LOT29 with the Bugs Bunny’s—yep, it was all of that up to the Timbs and I'm like, “Wow.” This is me shopping by myself now. That's how I started to get my style cues. My very first piece I felt comfortable in was a Dickies varsity jacket. In high school, I was reading Complex, way back when they had two sides. They used to be heavy, bro. That was my inspiration 'cause you’d get a hybrid of streetwear and menswear. It was the perfect blend.
Fit Three
Jacket by Human Made, shirt by JW Anderson x Uniqlo, jeans by Buck Mason, shoes by Prada, tie by Drake's, glasses by Kaneko Japan, and hat by Stetson.
You’re starting to go where I was going with this next question; who or what are some influences on your personal style?
GQ was cool. It's like, “Suits, nice.” Complex is what fascinated me more. It was the people that they were interviewing: Wale, before Wale was Wale. This is before Kid Cudi was Kid Cudi. I remember there was one with Jonah Hill rocking a Michael Jackson jacket. I still have stacks of them, all the way from 2006. My buddies Josh and Trav from Street Etiquette were featured in an issue and that's when I was like, "Oh snap. So, people out here could do this." Mind you, I'm in school to be an electrician. I did it for my mom. My teachers are telling me, "Jeremy, you're not going to make it." Everyone has that story. Lo and behold, I hated it. I'm not doing it. Once I graduated in 2009, I bought a camera. And I’ve been shooting ever since. In college I met my buddy, Joe Kenneth, who was very close with the guys from Street Etiquette. Those three were my main sources of inspiration. This is when Tumblr just started and I was seeing inspiration overload. I'm like, "I have to do this. This is me." I felt like this was my calling, fashion and photography.
How did you start taking photos?
Before college, some buddies of mine made some bracelets and I wanted one for free but they told me no. They said "You're going to have to pay everybody else." I'm like, "Bro, I'm your homie. I'll pay half." 'Cause they were charging a lot of money! Because they told me no, I said, “I'm going to go out and I'm going to make it myself. I discovered the diamond district. I went out there and I bought all the pieces to make it myself. With the camera that I bought with my graduation money, I started taking pictures of the product. That’s when I realized that presentation is what sells. I didn't know shit about selling. I just knew how to make things look good. I would do the most and the photo itself would sell the product. That's how I was able to make some extra money until I went to college.
Fit Four
Sweater by Todd Snyder, shirt by Madewell, trousers by Jil Sander, shoes by Nike x Comme des Garçons, watch by Fossil, and hat by Stetson.
How has your personal style changed since you first started making money for yourself?
My style hasn't changed, but the quality of clothing has. The way I wear my clothes has changed as well. The silhouette is still there. You're still going to see a suit. You're still going to see a pair of jeans. But it's a type of jeans. It's a type of suit. The type of lapel on the suit. You're not going to see a thin lapel, but a wide lapel. You're going to see more double-breasted than single breasted. I hate a single pleat. I love double pleated suits. Wider pants instead of slimmer pants.
Any style tips for those looking to take their style more seriously, but don't know where to start?
Don't try too hard. Everybody looks at their favorite influencer or their favorite fashion icon and they want to be exactly like that. But sometimes, to be honest, most of those guys, they're copying somebody or they have a stylist. Start with the basics. White tee, blue jeans, G.H. Bass shoes, and an overshirt. I swear to God. You think it's wack. I promise you it’s not. What you need to do is just be clean. As long as you're clean and you have a great attitude, I promise you that's going to show more than a Marni sweater, guaranteed.
Fit Five
Coat by Barbour, sweater by Thom Browne, trousers by Todd Snyder, shoes by Suitsupply, and hat by Suaré.
Can you remember the first significant purchase you ever made?
My Thom Browne shoes for my first time at Pitti Uomo in 2015.
What's the last thing you purchased?
KameManNen frames in Japan. After I went to Japan and I came back to the States, I haven't really shopped.
If you had to wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it consist of?
Navy blue double-breasted suit, maybe pinstripe. Under, a cashmere heather gray sweater. My bracelets would definitely be John Hardy and M.Cohen. My shoes will be my Guidis, of course; the most comfortable leather ever. Glasses would be Kaneko Japan and for my watch, it's a Cartier Santos Dumont.
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