GAYLETTER

So you recently launched the Altu brand. How has that been to launch another brand? You haven’t done that in a while. Social media was not a thing back in 2008 when I launched Altuzarra, it predates Instagram. [Launching Altu] it was more emotional in some ways because now you really are launching to the world, in a very direct way as opposed to back when I launched Altuzarra. I mean, then you were putting your lookbook on a website. I think the fact that you put it out into the world and then you get reactions and DMs and things immediately, it made me feel very vulnerable. Then at the same time, in some ways it was a little less spontaneous because you need to plan in advance so much. You have to have a tone, you have to have a message, and you have to have a set narrative very early, which is very different from how Altuzarra was launched.

When Altuzarra launched it was more of a slow burn and you were able to develop that as you created it? It was a bit more of a slow burn and there was less of a sense of like, “Oh, I have to launch with a signature and something that is going to be really recognizable from the very beginning that I’m going to evolve from season to season.” You know, I think because the scale of everything was so much smaller, it was just a very different set of considerations. Also, you know, launching Altu as a project was much more personal in some ways than Altuzarra was. It really started out as a total side passion project. It kind of started pre-pandemic, but really blossomed during the pandemic. It came out of my own experimentation and thinking about my gender expression. Also becoming a father — I now have a two-year-old — was a real catalyst for me to think about gender in a way that I have not thought about it before.

What about having a child made you think about gender in a new way? Well, I think having a child made me realize how restrictive the gender binary is. I mean, we basically indoctrinate our children into the gender binary from the moment they’re born. It feels totally innocuous, but it’s also totally pervasive. It’s everywhere, it’s everything, in the way you speak to your child, in the way you dress them, obviously, and I just became really aware, very early on, of the sort of pitfalls in which she was being raised. I think it also brought up all of these emotions about my own upbringing and my teenage-hood. I really remember hiding the sides of myself that lay outside of the norms of my gender and the parts of me that were more feminine were really discouraged. All of that made me start to think about gender a lot more and then really encouraged me to start experimenting with the way that I express my gender in a way that was just more free. And that’s how the project really came about. It was totally personal.

That’s the best kind of project. In another interview, you were talking about your beauty routine and saying that wearing makeup as a man was difficult because you had this internalized discomfort about it. Was this at the same time as you were developing Altu? Yeah, it was all the same. I have always felt a lot of shame around my feelings of wanting to explore and experiment with different sides of my gender expression, whether it be makeup and cosmetics or jewelry and wearing skirts or a dress. I think over the last couple of years, I’ve really gone through a very personal process of starting to talk about it, starting to really experiment with it, and really challenging myself to live freely. To sort of look past my shame and the internal barriers that I have put up.

There is an outside perception that the fashion world is quite open and queer, but I’ve heard from a lot of designers that it’s far more heterosexual than most expect. Is that true in your experience? I think the industry as a whole is really driven by commerce and commerce is really binary. What’s been really interesting is when we talk to stores, there’s a lot of excitement because gender is becoming such an important part of the cultural conversation, but there is a lot of discomfort about where [our gender-neutral clothes should] sit. Like, how do you sell it? In a department store there’s a men’s department and there’s a women’s department, and we’re really trying to encourage retailers to pick us up as a truly genderful brand. And so how do you create space where this can live? It’s going to be very difficult, and a long transition for sure.

How do you view your two lines? Are they distant cousins? Are they sisters? The way I think about it is when I started Altuzarra, I always described it as my alter ego. When I was a teenager, I was a super nerdy, super angsty gay teen. I was introverted and didn’t feel comfortable with myself and didn’t like the way that I looked, and I always created this persona in my mind, this alternate life. I was this hyper confident, super sexual and desirable, seductive person inhabiting a very aspirational world. Altuzarra is this world that I imagined when I was a teenager. And in some ways Altu is who I really was and who I really am. It’s not an idealized version of me.

A lot of the ideas came from Joseph at 16-years-old, this angst of trying to find your identity and of, you know, flux and fluidity, there’s something about those teenage years that I find so inspiring because it’s this time of immense change and transformation that really, like, never happens another time in your life where you’re challenging everything that you know about yourself and you are really finding, crafting this person. That is really the place in which I think Altu exists. So it’s more like Altu and Altuzarra are the same person, but just different perspectives, different years.

It’s interesting that you willingly want to go back to that time of being an angsty teenager. Most people want to forget that time and you’re finding inspiration there. I sort of fetishize adolescence because I was so unhappy as an adolescent and I was so ill at ease, and so I think I keep coming back to it because it’s a way for me to revisit who this person was and ask, how did I become the person that I am now? By the way, this is something I’ve talked to my therapist about a lot. I think it is partly reclaiming a painful part of my life and trying to make something interesting and powerful with it.

Growth comes from discomfort, right? I wouldn’t be the person I am if I hadn’t gone through the horrendous periods of my life because they really are the kindling to light a fire under your ass. I’m curious who gives you the best advice? My husband gives me the best advice. My husband is a very grounding person. I can be highly emotional and he’s usually steady. He gives very good advice. It’s good to have people like that in your life.

Do you have a motto? I’ve been calling the last two years the era of “yes.”

Was there a moment that made you want to work in fashion? There were a bunch of fashion moments. I was an insane Tom Ford fan as a teenager. He embodied everything that I wanted to be. He was so handsome, so sexy, so successful. I really grew up during the “sex sells” Gucci era and it was hugely influential and definitely the reason why I wanted to work in fashion back then, for sure. It was also the antithesis of how I felt as a gay man, you know. I felt totally invisible and shunned. And he was like this adored personality.

Has the fashion world been as glamorous as you imagined? I don’t know that fashion in general is as glamorous as it was in 2001.

What’s the most glamorous moment you’ve had in fashion so far? I mean, going to the Met Gala every year is pretty fucking glamorous. It’s just a totally out-of-body experience. Oh my God, I’m always terrified. I’m always like shaking in the car because it’s a really intense red carpet. Half of my choice of who to go with is just, do I think this person is going to be calming and nice to be around. I have to take anti-anxiety medication.

Do you think Anna Wintour gets nervous? Yeah, for sure. I’m sure she’s doubly nervous cause it’s like she’s organizing it.

She’s the hostess with the mostest. What does New York offer to designers that Paris doesn’t? I actually think New York is a much more open and forward-looking city. I loved showing in Paris, I mean I grew up in Paris, so a part of going to Paris was very personal and in a way, a bit like revenge, like, look what I’ve done, you know? I think Paris fashion is more rooted in tradition and rooted in how things have been done and a very particular system and process. The things transforming fashion now started during New York Fashion Week or started in New York, like the conversations around sustainability and gender. The idea of things being more rooted in real life and, for lack of a better word, the streets – all of that is much more tied to what’s been happening in New York than anywhere else. I think New York generally gets a little bit of a bad rap because there’s this desire to compare it to Milan and Paris. I just think you have to let New York be its own thing.

I’m curious about having a namesake brand. Do you feel any pressure to create a positive public image knowing that you have a brand that’s named after you? Oh my God, that’s so interesting. I’ve never even thought about it really. No, that’s not something that has ever really entered the equation, although now it definitely will.

What makes a good leader? Decisiveness, and that’s something that I’ve had to learn. I think as a leader, you need to give people very clear direction. Being flexible enough that you can roll with the punches but also knowing when you’re going to stand your ground is important. And then I think empathy is really important to have as a leader.

Do you have any role models in the fashion world? Funnily enough, my first job in fashion was at Marc Jacobs. I was an intern in the design studio and what really struck me was how kind Marc was. I was a lowly intern, and I remember him ordering cookies and asking everyone in the studio, including the interns what kind of cookies would they want? And that really made an impression on me.

He’s a very soulful person, for sure. He’s been very supportive of this magazine. Who was the last person to make you smile? I mean, you’re probably the last person who made me smile.

Who was the last person to make you cry? My husband’s grandmother passed away and he gave a really touching eulogy at her memorial service. And I cried. I was very touched.

What has your business gained from the partnership with Kering? It was interesting because we really were a tiny, tiny company when Kering bought a minority [stake] in the brand. I think the biggest thing that we gained when Kering came on board was access to resources and the ability for someone from a big group to call a manufacturer, or a factory, and be like, “the order’s late, can you please do it on time?” And they would. On the flip side, because I retained control of the company, we really continued to grow and to operate as an independent company. In some ways it didn’t change very much, and then in other ways it changed a lot.

Where are you happiest? I’m really happiest with my family, wherever that is. I feel very lucky to be happily married and to have a kid. I feel very blessed and that’s really where I am happiest.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 15, to get a copy of this issue, click here.

All models wear clothing from ALTU release 01.

Models: Andy, Azusa, Edgar, Journey, Robert and Wonhee. 

Set Design by Abigail Lewis. 

Makeup by Sam Kettell.

Casting by Abi Benitez.

So you recently launched the Altu brand. How has that been to launch another brand? You haven’t done that in a while. Social media was not a thing back in 2008 when I launched Altuzarra, it predates Instagram. [Launching Altu] it was more emotional in some ways because now you really are launching to the world, in a very direct way as opposed to back when I launched Altuzarra. I mean, then you were putting your lookbook on a website. I think the fact that you put it out into the world and then you get reactions and DMs and things immediately, it made me feel very vulnerable. Then at the same time, in some ways it was a little less spontaneous because you need to plan in advance so much. You have to have a tone, you have to have a message, and you have to have a set narrative very early, which is very different from how Altuzarra was launched.

When Altuzarra launched it was more of a slow burn and you were able to develop that as you created it? It was a bit more of a slow burn and there was less of a sense of like, “Oh, I have to launch with a signature and something that is going to be really recognizable from the very beginning that I’m going to evolve from season to season.” You know, I think because the scale of everything was so much smaller, it was just a very different set of considerations. Also, you know, launching Altu as a project was much more personal in some ways than Altuzarra was. It really started out as a total side passion project. It kind of started pre-pandemic, but really blossomed during the pandemic. It came out of my own experimentation and thinking about my gender expression. Also becoming a father — I now have a two-year-old — was a real catalyst for me to think about gender in a way that I have not thought about it before.

What about having a child made you think about gender in a new way? Well, I think having a child made me realize how restrictive the gender binary is. I mean, we basically indoctrinate our children into the gender binary from the moment they’re born. It feels totally innocuous, but it’s also totally pervasive. It’s everywhere, it’s everything, in the way you speak to your child, in the way you dress them, obviously, and I just became really aware, very early on, of the sort of pitfalls in which she was being raised. I think it also brought up all of these emotions about my own upbringing and my teenage-hood. I really remember hiding the sides of myself that lay outside of the norms of my gender and the parts of me that were more feminine were really discouraged. All of that made me start to think about gender a lot more and then really encouraged me to start experimenting with the way that I express my gender in a way that was just more free. And that’s how the project really came about. It was totally personal.

That’s the best kind of project. In another interview, you were talking about your beauty routine and saying that wearing makeup as a man was difficult because you had this internalized discomfort about it. Was this at the same time as you were developing Altu? Yeah, it was all the same. I have always felt a lot of shame around my feelings of wanting to explore and experiment with different sides of my gender expression, whether it be makeup and cosmetics or jewelry and wearing skirts or a dress. I think over the last couple of years, I’ve really gone through a very personal process of starting to talk about it, starting to really experiment with it, and really challenging myself to live freely. To sort of look past my shame and the internal barriers that I have put up.

There is an outside perception that the fashion world is quite open and queer, but I’ve heard from a lot of designers that it’s far more heterosexual than most expect. Is that true in your experience? I think the industry as a whole is really driven by commerce and commerce is really binary. What’s been really interesting is when we talk to stores, there’s a lot of excitement because gender is becoming such an important part of the cultural conversation, but there is a lot of discomfort about where [our gender-neutral clothes should] sit. Like, how do you sell it? In a department store there’s a men’s department and there’s a women’s department, and we’re really trying to encourage retailers to pick us up as a truly genderful brand. And so how do you create space where this can live? It’s going to be very difficult, and a long transition for sure.

How do you view your two lines? Are they distant cousins? Are they sisters? The way I think about it is when I started Altuzarra, I always described it as my alter ego. When I was a teenager, I was a super nerdy, super angsty gay teen. I was introverted and didn’t feel comfortable with myself and didn’t like the way that I looked, and I always created this persona in my mind, this alternate life. I was this hyper confident, super sexual and desirable, seductive person inhabiting a very aspirational world. Altuzarra is this world that I imagined when I was a teenager. And in some ways Altu is who I really was and who I really am. It’s not an idealized version of me.

A lot of the ideas came from Joseph at 16-years-old, this angst of trying to find your identity and of, you know, flux and fluidity, there’s something about those teenage years that I find so inspiring because it’s this time of immense change and transformation that really, like, never happens another time in your life where you’re challenging everything that you know about yourself and you are really finding, crafting this person. That is really the place in which I think Altu exists. So it’s more like Altu and Altuzarra are the same person, but just different perspectives, different years.

It’s interesting that you willingly want to go back to that time of being an angsty teenager. Most people want to forget that time and you’re finding inspiration there. I sort of fetishize adolescence because I was so unhappy as an adolescent and I was so ill at ease, and so I think I keep coming back to it because it’s a way for me to revisit who this person was and ask, how did I become the person that I am now? By the way, this is something I’ve talked to my therapist about a lot. I think it is partly reclaiming a painful part of my life and trying to make something interesting and powerful with it.

Growth comes from discomfort, right? I wouldn’t be the person I am if I hadn’t gone through the horrendous periods of my life because they really are the kindling to light a fire under your ass. I’m curious who gives you the best advice? My husband gives me the best advice. My husband is a very grounding person. I can be highly emotional and he’s usually steady. He gives very good advice. It’s good to have people like that in your life.

Do you have a motto? I’ve been calling the last two years the era of “yes.”

Was there a moment that made you want to work in fashion? There were a bunch of fashion moments. I was an insane Tom Ford fan as a teenager. He embodied everything that I wanted to be. He was so handsome, so sexy, so successful. I really grew up during the “sex sells” Gucci era and it was hugely influential and definitely the reason why I wanted to work in fashion back then, for sure. It was also the antithesis of how I felt as a gay man, you know. I felt totally invisible and shunned. And he was like this adored personality.

Has the fashion world been as glamorous as you imagined? I don’t know that fashion in general is as glamorous as it was in 2001.

What’s the most glamorous moment you’ve had in fashion so far? I mean, going to the Met Gala every year is pretty fucking glamorous. It’s just a totally out-of-body experience. Oh my God, I’m always terrified. I’m always like shaking in the car because it’s a really intense red carpet. Half of my choice of who to go with is just, do I think this person is going to be calming and nice to be around. I have to take anti-anxiety medication.

Do you think Anna Wintour gets nervous? Yeah, for sure. I’m sure she’s doubly nervous cause it’s like she’s organizing it.

She’s the hostess with the mostest. What does New York offer to designers that Paris doesn’t? I actually think New York is a much more open and forward-looking city. I loved showing in Paris, I mean I grew up in Paris, so a part of going to Paris was very personal and in a way, a bit like revenge, like, look what I’ve done, you know? I think Paris fashion is more rooted in tradition and rooted in how things have been done and a very particular system and process. The things transforming fashion now started during New York Fashion Week or started in New York, like the conversations around sustainability and gender. The idea of things being more rooted in real life and, for lack of a better word, the streets – all of that is much more tied to what’s been happening in New York than anywhere else. I think New York generally gets a little bit of a bad rap because there’s this desire to compare it to Milan and Paris. I just think you have to let New York be its own thing.

I’m curious about having a namesake brand. Do you feel any pressure to create a positive public image knowing that you have a brand that’s named after you? Oh my God, that’s so interesting. I’ve never even thought about it really. No, that’s not something that has ever really entered the equation, although now it definitely will.

What makes a good leader? Decisiveness, and that’s something that I’ve had to learn. I think as a leader, you need to give people very clear direction. Being flexible enough that you can roll with the punches but also knowing when you’re going to stand your ground is important. And then I think empathy is really important to have as a leader.

Do you have any role models in the fashion world? Funnily enough, my first job in fashion was at Marc Jacobs. I was an intern in the design studio and what really struck me was how kind Marc was. I was a lowly intern, and I remember him ordering cookies and asking everyone in the studio, including the interns what kind of cookies would they want? And that really made an impression on me.

He’s a very soulful person, for sure. He’s been very supportive of this magazine. Who was the last person to make you smile? I mean, you’re probably the last person who made me smile.

Who was the last person to make you cry? My husband’s grandmother passed away and he gave a really touching eulogy at her memorial service. And I cried. I was very touched.

What has your business gained from the partnership with Kering? It was interesting because we really were a tiny, tiny company when Kering bought a minority [stake] in the brand. I think the biggest thing that we gained when Kering came on board was access to resources and the ability for someone from a big group to call a manufacturer, or a factory, and be like, “the order’s late, can you please do it on time?” And they would. On the flip side, because I retained control of the company, we really continued to grow and to operate as an independent company. In some ways it didn’t change very much, and then in other ways it changed a lot.

Where are you happiest? I’m really happiest with my family, wherever that is. I feel very lucky to be happily married and to have a kid. I feel very blessed and that’s really where I am happiest.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 15, to get a copy of this issue, click here.

All models wear clothing from ALTU release 01.

Models: Andy, Azusa, Edgar, Journey, Robert and Wonhee. 

Set Design by Abigail Lewis. 

Makeup by Sam Kettell.

Casting by Abi Benitez.

So you recently launched the Altu brand. How has that been to launch another brand? You haven’t done that in a while. Social media was not a thing back in 2008 when I launched Altuzarra, it predates Instagram. [Launching Altu] it was more emotional in some ways because now you really are launching to the world, in a very direct way as opposed to back when I launched Altuzarra. I mean, then you were putting your lookbook on a website. I think the fact that you put it out into the world and then you get reactions and DMs and things immediately, it made me feel very vulnerable. Then at the same time, in some ways it was a little less spontaneous because you need to plan in advance so much. You have to have a tone, you have to have a message, and you have to have a set narrative very early, which is very different from how Altuzarra was launched.

When Altuzarra launched it was more of a slow burn and you were able to develop that as you created it? It was a bit more of a slow burn and there was less of a sense of like, “Oh, I have to launch with a signature and something that is going to be really recognizable from the very beginning that I’m going to evolve from season to season.” You know, I think because the scale of everything was so much smaller, it was just a very different set of considerations. Also, you know, launching Altu as a project was much more personal in some ways than Altuzarra was. It really started out as a total side passion project. It kind of started pre-pandemic, but really blossomed during the pandemic. It came out of my own experimentation and thinking about my gender expression. Also becoming a father — I now have a two-year-old — was a real catalyst for me to think about gender in a way that I have not thought about it before.

What about having a child made you think about gender in a new way? Well, I think having a child made me realize how restrictive the gender binary is. I mean, we basically indoctrinate our children into the gender binary from the moment they’re born. It feels totally innocuous, but it’s also totally pervasive. It’s everywhere, it’s everything, in the way you speak to your child, in the way you dress them, obviously, and I just became really aware, very early on, of the sort of pitfalls in which she was being raised. I think it also brought up all of these emotions about my own upbringing and my teenage-hood. I really remember hiding the sides of myself that lay outside of the norms of my gender and the parts of me that were more feminine were really discouraged. All of that made me start to think about gender a lot more and then really encouraged me to start experimenting with the way that I express my gender in a way that was just more free. And that’s how the project really came about. It was totally personal.

That’s the best kind of project. In another interview, you were talking about your beauty routine and saying that wearing makeup as a man was difficult because you had this internalized discomfort about it. Was this at the same time as you were developing Altu? Yeah, it was all the same. I have always felt a lot of shame around my feelings of wanting to explore and experiment with different sides of my gender expression, whether it be makeup and cosmetics or jewelry and wearing skirts or a dress. I think over the last couple of years, I’ve really gone through a very personal process of starting to talk about it, starting to really experiment with it, and really challenging myself to live freely. To sort of look past my shame and the internal barriers that I have put up.

There is an outside perception that the fashion world is quite open and queer, but I’ve heard from a lot of designers that it’s far more heterosexual than most expect. Is that true in your experience? I think the industry as a whole is really driven by commerce and commerce is really binary. What’s been really interesting is when we talk to stores, there’s a lot of excitement because gender is becoming such an important part of the cultural conversation, but there is a lot of discomfort about where [our gender-neutral clothes should] sit. Like, how do you sell it? In a department store there’s a men’s department and there’s a women’s department, and we’re really trying to encourage retailers to pick us up as a truly genderful brand. And so how do you create space where this can live? It’s going to be very difficult, and a long transition for sure.

How do you view your two lines? Are they distant cousins? Are they sisters? The way I think about it is when I started Altuzarra, I always described it as my alter ego. When I was a teenager, I was a super nerdy, super angsty gay teen. I was introverted and didn’t feel comfortable with myself and didn’t like the way that I looked, and I always created this persona in my mind, this alternate life. I was this hyper confident, super sexual and desirable, seductive person inhabiting a very aspirational world. Altuzarra is this world that I imagined when I was a teenager. And in some ways Altu is who I really was and who I really am. It’s not an idealized version of me.

A lot of the ideas came from Joseph at 16-years-old, this angst of trying to find your identity and of, you know, flux and fluidity, there’s something about those teenage years that I find so inspiring because it’s this time of immense change and transformation that really, like, never happens another time in your life where you’re challenging everything that you know about yourself and you are really finding, crafting this person. That is really the place in which I think Altu exists. So it’s more like Altu and Altuzarra are the same person, but just different perspectives, different years.

It’s interesting that you willingly want to go back to that time of being an angsty teenager. Most people want to forget that time and you’re finding inspiration there. I sort of fetishize adolescence because I was so unhappy as an adolescent and I was so ill at ease, and so I think I keep coming back to it because it’s a way for me to revisit who this person was and ask, how did I become the person that I am now? By the way, this is something I’ve talked to my therapist about a lot. I think it is partly reclaiming a painful part of my life and trying to make something interesting and powerful with it.

Growth comes from discomfort, right? I wouldn’t be the person I am if I hadn’t gone through the horrendous periods of my life because they really are the kindling to light a fire under your ass. I’m curious who gives you the best advice? My husband gives me the best advice. My husband is a very grounding person. I can be highly emotional and he’s usually steady. He gives very good advice. It’s good to have people like that in your life.

Do you have a motto? I’ve been calling the last two years the era of “yes.”

Was there a moment that made you want to work in fashion? There were a bunch of fashion moments. I was an insane Tom Ford fan as a teenager. He embodied everything that I wanted to be. He was so handsome, so sexy, so successful. I really grew up during the “sex sells” Gucci era and it was hugely influential and definitely the reason why I wanted to work in fashion back then, for sure. It was also the antithesis of how I felt as a gay man, you know. I felt totally invisible and shunned. And he was like this adored personality.

Has the fashion world been as glamorous as you imagined? I don’t know that fashion in general is as glamorous as it was in 2001.

What’s the most glamorous moment you’ve had in fashion so far? I mean, going to the Met Gala every year is pretty fucking glamorous. It’s just a totally out-of-body experience. Oh my God, I’m always terrified. I’m always like shaking in the car because it’s a really intense red carpet. Half of my choice of who to go with is just, do I think this person is going to be calming and nice to be around. I have to take anti-anxiety medication.

Do you think Anna Wintour gets nervous? Yeah, for sure. I’m sure she’s doubly nervous cause it’s like she’s organizing it.

She’s the hostess with the mostest. What does New York offer to designers that Paris doesn’t? I actually think New York is a much more open and forward-looking city. I loved showing in Paris, I mean I grew up in Paris, so a part of going to Paris was very personal and in a way, a bit like revenge, like, look what I’ve done, you know? I think Paris fashion is more rooted in tradition and rooted in how things have been done and a very particular system and process. The things transforming fashion now started during New York Fashion Week or started in New York, like the conversations around sustainability and gender. The idea of things being more rooted in real life and, for lack of a better word, the streets – all of that is much more tied to what’s been happening in New York than anywhere else. I think New York generally gets a little bit of a bad rap because there’s this desire to compare it to Milan and Paris. I just think you have to let New York be its own thing.

I’m curious about having a namesake brand. Do you feel any pressure to create a positive public image knowing that you have a brand that’s named after you? Oh my God, that’s so interesting. I’ve never even thought about it really. No, that’s not something that has ever really entered the equation, although now it definitely will.

What makes a good leader? Decisiveness, and that’s something that I’ve had to learn. I think as a leader, you need to give people very clear direction. Being flexible enough that you can roll with the punches but also knowing when you’re going to stand your ground is important. And then I think empathy is really important to have as a leader.

Do you have any role models in the fashion world? Funnily enough, my first job in fashion was at Marc Jacobs. I was an intern in the design studio and what really struck me was how kind Marc was. I was a lowly intern, and I remember him ordering cookies and asking everyone in the studio, including the interns what kind of cookies would they want? And that really made an impression on me.

He’s a very soulful person, for sure. He’s been very supportive of this magazine. Who was the last person to make you smile? I mean, you’re probably the last person who made me smile.

Who was the last person to make you cry? My husband’s grandmother passed away and he gave a really touching eulogy at her memorial service. And I cried. I was very touched.

What has your business gained from the partnership with Kering? It was interesting because we really were a tiny, tiny company when Kering bought a minority [stake] in the brand. I think the biggest thing that we gained when Kering came on board was access to resources and the ability for someone from a big group to call a manufacturer, or a factory, and be like, “the order’s late, can you please do it on time?” And they would. On the flip side, because I retained control of the company, we really continued to grow and to operate as an independent company. In some ways it didn’t change very much, and then in other ways it changed a lot.

Where are you happiest? I’m really happiest with my family, wherever that is. I feel very lucky to be happily married and to have a kid. I feel very blessed and that’s really where I am happiest.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 15, to get a copy of this issue, click here.

All models wear clothing from ALTU release 01.

Models: Andy, Azusa, Edgar, Journey, Robert and Wonhee. 

Set Design by Abigail Lewis. 

Makeup by Sam Kettell.

Casting by Abi Benitez.

So you recently launched the Altu brand. How has that been to launch another brand? You haven’t done that in a while. Social media was not a thing back in 2008 when I launched Altuzarra, it predates Instagram. [Launching Altu] it was more emotional in some ways because now you really are launching to the world, in a very direct way as opposed to back when I launched Altuzarra. I mean, then you were putting your lookbook on a website. I think the fact that you put it out into the world and then you get reactions and DMs and things immediately, it made me feel very vulnerable. Then at the same time, in some ways it was a little less spontaneous because you need to plan in advance so much. You have to have a tone, you have to have a message, and you have to have a set narrative very early, which is very different from how Altuzarra was launched.

When Altuzarra launched it was more of a slow burn and you were able to develop that as you created it? It was a bit more of a slow burn and there was less of a sense of like, “Oh, I have to launch with a signature and something that is going to be really recognizable from the very beginning that I’m going to evolve from season to season.” You know, I think because the scale of everything was so much smaller, it was just a very different set of considerations. Also, you know, launching Altu as a project was much more personal in some ways than Altuzarra was. It really started out as a total side passion project. It kind of started pre-pandemic, but really blossomed during the pandemic. It came out of my own experimentation and thinking about my gender expression. Also becoming a father — I now have a two-year-old — was a real catalyst for me to think about gender in a way that I have not thought about it before.

What about having a child made you think about gender in a new way? Well, I think having a child made me realize how restrictive the gender binary is. I mean, we basically indoctrinate our children into the gender binary from the moment they’re born. It feels totally innocuous, but it’s also totally pervasive. It’s everywhere, it’s everything, in the way you speak to your child, in the way you dress them, obviously, and I just became really aware, very early on, of the sort of pitfalls in which she was being raised. I think it also brought up all of these emotions about my own upbringing and my teenage-hood. I really remember hiding the sides of myself that lay outside of the norms of my gender and the parts of me that were more feminine were really discouraged. All of that made me start to think about gender a lot more and then really encouraged me to start experimenting with the way that I express my gender in a way that was just more free. And that’s how the project really came about. It was totally personal.

That’s the best kind of project. In another interview, you were talking about your beauty routine and saying that wearing makeup as a man was difficult because you had this internalized discomfort about it. Was this at the same time as you were developing Altu? Yeah, it was all the same. I have always felt a lot of shame around my feelings of wanting to explore and experiment with different sides of my gender expression, whether it be makeup and cosmetics or jewelry and wearing skirts or a dress. I think over the last couple of years, I’ve really gone through a very personal process of starting to talk about it, starting to really experiment with it, and really challenging myself to live freely. To sort of look past my shame and the internal barriers that I have put up.

There is an outside perception that the fashion world is quite open and queer, but I’ve heard from a lot of designers that it’s far more heterosexual than most expect. Is that true in your experience? I think the industry as a whole is really driven by commerce and commerce is really binary. What’s been really interesting is when we talk to stores, there’s a lot of excitement because gender is becoming such an important part of the cultural conversation, but there is a lot of discomfort about where [our gender-neutral clothes should] sit. Like, how do you sell it? In a department store there’s a men’s department and there’s a women’s department, and we’re really trying to encourage retailers to pick us up as a truly genderful brand. And so how do you create space where this can live? It’s going to be very difficult, and a long transition for sure.

How do you view your two lines? Are they distant cousins? Are they sisters? The way I think about it is when I started Altuzarra, I always described it as my alter ego. When I was a teenager, I was a super nerdy, super angsty gay teen. I was introverted and didn’t feel comfortable with myself and didn’t like the way that I looked, and I always created this persona in my mind, this alternate life. I was this hyper confident, super sexual and desirable, seductive person inhabiting a very aspirational world. Altuzarra is this world that I imagined when I was a teenager. And in some ways Altu is who I really was and who I really am. It’s not an idealized version of me.

A lot of the ideas came from Joseph at 16-years-old, this angst of trying to find your identity and of, you know, flux and fluidity, there’s something about those teenage years that I find so inspiring because it’s this time of immense change and transformation that really, like, never happens another time in your life where you’re challenging everything that you know about yourself and you are really finding, crafting this person. That is really the place in which I think Altu exists. So it’s more like Altu and Altuzarra are the same person, but just different perspectives, different years.

It’s interesting that you willingly want to go back to that time of being an angsty teenager. Most people want to forget that time and you’re finding inspiration there. I sort of fetishize adolescence because I was so unhappy as an adolescent and I was so ill at ease, and so I think I keep coming back to it because it’s a way for me to revisit who this person was and ask, how did I become the person that I am now? By the way, this is something I’ve talked to my therapist about a lot. I think it is partly reclaiming a painful part of my life and trying to make something interesting and powerful with it.

Growth comes from discomfort, right? I wouldn’t be the person I am if I hadn’t gone through the horrendous periods of my life because they really are the kindling to light a fire under your ass. I’m curious who gives you the best advice? My husband gives me the best advice. My husband is a very grounding person. I can be highly emotional and he’s usually steady. He gives very good advice. It’s good to have people like that in your life.

Do you have a motto? I’ve been calling the last two years the era of “yes.”

Was there a moment that made you want to work in fashion? There were a bunch of fashion moments. I was an insane Tom Ford fan as a teenager. He embodied everything that I wanted to be. He was so handsome, so sexy, so successful. I really grew up during the “sex sells” Gucci era and it was hugely influential and definitely the reason why I wanted to work in fashion back then, for sure. It was also the antithesis of how I felt as a gay man, you know. I felt totally invisible and shunned. And he was like this adored personality.

Has the fashion world been as glamorous as you imagined? I don’t know that fashion in general is as glamorous as it was in 2001.

What’s the most glamorous moment you’ve had in fashion so far? I mean, going to the Met Gala every year is pretty fucking glamorous. It’s just a totally out-of-body experience. Oh my God, I’m always terrified. I’m always like shaking in the car because it’s a really intense red carpet. Half of my choice of who to go with is just, do I think this person is going to be calming and nice to be around. I have to take anti-anxiety medication.

Do you think Anna Wintour gets nervous? Yeah, for sure. I’m sure she’s doubly nervous cause it’s like she’s organizing it.

She’s the hostess with the mostest. What does New York offer to designers that Paris doesn’t? I actually think New York is a much more open and forward-looking city. I loved showing in Paris, I mean I grew up in Paris, so a part of going to Paris was very personal and in a way, a bit like revenge, like, look what I’ve done, you know? I think Paris fashion is more rooted in tradition and rooted in how things have been done and a very particular system and process. The things transforming fashion now started during New York Fashion Week or started in New York, like the conversations around sustainability and gender. The idea of things being more rooted in real life and, for lack of a better word, the streets – all of that is much more tied to what’s been happening in New York than anywhere else. I think New York generally gets a little bit of a bad rap because there’s this desire to compare it to Milan and Paris. I just think you have to let New York be its own thing.

I’m curious about having a namesake brand. Do you feel any pressure to create a positive public image knowing that you have a brand that’s named after you? Oh my God, that’s so interesting. I’ve never even thought about it really. No, that’s not something that has ever really entered the equation, although now it definitely will.

What makes a good leader? Decisiveness, and that’s something that I’ve had to learn. I think as a leader, you need to give people very clear direction. Being flexible enough that you can roll with the punches but also knowing when you’re going to stand your ground is important. And then I think empathy is really important to have as a leader.

Do you have any role models in the fashion world? Funnily enough, my first job in fashion was at Marc Jacobs. I was an intern in the design studio and what really struck me was how kind Marc was. I was a lowly intern, and I remember him ordering cookies and asking everyone in the studio, including the interns what kind of cookies would they want? And that really made an impression on me.

He’s a very soulful person, for sure. He’s been very supportive of this magazine. Who was the last person to make you smile? I mean, you’re probably the last person who made me smile.

Who was the last person to make you cry? My husband’s grandmother passed away and he gave a really touching eulogy at her memorial service. And I cried. I was very touched.

What has your business gained from the partnership with Kering? It was interesting because we really were a tiny, tiny company when Kering bought a minority [stake] in the brand. I think the biggest thing that we gained when Kering came on board was access to resources and the ability for someone from a big group to call a manufacturer, or a factory, and be like, “the order’s late, can you please do it on time?” And they would. On the flip side, because I retained control of the company, we really continued to grow and to operate as an independent company. In some ways it didn’t change very much, and then in other ways it changed a lot.

Where are you happiest? I’m really happiest with my family, wherever that is. I feel very lucky to be happily married and to have a kid. I feel very blessed and that’s really where I am happiest.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 15, to get a copy of this issue, click here.

All models wear clothing from ALTU release 01.

Models: Andy, Azusa, Edgar, Journey, Robert and Wonhee. 

Set Design by Abigail Lewis. 

Makeup by Sam Kettell.

Casting by Abi Benitez.

So you recently launched the Altu brand. How has that been to launch another brand? You haven’t done that in a while. Social media was not a thing back in 2008 when I launched Altuzarra, it predates Instagram. [Launching Altu] it was more emotional in some ways because now you really are launching to the world, in a very direct way as opposed to back when I launched Altuzarra. I mean, then you were putting your lookbook on a website. I think the fact that you put it out into the world and then you get reactions and DMs and things immediately, it made me feel very vulnerable. Then at the same time, in some ways it was a little less spontaneous because you need to plan in advance so much. You have to have a tone, you have to have a message, and you have to have a set narrative very early, which is very different from how Altuzarra was launched.

When Altuzarra launched it was more of a slow burn and you were able to develop that as you created it? It was a bit more of a slow burn and there was less of a sense of like, “Oh, I have to launch with a signature and something that is going to be really recognizable from the very beginning that I’m going to evolve from season to season.” You know, I think because the scale of everything was so much smaller, it was just a very different set of considerations. Also, you know, launching Altu as a project was much more personal in some ways than Altuzarra was. It really started out as a total side passion project. It kind of started pre-pandemic, but really blossomed during the pandemic. It came out of my own experimentation and thinking about my gender expression. Also becoming a father — I now have a two-year-old — was a real catalyst for me to think about gender in a way that I have not thought about it before.

What about having a child made you think about gender in a new way? Well, I think having a child made me realize how restrictive the gender binary is. I mean, we basically indoctrinate our children into the gender binary from the moment they’re born. It feels totally innocuous, but it’s also totally pervasive. It’s everywhere, it’s everything, in the way you speak to your child, in the way you dress them, obviously, and I just became really aware, very early on, of the sort of pitfalls in which she was being raised. I think it also brought up all of these emotions about my own upbringing and my teenage-hood. I really remember hiding the sides of myself that lay outside of the norms of my gender and the parts of me that were more feminine were really discouraged. All of that made me start to think about gender a lot more and then really encouraged me to start experimenting with the way that I express my gender in a way that was just more free. And that’s how the project really came about. It was totally personal.

That’s the best kind of project. In another interview, you were talking about your beauty routine and saying that wearing makeup as a man was difficult because you had this internalized discomfort about it. Was this at the same time as you were developing Altu? Yeah, it was all the same. I have always felt a lot of shame around my feelings of wanting to explore and experiment with different sides of my gender expression, whether it be makeup and cosmetics or jewelry and wearing skirts or a dress. I think over the last couple of years, I’ve really gone through a very personal process of starting to talk about it, starting to really experiment with it, and really challenging myself to live freely. To sort of look past my shame and the internal barriers that I have put up.

There is an outside perception that the fashion world is quite open and queer, but I’ve heard from a lot of designers that it’s far more heterosexual than most expect. Is that true in your experience? I think the industry as a whole is really driven by commerce and commerce is really binary. What’s been really interesting is when we talk to stores, there’s a lot of excitement because gender is becoming such an important part of the cultural conversation, but there is a lot of discomfort about where [our gender-neutral clothes should] sit. Like, how do you sell it? In a department store there’s a men’s department and there’s a women’s department, and we’re really trying to encourage retailers to pick us up as a truly genderful brand. And so how do you create space where this can live? It’s going to be very difficult, and a long transition for sure.

How do you view your two lines? Are they distant cousins? Are they sisters? The way I think about it is when I started Altuzarra, I always described it as my alter ego. When I was a teenager, I was a super nerdy, super angsty gay teen. I was introverted and didn’t feel comfortable with myself and didn’t like the way that I looked, and I always created this persona in my mind, this alternate life. I was this hyper confident, super sexual and desirable, seductive person inhabiting a very aspirational world. Altuzarra is this world that I imagined when I was a teenager. And in some ways Altu is who I really was and who I really am. It’s not an idealized version of me.

A lot of the ideas came from Joseph at 16-years-old, this angst of trying to find your identity and of, you know, flux and fluidity, there’s something about those teenage years that I find so inspiring because it’s this time of immense change and transformation that really, like, never happens another time in your life where you’re challenging everything that you know about yourself and you are really finding, crafting this person. That is really the place in which I think Altu exists. So it’s more like Altu and Altuzarra are the same person, but just different perspectives, different years.

It’s interesting that you willingly want to go back to that time of being an angsty teenager. Most people want to forget that time and you’re finding inspiration there. I sort of fetishize adolescence because I was so unhappy as an adolescent and I was so ill at ease, and so I think I keep coming back to it because it’s a way for me to revisit who this person was and ask, how did I become the person that I am now? By the way, this is something I’ve talked to my therapist about a lot. I think it is partly reclaiming a painful part of my life and trying to make something interesting and powerful with it.

Growth comes from discomfort, right? I wouldn’t be the person I am if I hadn’t gone through the horrendous periods of my life because they really are the kindling to light a fire under your ass. I’m curious who gives you the best advice? My husband gives me the best advice. My husband is a very grounding person. I can be highly emotional and he’s usually steady. He gives very good advice. It’s good to have people like that in your life.

Do you have a motto? I’ve been calling the last two years the era of “yes.”

Was there a moment that made you want to work in fashion? There were a bunch of fashion moments. I was an insane Tom Ford fan as a teenager. He embodied everything that I wanted to be. He was so handsome, so sexy, so successful. I really grew up during the “sex sells” Gucci era and it was hugely influential and definitely the reason why I wanted to work in fashion back then, for sure. It was also the antithesis of how I felt as a gay man, you know. I felt totally invisible and shunned. And he was like this adored personality.

Has the fashion world been as glamorous as you imagined? I don’t know that fashion in general is as glamorous as it was in 2001.

What’s the most glamorous moment you’ve had in fashion so far? I mean, going to the Met Gala every year is pretty fucking glamorous. It’s just a totally out-of-body experience. Oh my God, I’m always terrified. I’m always like shaking in the car because it’s a really intense red carpet. Half of my choice of who to go with is just, do I think this person is going to be calming and nice to be around. I have to take anti-anxiety medication.

Do you think Anna Wintour gets nervous? Yeah, for sure. I’m sure she’s doubly nervous cause it’s like she’s organizing it.

She’s the hostess with the mostest. What does New York offer to designers that Paris doesn’t? I actually think New York is a much more open and forward-looking city. I loved showing in Paris, I mean I grew up in Paris, so a part of going to Paris was very personal and in a way, a bit like revenge, like, look what I’ve done, you know? I think Paris fashion is more rooted in tradition and rooted in how things have been done and a very particular system and process. The things transforming fashion now started during New York Fashion Week or started in New York, like the conversations around sustainability and gender. The idea of things being more rooted in real life and, for lack of a better word, the streets – all of that is much more tied to what’s been happening in New York than anywhere else. I think New York generally gets a little bit of a bad rap because there’s this desire to compare it to Milan and Paris. I just think you have to let New York be its own thing.

I’m curious about having a namesake brand. Do you feel any pressure to create a positive public image knowing that you have a brand that’s named after you? Oh my God, that’s so interesting. I’ve never even thought about it really. No, that’s not something that has ever really entered the equation, although now it definitely will.

What makes a good leader? Decisiveness, and that’s something that I’ve had to learn. I think as a leader, you need to give people very clear direction. Being flexible enough that you can roll with the punches but also knowing when you’re going to stand your ground is important. And then I think empathy is really important to have as a leader.

Do you have any role models in the fashion world? Funnily enough, my first job in fashion was at Marc Jacobs. I was an intern in the design studio and what really struck me was how kind Marc was. I was a lowly intern, and I remember him ordering cookies and asking everyone in the studio, including the interns what kind of cookies would they want? And that really made an impression on me.

He’s a very soulful person, for sure. He’s been very supportive of this magazine. Who was the last person to make you smile? I mean, you’re probably the last person who made me smile.

Who was the last person to make you cry? My husband’s grandmother passed away and he gave a really touching eulogy at her memorial service. And I cried. I was very touched.

What has your business gained from the partnership with Kering? It was interesting because we really were a tiny, tiny company when Kering bought a minority [stake] in the brand. I think the biggest thing that we gained when Kering came on board was access to resources and the ability for someone from a big group to call a manufacturer, or a factory, and be like, “the order’s late, can you please do it on time?” And they would. On the flip side, because I retained control of the company, we really continued to grow and to operate as an independent company. In some ways it didn’t change very much, and then in other ways it changed a lot.

Where are you happiest? I’m really happiest with my family, wherever that is. I feel very lucky to be happily married and to have a kid. I feel very blessed and that’s really where I am happiest.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 15, to get a copy of this issue, click here.

All models wear clothing from ALTU release 01.

Models: Andy, Azusa, Edgar, Journey, Robert and Wonhee. 

Set Design by Abigail Lewis. 

Makeup by Sam Kettell.

Casting by Abi Benitez.

So you recently launched the Altu brand. How has that been to launch another brand? You haven’t done that in a while. Social media was not a thing back in 2008 when I launched Altuzarra, it predates Instagram. [Launching Altu] it was more emotional in some ways because now you really are launching to the world, in a very direct way as opposed to back when I launched Altuzarra. I mean, then you were putting your lookbook on a website. I think the fact that you put it out into the world and then you get reactions and DMs and things immediately, it made me feel very vulnerable. Then at the same time, in some ways it was a little less spontaneous because you need to plan in advance so much. You have to have a tone, you have to have a message, and you have to have a set narrative very early, which is very different from how Altuzarra was launched.

When Altuzarra launched it was more of a slow burn and you were able to develop that as you created it? It was a bit more of a slow burn and there was less of a sense of like, “Oh, I have to launch with a signature and something that is going to be really recognizable from the very beginning that I’m going to evolve from season to season.” You know, I think because the scale of everything was so much smaller, it was just a very different set of considerations. Also, you know, launching Altu as a project was much more personal in some ways than Altuzarra was. It really started out as a total side passion project. It kind of started pre-pandemic, but really blossomed during the pandemic. It came out of my own experimentation and thinking about my gender expression. Also becoming a father — I now have a two-year-old — was a real catalyst for me to think about gender in a way that I have not thought about it before.

What about having a child made you think about gender in a new way? Well, I think having a child made me realize how restrictive the gender binary is. I mean, we basically indoctrinate our children into the gender binary from the moment they’re born. It feels totally innocuous, but it’s also totally pervasive. It’s everywhere, it’s everything, in the way you speak to your child, in the way you dress them, obviously, and I just became really aware, very early on, of the sort of pitfalls in which she was being raised. I think it also brought up all of these emotions about my own upbringing and my teenage-hood. I really remember hiding the sides of myself that lay outside of the norms of my gender and the parts of me that were more feminine were really discouraged. All of that made me start to think about gender a lot more and then really encouraged me to start experimenting with the way that I express my gender in a way that was just more free. And that’s how the project really came about. It was totally personal.

That’s the best kind of project. In another interview, you were talking about your beauty routine and saying that wearing makeup as a man was difficult because you had this internalized discomfort about it. Was this at the same time as you were developing Altu? Yeah, it was all the same. I have always felt a lot of shame around my feelings of wanting to explore and experiment with different sides of my gender expression, whether it be makeup and cosmetics or jewelry and wearing skirts or a dress. I think over the last couple of years, I’ve really gone through a very personal process of starting to talk about it, starting to really experiment with it, and really challenging myself to live freely. To sort of look past my shame and the internal barriers that I have put up.

There is an outside perception that the fashion world is quite open and queer, but I’ve heard from a lot of designers that it’s far more heterosexual than most expect. Is that true in your experience? I think the industry as a whole is really driven by commerce and commerce is really binary. What’s been really interesting is when we talk to stores, there’s a lot of excitement because gender is becoming such an important part of the cultural conversation, but there is a lot of discomfort about where [our gender-neutral clothes should] sit. Like, how do you sell it? In a department store there’s a men’s department and there’s a women’s department, and we’re really trying to encourage retailers to pick us up as a truly genderful brand. And so how do you create space where this can live? It’s going to be very difficult, and a long transition for sure.

How do you view your two lines? Are they distant cousins? Are they sisters? The way I think about it is when I started Altuzarra, I always described it as my alter ego. When I was a teenager, I was a super nerdy, super angsty gay teen. I was introverted and didn’t feel comfortable with myself and didn’t like the way that I looked, and I always created this persona in my mind, this alternate life. I was this hyper confident, super sexual and desirable, seductive person inhabiting a very aspirational world. Altuzarra is this world that I imagined when I was a teenager. And in some ways Altu is who I really was and who I really am. It’s not an idealized version of me.

A lot of the ideas came from Joseph at 16-years-old, this angst of trying to find your identity and of, you know, flux and fluidity, there’s something about those teenage years that I find so inspiring because it’s this time of immense change and transformation that really, like, never happens another time in your life where you’re challenging everything that you know about yourself and you are really finding, crafting this person. That is really the place in which I think Altu exists. So it’s more like Altu and Altuzarra are the same person, but just different perspectives, different years.

It’s interesting that you willingly want to go back to that time of being an angsty teenager. Most people want to forget that time and you’re finding inspiration there. I sort of fetishize adolescence because I was so unhappy as an adolescent and I was so ill at ease, and so I think I keep coming back to it because it’s a way for me to revisit who this person was and ask, how did I become the person that I am now? By the way, this is something I’ve talked to my therapist about a lot. I think it is partly reclaiming a painful part of my life and trying to make something interesting and powerful with it.

Growth comes from discomfort, right? I wouldn’t be the person I am if I hadn’t gone through the horrendous periods of my life because they really are the kindling to light a fire under your ass. I’m curious who gives you the best advice? My husband gives me the best advice. My husband is a very grounding person. I can be highly emotional and he’s usually steady. He gives very good advice. It’s good to have people like that in your life.

Do you have a motto? I’ve been calling the last two years the era of “yes.”

Was there a moment that made you want to work in fashion? There were a bunch of fashion moments. I was an insane Tom Ford fan as a teenager. He embodied everything that I wanted to be. He was so handsome, so sexy, so successful. I really grew up during the “sex sells” Gucci era and it was hugely influential and definitely the reason why I wanted to work in fashion back then, for sure. It was also the antithesis of how I felt as a gay man, you know. I felt totally invisible and shunned. And he was like this adored personality.

Has the fashion world been as glamorous as you imagined? I don’t know that fashion in general is as glamorous as it was in 2001.

What’s the most glamorous moment you’ve had in fashion so far? I mean, going to the Met Gala every year is pretty fucking glamorous. It’s just a totally out-of-body experience. Oh my God, I’m always terrified. I’m always like shaking in the car because it’s a really intense red carpet. Half of my choice of who to go with is just, do I think this person is going to be calming and nice to be around. I have to take anti-anxiety medication.

Do you think Anna Wintour gets nervous? Yeah, for sure. I’m sure she’s doubly nervous cause it’s like she’s organizing it.

She’s the hostess with the mostest. What does New York offer to designers that Paris doesn’t? I actually think New York is a much more open and forward-looking city. I loved showing in Paris, I mean I grew up in Paris, so a part of going to Paris was very personal and in a way, a bit like revenge, like, look what I’ve done, you know? I think Paris fashion is more rooted in tradition and rooted in how things have been done and a very particular system and process. The things transforming fashion now started during New York Fashion Week or started in New York, like the conversations around sustainability and gender. The idea of things being more rooted in real life and, for lack of a better word, the streets – all of that is much more tied to what’s been happening in New York than anywhere else. I think New York generally gets a little bit of a bad rap because there’s this desire to compare it to Milan and Paris. I just think you have to let New York be its own thing.

I’m curious about having a namesake brand. Do you feel any pressure to create a positive public image knowing that you have a brand that’s named after you? Oh my God, that’s so interesting. I’ve never even thought about it really. No, that’s not something that has ever really entered the equation, although now it definitely will.

What makes a good leader? Decisiveness, and that’s something that I’ve had to learn. I think as a leader, you need to give people very clear direction. Being flexible enough that you can roll with the punches but also knowing when you’re going to stand your ground is important. And then I think empathy is really important to have as a leader.

Do you have any role models in the fashion world? Funnily enough, my first job in fashion was at Marc Jacobs. I was an intern in the design studio and what really struck me was how kind Marc was. I was a lowly intern, and I remember him ordering cookies and asking everyone in the studio, including the interns what kind of cookies would they want? And that really made an impression on me.

He’s a very soulful person, for sure. He’s been very supportive of this magazine. Who was the last person to make you smile? I mean, you’re probably the last person who made me smile.

Who was the last person to make you cry? My husband’s grandmother passed away and he gave a really touching eulogy at her memorial service. And I cried. I was very touched.

What has your business gained from the partnership with Kering? It was interesting because we really were a tiny, tiny company when Kering bought a minority [stake] in the brand. I think the biggest thing that we gained when Kering came on board was access to resources and the ability for someone from a big group to call a manufacturer, or a factory, and be like, “the order’s late, can you please do it on time?” And they would. On the flip side, because I retained control of the company, we really continued to grow and to operate as an independent company. In some ways it didn’t change very much, and then in other ways it changed a lot.

Where are you happiest? I’m really happiest with my family, wherever that is. I feel very lucky to be happily married and to have a kid. I feel very blessed and that’s really where I am happiest.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 15, to get a copy of this issue, click here.

All models wear clothing from ALTU release 01.

Models: Andy, Azusa, Edgar, Journey, Robert and Wonhee. 

Set Design by Abigail Lewis. 

Makeup by Sam Kettell.

Casting by Abi Benitez.

So you recently launched the Altu brand. How has that been to launch another brand? You haven’t done that in a while. Social media was not a thing back in 2008 when I launched Altuzarra, it predates Instagram. [Launching Altu] it was more emotional in some ways because now you really are launching to the world, in a very direct way as opposed to back when I launched Altuzarra. I mean, then you were putting your lookbook on a website. I think the fact that you put it out into the world and then you get reactions and DMs and things immediately, it made me feel very vulnerable. Then at the same time, in some ways it was a little less spontaneous because you need to plan in advance so much. You have to have a tone, you have to have a message, and you have to have a set narrative very early, which is very different from how Altuzarra was launched.

When Altuzarra launched it was more of a slow burn and you were able to develop that as you created it? It was a bit more of a slow burn and there was less of a sense of like, “Oh, I have to launch with a signature and something that is going to be really recognizable from the very beginning that I’m going to evolve from season to season.” You know, I think because the scale of everything was so much smaller, it was just a very different set of considerations. Also, you know, launching Altu as a project was much more personal in some ways than Altuzarra was. It really started out as a total side passion project. It kind of started pre-pandemic, but really blossomed during the pandemic. It came out of my own experimentation and thinking about my gender expression. Also becoming a father — I now have a two-year-old — was a real catalyst for me to think about gender in a way that I have not thought about it before.

What about having a child made you think about gender in a new way? Well, I think having a child made me realize how restrictive the gender binary is. I mean, we basically indoctrinate our children into the gender binary from the moment they’re born. It feels totally innocuous, but it’s also totally pervasive. It’s everywhere, it’s everything, in the way you speak to your child, in the way you dress them, obviously, and I just became really aware, very early on, of the sort of pitfalls in which she was being raised. I think it also brought up all of these emotions about my own upbringing and my teenage-hood. I really remember hiding the sides of myself that lay outside of the norms of my gender and the parts of me that were more feminine were really discouraged. All of that made me start to think about gender a lot more and then really encouraged me to start experimenting with the way that I express my gender in a way that was just more free. And that’s how the project really came about. It was totally personal.

That’s the best kind of project. In another interview, you were talking about your beauty routine and saying that wearing makeup as a man was difficult because you had this internalized discomfort about it. Was this at the same time as you were developing Altu? Yeah, it was all the same. I have always felt a lot of shame around my feelings of wanting to explore and experiment with different sides of my gender expression, whether it be makeup and cosmetics or jewelry and wearing skirts or a dress. I think over the last couple of years, I’ve really gone through a very personal process of starting to talk about it, starting to really experiment with it, and really challenging myself to live freely. To sort of look past my shame and the internal barriers that I have put up.

There is an outside perception that the fashion world is quite open and queer, but I’ve heard from a lot of designers that it’s far more heterosexual than most expect. Is that true in your experience? I think the industry as a whole is really driven by commerce and commerce is really binary. What’s been really interesting is when we talk to stores, there’s a lot of excitement because gender is becoming such an important part of the cultural conversation, but there is a lot of discomfort about where [our gender-neutral clothes should] sit. Like, how do you sell it? In a department store there’s a men’s department and there’s a women’s department, and we’re really trying to encourage retailers to pick us up as a truly genderful brand. And so how do you create space where this can live? It’s going to be very difficult, and a long transition for sure.

How do you view your two lines? Are they distant cousins? Are they sisters? The way I think about it is when I started Altuzarra, I always described it as my alter ego. When I was a teenager, I was a super nerdy, super angsty gay teen. I was introverted and didn’t feel comfortable with myself and didn’t like the way that I looked, and I always created this persona in my mind, this alternate life. I was this hyper confident, super sexual and desirable, seductive person inhabiting a very aspirational world. Altuzarra is this world that I imagined when I was a teenager. And in some ways Altu is who I really was and who I really am. It’s not an idealized version of me.

A lot of the ideas came from Joseph at 16-years-old, this angst of trying to find your identity and of, you know, flux and fluidity, there’s something about those teenage years that I find so inspiring because it’s this time of immense change and transformation that really, like, never happens another time in your life where you’re challenging everything that you know about yourself and you are really finding, crafting this person. That is really the place in which I think Altu exists. So it’s more like Altu and Altuzarra are the same person, but just different perspectives, different years.

It’s interesting that you willingly want to go back to that time of being an angsty teenager. Most people want to forget that time and you’re finding inspiration there. I sort of fetishize adolescence because I was so unhappy as an adolescent and I was so ill at ease, and so I think I keep coming back to it because it’s a way for me to revisit who this person was and ask, how did I become the person that I am now? By the way, this is something I’ve talked to my therapist about a lot. I think it is partly reclaiming a painful part of my life and trying to make something interesting and powerful with it.

Growth comes from discomfort, right? I wouldn’t be the person I am if I hadn’t gone through the horrendous periods of my life because they really are the kindling to light a fire under your ass. I’m curious who gives you the best advice? My husband gives me the best advice. My husband is a very grounding person. I can be highly emotional and he’s usually steady. He gives very good advice. It’s good to have people like that in your life.

Do you have a motto? I’ve been calling the last two years the era of “yes.”

Was there a moment that made you want to work in fashion? There were a bunch of fashion moments. I was an insane Tom Ford fan as a teenager. He embodied everything that I wanted to be. He was so handsome, so sexy, so successful. I really grew up during the “sex sells” Gucci era and it was hugely influential and definitely the reason why I wanted to work in fashion back then, for sure. It was also the antithesis of how I felt as a gay man, you know. I felt totally invisible and shunned. And he was like this adored personality.

Has the fashion world been as glamorous as you imagined? I don’t know that fashion in general is as glamorous as it was in 2001.

What’s the most glamorous moment you’ve had in fashion so far? I mean, going to the Met Gala every year is pretty fucking glamorous. It’s just a totally out-of-body experience. Oh my God, I’m always terrified. I’m always like shaking in the car because it’s a really intense red carpet. Half of my choice of who to go with is just, do I think this person is going to be calming and nice to be around. I have to take anti-anxiety medication.

Do you think Anna Wintour gets nervous? Yeah, for sure. I’m sure she’s doubly nervous cause it’s like she’s organizing it.

She’s the hostess with the mostest. What does New York offer to designers that Paris doesn’t? I actually think New York is a much more open and forward-looking city. I loved showing in Paris, I mean I grew up in Paris, so a part of going to Paris was very personal and in a way, a bit like revenge, like, look what I’ve done, you know? I think Paris fashion is more rooted in tradition and rooted in how things have been done and a very particular system and process. The things transforming fashion now started during New York Fashion Week or started in New York, like the conversations around sustainability and gender. The idea of things being more rooted in real life and, for lack of a better word, the streets – all of that is much more tied to what’s been happening in New York than anywhere else. I think New York generally gets a little bit of a bad rap because there’s this desire to compare it to Milan and Paris. I just think you have to let New York be its own thing.

I’m curious about having a namesake brand. Do you feel any pressure to create a positive public image knowing that you have a brand that’s named after you? Oh my God, that’s so interesting. I’ve never even thought about it really. No, that’s not something that has ever really entered the equation, although now it definitely will.

What makes a good leader? Decisiveness, and that’s something that I’ve had to learn. I think as a leader, you need to give people very clear direction. Being flexible enough that you can roll with the punches but also knowing when you’re going to stand your ground is important. And then I think empathy is really important to have as a leader.

Do you have any role models in the fashion world? Funnily enough, my first job in fashion was at Marc Jacobs. I was an intern in the design studio and what really struck me was how kind Marc was. I was a lowly intern, and I remember him ordering cookies and asking everyone in the studio, including the interns what kind of cookies would they want? And that really made an impression on me.

He’s a very soulful person, for sure. He’s been very supportive of this magazine. Who was the last person to make you smile? I mean, you’re probably the last person who made me smile.

Who was the last person to make you cry? My husband’s grandmother passed away and he gave a really touching eulogy at her memorial service. And I cried. I was very touched.

What has your business gained from the partnership with Kering? It was interesting because we really were a tiny, tiny company when Kering bought a minority [stake] in the brand. I think the biggest thing that we gained when Kering came on board was access to resources and the ability for someone from a big group to call a manufacturer, or a factory, and be like, “the order’s late, can you please do it on time?” And they would. On the flip side, because I retained control of the company, we really continued to grow and to operate as an independent company. In some ways it didn’t change very much, and then in other ways it changed a lot.

Where are you happiest? I’m really happiest with my family, wherever that is. I feel very lucky to be happily married and to have a kid. I feel very blessed and that’s really where I am happiest.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 15, to get a copy of this issue, click here.

All models wear clothing from ALTU release 01.

Models: Andy, Azusa, Edgar, Journey, Robert and Wonhee. 

Set Design by Abigail Lewis. 

Makeup by Sam Kettell.

Casting by Abi Benitez.

So you recently launched the Altu brand. How has that been to launch another brand? You haven’t done that in a while. Social media was not a thing back in 2008 when I launched Altuzarra, it predates Instagram. [Launching Altu] it was more emotional in some ways because now you really are launching to the world, in a very direct way as opposed to back when I launched Altuzarra. I mean, then you were putting your lookbook on a website. I think the fact that you put it out into the world and then you get reactions and DMs and things immediately, it made me feel very vulnerable. Then at the same time, in some ways it was a little less spontaneous because you need to plan in advance so much. You have to have a tone, you have to have a message, and you have to have a set narrative very early, which is very different from how Altuzarra was launched.

When Altuzarra launched it was more of a slow burn and you were able to develop that as you created it? It was a bit more of a slow burn and there was less of a sense of like, “Oh, I have to launch with a signature and something that is going to be really recognizable from the very beginning that I’m going to evolve from season to season.” You know, I think because the scale of everything was so much smaller, it was just a very different set of considerations. Also, you know, launching Altu as a project was much more personal in some ways than Altuzarra was. It really started out as a total side passion project. It kind of started pre-pandemic, but really blossomed during the pandemic. It came out of my own experimentation and thinking about my gender expression. Also becoming a father — I now have a two-year-old — was a real catalyst for me to think about gender in a way that I have not thought about it before.

What about having a child made you think about gender in a new way? Well, I think having a child made me realize how restrictive the gender binary is. I mean, we basically indoctrinate our children into the gender binary from the moment they’re born. It feels totally innocuous, but it’s also totally pervasive. It’s everywhere, it’s everything, in the way you speak to your child, in the way you dress them, obviously, and I just became really aware, very early on, of the sort of pitfalls in which she was being raised. I think it also brought up all of these emotions about my own upbringing and my teenage-hood. I really remember hiding the sides of myself that lay outside of the norms of my gender and the parts of me that were more feminine were really discouraged. All of that made me start to think about gender a lot more and then really encouraged me to start experimenting with the way that I express my gender in a way that was just more free. And that’s how the project really came about. It was totally personal.

That’s the best kind of project. In another interview, you were talking about your beauty routine and saying that wearing makeup as a man was difficult because you had this internalized discomfort about it. Was this at the same time as you were developing Altu? Yeah, it was all the same. I have always felt a lot of shame around my feelings of wanting to explore and experiment with different sides of my gender expression, whether it be makeup and cosmetics or jewelry and wearing skirts or a dress. I think over the last couple of years, I’ve really gone through a very personal process of starting to talk about it, starting to really experiment with it, and really challenging myself to live freely. To sort of look past my shame and the internal barriers that I have put up.

There is an outside perception that the fashion world is quite open and queer, but I’ve heard from a lot of designers that it’s far more heterosexual than most expect. Is that true in your experience? I think the industry as a whole is really driven by commerce and commerce is really binary. What’s been really interesting is when we talk to stores, there’s a lot of excitement because gender is becoming such an important part of the cultural conversation, but there is a lot of discomfort about where [our gender-neutral clothes should] sit. Like, how do you sell it? In a department store there’s a men’s department and there’s a women’s department, and we’re really trying to encourage retailers to pick us up as a truly genderful brand. And so how do you create space where this can live? It’s going to be very difficult, and a long transition for sure.

How do you view your two lines? Are they distant cousins? Are they sisters? The way I think about it is when I started Altuzarra, I always described it as my alter ego. When I was a teenager, I was a super nerdy, super angsty gay teen. I was introverted and didn’t feel comfortable with myself and didn’t like the way that I looked, and I always created this persona in my mind, this alternate life. I was this hyper confident, super sexual and desirable, seductive person inhabiting a very aspirational world. Altuzarra is this world that I imagined when I was a teenager. And in some ways Altu is who I really was and who I really am. It’s not an idealized version of me.

A lot of the ideas came from Joseph at 16-years-old, this angst of trying to find your identity and of, you know, flux and fluidity, there’s something about those teenage years that I find so inspiring because it’s this time of immense change and transformation that really, like, never happens another time in your life where you’re challenging everything that you know about yourself and you are really finding, crafting this person. That is really the place in which I think Altu exists. So it’s more like Altu and Altuzarra are the same person, but just different perspectives, different years.

It’s interesting that you willingly want to go back to that time of being an angsty teenager. Most people want to forget that time and you’re finding inspiration there. I sort of fetishize adolescence because I was so unhappy as an adolescent and I was so ill at ease, and so I think I keep coming back to it because it’s a way for me to revisit who this person was and ask, how did I become the person that I am now? By the way, this is something I’ve talked to my therapist about a lot. I think it is partly reclaiming a painful part of my life and trying to make something interesting and powerful with it.

Growth comes from discomfort, right? I wouldn’t be the person I am if I hadn’t gone through the horrendous periods of my life because they really are the kindling to light a fire under your ass. I’m curious who gives you the best advice? My husband gives me the best advice. My husband is a very grounding person. I can be highly emotional and he’s usually steady. He gives very good advice. It’s good to have people like that in your life.

Do you have a motto? I’ve been calling the last two years the era of “yes.”

Was there a moment that made you want to work in fashion? There were a bunch of fashion moments. I was an insane Tom Ford fan as a teenager. He embodied everything that I wanted to be. He was so handsome, so sexy, so successful. I really grew up during the “sex sells” Gucci era and it was hugely influential and definitely the reason why I wanted to work in fashion back then, for sure. It was also the antithesis of how I felt as a gay man, you know. I felt totally invisible and shunned. And he was like this adored personality.

Has the fashion world been as glamorous as you imagined? I don’t know that fashion in general is as glamorous as it was in 2001.

What’s the most glamorous moment you’ve had in fashion so far? I mean, going to the Met Gala every year is pretty fucking glamorous. It’s just a totally out-of-body experience. Oh my God, I’m always terrified. I’m always like shaking in the car because it’s a really intense red carpet. Half of my choice of who to go with is just, do I think this person is going to be calming and nice to be around. I have to take anti-anxiety medication.

Do you think Anna Wintour gets nervous? Yeah, for sure. I’m sure she’s doubly nervous cause it’s like she’s organizing it.

She’s the hostess with the mostest. What does New York offer to designers that Paris doesn’t? I actually think New York is a much more open and forward-looking city. I loved showing in Paris, I mean I grew up in Paris, so a part of going to Paris was very personal and in a way, a bit like revenge, like, look what I’ve done, you know? I think Paris fashion is more rooted in tradition and rooted in how things have been done and a very particular system and process. The things transforming fashion now started during New York Fashion Week or started in New York, like the conversations around sustainability and gender. The idea of things being more rooted in real life and, for lack of a better word, the streets – all of that is much more tied to what’s been happening in New York than anywhere else. I think New York generally gets a little bit of a bad rap because there’s this desire to compare it to Milan and Paris. I just think you have to let New York be its own thing.

I’m curious about having a namesake brand. Do you feel any pressure to create a positive public image knowing that you have a brand that’s named after you? Oh my God, that’s so interesting. I’ve never even thought about it really. No, that’s not something that has ever really entered the equation, although now it definitely will.

What makes a good leader? Decisiveness, and that’s something that I’ve had to learn. I think as a leader, you need to give people very clear direction. Being flexible enough that you can roll with the punches but also knowing when you’re going to stand your ground is important. And then I think empathy is really important to have as a leader.

Do you have any role models in the fashion world? Funnily enough, my first job in fashion was at Marc Jacobs. I was an intern in the design studio and what really struck me was how kind Marc was. I was a lowly intern, and I remember him ordering cookies and asking everyone in the studio, including the interns what kind of cookies would they want? And that really made an impression on me.

He’s a very soulful person, for sure. He’s been very supportive of this magazine. Who was the last person to make you smile? I mean, you’re probably the last person who made me smile.

Who was the last person to make you cry? My husband’s grandmother passed away and he gave a really touching eulogy at her memorial service. And I cried. I was very touched.

What has your business gained from the partnership with Kering? It was interesting because we really were a tiny, tiny company when Kering bought a minority [stake] in the brand. I think the biggest thing that we gained when Kering came on board was access to resources and the ability for someone from a big group to call a manufacturer, or a factory, and be like, “the order’s late, can you please do it on time?” And they would. On the flip side, because I retained control of the company, we really continued to grow and to operate as an independent company. In some ways it didn’t change very much, and then in other ways it changed a lot.

Where are you happiest? I’m really happiest with my family, wherever that is. I feel very lucky to be happily married and to have a kid. I feel very blessed and that’s really where I am happiest.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 15, to get a copy of this issue, click here.

All models wear clothing from ALTU release 01.

Models: Andy, Azusa, Edgar, Journey, Robert and Wonhee. 

Set Design by Abigail Lewis. 

Makeup by Sam Kettell.

Casting by Abi Benitez.

So you recently launched the Altu brand. How has that been to launch another brand? You haven’t done that in a while. Social media was not a thing back in 2008 when I launched Altuzarra, it predates Instagram. [Launching Altu] it was more emotional in some ways because now you really are launching to the world, in a very direct way as opposed to back when I launched Altuzarra. I mean, then you were putting your lookbook on a website. I think the fact that you put it out into the world and then you get reactions and DMs and things immediately, it made me feel very vulnerable. Then at the same time, in some ways it was a little less spontaneous because you need to plan in advance so much. You have to have a tone, you have to have a message, and you have to have a set narrative very early, which is very different from how Altuzarra was launched.

When Altuzarra launched it was more of a slow burn and you were able to develop that as you created it? It was a bit more of a slow burn and there was less of a sense of like, “Oh, I have to launch with a signature and something that is going to be really recognizable from the very beginning that I’m going to evolve from season to season.” You know, I think because the scale of everything was so much smaller, it was just a very different set of considerations. Also, you know, launching Altu as a project was much more personal in some ways than Altuzarra was. It really started out as a total side passion project. It kind of started pre-pandemic, but really blossomed during the pandemic. It came out of my own experimentation and thinking about my gender expression. Also becoming a father — I now have a two-year-old — was a real catalyst for me to think about gender in a way that I have not thought about it before.

What about having a child made you think about gender in a new way? Well, I think having a child made me realize how restrictive the gender binary is. I mean, we basically indoctrinate our children into the gender binary from the moment they’re born. It feels totally innocuous, but it’s also totally pervasive. It’s everywhere, it’s everything, in the way you speak to your child, in the way you dress them, obviously, and I just became really aware, very early on, of the sort of pitfalls in which she was being raised. I think it also brought up all of these emotions about my own upbringing and my teenage-hood. I really remember hiding the sides of myself that lay outside of the norms of my gender and the parts of me that were more feminine were really discouraged. All of that made me start to think about gender a lot more and then really encouraged me to start experimenting with the way that I express my gender in a way that was just more free. And that’s how the project really came about. It was totally personal.

That’s the best kind of project. In another interview, you were talking about your beauty routine and saying that wearing makeup as a man was difficult because you had this internalized discomfort about it. Was this at the same time as you were developing Altu? Yeah, it was all the same. I have always felt a lot of shame around my feelings of wanting to explore and experiment with different sides of my gender expression, whether it be makeup and cosmetics or jewelry and wearing skirts or a dress. I think over the last couple of years, I’ve really gone through a very personal process of starting to talk about it, starting to really experiment with it, and really challenging myself to live freely. To sort of look past my shame and the internal barriers that I have put up.

There is an outside perception that the fashion world is quite open and queer, but I’ve heard from a lot of designers that it’s far more heterosexual than most expect. Is that true in your experience? I think the industry as a whole is really driven by commerce and commerce is really binary. What’s been really interesting is when we talk to stores, there’s a lot of excitement because gender is becoming such an important part of the cultural conversation, but there is a lot of discomfort about where [our gender-neutral clothes should] sit. Like, how do you sell it? In a department store there’s a men’s department and there’s a women’s department, and we’re really trying to encourage retailers to pick us up as a truly genderful brand. And so how do you create space where this can live? It’s going to be very difficult, and a long transition for sure.

How do you view your two lines? Are they distant cousins? Are they sisters? The way I think about it is when I started Altuzarra, I always described it as my alter ego. When I was a teenager, I was a super nerdy, super angsty gay teen. I was introverted and didn’t feel comfortable with myself and didn’t like the way that I looked, and I always created this persona in my mind, this alternate life. I was this hyper confident, super sexual and desirable, seductive person inhabiting a very aspirational world. Altuzarra is this world that I imagined when I was a teenager. And in some ways Altu is who I really was and who I really am. It’s not an idealized version of me.

A lot of the ideas came from Joseph at 16-years-old, this angst of trying to find your identity and of, you know, flux and fluidity, there’s something about those teenage years that I find so inspiring because it’s this time of immense change and transformation that really, like, never happens another time in your life where you’re challenging everything that you know about yourself and you are really finding, crafting this person. That is really the place in which I think Altu exists. So it’s more like Altu and Altuzarra are the same person, but just different perspectives, different years.

It’s interesting that you willingly want to go back to that time of being an angsty teenager. Most people want to forget that time and you’re finding inspiration there. I sort of fetishize adolescence because I was so unhappy as an adolescent and I was so ill at ease, and so I think I keep coming back to it because it’s a way for me to revisit who this person was and ask, how did I become the person that I am now? By the way, this is something I’ve talked to my therapist about a lot. I think it is partly reclaiming a painful part of my life and trying to make something interesting and powerful with it.

Growth comes from discomfort, right? I wouldn’t be the person I am if I hadn’t gone through the horrendous periods of my life because they really are the kindling to light a fire under your ass. I’m curious who gives you the best advice? My husband gives me the best advice. My husband is a very grounding person. I can be highly emotional and he’s usually steady. He gives very good advice. It’s good to have people like that in your life.

Do you have a motto? I’ve been calling the last two years the era of “yes.”

Was there a moment that made you want to work in fashion? There were a bunch of fashion moments. I was an insane Tom Ford fan as a teenager. He embodied everything that I wanted to be. He was so handsome, so sexy, so successful. I really grew up during the “sex sells” Gucci era and it was hugely influential and definitely the reason why I wanted to work in fashion back then, for sure. It was also the antithesis of how I felt as a gay man, you know. I felt totally invisible and shunned. And he was like this adored personality.

Has the fashion world been as glamorous as you imagined? I don’t know that fashion in general is as glamorous as it was in 2001.

What’s the most glamorous moment you’ve had in fashion so far? I mean, going to the Met Gala every year is pretty fucking glamorous. It’s just a totally out-of-body experience. Oh my God, I’m always terrified. I’m always like shaking in the car because it’s a really intense red carpet. Half of my choice of who to go with is just, do I think this person is going to be calming and nice to be around. I have to take anti-anxiety medication.

Do you think Anna Wintour gets nervous? Yeah, for sure. I’m sure she’s doubly nervous cause it’s like she’s organizing it.

She’s the hostess with the mostest. What does New York offer to designers that Paris doesn’t? I actually think New York is a much more open and forward-looking city. I loved showing in Paris, I mean I grew up in Paris, so a part of going to Paris was very personal and in a way, a bit like revenge, like, look what I’ve done, you know? I think Paris fashion is more rooted in tradition and rooted in how things have been done and a very particular system and process. The things transforming fashion now started during New York Fashion Week or started in New York, like the conversations around sustainability and gender. The idea of things being more rooted in real life and, for lack of a better word, the streets – all of that is much more tied to what’s been happening in New York than anywhere else. I think New York generally gets a little bit of a bad rap because there’s this desire to compare it to Milan and Paris. I just think you have to let New York be its own thing.

I’m curious about having a namesake brand. Do you feel any pressure to create a positive public image knowing that you have a brand that’s named after you? Oh my God, that’s so interesting. I’ve never even thought about it really. No, that’s not something that has ever really entered the equation, although now it definitely will.

What makes a good leader? Decisiveness, and that’s something that I’ve had to learn. I think as a leader, you need to give people very clear direction. Being flexible enough that you can roll with the punches but also knowing when you’re going to stand your ground is important. And then I think empathy is really important to have as a leader.

Do you have any role models in the fashion world? Funnily enough, my first job in fashion was at Marc Jacobs. I was an intern in the design studio and what really struck me was how kind Marc was. I was a lowly intern, and I remember him ordering cookies and asking everyone in the studio, including the interns what kind of cookies would they want? And that really made an impression on me.

He’s a very soulful person, for sure. He’s been very supportive of this magazine. Who was the last person to make you smile? I mean, you’re probably the last person who made me smile.

Who was the last person to make you cry? My husband’s grandmother passed away and he gave a really touching eulogy at her memorial service. And I cried. I was very touched.

What has your business gained from the partnership with Kering? It was interesting because we really were a tiny, tiny company when Kering bought a minority [stake] in the brand. I think the biggest thing that we gained when Kering came on board was access to resources and the ability for someone from a big group to call a manufacturer, or a factory, and be like, “the order’s late, can you please do it on time?” And they would. On the flip side, because I retained control of the company, we really continued to grow and to operate as an independent company. In some ways it didn’t change very much, and then in other ways it changed a lot.

Where are you happiest? I’m really happiest with my family, wherever that is. I feel very lucky to be happily married and to have a kid. I feel very blessed and that’s really where I am happiest.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 15, to get a copy of this issue, click here.

All models wear clothing from ALTU release 01.

Models: Andy, Azusa, Edgar, Journey, Robert and Wonhee. 

Set Design by Abigail Lewis. 

Makeup by Sam Kettell.

Casting by Abi Benitez.

So you recently launched the Altu brand. How has that been to launch another brand? You haven’t done that in a while. Social media was not a thing back in 2008 when I launched Altuzarra, it predates Instagram. [Launching Altu] it was more emotional in some ways because now you really are launching to the world, in a very direct way as opposed to back when I launched Altuzarra. I mean, then you were putting your lookbook on a website. I think the fact that you put it out into the world and then you get reactions and DMs and things immediately, it made me feel very vulnerable. Then at the same time, in some ways it was a little less spontaneous because you need to plan in advance so much. You have to have a tone, you have to have a message, and you have to have a set narrative very early, which is very different from how Altuzarra was launched.

When Altuzarra launched it was more of a slow burn and you were able to develop that as you created it? It was a bit more of a slow burn and there was less of a sense of like, “Oh, I have to launch with a signature and something that is going to be really recognizable from the very beginning that I’m going to evolve from season to season.” You know, I think because the scale of everything was so much smaller, it was just a very different set of considerations. Also, you know, launching Altu as a project was much more personal in some ways than Altuzarra was. It really started out as a total side passion project. It kind of started pre-pandemic, but really blossomed during the pandemic. It came out of my own experimentation and thinking about my gender expression. Also becoming a father — I now have a two-year-old — was a real catalyst for me to think about gender in a way that I have not thought about it before.

What about having a child made you think about gender in a new way? Well, I think having a child made me realize how restrictive the gender binary is. I mean, we basically indoctrinate our children into the gender binary from the moment they’re born. It feels totally innocuous, but it’s also totally pervasive. It’s everywhere, it’s everything, in the way you speak to your child, in the way you dress them, obviously, and I just became really aware, very early on, of the sort of pitfalls in which she was being raised. I think it also brought up all of these emotions about my own upbringing and my teenage-hood. I really remember hiding the sides of myself that lay outside of the norms of my gender and the parts of me that were more feminine were really discouraged. All of that made me start to think about gender a lot more and then really encouraged me to start experimenting with the way that I express my gender in a way that was just more free. And that’s how the project really came about. It was totally personal.

That’s the best kind of project. In another interview, you were talking about your beauty routine and saying that wearing makeup as a man was difficult because you had this internalized discomfort about it. Was this at the same time as you were developing Altu? Yeah, it was all the same. I have always felt a lot of shame around my feelings of wanting to explore and experiment with different sides of my gender expression, whether it be makeup and cosmetics or jewelry and wearing skirts or a dress. I think over the last couple of years, I’ve really gone through a very personal process of starting to talk about it, starting to really experiment with it, and really challenging myself to live freely. To sort of look past my shame and the internal barriers that I have put up.

There is an outside perception that the fashion world is quite open and queer, but I’ve heard from a lot of designers that it’s far more heterosexual than most expect. Is that true in your experience? I think the industry as a whole is really driven by commerce and commerce is really binary. What’s been really interesting is when we talk to stores, there’s a lot of excitement because gender is becoming such an important part of the cultural conversation, but there is a lot of discomfort about where [our gender-neutral clothes should] sit. Like, how do you sell it? In a department store there’s a men’s department and there’s a women’s department, and we’re really trying to encourage retailers to pick us up as a truly genderful brand. And so how do you create space where this can live? It’s going to be very difficult, and a long transition for sure.

How do you view your two lines? Are they distant cousins? Are they sisters? The way I think about it is when I started Altuzarra, I always described it as my alter ego. When I was a teenager, I was a super nerdy, super angsty gay teen. I was introverted and didn’t feel comfortable with myself and didn’t like the way that I looked, and I always created this persona in my mind, this alternate life. I was this hyper confident, super sexual and desirable, seductive person inhabiting a very aspirational world. Altuzarra is this world that I imagined when I was a teenager. And in some ways Altu is who I really was and who I really am. It’s not an idealized version of me.

A lot of the ideas came from Joseph at 16-years-old, this angst of trying to find your identity and of, you know, flux and fluidity, there’s something about those teenage years that I find so inspiring because it’s this time of immense change and transformation that really, like, never happens another time in your life where you’re challenging everything that you know about yourself and you are really finding, crafting this person. That is really the place in which I think Altu exists. So it’s more like Altu and Altuzarra are the same person, but just different perspectives, different years.

It’s interesting that you willingly want to go back to that time of being an angsty teenager. Most people want to forget that time and you’re finding inspiration there. I sort of fetishize adolescence because I was so unhappy as an adolescent and I was so ill at ease, and so I think I keep coming back to it because it’s a way for me to revisit who this person was and ask, how did I become the person that I am now? By the way, this is something I’ve talked to my therapist about a lot. I think it is partly reclaiming a painful part of my life and trying to make something interesting and powerful with it.

Growth comes from discomfort, right? I wouldn’t be the person I am if I hadn’t gone through the horrendous periods of my life because they really are the kindling to light a fire under your ass. I’m curious who gives you the best advice? My husband gives me the best advice. My husband is a very grounding person. I can be highly emotional and he’s usually steady. He gives very good advice. It’s good to have people like that in your life.

Do you have a motto? I’ve been calling the last two years the era of “yes.”

Was there a moment that made you want to work in fashion? There were a bunch of fashion moments. I was an insane Tom Ford fan as a teenager. He embodied everything that I wanted to be. He was so handsome, so sexy, so successful. I really grew up during the “sex sells” Gucci era and it was hugely influential and definitely the reason why I wanted to work in fashion back then, for sure. It was also the antithesis of how I felt as a gay man, you know. I felt totally invisible and shunned. And he was like this adored personality.

Has the fashion world been as glamorous as you imagined? I don’t know that fashion in general is as glamorous as it was in 2001.

What’s the most glamorous moment you’ve had in fashion so far? I mean, going to the Met Gala every year is pretty fucking glamorous. It’s just a totally out-of-body experience. Oh my God, I’m always terrified. I’m always like shaking in the car because it’s a really intense red carpet. Half of my choice of who to go with is just, do I think this person is going to be calming and nice to be around. I have to take anti-anxiety medication.

Do you think Anna Wintour gets nervous? Yeah, for sure. I’m sure she’s doubly nervous cause it’s like she’s organizing it.

She’s the hostess with the mostest. What does New York offer to designers that Paris doesn’t? I actually think New York is a much more open and forward-looking city. I loved showing in Paris, I mean I grew up in Paris, so a part of going to Paris was very personal and in a way, a bit like revenge, like, look what I’ve done, you know? I think Paris fashion is more rooted in tradition and rooted in how things have been done and a very particular system and process. The things transforming fashion now started during New York Fashion Week or started in New York, like the conversations around sustainability and gender. The idea of things being more rooted in real life and, for lack of a better word, the streets – all of that is much more tied to what’s been happening in New York than anywhere else. I think New York generally gets a little bit of a bad rap because there’s this desire to compare it to Milan and Paris. I just think you have to let New York be its own thing.

I’m curious about having a namesake brand. Do you feel any pressure to create a positive public image knowing that you have a brand that’s named after you? Oh my God, that’s so interesting. I’ve never even thought about it really. No, that’s not something that has ever really entered the equation, although now it definitely will.

What makes a good leader? Decisiveness, and that’s something that I’ve had to learn. I think as a leader, you need to give people very clear direction. Being flexible enough that you can roll with the punches but also knowing when you’re going to stand your ground is important. And then I think empathy is really important to have as a leader.

Do you have any role models in the fashion world? Funnily enough, my first job in fashion was at Marc Jacobs. I was an intern in the design studio and what really struck me was how kind Marc was. I was a lowly intern, and I remember him ordering cookies and asking everyone in the studio, including the interns what kind of cookies would they want? And that really made an impression on me.

He’s a very soulful person, for sure. He’s been very supportive of this magazine. Who was the last person to make you smile? I mean, you’re probably the last person who made me smile.

Who was the last person to make you cry? My husband’s grandmother passed away and he gave a really touching eulogy at her memorial service. And I cried. I was very touched.

What has your business gained from the partnership with Kering? It was interesting because we really were a tiny, tiny company when Kering bought a minority [stake] in the brand. I think the biggest thing that we gained when Kering came on board was access to resources and the ability for someone from a big group to call a manufacturer, or a factory, and be like, “the order’s late, can you please do it on time?” And they would. On the flip side, because I retained control of the company, we really continued to grow and to operate as an independent company. In some ways it didn’t change very much, and then in other ways it changed a lot.

Where are you happiest? I’m really happiest with my family, wherever that is. I feel very lucky to be happily married and to have a kid. I feel very blessed and that’s really where I am happiest.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 15, to get a copy of this issue, click here.

All models wear clothing from ALTU release 01.

Models: Andy, Azusa, Edgar, Journey, Robert and Wonhee. 

Set Design by Abigail Lewis. 

Makeup by Sam Kettell.

Casting by Abi Benitez.

So you recently launched the Altu brand. How has that been to launch another brand? You haven’t done that in a while. Social media was not a thing back in 2008 when I launched Altuzarra, it predates Instagram. [Launching Altu] it was more emotional in some ways because now you really are launching to the world, in a very direct way as opposed to back when I launched Altuzarra. I mean, then you were putting your lookbook on a website. I think the fact that you put it out into the world and then you get reactions and DMs and things immediately, it made me feel very vulnerable. Then at the same time, in some ways it was a little less spontaneous because you need to plan in advance so much. You have to have a tone, you have to have a message, and you have to have a set narrative very early, which is very different from how Altuzarra was launched.

When Altuzarra launched it was more of a slow burn and you were able to develop that as you created it? It was a bit more of a slow burn and there was less of a sense of like, “Oh, I have to launch with a signature and something that is going to be really recognizable from the very beginning that I’m going to evolve from season to season.” You know, I think because the scale of everything was so much smaller, it was just a very different set of considerations. Also, you know, launching Altu as a project was much more personal in some ways than Altuzarra was. It really started out as a total side passion project. It kind of started pre-pandemic, but really blossomed during the pandemic. It came out of my own experimentation and thinking about my gender expression. Also becoming a father — I now have a two-year-old — was a real catalyst for me to think about gender in a way that I have not thought about it before.

What about having a child made you think about gender in a new way? Well, I think having a child made me realize how restrictive the gender binary is. I mean, we basically indoctrinate our children into the gender binary from the moment they’re born. It feels totally innocuous, but it’s also totally pervasive. It’s everywhere, it’s everything, in the way you speak to your child, in the way you dress them, obviously, and I just became really aware, very early on, of the sort of pitfalls in which she was being raised. I think it also brought up all of these emotions about my own upbringing and my teenage-hood. I really remember hiding the sides of myself that lay outside of the norms of my gender and the parts of me that were more feminine were really discouraged. All of that made me start to think about gender a lot more and then really encouraged me to start experimenting with the way that I express my gender in a way that was just more free. And that’s how the project really came about. It was totally personal.

That’s the best kind of project. In another interview, you were talking about your beauty routine and saying that wearing makeup as a man was difficult because you had this internalized discomfort about it. Was this at the same time as you were developing Altu? Yeah, it was all the same. I have always felt a lot of shame around my feelings of wanting to explore and experiment with different sides of my gender expression, whether it be makeup and cosmetics or jewelry and wearing skirts or a dress. I think over the last couple of years, I’ve really gone through a very personal process of starting to talk about it, starting to really experiment with it, and really challenging myself to live freely. To sort of look past my shame and the internal barriers that I have put up.

There is an outside perception that the fashion world is quite open and queer, but I’ve heard from a lot of designers that it’s far more heterosexual than most expect. Is that true in your experience? I think the industry as a whole is really driven by commerce and commerce is really binary. What’s been really interesting is when we talk to stores, there’s a lot of excitement because gender is becoming such an important part of the cultural conversation, but there is a lot of discomfort about where [our gender-neutral clothes should] sit. Like, how do you sell it? In a department store there’s a men’s department and there’s a women’s department, and we’re really trying to encourage retailers to pick us up as a truly genderful brand. And so how do you create space where this can live? It’s going to be very difficult, and a long transition for sure.

How do you view your two lines? Are they distant cousins? Are they sisters? The way I think about it is when I started Altuzarra, I always described it as my alter ego. When I was a teenager, I was a super nerdy, super angsty gay teen. I was introverted and didn’t feel comfortable with myself and didn’t like the way that I looked, and I always created this persona in my mind, this alternate life. I was this hyper confident, super sexual and desirable, seductive person inhabiting a very aspirational world. Altuzarra is this world that I imagined when I was a teenager. And in some ways Altu is who I really was and who I really am. It’s not an idealized version of me.

A lot of the ideas came from Joseph at 16-years-old, this angst of trying to find your identity and of, you know, flux and fluidity, there’s something about those teenage years that I find so inspiring because it’s this time of immense change and transformation that really, like, never happens another time in your life where you’re challenging everything that you know about yourself and you are really finding, crafting this person. That is really the place in which I think Altu exists. So it’s more like Altu and Altuzarra are the same person, but just different perspectives, different years.

It’s interesting that you willingly want to go back to that time of being an angsty teenager. Most people want to forget that time and you’re finding inspiration there. I sort of fetishize adolescence because I was so unhappy as an adolescent and I was so ill at ease, and so I think I keep coming back to it because it’s a way for me to revisit who this person was and ask, how did I become the person that I am now? By the way, this is something I’ve talked to my therapist about a lot. I think it is partly reclaiming a painful part of my life and trying to make something interesting and powerful with it.

Growth comes from discomfort, right? I wouldn’t be the person I am if I hadn’t gone through the horrendous periods of my life because they really are the kindling to light a fire under your ass. I’m curious who gives you the best advice? My husband gives me the best advice. My husband is a very grounding person. I can be highly emotional and he’s usually steady. He gives very good advice. It’s good to have people like that in your life.

Do you have a motto? I’ve been calling the last two years the era of “yes.”

Was there a moment that made you want to work in fashion? There were a bunch of fashion moments. I was an insane Tom Ford fan as a teenager. He embodied everything that I wanted to be. He was so handsome, so sexy, so successful. I really grew up during the “sex sells” Gucci era and it was hugely influential and definitely the reason why I wanted to work in fashion back then, for sure. It was also the antithesis of how I felt as a gay man, you know. I felt totally invisible and shunned. And he was like this adored personality.

Has the fashion world been as glamorous as you imagined? I don’t know that fashion in general is as glamorous as it was in 2001.

What’s the most glamorous moment you’ve had in fashion so far? I mean, going to the Met Gala every year is pretty fucking glamorous. It’s just a totally out-of-body experience. Oh my God, I’m always terrified. I’m always like shaking in the car because it’s a really intense red carpet. Half of my choice of who to go with is just, do I think this person is going to be calming and nice to be around. I have to take anti-anxiety medication.

Do you think Anna Wintour gets nervous? Yeah, for sure. I’m sure she’s doubly nervous cause it’s like she’s organizing it.

She’s the hostess with the mostest. What does New York offer to designers that Paris doesn’t? I actually think New York is a much more open and forward-looking city. I loved showing in Paris, I mean I grew up in Paris, so a part of going to Paris was very personal and in a way, a bit like revenge, like, look what I’ve done, you know? I think Paris fashion is more rooted in tradition and rooted in how things have been done and a very particular system and process. The things transforming fashion now started during New York Fashion Week or started in New York, like the conversations around sustainability and gender. The idea of things being more rooted in real life and, for lack of a better word, the streets – all of that is much more tied to what’s been happening in New York than anywhere else. I think New York generally gets a little bit of a bad rap because there’s this desire to compare it to Milan and Paris. I just think you have to let New York be its own thing.

I’m curious about having a namesake brand. Do you feel any pressure to create a positive public image knowing that you have a brand that’s named after you? Oh my God, that’s so interesting. I’ve never even thought about it really. No, that’s not something that has ever really entered the equation, although now it definitely will.

What makes a good leader? Decisiveness, and that’s something that I’ve had to learn. I think as a leader, you need to give people very clear direction. Being flexible enough that you can roll with the punches but also knowing when you’re going to stand your ground is important. And then I think empathy is really important to have as a leader.

Do you have any role models in the fashion world? Funnily enough, my first job in fashion was at Marc Jacobs. I was an intern in the design studio and what really struck me was how kind Marc was. I was a lowly intern, and I remember him ordering cookies and asking everyone in the studio, including the interns what kind of cookies would they want? And that really made an impression on me.

He’s a very soulful person, for sure. He’s been very supportive of this magazine. Who was the last person to make you smile? I mean, you’re probably the last person who made me smile.

Who was the last person to make you cry? My husband’s grandmother passed away and he gave a really touching eulogy at her memorial service. And I cried. I was very touched.

What has your business gained from the partnership with Kering? It was interesting because we really were a tiny, tiny company when Kering bought a minority [stake] in the brand. I think the biggest thing that we gained when Kering came on board was access to resources and the ability for someone from a big group to call a manufacturer, or a factory, and be like, “the order’s late, can you please do it on time?” And they would. On the flip side, because I retained control of the company, we really continued to grow and to operate as an independent company. In some ways it didn’t change very much, and then in other ways it changed a lot.

Where are you happiest? I’m really happiest with my family, wherever that is. I feel very lucky to be happily married and to have a kid. I feel very blessed and that’s really where I am happiest.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 15, to get a copy of this issue, click here.

All models wear clothing from ALTU release 01.

Models: Andy, Azusa, Edgar, Journey, Robert and Wonhee. 

Set Design by Abigail Lewis. 

Makeup by Sam Kettell.

Casting by Abi Benitez.